[Russ B]

I just acquired 2 computers from a friend of a friend who no longer needed them.

I got the first one working fine, did the routine format etc., and then I gave the second a whirl.

Basically, the light came on, but my Monitor's button that usually goes from orange to green when it's connected to an on computer, stayed orange, and yet, the computer still displayed a green 'on' light.

Taking into account it may just be the monitor, I switched to another 2 monitors, and had the same effect.

Could anyone shed any light on my problem? I spoke to my older brother who knows a bit about computers, and he suggested it could be the power supply unit?

Thanks very much for your time.

Russ B

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The amber light on the monitor indicates that the monitor is not receiving a signal from the computer.
Does the comp have a video card or is the video on board (reside on the motherboard)?
Can you start in safe mode? this loads default drivers. Could be a driver issue.
Have you checked all your monitor connections?

[123Runner]

The amber light on the monitor indicates that the monitor is not receiving a signal from the computer.
Does the comp have a video card or is the video on board (reside on the motherboard)?
Can you start in safe mode? this loads default drivers. Could be a driver issue.
Have you checked all your monitor connections?

[Russ B]

The amber light on the monitor indicates that the monitor is not receiving a signal from the computer.
Does the comp have a video card or is the video on board (reside on the motherboard)?
Can you start in safe mode? this loads default drivers. Could be a driver issue.
Have you checked all your monitor connections?

Well I'm not sure if it does have a Video Card, it may do, it may not, if I open it up could you tell me what I'm looking for? I'm quite lucky right now actually, because if I find it doesn't, I know that I have a spare lying around that I can use

I can't start it in safe mode, because the monitor displays nothing (black screen), so I cannot navigate to Safe Mode.

All monitor connections are fine, I know all 3 work because I've used them in the same way with my other computer that does work.

[Russ B]

bump

[luk79]

look for this

[123Runner]

Onboard video resides on the main board. A video card is just that. It is a card in 1 of the slots. It could be loose if you have 1. Or the slots dirty from sitting to long. Remove and reinstall it, if you have 1.

[jollyr]

There is another way to check. See if there is a video cable port somewhere at the back of the case. For newer computers, the area where the pins go is blue.

[Russ B]

look for this

Is this on the inside or outside of the computer?

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

I decided to let you guys take a look for yourselves. Here are photographs of the inside of the computer.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

[jester620]

looking at your picture #4, you have a video card installed in this computer. It also has 2 ports... if you are plugging into one of these, plug into the other one and see if it sends signal to your monitor.

if that doesn't work, with the power cable removed from the computer, and yourself properly grounded, remove the video card and replace it with the spare vid card you said that you have. you might want to be sure you have drivers for both of these cards as this may still be just a driver issue as 123 runner was saying.

FYI: if you are curious about what your pictures are:
2: @left, gray box: power supply. @center, with silver fins: heatsink for the processor (processor underneath) don't remove the heatsink, unless you know what you are doing. @just above the heatsink, RAM slots (Looks like all four are full) @right, AGP & PCI Slots

3: @left, CDROM/CDRW/DVDROM/DVDRW Drive (Depending on model of Dell computer you have. @top center, looks like probably a 3.5" floppy disk drive @top left, Hard Drive (looks like you have an extra slot for another hard drive if you want.)

4: Back panel showing input/outputs for: parallel printer, 2 com ports, ps/2 mouse and keyboard, Network port, 2 USB ports, and audio (pink:microphone, green:line-out, blue:line-in) in addition to your two ports for a monitor.

5: AGP & PCI slots @left black fins: northbridge heatsink

6: Processor Heatsink, Northbridge heatsink and RAM slots @top

Edited by jester620, 24 September 2007 - 11:45 AM.

[jollyr]

Looks like you have a video card installed, visible in picture 5, which has two external connectors, visible in picture 4.

(I edited your pictures to show the card and connectors only)
[attachment=15856:4a.jpg]
[attachment=15857:5a.jpg]

Connect the cable from your monitor to one of the connectors. If one does not work try the other. If both do not work, your video card may be malfunctioning.

[Russ B]

looking at your picture #4, you have a video card installed in this computer. It also has 2 ports... if you are plugging into one of these, plug into the other one and see if it sends signal to your monitor.

if that doesn't work, with the power cable removed from the computer, and yourself properly grounded, remove the video card and replace it with the spare vid card you said that you have. you might want to be sure you have drivers for both of these cards as this may still be just a driver issue as 123 runner was saying.

FYI: if you are curious about what your pictures are:
2: @left, gray box: power supply. @center, with silver fins: heatsink for the processor (processor underneath) don't remove the heatsink, unless you know what you are doing. @just above the heatsink, RAM slots (Looks like all four are full) @right, AGP & PCI Slots

3: @left, CDROM/CDRW/DVDROM/DVDRW Drive (Depending on model of Dell computer you have. @top center, looks like probably a 3.5" floppy disk drive @top left, Hard Drive (looks like you have an extra slot for another hard drive if you want.)

4: Back panel showing input/outputs for: parallel printer, 2 com ports, ps/2 mouse and keyboard, Network port, 2 USB ports, and audio (pink:microphone, green:line-out, blue:line-in) in addition to your two ports for a monitor.

5: AGP & PCI slots @left black fins: northbridge heatsink

6: Processor Heatsink, Northbridge heatsink and RAM slots @top

My gosh jester, thanks so much! I never thought I'd know what a Northbridge Heatsink is

So I just turned on the computer, same old same old, I switched to the other Slot for the Monitor Cable (the one I had yet to use) and it worked!

On first normal run it got to a blue screen while it tried to start-up windows, telling me the old "if this is the first time you've seen this, restart, if you, some new hardware or software had been bad!" so I popped in a Windows CD, ran it from that, and it's currently formatting upstairs

Thanks for all of your help so far, if any of you contributors need any Web Design / Graphic Design work done for you, I'll happily do it free of charge!

I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Russ.