[markbateman]

o/s win 98me.
hi,i have been given a pc with a oddball problem.every time i try to start the machine the hard drive seems to fire up ok but i cannot get a picture on the monitor.it starts then seems to go into standby(no picture just clicks)all it shows is a small flashing light next to the on button.i also tried a spare known good monitor but it does exactly the same thing when connected to this machine.i have not come across this fault before can it be the graphics card?i need the monitor to as need to reformat and use as a second pc thanks.

[KaTaLy5t]

Hey,

There could be a number of different problems here:

When you are booting up an the BIOS performs POST(Power On Self-Test) does it make any beeping noises. Usually one short beep means that the POST is ok, anything other than this indicates that there's some kind of problem. For most BIOS POSTs a long beep followed by 2 short beeps indicates a graphics card problem. If there is no beep at all then there is a BIOS problem.
Also, try opening up the case of the computer and checking that the graphics card is sitting right down in the port.
If this still doesn't work you can try to polish the gold connectors on the grapics card with a pencil eraser.

Let me know if any of these work and if not I can try and help you some more.

Ross

[markbateman]

hi,thanks for your help.there is one bleep on startup and the monitor goes into what i think is standby mode is: the indicator light flashes about once every second or so.the cd rom seems to be working ok (sounds like its working)even if i put a start up floppy in i still get no response on the monitor.also i connected a known good unit but it behaved the same.i will just go and clean the card and get back to you thanks

[KaTaLy5t]

Hey,

It would seem that the monitor is not getting any signal from the graphics card. As well as checking the graphics card you can try clearing the CMOS. Sometimes that works, it worked for me a couple of times on my old computer.
Got a couple of questions for ya;
1)What kind of graphics card is in the machine?
2)Was the card recently installed into the machine or is an old one?
3)Do you know if somthing was done to cause this problem?

[markbateman]

hi ross thanks for your time.the graphiic card is a rdfx unit but i cant make out the model number.the only thing i have done is that i done a reformat using windows me.i have done this a number of times before on my other machine with no probs?the only thing that may give a clue is the pc was infected with multiple spyware and virus infections before i reformated it.also the picture was very bad and the bar you slide to change the resolution would not move.then i got given the pc.thanks mate mark.

[markbateman]

hi ross,now this gets interesting?took the back off and had a look inside the graphics card is damaged i found a piece inside the case!!!.the dvd player was removed before i was given the pc along with the cdr.all thats left is a cd rom and floppy drive.this is ok as far as i am concerned as i can start with a basic set up and build from there.the ide cables somehow dont look right.does the cdrom drive plug into the primary slot on the mother board and the hard drive into the secondary or is the cd rom and the hard drive connected in series and then to the primary port.then is the floppy drive connected to the secondary port.well after that mouthfull it looks as if the best way is to start from scratch.i know it seems a lot to do but its the only way to learn.I will go and get a basic graphics card tomorrow and start from there think the best way to start is to start again and treat it as a new build (a first for me).thanks mate mark.

[KaTaLy5t]

Hey,

I'd say it's best that you get a new graphics card. You can pick up a basic one pretty cheap.
The Hard drive is usually plugged into IDE1 and then any CD drives should be on IDE2. It's best not to have the CD drive and hard drive on the one IDE cable because of the difference in their speed and data transfer rates. If you have a hard drive and a CD drive on the same IDE the hard drive will be slowed down some so that they both run at the same speed. The floppy drive usually has its own seperate port on the motherboard. If you have any other problems or questions about building your PC I'd be glad to try and help you.

Ross

[markbateman]

hi ross,i will be getting a new graphics card tomorrow morning and will let you know what happens.i suspect this will not be the end of the matter,but if i pull this off my next project will be to build a pc from scratch.thanks mate your a star.mark.

[KaTaLy5t]

Hi Mark,

If have any further problems with the PC or if you need any help with building your PC you know where to find me.

Ross

[markbateman]

hi ross,thanks mate

[KaTaLy5t]

No problem