I'm new at all this some please don't flame. I'm changing my old
computer tower over to a "Mod" type tower, replete w/lights, clear
windows, etc. I've taken everything out of the old case and have placed
in into the new case, including the power supply. Well, now I don't get
any response from my monitor at all. the video card is installed
correctly. The cable to the actaul monitor is attached properly. Is it
possible that the video board got blown during the swap? No static
issues or anything like that (worked on a hardwood table on a hardwood
floor-no carpets) I'm felling really stupid and am at a total loss..any
suggestions from anyone? Thanks , Jay
Jay - no flames. Several things need to happen before you will get video
output to a computer monitor. I will simplify this process as much as
possible, below.
1) Push power button. If all hooked up correctly, power up request is
passed through mainboard to power supply, and power supply turns on. At
this point, you will see LED lights come on, and fans start to spin. Do you
see LED lights come on and fans spin?
2) Power supply will ramp up DC voltages (doesn't take long, usually much
less than a second) and then send a power_OK signal to mainboard. There is
no symptom that this is happening, but you'll never get to the next step
without it.
3) When power_OK is passed from power supply through mainboard to CPU, the
CPU will access the POST program stored in the mainboard BIOS. Some VERY
BASIC checks will be made by the CPU on your hardware. During this step,
you should get some kind of POST beep. A normal POST beep would be one
short beep, to confirm that all hardware checked out ok during POST (power
on self test). If there is a problem with hardware, you will get a long
beep, or a series of long and/or short beeps, to indicate what POST seems to
think is wrong with your hardware. Do you get a POST beep or beeps?
4) After most of POST is completed OK, a video card will be initialized,
according to settings stored in CMOS (which can be changed in BIOS setup
menus). AT THIS POINT, if all is hooked up correctly, your connected
monitor should wake up and you should start seeing certain information
displayed, such as BIOS version, detected hardware, memory testing, etc.
5) After POST is completed, your CPU will try to find an operating system
to boot. It will search for boot devices based on settings stored in CMOS,
which can be changed in the BIOS setup menus. Typically, this means that it
will search an optical drive and a hard drive, looking for an operating
system such as windows to start. It might also search a network, or even
the floppy drive. Whatever is stored in CMOS is what it will search.
You're stuck in step 1, 2 or 3. As you have swapped cases, the most likely
cause of your problem is a bad connection somewhere. Review your mainboard
manual and check ALL connections on the mainboard. Then double-check them.
If everything still looks fine, disconnect -everything- from the motherboard
and start over. (well, leave the CPU and cpu fan plugged in). It's
possible something just isn't seated right. So remove all expansion cards,
including video card, from the mainboard as well. Another easy to miss step
is, many newish video cards require their own power connection from the
power supply.
Another possibility is that your new case is drawing more power than your
old case did, and your power supply simply can't handle the extra current
draw on one or more voltage rails. But this is somewhat unlikely. It's
more likely that something is loose, or just not properly connected. Good
luck, -Dave
No video on computer monitor is probably the most