[Mike+9]

Hi guys. I have a big problem with an old PC. I wen to a guy to try to fix it somehow. He had windows XP on it but was not working well because of his low specs: Pentium 4, 1,5Ghz , 360MB Ram and a Radeon 9550, 256 MB video card. I decided windows xp just won't do for it so I installed Lubuntu on it and was working pretty sweet considering the specs. Ok, so fine and dandy until now.

Then I decided to see if he has some open slots for some RAM and opened the case, saw he doesn't have any empty and put it back. Then surprise, the monitor was telling me "No Signal Detected".

What I have tried to fix this until now:

1. Restart it a couple of times. Nothing happens.
2. Try using a different monitor since he had 2 working ones. The second one did the same.
3. Opened the case again and unplugged and plugged again all the wires. Nothing happened.
4. Tried removing the HDD and DVD Writer. Nothing.
5. Tried removing then all the RAM sticks. Nothing. And also weird, shouldn't the mother board make a beeping sound or something because to RAM is inserted?
6. Inserted the RAM back and tried removing the video card and putting it back. Still nothing...
7. Tried resetting the CMOS. Nothing.
8. I have checked the leds, HDD is working, DVD Writer has power and working, Video card has power and the fan seems to be working too.


What I will try tomorrow:
1. I will go with my laptop to him and try to connect it to his monitors just to be 100% sure they did not broke at the same time...
2. I think I might also take my LCD monitor and test it just to be 100% sure.

And that's about it. The stupid thing about this is that his father doesn't want to let me get the PC at my place and test it out. I'll try again tomorrow to convince him that I have a lot of work to do and a lot of stuff to carry to him just to fix it. And if that doesn't work I'll just tell him that by carrying all this stuff and working so much I will charge him a lot for this. Maybe that will make him come to his senses.

Any ideas on what it might be and how to fix it until then?

[modi123_1]

I don't know where you are getting your information from, but I have had winXP on a 500mhz (megahertz) and it was okay. In fact the site advocates this as the min specs:

Quote

Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600)or higher resolution

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865


Back to your problem - when you say the screen won't turn on is that it? Would the case's lights come on? Hard drive spin up?

If those work then you should be looking at the video card/connector.

When you unplugged everything - are you sure you have the video cable in the right area? If there's an onboard videocard and a separate video card installed make sure to plug into the card and not the onboard.

[Mike+9]

modi123_1, on 23 August 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:

I don't know where you are getting your information from, but I have had winXP on a 500mhz (megahertz) and it was okay. In fact the site advocates this as the min specs:

Quote

Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600)or higher resolution

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865

True, but I have been using windows XP on my PC which is a Pentium 4 with 3,0 Ghz and 1 GB ram and it has always consumed about 300MB ram just by turning it on. And not the mention that without an antivirus you are practically dead in a few months tops, especially when you are a bit newbie.

Quote

Back to your problem - when you say the screen won't turn on is that it?

Yes, exactly.

Quote

Would the case's lights come on?

Yup, just like they should.

Quote

Hard drive spin up?

Yup, but even if it didn't, it doesn't even display the start up screen which always came up.

Quote

If those work then you should be looking at the video card/connector.
When you unplugged everything - are you sure you have the video cable in the right area?
If there's an onboard videocard and a separate video card installed make sure to plug into the card and not the onboard.

So yes, I have plugged everything it its right place. And no, it doesn't have an on board video card.

This post has been edited by Mike+9: 23 August 2012 - 12:10 PM

[modi123_1]

Odd - I've never had it eat up that much ram, but what evs..

Did you bend a pin on the monitor cord? Is the cord frayed? Did you bend a capacitor when you arbitrarily decided to take everything apart? Is the card fully seated? Do you have a picture of the rear of this computer? What sort of monitor is it?

[Mike+9]

modi123_1, on 23 August 2012 - 12:16 PM, said:

Odd - I've never had it eat up that much ram, but what evs..

Did you bend a pin on the monitor cord?

Nope, and I used 2 different cords from 2 different monitors, so I doubt I could have broken both at the same time. But I will check again tomorrow just to be 100% sure.

