Stumped and need help--Video, then no video

[Buz2b]

Trying to help a friend with his system. It's a Compaq 6310US, Athlon 1800+, 384 RAM, XP Home, onboard graphics and an AGP card installed.
Here's what it does. It will begin the boot process and you can see the first boot screen, then it goes to the standard WinXP "progress screen for several seconds. Next, the fans slow down a bit and the screen goes blank. The lights on the monitor indicate no video signal. That's it. Nothing else happens. I can see the HD/CPU light flashing intermittently like there is some activity but no video at all. I can boot to the BIOS just fine and it will stay on the screen with no problem. I did notice that the CPU was running at 60 degrees C though. So, I opened the box and was amazed at the amount of dust. I used the canned air and blew out a major dust storm. Now running at about 50 C.
But why would the video crap out just at the point of finishing the boot? I tried using both the added AGP video card and the onboard video. Both do the same thing. Also, I got it started booting to Safe Mode and the same thing happened right where the desktop should have appeared. No video signal. I tried resetting the BIOS also. My next thought was trying another video card but since both the onboard video and the AGP card currently do the same, I'm not sure it's worth the effort. MB or PSU?

 

[Markbnj]

The dust could have caused a heating situation with the GPU, but I assume you would have been seeing artifacts at some point before this.

The problem could be the graphics card, the monitor, or Windows. So you need to figure out which it is. You can pull the AGP card and boot off the onboard to see if it is the AGP graphics card. You can boot in safe mode to see if it is Windows. You can attach a different monitor to see if that's the problem. I'd start with one of these.

 

[pcgeek11]

Boot into safe mode and if it does and loads windows, go to the device manager and delete the video adapter. Shutdown the computer and reboot and let it redetect and install the video drivers.

pcgeek11

 

[Buz2b]

I appreciate both of your replies. I did try to go into Safe Mode but at the point where the desktop should come up, the screen went blank and there was no video signal to the monitor. This is the same as it did trying to boot to Windows normally. You can see the WinXP boot screen with the progress bar (not in safe mode though) and then at the point where you should get either the sign on screen or the desktop, the video signal is lost.
As to the monitor, I now have the tower here at my house and am using my own working monitor, so that's not an issue.
As to the video card, would it make a difference if I pulled the AGP card and tried the onboard graphics? I hooked up to the AGP card and then to the onboard video port and both did the same thing. I did do this without pulling the AGP card though.
Again, thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm still looking for answers though.

 

[Buz2b]

Markbnj, forgot to mention that in the limited time there is video I don't see any artifacts. Nor did the owner mention any video problem prior to this.
I guess I'll pull the video card tomorrow, try booting with onboard graphics again and if that doesn't work install another working video card and try that. I'm still kind of at a loss as to why the video signal is lost at the last minute both in regular and safe mode.

 

[Markbnj]

I apologize, since I was moving fast earlier and missed a few things. If it's doing the same thing with onboard and the AGP card, then it is either Windows or the monitor. Have you guys got another monitor lying around?

 

[myocardia]

First, reapply the cpu thermal compound. It doesn't last forever. As a matter of fact, it gets hard as a rock after awhile, and is actually worse than no thermal compound. If it still does it, it's almost certainly his psu dying. If you've got a digital multimeter, check the voltages while it's attempting to boot, to make sure.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
I apologize, since I was moving fast earlier and missed a few things. If it's doing the same thing with onboard and the AGP card, then it is either Windows or the monitor. Have you guys got another monitor lying around?

This is a working monitor I have on my workstation. I hooked up another test rig to it and it worked fine. Thanks though!

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: myocardia
First, reapply the cpu thermal compound. It doesn't last forever. As a matter of fact, it gets hard as a rock after awhile, and is actually worse than no thermal compound. If it still does it, it's almost certainly his psu dying. If you've got a digital multimeter, check the voltages while it's attempting to boot, to make sure.

I think I have a PS tester somewhere here. I'll dig that up and give it a try; then try the multimeter. However, I'm a bit "dumb" when it comes to the multimeter in this case. All of the lines aren't putting out the same voltage are they? Can I just test the one going to the MB? Can you help me figure out which lines to test and what voltages I'm looking for? Thanks in advance!

 

[CurseTheSky]

VGA or DVI connector on the monitor?

My older rig (in signature for the moment) had a PCI-E 6800GT for the graphics card. It worked great when I connected a 19" VGA LCD to it. When I tried connecting a 20.1" DVI LCD to it, it would work fine for a moment, then go to a black screen or flash between the monitor display, and a black screen. It was annoying to say the least. On a side note, the 20.1" worked fine if I used the VGA connection.

