No signal?

spraybottle

New Member
I finally fixed my computer, but for some reason, my monitor gives me a "no signal" sign when I plug it in. I'm sure my video card is running because when I turn the computer on, the fan on the video card starts running.
 
The fan running shows that power is going to fan directly. You should try reseating the card itself to see if it lifted up in the slot. That would stop signal going out if the card itself was inactive. In the worst case the card itself simply QUIT?! Make sure you didn't forget to plug in the monitor too!
 
PC eye said:
The fan running shows that power is going to fan directly. You should try reseating the card itself to see if it lifted up in the slot. That would stop signal going out if the card itself was inactive. In the worst case the card itself simply QUIT?! Make sure you didn't forget to plug in the monitor too!
Hey, thanks for the quick reply, I tried putting it in a new slot, but apparently, it still doesn't work... I just don't see why it is not working unless it is a faulty graphics card or anything... Does the graphics card have to hook up to anything other than the slot and the power cable??
 
The only time you would connect anything extra would be for SLI or Crossfire with the interconnector there to run both cards. I trust you are running a PCI not AGP or PCI-Express card. How old is the card itself?
 
OUCH! Factory defect there buddy. Send it back as a reject and get a replacement while the dealer's warranty is still good. Don't let your money sink on a card that doesn't work. And have you tried another card in the same slots to rule out a board issue? It still sounds like a bad card there.
 
PC eye said:
OUCH! Factory defect there buddy. Send it back as a reject and get a replacement while the dealer's warranty is still good. Don't let your money sink on a card that doesn't work. And have you tried another card in the same slots to rule out a board issue? It still sounds like a bad card there.
No way... That's messed up... I dont' want to return it!!! I don't want to, I don't want to!!! T_T another week gone by!!!!
 
If the card is no good you will still have to replace it anyway. You could use a spare if one is available even to borrow until the replacement came in. You can't run a system too well without a working video card.
 
Lol, yeah I know, but are you sure that it is a defaulty video card? I have a video card on this old pc, but it is a pci slot video card, so I can't hook it up to my motherboard.
 
What make and model is the board was it on? You mentioned moving the card to different slots suggesting a bad card. If the AGP/PCI setting in the bios was set at agp that would prevent normal use while you still should see something during the initial powerup and post tests. But that would be on a board with either agp or pci-e capability. The last item to consider is a possible board fault where the voltage isn't there to power the card.
 
PC eye said:
What make and model is the board was it on? You mentioned moving the card to different slots suggesting a bad card. If the AGP/PCI setting in the bios was set at agp that would prevent normal use while you still should see something during the initial powerup and post tests. But that would be on a board with either agp or pci-e capability. The last item to consider is a possible board fault where the voltage isn't there to power the card.

Hmm, I see, my model is a Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI Motherboard which is a pci-e slot mobo. And the video card is a pci-e slot video card which is a
HIS Hightech Radeon X850XT HX85XTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II Video Card. I can't really test to see if it is not getting enough volts but I don't think that is the reason because when I turn the psu on, the fan starts running. So, I'm getting ready to pack the stuff now. Do you think that I should ask for the same item, or something else?
 
Being that it is a PCI-Express not PCI as you have been indicating you have a choice of even swap for the replacement or credit towards a different model if not a different brand. If you want that make and model card you demand a replacement for this one. If you want to go with a better model or another brand then you have partial payment by returning this one. Or you could simply go after the refund and buy somewhere else.

When a friend recently went through two bad boards that same question was asked about going with another model or brand. Another model has been up and running for months now. But to get a newer model you will have to add to what you have already spent if you can't find an equivalent priced card.
 
Essentially clearing the cmos will do the same thing as setting the AGP/PCI setting in the bios to the default PCI which is where it is supposed to be for PCI-Express as well as an older style pci card. Have you looked in the bios to see which setting that is on?
 
PC eye said:
Essentially clearing the cmos will do the same thing as setting the AGP/PCI setting in the bios to the default PCI which is where it is supposed to be for PCI-Express as well as an older style pci card. Have you looked in the bios to see which setting that is on?

Well, the problem is, I can't see through anything, so I wouldn't be able to check what is going on, on the bios.
Hmm, a neighbor of mine generously donated his pci-e video card to let me try and see if this worked. I tried it, and it still gave me the no signal sign. I'm sure the video card works because my neighbor uses it also, and he has no problem with it. So I guess it might not be a faulty video card!

Question: Does the hard drive only have to plug in, in two differen't places? The power chord and the plug that hooks up to the mobo? Because I see another place where it could hook up, and I can't find anything that would fit that.
 
I guess you are finding out the difference between a Socket 939 board and an older Socket A type. The hard drive is connected by the ide cable for ide drives and the SATA cable to either a SATA plugin on the board or controller card. Then you simply plug in the power plug. Just remember to set the jumper pin to the correct position according to the position on the cable for an ide drive.

On the new lineup of Socket 939 AMD boards you will have a new 4 wire connector to add to the list of items coming from the power supply. The new connector plugs into the board right near the insertion socket. Without that plugged in the system will not boot.
 
PC eye said:
Just remember to set the jumper pin to the correct position according to the position on the cable for an ide drive.

o.O So, I'm not too sure what you mean by setting the jumper pin to the correct position... Could you go further in that, because I'm not too sure if I have done that or not...
 
By default a new drive will come with the jumper usually seen on the cable select position. You will find the jumper at the rear of the drive casing where there are three pairs of pins with a plastic cap on one pair. You will see MA, CS, and SL stamped in the casing itself as a rule. If the end of the cable is used that would be the master(MA). If you are using the center connector that would be set to slave(SL). Cable select(CS) is often used when you are either unsure of which cable position the drive is connected to or when one or more drives can not be accessed after booting the system.
 
PC eye said:
By default a new drive will come with the jumper usually seen on the cable select position. You will find the jumper at the rear of the drive casing where there are three pairs of pins with a plastic cap on one pair. You will see MA, CS, and SL stamped in the casing itself as a rule. If the end of the cable is used that would be the master(MA). If you are using the center connector that would be set to slave(SL). Cable select(CS) is often used when you are either unsure of which cable position the drive is connected to or when one or more drives can not be accessed after booting the system.
Oh, I see, but I honestly can't find the jumper. I'll just search it on google to get some more information. But other than this, do you think there is any other reason on why my monitor gives me a 'No signal' sign when I try to get it to work? What I'm going to try tommorow, because it's getting kinda late, is go ask my neighbor to see if I can hook up my video card on his system to see if it works.
 
Last edited:
Are you running an eide or Serial ATA drive? On an ide drive there is a rectangular opening on the back of the drive with 6 small pins in the opening there. The small plastic cap has a metal contact on the inside that determines what the bios will see when it detects the drive and assigns an address to it. The operating system is installed to the master on the cable due to the bios looking there first to load it. Generally you have to use a pair of tweezers or a small pair of pliers to lightly grab ahold of it to pull out and move over to one of the other positions.

One thing that you haven't been able to try is going into the bios to check the agp/pci setting is correct. Clearing the cmos by removing the battery on the board for a few seconds and replacing it would set the board back to the factory defaults. That would also set the agp/pci to pci. You would then have to set the time and date followed by moving with the arrow key to the exit and save position to then press enter or press F10 for it to leave the bios and restart the system. But you would still need something onscreen after the cmos was cleared. If the card is good when tried in another case then try clearing the cmos to see if that gets something onscreen. Otherwise you are probably looking at a bad board rather then bad card. The other video card that is known good didn't work either.
 
Back
Top