PC Display Problem

[James79]

Hopefully someone will be able to shed a bit of light on this problem!! If you know anything about Dell PCs, Id be even more impressed!

I'll give you the run down of the problem.

Wednesday
PC had been on for a matter of hours. I had been downstairs (away from the computer) for a while - so it had gone into power save mode. When I clicked on my account name, it loaded up as expected. The picture then disappeared and the monitor went into power save mode (the status light went from green to orange).

I rebooted the machine and everything was working fine with no evident problems.


Thursday
PC worked normally - no problems whatsoever.


Friday.
Came home from work - turned pc and monitor on, but monitor goes intopower save mode as described previously, however the PC sounds as if it is loading (or at least working - whether it gets to the login screen of Windows XP - I am unsure).

Anyway, to troubleshoot:
I have used a different lead (the graphics card has 2 DVI ports & no VGA ports);
I have tested the monitor with a laptop (the laptop display being shown on the monitor), and;
I have tested the PC with my TV - this says "No Signal".


I have contacted Dell by email to report the fault, but as yet, I have heard nothing from them.

I think the problem rests with the graphics card and more particularly the DVI Ports, and have advised Dell accordingly.

The PC is a three year old Dell Dimension 8400 running Windows XP.

Thanks for any assistance!

James

[David F]

could be as simple as a poorly fitted gfx card might just need reseating

[damien c]

have you tried both dvi ports as mine sometimes won't give signal to the monitor but or it comes up with a orangey/yellowish look, then i switch to the second dvi and it displays everything fine.
does it by any chance have a onboard vga option or is it just the separate graphics card? if it does you could always try that see if it works that would then confirm wheter it is the card or not.

[James79]

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

could be as simple as a poorly fitted gfx card might just need reseating

I opened the PC case up on Saturday to see if anything was untoward. The card appears to have a bracket around it to prevent it from dislodging. However, I'll check again, when I get home from work.

Originally Posted by damien c

have you tried both dvi ports as mine sometimes won't give signal to the monitor but or it comes up with a orangey/yellowish look, then i switch to the second dvi and it displays everything fine.
does it by any chance have a onboard vga option or is it just the separate graphics card? if it does you could always try that see if it works that would then confirm wheter it is the card or not.

Ive tried both DVI ports. I noticed a few months ago that one was giving off an odd colour (blue/green/purple) - is this a sign of a fault too? I had then swapped to the other DVI port with which I experienced no problems, until now.

Unfortunately, there is no onboard VGA option - just the graphics card.

By all means, keep the ideas flowing!!

[damien c]

i couldnt say if the card was faulty because of the colours because i just swap to the other port.
have you got another graphics card lying around or in another pc that you could try in it?

if the card is in properly then i could only suggest the card is probably going to be faulty especially since you said when you connect to the tv you get "no signal".

[James79]

Originally Posted by damien c

i couldnt say if the card was faulty because of the colours because i just swap to the other port.
have you got another graphics card lying around or in another pc that you could try in it?

if the card is in properly then i could only suggest the card is probably going to be faulty especially since you said when you connect to the tv you get "no signal".

Unfortunately, I dont have another card lying about.

I dont have much faith in Dell responding to the email I sent to them. So, it looks like I will be on the phone to them tomorrow.

Luckily, Ive got another 49 days left on my warranty. Occurences like this are one sure-fire way of getting someone to renew their warranty!!

[damien c]

yep that is true

[James79]

An update.

I rang Dell this evening (having not received a reply to my email).

I discussed the problem with the "technician" and we went through a few troubleshooting scenarios.

At first, they tried to point towards a fault with the monitor, however when I ran through the steps I had taken to try an remedy the problem, they were very grateful as I had apparently made their job much easier. They agreed that the problem seemed to be with the graphics card.

They are sending out a new graphics card (I will replace this - how hard can it be!!??). That is due to arrive on Wednesday. In the meantime, the existing card has to be removed and handed over to the person delivering the new one.

Hopefully, this should rectify the problem!! Fingers crossed!!

[damien c]

lets hope so mate

[James79]

Just another (and hopefully final) update.

The "new" graphics card arrived safe and well on Wednesday afternoon. So, with this in mind I embarked on a mission to obtain a can of compressed air to give the inside of the PC a good clean.

I went to PC World, and when I couldnt see what I was looking for, I asked one of the guys where you get your PC "fixed". He said that it was out of stock and that they didnt even have a can themselves. I was horrified when he said that they had resorted to "sticking the vacuum cleaner in" to get rid of any dust!!

Anyhow, on a happier note, I was able to install the new card. Turned on the machine and hey presto, it worked!! The tech from Dell even rang to see if everything was alright with the computer!!

You know, on reflection, Dell really isnt a bad company. The only problem is the stress caused by a PC failure and the amount of time spent on the telephone - waiting on a tech becoming available so that you can discuss it with them!! Resolution in my three cases has been acceptable! Or am I delusional!??!

[Jon T]

A vaccum cleaner is a fairly widely accepted way of cleaning you pc, infact it's in the A+ training/exam.

You just need to be carefull not to damage component's a) physically or b)by any static that may build up at the end of the hoover pipe.