Computer Help (Video related) Needed

I bought a Dell 4600 about a year ago, (P4 3.0, 1GB RAM, CDRW, DVD)and
added the Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB AGP card that I had from my old rig.

In the last week I have had this happen to me twice:

I press the power button for the computer and I hear it power up and
begin booting WinXP. However, I get no video signal to the monitor.
There is no error message or the <beep> that you get if there was no
video card or a display device connected. As I recall, the machine
wouldn't even boot if that was the case.

The first time it happened, I tried a different monitor and that wasn't
the issue as it did the same thing on both an LCD and a CRT monitor. I
then removed and reseated the video card and it worked again. Worked
fine for about a week and then this morning it happened again.

Can anyone offer a suggestion as to the cause? I suppose a dying video
card is one thing, but the warranty on the computer itself expires soon
and if it's a mobo issue, then I need to contact Dell ASAP. I'd hate to
buy a video card and find out it's the computer itself.

The biggest problem is that it happens so (relatively) infrequently,
that trying to pinpoint the issue may carry me past the warranty
period.

I can only hope that someone has experienced or troubleshot a similar
problem and can shed some light on the real issue.

Thanks.

"Darus" > wrote in news:1130778988.746426.99100
@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> I bought a Dell 4600 about a year ago, (P4 3.0, 1GB RAM, CDRW, DVD)and
> added the Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB AGP card that I had from my old rig.
>
> In the last week I have had this happen to me twice:
>
> I press the power button for the computer and I hear it power up and
> begin booting WinXP. However, I get no video signal to the monitor.
> There is no error message or the <beep> that you get if there was no
> video card or a display device connected. As I recall, the machine
> wouldn't even boot if that was the case.

Hi Darus. There have been some well publicized, but never solved issues
with Radeon cards that don't boot. I've got a 9800pro that was doing it,
exchanging it for a new one solved it. What usually works is: before
booting up or when it fails to boot, disconnect the power supply, either by
turning it(the power supply) on and off with it's power switch if it has
one or just unplug it and then plug it back in, then reboot. If you still
have time to exchange the card under warranty I would suggest you do. Don

read up:

http://forums.viaarena.com/messagevi...threadid=42582
&STARTPAGE=9&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

Did you plug in the 12v power connector into the 9800P?

"Darus" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I bought a Dell 4600 about a year ago, (P4 3.0, 1GB RAM, CDRW, DVD)and
> added the Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB AGP card that I had from my old rig.
>
> In the last week I have had this happen to me twice:
>
> I press the power button for the computer and I hear it power up and
> begin booting WinXP. However, I get no video signal to the monitor.
> There is no error message or the <beep> that you get if there was no
> video card or a display device connected. As I recall, the machine
> wouldn't even boot if that was the case.
>
> The first time it happened, I tried a different monitor and that wasn't
> the issue as it did the same thing on both an LCD and a CRT monitor. I
> then removed and reseated the video card and it worked again. Worked
> fine for about a week and then this morning it happened again.
>
> Can anyone offer a suggestion as to the cause? I suppose a dying video
> card is one thing, but the warranty on the computer itself expires soon
> and if it's a mobo issue, then I need to contact Dell ASAP. I'd hate to
> buy a video card and find out it's the computer itself.
>
> The biggest problem is that it happens so (relatively) infrequently,
> that trying to pinpoint the issue may carry me past the warranty
> period.
>
> I can only hope that someone has experienced or troubleshot a similar
> problem and can shed some light on the real issue.
>
> Thanks.
>