Quote

Is the cord frayed?

Nope, none of them are.

Quote

Did you bend a capacitor when you arbitrarily decided to take everything apart.

Not that I know of, except maybe for a little capacitor on the video card. But I bend it just a tiny bit, nothing broke. I tried finding somebody with a motherboard that supports this video card to test it but haven't found anyone yet...

Quote

Is the card fully seated?

As in in its place? If yes, then yes.

Quote

Do you have a picture of the rear of this computer?

Nope but I will make one tomorrow if nothing else works.

Quote

What sort of monitor is it?

I can hardly remember what monitors they were, but I'm just 100% sure they were different makers, in different years for sure, you can notice how one of it is like 2-3 years newer at least than the other one. Also one is 19 inch and one 15.


I wouldn't be surprised to go tomorrow and see that it works just fine... Something like those little problems you just can't explain.

[Mike+9]

I went today and I put the video card back in and after a restart voila, it worked from the beginning. I guess it just didn't connected like it should to the mother board. Weird but fixed.

[modi123_1]

Yeah.. damn connections.

[Bort]

Yeah, I have seen this problem happen any number of times, not just with graphics cards either, but with any type of card that plugs into a motherboard.

My first test is to pull it out, give both the card and the slot a quick blow to clear any dust that might be caught in there, then resit the card into it's slot. Make sure it is sitting comfortably (properly), then boot the PC back up.

More often than not, unless something is horribly wrong, this will fix it.

[Mike+9]

Bort, on 11 September 2012 - 08:42 AM, said:

Yeah, I have seen this problem happen any number of times, not just with graphics cards either, but with any type of card that plugs into a motherboard.

My first test is to pull it out, give both the card and the slot a quick blow to clear any dust that might be caught in there, then resit the card into it's slot. Make sure it is sitting comfortably (properly), then boot the PC back up.

More often than not, unless something is horribly wrong, this will fix it.

I know, I tried this like 5 times. The guy was starting to look at me and probably wonder if I actually know what I do.
It's so funny how most people I go to actually think that I know anything there is to know about PCs and that I can fix anything in just one second. So many times I said I need to check out at home for some fixes on the net and then come back to you.

[Bort]

Mike+9, on 11 September 2012 - 06:24 PM, said:

I know, I tried this like 5 times. The guy was starting to look at me and probably wonder if I actually know what I do.
It's so funny how most people I go to actually think that I know anything there is to know about PCs and that I can fix anything in just one second. So many times I said I need to check out at home for some fixes on the net and then come back to you.

I know, depressing isn't it?

You fix a computer once or twice, and give some simple advice to a couple of people, and all of a sudden, you are their favourite PC guru who can fix anything.

[Mike+9]

Bort, on 12 September 2012 - 05:07 AM, said:

Mike+9, on 11 September 2012 - 06:24 PM, said:

I know, I tried this like 5 times. The guy was starting to look at me and probably wonder if I actually know what I do.
It's so funny how most people I go to actually think that I know anything there is to know about PCs and that I can fix anything in just one second. So many times I said I need to check out at home for some fixes on the net and then come back to you.

I know, depressing isn't it?

You fix a computer once or twice, and give some simple advice to a couple of people, and all of a sudden, you are their favourite PC guru who can fix anything.

I don't mind the fact that people I go to make me their Go To guy when having problems with their PC. I still get paid for that so it's OK with me. And I usually fix everything, it's just that it takes time and a lot of testing to see what works and what not and some people think that it means I'm just not good enough at what I do. Like those guys at PC services don't search the net for problems... It's just that they do it when the clients are not there to monitor them. Well people have to chose: $20 at a service or $10 at me. And yeah, those are low prices but in Romania those are the prices.

This post has been edited by Mike+9: 13 September 2012 - 01:58 AM

[modi123_1]

Ha.. the Oatmeal dealt with this..

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers

[Bort]

Haha, excellent. They know exactly what it is like

[Mike+9]

Haha, I knew that one and it's so so true. But when I see things going that way I just say no because I have a lot of stuff to do to get money to live and if they don't say they will pay me I just say no, and no, and no until they stop bugging me.