[Sinfamous]

So here's the deal. A friend of mine recently gave me his old work computer, actually, it's very NEW in terms of speed, etc. His work went out of business, he wanted the harddrive from it, that was it, gave me the rest. The original model was an HP Pavilion a820n. I figure build myself a new, very fast Linux machine for play.

Specs:

Processor
•
Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 540J with Hyper-Threading Technology(a)
Processor Speed
•
3.20GHz
Cache
•
L2 Cache = 1MB
Bus Speed
•
800MHz Front-side Bus
Memory
•
512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM memory (2x256MB for ultimate performance) (expandable
(expandable to 4GB)(b)
Hard Drive
•
200GB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive© -- Removed, replaced with 80gig
Optical Drive(s)
•
CD-ROM drive 48x max. speed
•
LightScribe Double Layer 16X DVD±R/RW drive with CD writer capabilities: 16x DVD+R,
DVD+R, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD±RW, 2.4x DVD+R DL, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CDR, 24x CDRW,
CDRW, 40x CD-ROM(d)
Video Graphics
•
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with up to 128MB shared video memory
Network Interface
•
Integrated 10/100Base-T network interface
Sound
•
Intel® High Definition Audio, 8 speaker configurable
Fax/Modem
•
56k modem(e)
Memory Slots
•
4 DIMM (184-pin DDR) (two available)
Expansion Slots
•
3 PCI (two available)
Expansion Bays
•
2 external 5.25"(occupied)
•
2 external 3.5" (Floppy Drive) -- Added by Me
•
1 internal 3.5" (occupied)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyways, here lies the problem:

He told me off the bat that the computer stopped turning on after he took it home from work. I automatically thought it was just user error, considering he didn't know much about computers. After taking it home, buying a new Hard Drive, etc, I booted it up. All the bells and whistles were firing, the light came on, Both CD rom drives were checked, and I heard the hard drive check, but the Monitor was not recieving a signal.

I tried both adapters, video card, and onboard video. Neither gave a signal to the monitor. I tried several Monitors, all the same (Two Dell Monitors, Sony Monitor, Generic Monitor). I asked my friend, and he said that the Monitor at his office worked fine, but when he tried it on his Sony at home, it didn't.

Anyone know what this could be? My active imagination would lead me to believe that it's a conspiracy by HP to make it so HP Computers only work with HP Monitors. But I don't have an HP Monitor to test my theory. Heh, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!!

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01-Sinfamous-[HP Monitor Malfunction]-29th Nov 2006

I assume that the Keyboard & Monitor were not part of the PC acquisition.

Check Video Cable – Is it the – original – cable? Since it is a – Work Computer – Maybe [IT] did some innovative Cable wiring interlocking with the Monitor?? Maybe not for PC Security, but to prevent Monitors from walking.

Check Pin Layout for Standard Video Compatibility?? Monitor – Cable & PC – may need to be a matched set.

The same condition could apply to the Keyboard -

Jack123

Edited by Jack123, 29 November 2006 - 09:19 AM.

[Jack123]

01-Sinfamous-[HP Monitor Malfunction]-29th Nov 2006

I assume that the Keyboard & Monitor were not part of the PC acquisition.

Check Video Cable – Is it the – original – cable? Since it is a – Work Computer – Maybe [IT] did some innovative Cable wiring interlocking with the Monitor?? Maybe not for PC Security, but to prevent Monitors from walking.

Check Pin Layout for Standard Video Compatibility?? Monitor – Cable & PC – may need to be a matched set.

The same condition could apply to the Keyboard -

Jack123

Edited by Jack123, 29 November 2006 - 09:19 AM.

[Sinfamous]

I was thinking the same thing. I'm wondering also If it may have something to do with the BIOS, and the video display type in the BIOS. Maybe they use Digital Monitors at his work, maybe they aren't equipped for VGA Analog Monitors? I went ahead and ordered a DVI to VGA adapter, to see if that may work. I'm wondering if there is a jumper or something I can use to reset the BIOS... I'm not using the original cabled. I know the Monitors in fact work, one was my own from the computer I am on now. So peculiar. Could that be that the computer is setup only to work with his Monitor at work?

[Sinfamous]

I've tried everything. The Video card. I unplugged it after, and tried only onboard video. Tried resetting the CMOS settings, etc, that didn't do anything. The monitors are getting absolutely no signal from the VGA ports at all. I find it hard to believe that both video card, and onboard video are not working. The CPU Fans are running, could this possibly be motherboard failure!? I've never seen one that failed. Someone please help.

[Sinfamous]

I am totally the biggest dummy ever. Apparently, I had DDR266 RAM installed (PC2100), as opposed to DDR400 RAM (PC3200), which is the minimum requirement for this PC. So, upon correcting this, the monitor works. Voila. Sorry to waist your time, thank you for the assistance!!

[Jack123]

02-Sinfamous-[HP Monitor Malfunction]-30th Nov 2006

That is good news – Thanks for letting us know – We will close Topic-
Jack123