No Video Signal

[kipwinter]

A couple years ago I did a build, My first build though I've been a sys op for 20 years, so I'm familiar with terms. All components were brand new but for a 300w PSU & Case. The sys. worked fine for six months then one day I booted and nothing came up on the screen though the fans, drives and Mobo were powered and working. I have a MSI KT4V socket A Mobo, 512 DDR 184 pin memory stick, a 8x AGP card, 120gig HDD, CDROM, DVD, 100MB ZIP, FDD and was working with XP Home. I swapped out the HDD, still nothing. Just bought a ASUS A7V8X-X Mobo and changed Mobo's, still no video signal, error msg. nothing. I got an RMA from MSI to return the 8x AGP CARD and in the mean time bought another 8x ASUS AGP card, stuck that in and the monitor says check video cable, no signal, though the fans are working and the drive lights come on, the eject buttons work, but I can't see nothing cause there is nothing on the screen but the no video signal msg. I put the HDD in this comp. as a slave and rescued some files, so the HDD works. I cut things back to (mobo-AGP Card, FDD, Memory stick & monitor) still nothing but a sys. that sounds like its working but has no video signal, cables are secure ect. the only thing I have not changed, are the AMD 2100+ CPU or the memory stick. I just ordered new memory and have a AMD 2500+ NEW IN THE BOX on stand by. And last the monitor is fine, its the one I'm looking at right now as I send this msg. I have it hooked up to an old Emachine I own. Any theories please let me know. Would a bad memory card cause no signal? I don't know? I know ya can usually see memory count up, but not in this, cause the display says no signal! I'm puzzled, No video signal = No error messages = No idea.....

[eagle1]

The cause for no signal can be a lot of things. It can be memory, the video card and even the CPU. Do a search in the forum as a lot of people have had this same problem.

I cut things back to (mobo-AGP Card, FDD, Memory stick & monitor) still nothing

Try this same thing but with the motherboard outside the case (to isolate a shorting problem).

[bullgator]

Have you tried it with a PCI video card instead of the AGP ?

[kipwinter]

After reading the posts, and as much as I hated it to be... "IT WAS THE AMD 2100+ CPU" I stuck in the new AMD 2500+ and hooked things back up and presto!!! I got the post test and Bios showin up. Now for what its worth? A couple years ago when this thing died the components were just 6 months old... I noticed my HDD "red" activity light, instead of lighting and flickering as it accessed the HDD as usual, it instead came on "red" and stayed on. No flicker, just a solid red light... Back then after swapping out the HDD with no success, I called MSI thinking it maybe the mobo? I got frustrated with their RMA procedures and just wrote off the Co. So now with this new Asus mobo I get the same problem right, So I'm thinkin - Whats up with this??? I got to much $$ tied up in this, I gotta get this thing workin... So I did RMA the MSI video card. In the meanwhile I get this Asus video card "V9520 Magic/T" 8x 64mb. Same thing... I read the posts hear and say what the hell, throw in the new CPU... and just in case I got some new ram being shipped as we speak. So in ending, I now have the Msi mobo the Msi video card when they return it telling me there is nothing wrong with it :-) a spare case the new memory thats on its way... Looks like I have another project on my hands;-) I'd like to take this time to thank all of you who replied to my dilemma... I know your time is valuable and I appreciate it. PS. After getting this Asus Sys. working. I find it keeps tripping up and restarting. It will stay running all night but as soon as the system is taxed it flips out and resets. It has improved allot since I got all the windows/XP updates and replaced video drivers, but it still 1) IE will shut click off and want me to send them an error notice 2) The graphical screen savers in MS Plus for windowsxp lock up animation, I ctrl/alt/del to get out of it. 3)I'll be trying to install a program and right in the middle of the install the dam thing will trip up and kick me out to the boot screen, in other words its resetting. JUST ONE MORE CHALLENGE TO CONQUER !!!!!!! I'll surf the posts... and don't be afraid to comment on this, what I believe to be software snafu... ;-)

[eagle1]

Automatic resetting issues can be caused by a couple of things like: Heating issues (check that your cpu has a good h/f combo), power issues (check your PSU) or RAM issues. But hey, if it is RAM, you got some modules coming !!!

[jpaul_johnson]

This post is kinda dated, but I did something similar once. I replaced a motherboard, installed all the peripherals, turned it on and it acted flakey until I reinstalled Windows. Then it was fine.

[kipwinter]

FYI, thanks a bunch for your help... this was the deal... With this ASUS Mobo you can run its related utility program called smart doc I believe. It has alarms that will sound if heat / voltages are out of wack. It had an option to monitor the psu so I checked its box and the alarm sounded. The low fan rpm alarm went off but that was because this psu is not plugged into the Mobo and thus does not send a true psu fan rpm speed reading to the program. But it got me thinking along with one of your responces. I have 4 case fans plus the factory AMD Heat Sink/Fan. But for some reason I stuck my hand behind the case to feel the psu fan output and it was very weak. I removed this psu and stuck in another and bingo the sys. stands strong. I believe as sugested it was my psu. What was happening was the thing would run and when the sys was taxed, the psu would heat up and reset. I plan on replacing the psu fan they go for about $5.00 and see if I can use it in another build. Thanx again for you time :-)