Troubleshooting No Signal to Monitor

[brewnog]

Ayoy hoy,

I've just finished building up a new computer. However, no signal seems to be getting to the monitor.

I've tried three different graphics cards (both PCI and AGP), and two different monitors. The motherboard has got power, but my thoughts are that I've been sold a dodgy motherboard.

Any takers?

 

[Pengwuino]

Clear the bios and if that doesn't work, pull out and re-insert the BIOS battery.

 

[brewnog]

Cheers Pengwuino,

How would I go about clearing the bios?

I've not managed to boot this thing up yet, since I can't see anything on the screen!

 

[Integral]

Do you get the POST beep?

I would recommend removing the MB (with memory and CPU in place) from the case, sit it on a piece of cardboard (the MB box works great) now connect the power supply, the vid card, the case speaker, keyboard, and mouse.

(no disk drives) does it post now?

A common fail of newly mounted MBs is a case short, this eleminates that as a possibility.

Note edit of "now disk dirves" to "no disk drives"!

 

[brewnog]

Cheers Integral.

I don't get the POST beep. I didn't install the mobo myself, it was factory fitted so it's less likely to be a short. I'll give it a whirl tomorrow and see what happens!

 

[Pengwuino]

To clear teh bios, you need to know where the BIOS jumper is. Unfortunately, if its made at a factory, its probably going to be hard to find without the manual. If you knew where it was, you would put a jumper to the "clear" setting and then back to normal.

You can take the battery out however and wind up with the same result i believe...

 

[Integral]

What sort of computer is it? Dell? HP? Gateway? or from somewhere like TigerDirect. If you know the Make and model of the Mobo post it. All the info you can provide will aid in troubleshooting.
You are correct that you should not be seeing a case short in a factory assembled system. The big question is, will my proposal void any warentees?


The failure to post indicates a problem deeper then the vid card.

Are you getting fans to turn on? If not then, do you have a multimeter? If so you may want to check the power ok signal to the mother board. There should be +5V on pin 8 (the grey wire between a purple and a black wire) of the 20 pin power supply connector. If you do not have that signal the mother board will not start up. This could indicate a bad power supply.

 

[Chronos]

What cpu/mb combo are you using? Some are just not compatible. Online wholesalers have been known to offer combo packages that are not, shall we say, marriages made in heaven. I know this from experience.

 

[Chronos]

An aside - when installing a new mb in an existing case, remove/reposition any metallic studs that do not mate with the new screw pattern. The old studs might be shorting out the new board on the backside.

 

[hypermorphism]

Also, be sure you have the right amount of power. Newer motherboards and GPUs require more power from the power supply and will do nothing but show the power light and spin up the fans if you turn the system on with not enough power connected. The newer motherboards would need two separate power connectors to the motherboard and a standard power connector to the GPU card.

 

[vincentm]

Ayoy hoy,

I've just finished building up a new computer. However, no signal seems to be getting to the monitor.

Tried resetting the Video Card? What are the Computer's specifications? How old is the Monitor(s)

I've tried three different graphics cards (both PCI and AGP), and two different monitors. The motherboard has got power, but my thoughts are that I've been sold a dodgy motherboard.

Any takers?

Again Complete Specs would be nice. If you suspect a power supply issues try this link
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
Then follow my advise on Computer hardware in the pinned topic in this section :) cheers and good luck

 

[brewnog]

Thanks for help guys. Clearing the BIOS didn't help, neither did changing video cards or memory. Power is all fine, lights come on, fans spin up etc. It's a Shuttle XPC SN45GV3 with an AMD Sempron 2800 in it. We bought it as a barebones system (with power supply and mobo already installed), the PSU and mobo are designed to be used with each other, and everything's connected.

Anyway, it's gone back to the shop, so we'll see if they can sort it out.

Thanks again!