Dim. 4700 non-boot, shows graphic card Info only.

[Sheolraver]

Hi all. I have a Dimensions 4700. I put an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT XFX card in over a year ago. It has worked fine 'til now. I got a B.S.O.D. that went away too fast to get the error number. Now when I try to boot up it goes to black screen with a 3 line blurb showing the card info. Nothing else. Keyboard & mouse non-functional. F2 & F12 no go. I changed back to the original graphics card, stock ATI x300. Same reults.

Any help would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Try resetting the BIOS -- look for a jumper near the coin battery.

 

[Sheolraver]

Hi fihart. Thanks for the response. Jumper op. complete. No change. Diagnostic light "D" on rear of box is amber, power light on front is green. Checked all hardware cables, tightly connected per Dell's Diag. Light document help. Any other thoughts?

 

[Sheolraver]

I dig Scottish flag of St. Andrews. Scotch-Irish lad here whose last name just happens to be And....

 

[Guest]

Known as the Saltire -- now incorporated into the British flag (so beloved by Ulstermen) if you look carefully.

Have you tried a different monitor, changing the vid card, taking out memory sticks one by one. If USB keyboard/mouse is there a socket for PS2 types ?

 

[Sheolraver]

Yep, tried all. I cleared the mobo of all hardware. I got a beep code that sounded like 4-2. Could have been 1-3-2. Checked PSU, working.

 

[Guest]

Does the graphic card pull a lot of power -- because Dell PSUs are pretty minimal in my experience and yours may be on the way out. If you have a friend with a Dell borrow their PSU (and try with a different vid card).

Otherwise, it sounds like the motherboard is faulty.

 

[Sheolraver]

I researched the vid card upgrade extensively. This GeForce is the max model this Dell unit can accomodate logically. I've never noticed the system stressed any further than standard operating parameters. I did add an extra case fan due to the original fan configuration being less than adequate. Elsewise, no probs.
PSU test was as follows: I pulled the 24 pin connector from the mobo to the psu. I jumped the green wire to a black wire. The psu fan spun & the drives spun up so the psu is still sending juice.
Mobo is becoming prime suspect unless anyone else has an idea. Thanks for your input fihart.