No Video... HELP!!!

LegendARRY · 09-30-2009, 07:04 PM

My computer just recently stopped outputting video. I tried a new monitor but that doesn't solve the problem. What's the easiest way to tell whether it's a hardware or software problem? My graphics card is pretty old, as is the rest of my system, but it's been working great 'till now. A few details: 2.6Ghz P4, 2GB RAM, GeForce 6800GT AGP 8X

When I boot, I see the POST then nothing...

aviation_man · 09-30-2009, 07:07 PM

It could be bad memory or a dying Graphics card.
Take out your memory, try another stick or just try one stick at a time. Hear any beeps at POST?
Take out the CMOS battery and stick it back in to reset it.

schw32m · 09-30-2009, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendARRY

My computer just recently stopped outputting video. I tried a new monitor but that doesn't solve the problem. What's the easiest way to tell whether it's a hardware or software problem? My graphics card is pretty old, as is the rest of my system, but it's been working great 'till now. A few details: 2.6Ghz P4, 2GB RAM, GeForce 6800GT AGP 8X

When I boot, I see the POST then nothing...

Going to need a few more details than this to make a valid diagnosis.

What is the MB?
Is it overclocked?

Are you overclocking the card?

I have a GeForce 6600GT which has the same specs as the 6800 in one of my rigs and I do know that sometimes they can get a bit picky about the drivers they use.

LegendARRY · 09-30-2009, 10:23 PM

The MoBo is an Asus P4V8X-X, bout 5-6 years old. Nothing is OC'd.

I don't hear any beeps at post, but sometimes I don't even see the post.

aviation_man · 09-30-2009, 10:29 PM

Ok, have you tried to take out your graphics card, and try to get your monitor to run off of the onboard graphics?

LegendARRY · 09-30-2009, 10:35 PM

Hahaha, the MoBo has no on-board graphics. My next thought is to put in a diff graphics card and see if that works but if it's a diff card am I gonna run into driver issues?

aviation_man · 09-30-2009, 10:40 PM

That would be your next step, to try another graphics card. Drivers wouldn't exactly be the issue right now, we're just using trial and error to find out what component on your computer is preventing the display of video.

LegendARRY · 09-30-2009, 11:01 PM

What about booting into safe mode? If I get video in safe mode it's prob not hardware right? But the next thing is if I do get video in safe mode what do I look for next?

schw32m · 09-30-2009, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendARRY

What about booting into safe mode? If I get video in safe mode it's prob not hardware right? But the next thing is if I do get video in safe mode what do I look for next?

Okay others have suggested this so I won't repeat any of it other than to confirm... try to go into safe mode first and see if everything comes up.. at least if it does then you know that the primary problem is not the card but the software drivers for 6800GT...

First thing I would check is to see if the BIOS has the AGP port as the primary display. Some boards allow you to set the primary (even if they don't have on-board vid) as either AGP or PCI or several other choices depending on the BIOS and board features.

Make sure the setting is correct.

I have had this happen before when you update the BIOS it will do a default reset and change a lot of settings you may have had.

If everything comes up in safe mode then chances are the video driver will get reset to standard VGA. When you re-boot as normal the system will come up sans the 6800GT drivers... you would then re-install the drivers and it should solve the problem. Make sure you have the latest drivers for the 6 series cards available from NVidia.

If it doesn't solve it and you have another vid card around, (this is why I keep a couple old S3 cards in the tool box) replace it, set BIOS, and try the whole process again.

aviation_man · 09-30-2009, 11:04 PM

Let's try to see if we can actually get into safe-mode first.

Then yes, it'd be a software issue if you can get into safe-mode. Have you tried Safe-mode yet? Do you have an extra video card you can try?

09-30-2009, 07:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
LegendARRY New Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: SI NY Posts: 5	No Video... HELP!!! My computer just recently stopped outputting video. I tried a new monitor but that doesn't solve the problem. What's the easiest way to tell whether it's a hardware or software problem? My graphics card is pretty old, as is the rest of my system, but it's been working great 'till now. A few details: 2.6Ghz P4, 2GB RAM, GeForce 6800GT AGP 8X When I boot, I see the POST then nothing...