"Don Scurlock" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
> "Darus" > wrote in news:1130778988.746426.99100
> @g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
>
>> I bought a Dell 4600 about a year ago, (P4 3.0, 1GB RAM, CDRW, DVD)and
>> added the Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB AGP card that I had from my old rig.
>>
>> In the last week I have had this happen to me twice:
>>
>> I press the power button for the computer and I hear it power up and
>> begin booting WinXP. However, I get no video signal to the monitor.
>> There is no error message or the <beep> that you get if there was no
>> video card or a display device connected. As I recall, the machine
>> wouldn't even boot if that was the case.
>
> Hi Darus. There have been some well publicized, but never solved issues
> with Radeon cards that don't boot. I've got a 9800pro that was doing it,
> exchanging it for a new one solved it. What usually works is: before
> booting up or when it fails to boot, disconnect the power supply, either
> by
> turning it(the power supply) on and off with it's power switch if it has
> one or just unplug it and then plug it back in, then reboot. If you still
> have time to exchange the card under warranty I would suggest you do. Don

Yes, same problem here with a 9600 Pro. This helps for me: Turning off the
power supply -> pressing the ATX-Power-on-button a few times -> turning
power supply on again -> booting system

> read up:
>
> http://forums.viaarena.com/messagevi...threadid=42582
> &STARTPAGE=9&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear
>

1. Yes, the power supply is connected to the card.
2. No exchange of the card, it's about 2 years old.
3. Without having read the link provided (yet, I will though. Thanks),
is this an issue that comes up "at any time" or is it noticed right
away and continues until replaced? Seems a bit odd that it worked great
for 2 years and then all of a sudden exhibits problems that ppl. have
had as soon as they originally installed the card. I suppose it's
possible.

Here's something else that I have noticed. (Again it's a Dell.) When it
does boot correctly, the green power light on the case lights as well
as the busy light for the hard drive. When the video fails to work, the
same power light does not work. I can hear the computer running and can
see the green power light on the mobo. The 2 optical drives initialize
and flash the "in use" lights briefly as well. Just the power light
acts differently.

I keep forgetting.....

In the event that I <DO> need to go with a new card (and I hope I
don't), based on the specs above, what would be a good fit? I am
typically 1 generation behind in technology simply because I refuse to
pay the outrageous prices for technology that hasn't been implemented
by the mfg's yet. What would a good "shoot for the moon" card (very
pricey) and what would a good compromise card card be?

Primarily, the computer is used for GTL, rFactor and NR2003.

Thanks again.

> When the video fails to work, the same power light does not work.

Try swapping out the power supply. If that's not the issue you
can always return the power supply.

Be carefull, Dells have special powersupplys (or least they did for a while)
they look identicle but the multi wire plug that goes to the motherboard,
are wired differently.


Jeff Reid enlightened us with:
>> When the video fails to work, the same power light does not work.
>
> Try swapping out the power supply. If that's not the issue you
> can always return the power supply.

PlowBoy wrote:
> Be carefull, Dells have special powersupplys (or least they did for a while)
> they look identicle but the multi wire plug that goes to the motherboard,
> are wired differently.
>
>
> Jeff Reid enlightened us with:
> >> When the video fails to work, the same power light does not work.
> >
> > Try swapping out the power supply. If that's not the issue you
> > can always return the power supply.


Yes, they are proprietary.

I can't see the psu being the cause as it hasn't affected anything
else. I have plugged other free molex connectors to the gpu and I still
get the issue.

"Darus" > wrote in news:1130789216.846484.11010
@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> is this an issue that comes up "at any time" or is it noticed right
> away and continues until replaced? Seems a bit odd that it worked great
> for 2 years and then all of a sudden exhibits problems that ppl. have
> had as soon as they originally installed the card. I suppose it's
> possible.

Mine started doing it shortly after purchase, and seemed to get worse after
I installed a Artic Cooling VGA Silencer cooler(coincidental I think, and
it didn't improve with the OEM cooler replaced) Various tricks seemed to
cure it(cycling the power supply, using the secondary video output,
changing power supplies) but it always returned, and progressively got
worse. It is without question a design flaw in the card. Even though it's
out of warranty, considering the publicized history of the problem it might
be worth making a stink and trying to get it replaced, not much to lose.
Don