[peterc38]

Hi,

My PC does not seem to have power to keyboard and mouse. Num lock or caps lock do not light up on keyboard. There is power to monitor but no picture. When I turn PC off then back on it starts up but no display. I don't hear any other boot sounds i.e. beeps when powered on. This seemed to happen overnight while computer was on. With cover off I can see and hear fans in power supply and other cooling fans running. I have not made any major hardware changes lately. I did update BIOS about 6 weeks ago based on issues I was having with random shutdowns, the update seemed to resolve that problem.

Things I have tried so far that have not helped:

1.) different monitor
2,) reseated memory sticks and video card
3.) Took case cover off and blew out dust (there was a lot of dust on fans, etc.)
4.) checked to make sure everything is plugged in that is supposed to be
5.) removed then reinserted battery on motherboard after waiting 30 minutes
6.) tried unplugging lead on motherboard for reset switch (twisted blue/white wire)

PC is a Gateway GM5478, w/ core 2 quad Q6600 (2.4 ghz), 2 G DDR2 SDRAM, 500 G 7200 HD, Nvidia 8600 GTS graphics card, 400 watt Delta PSU. Keyboard is gateway PS2 vista compatible, mouse is USB optical. Motherboard is INtel (shroeder town ) G33, pt #4006194R. OS is Vista 32 bit.

I would appreciate any help that could be provided to fix this problem, thanks.

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Don't suppose you have a PSU tester do you? I would rule out a bad power supply first on this. If you don't have a tester or another PSU to drop in it, I would take it to a computer shop and see if they wouldn't give ya a freebie on this. Make it easy for them and just bring in the PSU. Would take them 30 seconds to plug it in and plug in the tester. If you have a few shops around maybe call them first and ask nicely.

[BryanW]

Don't suppose you have a PSU tester do you? I would rule out a bad power supply first on this. If you don't have a tester or another PSU to drop in it, I would take it to a computer shop and see if they wouldn't give ya a freebie on this. Make it easy for them and just bring in the PSU. Would take them 30 seconds to plug it in and plug in the tester. If you have a few shops around maybe call them first and ask nicely.

[peterc38]

Don't suppose you have a PSU tester do you? I would rule out a bad power supply first on this. If you don't have a tester or another PSU to drop in it, I would take it to a computer shop and see if they wouldn't give ya a freebie on this. Make it easy for them and just bring in the PSU. Would take them 30 seconds to plug it in and plug in the tester. If you have a few shops around maybe call them first and ask nicely.

Thanks, I pulled the PSU out last night and will try to have it tested after work today.

[Mark D]

If your system appears to power up but nothing happens, it is most likely a video problem. You could have a blown video card. I normally change out the PSU after testing a different video card in the system.

[peterc38]

Update: had the power supply tested after work at a PC repair shop. The tech said it is ok, which would seem to rule out a PSU issue.

He also said to check to see if fan on video card is running when power is on. I checked that and the fan is running. He said the model of card I have (EVGA) had some issues with the fans and he theorized that if the fan wasn't working it overheated chip (s). Could the video card still be bad?

He also said pull out RAM and see if PC beeps at start up. I did that and PC beeped at start up. He said no beeps would indicate a Motherboard problem.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Edited by peterc38, 17 November 2008 - 06:52 PM.

[Axelion]

I had this problem before.
Your motherboard appears to be broken

Did you happen to have frequent sudden black out?

Edited by Axelion, 17 November 2008 - 06:55 PM.

[BryanW]

geez, I woulda bet a dollar it was the PSU! I would do what Mark D suggested and take a look at the video card. If it isn't that then the motherboard may be bad as Axelion mentioned.

[Axelion]

Frequent black out may cause damage to PSU which made it sparks out a quick static to the motherboard.

[Mark D]

If your motherboard has a built in video system, just remove the video card and connect the monitor to your MB's video port. When you restart the system, it will activate the MB's video. That should confirm whether its the video card or not. The 1st thing all computers do is try to find a video output channel. If it can't find a video output, it will sit and wait, (that's why nothing else happens). Sorry I'm not too familiar w/ Gateway anymore, (they don't sell them down here).

[Axelion]

Very true, all motherboard has integrated graphic installed by the manufacture.

But peter said "My PC does not seem to have power to keyboard and mouse."
GPU doesn't do anything to external hardware unless it's motherboard's fault because USB and ps/2 ports are part of motherboard.

Edited by Axelion, 18 November 2008 - 02:16 AM.

[PcTestCard]

try reseat the CPU besides the above all suggestion.

Bill
Manager(tech)
www.PcTestCard.com

[Mark D]

Test your MB video before tearing up the CPU. Again, until a system finds a video outlet, NOTHING will appear to be working, (I think an USB optical mouse would have power though). You did pull your DDR chips and the system did beep, so it shouldn't be your MB /CPU.

Good Luck...

[peterc38]

If your motherboard has a built in video system, just remove the video card and connect the monitor to your MB's video port. When you restart the system, it will activate the MB's video. That should confirm whether its the video card or not. The 1st thing all computers do is try to find a video output channel. If it can't find a video output, it will sit and wait, (that's why nothing else happens). Sorry I'm not too familiar w/ Gateway anymore, (they don't sell them down here).

Mark, The MB does have built in video. I tried to connect monitor to that and got the same result, but I did not realize I had to remove video card first. I will try that tonight when I get home from work.

Is it safe to say that if the integrated video works that the problem is in the video card and if the integrated video does not work the problem is with the motherboard?

[Mark D]

Yes, If your integrated video on the MB works, then you have isolated the problem to your video card. If you still do not get any response, then I'm afraid its something else. Since you did the "remove memory chip and see if it beeps test", (with a beeping result), it indicates that the MB is active so it shouldn't be the CPU. Are there any other PCI cards on the system? I had a case where a modem was stopping a system from starting, (same symptoms as yours). Actually, the beep test should be run with all PCI/VGA/PCI-e cards removed as well. One other thought, don't get a fright if your system starts on the MB video and the screen is all screwed up, (once Windows starts). If your purchased your system with the video card installed, the assembler may have not loaded the MB video drivers... (I hate when that happens)...

[peterc38]

Yes, If your integrated video on the MB works, then you have isolated the problem to your video card. If you still do not get any response, then I'm afraid its something else. Since you did the "remove memory chip and see if it beeps test", (with a beeping result), it indicates that the MB is active so it shouldn't be the CPU. Are there any other PCI cards on the system? I had a case where a modem was stopping a system from starting, (same symptoms as yours). Actually, the beep test should be run with all PCI/VGA/PCI-e cards removed as well. One other thought, don't get a fright if your system starts on the MB video and the screen is all screwed up, (once Windows starts). If your purchased your system with the video card installed, the assembler may have not loaded the MB video drivers... (I hate when that happens)...

Ok, I removed video card and booted up with monitor connected to integrated video and that works.

Conclusion is my video card is toast and I need to replace, correct?