09-30-2009, 07:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
aviation_man Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Somewhereland Posts: 2,133	It could be bad memory or a dying Graphics card. Take out your memory, try another stick or just try one stick at a time. Hear any beeps at POST? Take out the CMOS battery and stick it back in to reset it. __________________ OSWindows 7 CPU>AMD Phenom x4 2.9GHz Black Edition 9950MOBO ASUS M3A78-EMRAM>CORSAIR DOMINATORX DDR2 1066MHz 4GBHDD>Western Digital 75GB> Maxtor 150GB--HDD2>Seagate 500GBGPU> ATI Radeon HD 3200 Want to Make $$$$ with your Computer? No Risk! Simply press shift+4 four times in a row FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND:F@H Team 44358 Last edited by aviation_man; 09-30-2009 at 09:18 PM.

09-30-2009, 10:29 PM	#5 (permalink)
aviation_man Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Somewhereland Posts: 2,133	Ok, have you tried to take out your graphics card, and try to get your monitor to run off of the onboard graphics? __________________ OSWindows 7 CPU>AMD Phenom x4 2.9GHz Black Edition 9950MOBO ASUS M3A78-EMRAM>CORSAIR DOMINATORX DDR2 1066MHz 4GBHDD>Western Digital 75GB> Maxtor 150GB--HDD2>Seagate 500GBGPU> ATI Radeon HD 3200 Want to Make $$$$ with your Computer? No Risk! Simply press shift+4 four times in a row FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND:F@H Team 44358

09-30-2009, 10:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
aviation_man Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Somewhereland Posts: 2,133	That would be your next step, to try another graphics card. Drivers wouldn't exactly be the issue right now, we're just using trial and error to find out what component on your computer is preventing the display of video. __________________ OSWindows 7 CPU>AMD Phenom x4 2.9GHz Black Edition 9950MOBO ASUS M3A78-EMRAM>CORSAIR DOMINATORX DDR2 1066MHz 4GBHDD>Western Digital 75GB> Maxtor 150GB--HDD2>Seagate 500GBGPU> ATI Radeon HD 3200 Want to Make $$$$ with your Computer? No Risk! Simply press shift+4 four times in a row FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND:F@H Team 44358

09-30-2009, 11:04 PM	#10 (permalink)
aviation_man Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Somewhereland Posts: 2,133	Let's try to see if we can actually get into safe-mode first. Then yes, it'd be a software issue if you can get into safe-mode. Have you tried Safe-mode yet? Do you have an extra video card you can try? __________________ OSWindows 7 CPU>AMD Phenom x4 2.9GHz Black Edition 9950MOBO ASUS M3A78-EMRAM>CORSAIR DOMINATORX DDR2 1066MHz 4GBHDD>Western Digital 75GB> Maxtor 150GB--HDD2>Seagate 500GBGPU> ATI Radeon HD 3200 Want to Make $$$$ with your Computer? No Risk! Simply press shift+4 four times in a row FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND:F@H Team 44358

09-30-2009, 10:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
LegendARRY New Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: SI NY Posts: 5	The MoBo is an Asus P4V8X-X, bout 5-6 years old. Nothing is OC'd. I don't hear any beeps at post, but sometimes I don't even see the post.

09-30-2009, 10:35 PM	#6 (permalink)
LegendARRY New Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: SI NY Posts: 5	Hahaha, the MoBo has no on-board graphics. My next thought is to put in a diff graphics card and see if that works but if it's a diff card am I gonna run into driver issues?

09-30-2009, 11:01 PM	#8 (permalink)
LegendARRY New Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: SI NY Posts: 5	What about booting into safe mode? If I get video in safe mode it's prob not hardware right? But the next thing is if I do get video in safe mode what do I look for next?

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