Could my monitor problem be the motherboard?

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squirrel15

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Feb 1, 2010
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My acer P191w monitor isnt working. I finally build my computer and I turned it on for the very first time, I got the monitor from my brother who never had any problems with the monitor before. Here is my build:
Thermaltake V9 case
Gigabyte 890gx mobo
Gskill 1600 cas 7 ripjaws ram
Antec truepower 750w PSU
ATI (xfx) 5850 (stock not overclocked)
Seagate barracuda hard drive
LG cd dvd writer
AMD 955 BE CPU

My monitor turns on fine, it says "ACER" then it says "no signal" about 4 seconds later. Both the mobo and monitor have a DVI cables/ports. My computer turns on fine, all the fans and PSU works too. I looked all over the internet and have tried the power cool down with the monitor (unplugging monitor and holding down the power button), I've tried unplugging and blowing in the cables and making sure theres not bend wires or anything and plugged them back in and still nothing. I have read that it could be the motherboard. Any ideas as to whats wrong and how I can fix it would help greatly. Thanks.
 
Solution
bilbat
OK - gimme a little bit to look into the G.Skill p/n, and I'll get back with some procedure; do you have a USB 'thumb drive' handy? (I'm sure you didn't bother with something so archaic as a floppy drive 😉 - they're damned handy for flashing BIOS...)

I'm a bit slow, here, had a 'plumbing disaster - ten gallons on water on the bathroom floor, replaced a supply line, water behind the shower enclosure, in the basement, and now it's threatening to drip into the power supply for my water-cooling setup built into the basement ceiling 😱

Couple things - the DVD connection 'type', and - do me a favor, pick any damn thing as 'best answer' (so I don't accidentally dig into it) and start a new thread - this is wearing out my scroll wheel :??:
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I had to short circuit the power switch since the switch attached to the case wasnt working I had to use a screwdriver to turn on the case. Now it wont even turn on. I'm going to call Gigabyte and Thermaltake about the motherboard and case because I had to short circuit the power switch because the connector from the case stopped working and I'm going to ask if i can RMA both parts.
 
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EEEKKK! I really wish you'd have told me this, before! I saw the 'spark' post last thing yesterday evening before my handfull of sleeping pills, and was literally afraid to look, this morning... There isn't much in the little 'box' surrounding your front panel header, but my guess is you've shorted something it couldn't survive... I can tell you how to troubleshoot your case's front panel switch, to see if you actually need to RMA it - do you have, or have access to, a VOM (volt-ohm meter, otherwise known as a 'multimeter'? Would look kind of like this:
http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032305
BTW, when RMAing, the less said about the actual cause, the better for you - "It worked a few times - it quit!"
 
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Again, "play it dumb" - just tell 'em "worked a couple times - don' work now!", and leave it at that - sticking a screwdriver into your board (although I recommend it all the time!) (and, you will note: I do say "you can just do this carefully" :pt1cable: ) might not be in your warranty!

In this 'electronic' day and age - every human being ought to own a multimeter - lasts forever, and infinitely handy - for infinitely many things! My opinion, Radio Shack charges too much (though my very favorite one is from them - no longer sold 🙁 ) - can likely pick one up at Harbor Freight (if you have one near) for $10, have seen tolerable ones at an occasional 'dollar store' for like 3-5$ - and am on my way to the ubiquitous WalMart - will see what they carry for how much...
 
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Ya, I told the place that it worked initally, stopped working after a while and I tested the powersupply and front panel wires on the case with a multimeter and everything worked fine. I didnt want to sound like I didnt know a thing about computers and that I did rule out and test the other components that might have been the problem. Hopefully it works. I should get an RMA number in the next 2 business days but i called the place and they said it could be as early as today.
 
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Nice electronic LCD VOM's at WalMart for $17 (one in the automotive dept. is probably preferable to the one in the electrical dept. - same price...); cheapy 'needle' type for $10, that'll work; $2 continuity tester in the electrical dept. that would suffice just to check the case pushbutton...
 
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Great news got my RMA number! I do live pretty close to the store that they shipped the product from so I'm going to call and see if I can drop off the product instead of paying for shipping and back and hoping it will get here before saturday since the place is about 10 mins away.
 
