Monitor Wont Start?

Maniac.uk

Maniac.uk

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Hi all, Right this is a very strange problem.... Here it goes when i start my pc up the power goes on and everything but the monitor will not start as usual (Year old pc) the screen just stays black, I can take the monitor connection out of the back of the graphics card the replace it.. Nothing happens, I can take the monitor power plug out then replace it, and it still wont turn on... BUT if i turn my pc off at the wall the restart my pc it works everytime??? I can then leave it on all day no probs at all, I can even restart my pc 10 times and the monitor will turn on everytime?

HHHHEEEELLLPPPPPP!!!! Please :)
 
I'm pretty sure that this is a safety precaution being performed by your PC. Do you have an NForce2 motherboard (IE are you using an Athlon XP processor)? This might happen with other boards, too, but more so with NForce 2 boards and small form factor PC's.

Sometimes the computer fails to reset the CMOS properly, so it refuses to switch itself on. It would usually do this after installing new components, or if your PC switches itself off because it is getting too hot. Some motherboards are actually over-paranoid about heat, so if you are overclocking or if the vents to your computer case are covered, this is what could be causing it (although no damage is being done).

Personally my MOBO will perform a soft reset of the CMOS- if you hold down 'Insert' before you turn it on. It then runs the hardware in safe mode settings so that I can access the BIOS and get it back to normal. Generally, however, you have to find the CMOS jumper on your MOBO and reset it manually.

I went through a stage where it was doing what yours is doing for about 2 months - I just pressed RESET immediately after pressing ON, and it would load as normal.

Instead of pulling the plug out, try holding the power button down for 5 seconds. This usually drains all of the power out of the PSU, achieving the same result.
 
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Oh by the way i posted on futuremarks forums and someone said its a cold boot or cold solder problem, So if its a cold solder problem is that the monitor not getting a big enough kick when it first turns on? or the motherboard/psu thats the problem? Anyone else know of this problem?

Cheers :)
 
Its not a question of bad connections or the monitor doing anything itself, its just the cold boot. The mobo switches on, but doesn't pass go, if you know what I mean. Therefore it doesn't turn the monitor on because it doesn't start the graphics card going.
 
Oh no no no no...

You need to reset the CMOS. That is all. And make sure you shut down properly.

To reset the CMOS, look in your motherboard manual. Somewhere on your motherboard will be a 'jumper' - a little set of 3 pins that has a tiny connector on it. This connects the pins together to transfer the current, but the little connector bit is only wide enough to accomodate 2 pins at a time. This method is used on motherboards to have a feature turned on or off - if you have (for instance) connected the left and centre pins it might turn something off, and if you have the centre and right pin connected it might turn something on. Capeesh?

Thats probably too much information. Anyway, just look on your motherboard and you'll see these things all around - giving you various options. Find the one with CMOS written next to it and transfer the connector on to the other two pins. That should reset the CMOS. I'm not actually sure if you'll need to/should put it back to normal after a succesfull power up.

Still, make sure you first do what I said earlier about holding down INSERT before you switch the power on, because that performs a soft-reset of the CMOS on most motherboards.
 
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