Question Old PC from 2002 boots up, but doesn't display anything

[mentor93]

I brought back from the attic my old PC that my parents bought back in 2002, together with Samsung monitor. I cleaned it (physically) inside and outside and tried to boot it up. The PC does boot up, but doesn't display anything. On the front of the case I can see HDD light is red which I figure might be the root cause of this problem.

The monitor itself definitely works. I have an old notebook from 2007 which still has a VGA port. I plugged monitor into that notebook and it displayed everything nicely.

There was, of course, a lot of dust inside PC. I got rid of it using compressed air, nothing seems to be broken when I look at motherboard, graphics card and other components, but I'm no hardware guy, so I can't tell with 100% certainty. I also couldn't find neither keyboard, nor mouse, but I don't think I should need them to just get my PC to show anything on the monitor?

I really don't know if I need a working HDD for BIOS to show up... I expected to see something, but since literally nothing is displayed and monitor definitely works, the issue might not just be with the HDD. Could you help me here, please? What can I check to be sure that it's HDD that's broken? Do I need to buy a new HDD or can I repair this old one?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I brought back from the attic my old PC that my parents bought back in 2002, together with Samsung monitor.
When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model.

Moved thread from Storage section to Systems section.

 

[stonecarver]

Can I add to what Lutfij requested. Pictures lots and lot of pictures.

Of motherboard. front of case, back of case. a shot of the power supply if you can of the label on the hard drive.

There might be something you don't see one of us will.

Also if this was a prebuilt. AKA Dell , HP , Gateway , and the model name.

Post pictures on imgur.com and than link here.

 

[johnbl]

old capacitors on old graphic cards can dry out or swell up and then the circuit will have the wrong voltage and not work.
generally they are good for at least 5 years. on old systems they are pretty easy to replace if you can not find a new card.

easy as in, desolder the old capacitors, and solder in new ones. Some capacitors you can look at them and see if they swelled up or leaked some brown fluid out of them.
you will be looking for electrolytic capacitors that failed.
google what they look like, and what the failures look like.
dried out ones you can not see the problem.

some monitors might have to manually switch modes to read a non default video format.

 

[Misgar]

I also couldn't find neither keyboard, nor mouse, but I don't think I should need them to just get my PC to show anything on the monitor?

I seem to remember an option in some old BIOS marked "ignore keyboard error on startup" meaning the computer would continue the boot process, even if it failed to detect a keyboard. If this option isn't set, the computer will stop and wait until you connect a keyboard. If the GPU and screen are working, you'll usually see a message saying "keyboard missing". Even without a mouse or keyboard, I'd expect the screen to light up with POST messages.

Personally, I'd plug in a PS/2 keyboard and PS/2 mouse to give the BIOS a fighting chance of booting up from hard disk. If you don't have either of these items, search the second hand markets, eBay, or ask your local computer repair shop, if you have one nearby. If it's a really old computer (from the 1980s) it might have a 5-pin DIN keyboard plug and not a more "modern" 6-pin min-DIN PS/2 plug.

The photo below shows PS/2 mouse and keyboard sockets on a typical older motherboard. Note the colour coding.

old capacitors on old graphic cards can dry out or swell up

Equally likely are swollen or burst electrolytics on the motherboard, especially around the VRMs (Voltage Regulator Modules). I've re-capped a number of old boards. A delicate process if you don't want to drag the plated through hole out with the capacitor leg.

I normally replace all capacitors of exactly the same size/value, when at least one of them has failed. It can take more than a hour of careful work with the correct tools and technique. Practice on an spare board before tackling a prized motherboard. It's easy to damage the PCB tracks.

In the photo below, the brown "goo" is the electrolyte which has leaked through the burst tops of the capacitors.

If you have a GPU with bad caps, it's easier temporarily to swap it for a graphics card with good caps, to see if you can get the PC up and running.