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Lucky. The only place I've ever RMA'd to was Newegg (in Whittier, CA) and I live in Florida. 🙁 Takes nearly two weeks.
 
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Great news got my RMA number! I do live pretty close to the store that they shipped the product from so I'm going to call and see if I can drop off the product instead of paying for shipping and back and hoping it will get here before saturday since the place is about 10 mins away.
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So, are you taking back just the MOBO, or the case, too? If just the MOBO, this'd be a good time to get that FP switch checked out :sarcastic:
 
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Its a st.patricks day miracle! My motherboard is working again! I have no idea how it happened. I was just about to take everything out and unscrew the motherboard but I thought, "it wouldnt hurt to try it again." and then IT TURNED BACK ON! lol and now its running the memtest again... So I rebooted and was able to update my BIOS. Rebooted, and I turned off the logo like you said before so I can check if the update worked. Rebooted and there it was! "F4"! Were back on track bilbat! Whats next?
 
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Ok - we're gonna leave it like that, and move on. Do the 'Baseline' save, power down, install vidcard in the X16 slot, (don't forget the extra power connection to it!); leave your monitor cable hooked up to the on-board; power up and then go into the BIOS:

First item on the "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page, enter the " IGX Confguration" sub-page

Disable "Internal Graphics Mode"

<ESC> twice back to main menu

Select the "Advanced BIOS Features" page

Set the bottom item, "Init Display First" to "PEG"

<F10> to save, exit, and reboot - during the reboot, switch the system end of the video cable to the VidCard port (try tho one closest to the board first - if no joy, try the other one (they usually initialize in that order)

and you should have video! We hope! [:bilbat:5]


 
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Nope, no luck. The monitor wont even get the signal from the computer with the video card in. It only works when the video card is out and is running with the onboard graphics. I really hope I didnt get a defective card. :/ is there a chance I would have to disable the onboard video first then shut down, put in the videocard and then try it?
 
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You already did disable it with the adjustments above - can't hurt to try powering down, pulling it, reinstalling it - but I don't think it'll work any better... What kind of ports are on the card - or, even better, can you give me a full part number, or a pointer to it at someplace like NewEgg?

PS - gonna be down for an hour & a half - gotta go out to dinner with parents - couldn't have picked a worse time!
 
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Well the videocard is a XFX 5850, I got it from ewiz.com or superbiz. Same thing. It uses two PCI 2.0 slots. I have class in an hour and that will be about an hour and a half so we'll see! But what I mean was, I powered down, installed the video card in the X16 slot and tried the X8 slot too but even with the monitor cable in the onboard graphics slot, the monitor doesnt get a signal. I'll try and hook it up to the videocard now.
 
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Video card is working? Cool! Everything you want in the box? All hooked up? Happy with the cable routing, etc - no 'clean up' jobs left? Take a last look at everything - we want everything 'in place' to do a new OS install... If you don't already have it, download the 10.2 Catalyst full suite here:
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx
and, under the 'optional downloads', grab the Avivo driver as well...

Then, go here, and grab Overdrive 3.1:
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_overdrive.aspx

In the meantime, I will determine what GB drivers you need to DL manually; the driver disk that comes with the board is set up to make 'preinstall' AHCI/RAID drivers only on floppy (unless you've got a floppy?? [:bilbat:5] ), to do them from USB will require that we place the drivers there ourselves. I always recommend putting all the drivers in at first OS install - you don't ever have to use 'em, but if you eventually decide to go with a RAID or use AHCI, it's there - and it's a real PITA to add the things later!! Another reason you want a fresh install, is we will leave some space unpartioned on the drive, at the end, to automatically back up your 'bare' OS, and your BIOS, in case of eventual disaster; like the short-haired blonde cutie in Alien Vs. Predator says about the gun (and the condoms!) better to have 'em, and not need 'em, than to need 'em, and not have 'em!!
 
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not if a torrnado gets you first
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[:bilbat:1] Yeah, but we're not lookin' at a 'chain-reaction' tornado that hit Haiti, then Brazil, then Taiwan, then Japan, then LA in a few weeks time :lol: 'course, the NewMadrid is only, like, a few hundred miles south of us - I think it'll take out Chicago, but not sure it'll do much here, other than tip over everybody's beers! :sol:
 
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