I have the same 20.1" monitor connected to my new computer, and it works great, even when connected with the DVI cable. I did a bit of research, and I found a few others complaining about digital LCDs not working correctly on 6800GTs and 6800Ultras.

I would expect a similar scenario in your case. Try a different graphics card if you can, see if it makes a difference - even if you're using a VGA cable.

 

[Markbnj]

Originally posted by: Buz2b

Originally posted by: myocardia
First, reapply the cpu thermal compound. It doesn't last forever. As a matter of fact, it gets hard as a rock after awhile, and is actually worse than no thermal compound. If it still does it, it's almost certainly his psu dying. If you've got a digital multimeter, check the voltages while it's attempting to boot, to make sure.

I think I have a PS tester somewhere here. I'll dig that up and give it a try; then try the multimeter. However, I'm a bit "dumb" when it comes to the multimeter in this case. All of the lines aren't putting out the same voltage are they? Can I just test the one going to the MB? Can you help me figure out which lines to test and what voltages I'm looking for? Thanks in advance!

No, there are several different voltages to be expected on different pins, 3.3v, 5v, 12v, etc. I'm skeptical that the PSU has anything to do with it, but it definitely could. The card does need to draw more juice at that point. I'm even more skeptical that the thermal compound needs to be replaced, but I guess if you have the time. It really sounds like something in Windows has crapped out to me, since you have ruled out the GPU and monitor.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: CurseTheSky
VGA or DVI connector on the monitor?

My older rig (in signature for the moment) had a PCI-E 6800GT for the graphics card. It worked great when I connected a 19" VGA LCD to it. When I tried connecting a 20.1" DVI LCD to it, it would work fine for a moment, then go to a black screen or flash between the monitor display, and a black screen. It was annoying to say the least. On a side note, the 20.1" worked fine if I used the VGA connection.

I have the same 20.1" monitor connected to my new computer, and it works great, even when connected with the DVI cable. I did a bit of research, and I found a few others complaining about digital LCDs not working correctly on 6800GTs and 6800Ultras.

I would expect a similar scenario in your case. Try a different graphics card if you can, see if it makes a difference - even if you're using a VGA cable.

Interesting and I sort of had the same thought. The video card that is installed has both a VGA and DVI connector. I am using the VGA to my CRT. I thought (as you mentioned) that it might be needing the DVI hookup but I kind of let that thought go when the exact same thing happened using the onboard graphics port. Thanks for the ideas.

Markbnj,
Thanks again for the reply. I am going to try removing the video card first (just using the onboard graphics. Then, if that doesn't work I'll try a different video card. I put the PSU tester on it and it passed, however it is just a pass or fail (green light or no green light) tester.

 

[Buz2b]

Bump while waiting for another video card (borrowed). Any other ideas? Anyone seen this before?

 

[Buz2b]

Well, things went from bad to worse. I got another video card to try and the old one won't budge. The front half (towards the back of the computer where the monitor plugs in) will move a bit but the back end doesn't budge. There are no retainer clips there either; I checked that first thing. I pulled hard, I tried rocking it, etc. No go. I'm afraid if I tried any harder I'd break the MB.
I also hooked up a nice new 400 watt PSU to the system and the problems did not go away; the same thing happens as before so I know it isn't the PSU. I'm at a loss as to what to do next. The only other thing I haven't tried is to reload the system with his recovery disks. But, at this point I can't see where that would make any difference. The only thing I'd probably accomplish is erasing the stuff on his existing hard drive. He still has data there he'd like to retrieve. Any ideas?

 

[pcgeek11]

Originally posted by: Buz2b
Well, things went from bad to worse. I got another video card to try and the old one won't budge. The front half (towards the back of the computer where the monitor plugs in) will move a bit but the back end doesn't budge. There are no retainer clips there either; I checked that first thing. I pulled hard, I tried rocking it, etc. No go. I'm afraid if I tried any harder I'd break the MB.

I would pursue this as there is something wrong when the video card will not pull out of the slot. Melted into place?

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: pcgeek11

Originally posted by: Buz2b
Well, things went from bad to worse. I got another video card to try and the old one won't budge. The front half (towards the back of the computer where the monitor plugs in) will move a bit but the back end doesn't budge. There are no retainer clips there either; I checked that first thing. I pulled hard, I tried rocking it, etc. No go. I'm afraid if I tried any harder I'd break the MB.

I would pursue this as there is something wrong when the video card will not pull out of the slot. Melted into place?

Yeah, I basically told the guy to "drop back ten and punt". LOL!! I said he could salvage parts like the HDD and DVD Burner but his system was pretty much toast.