screen blacks when booting -- video card?

  • Thread starter Thread starter RWM
  • Start date Start date
R

RWM

I have an old HP that came with WIN ME that I now figured I would try
putting Ubuntu on. When I turn it on I see a screen for a few seconds
and everything then goes black. If I hit the enter key I hear it
booting into Windows but still nothing on the screen. Does this mean
my video card has gone bad?

Any other thoughts?

Same thing happens if I try booting from the Ubuntu disk.
 
I have an old HP that came with WIN ME that I now figured I would try
putting Ubuntu on.
Click to expand...


OK, so did you try to put Ubuntu on it, what is the actual
state of the OS on this system?
When I turn it on I see a screen for a few seconds
and everything then goes black. If I hit the enter key I hear it
booting into Windows but still nothing on the screen. Does this mean
my video card has gone bad?
Click to expand...

How confident are you that it is actually booting windows?

At what point, exactly, does the screen go black?
What is the last thing you see on screen?
Can you successfully boot into safe mode?

Any other thoughts?

Same thing happens if I try booting from the Ubuntu disk.
Click to expand...

Is it a video card or integrated video?
What if you go into the bios menu and leave it sitting there
for several minutes, does the video then disappear? What if
you boot to DOS, or run memtest86+, does it then remain
stable and (with memtest86+) error free?

At what point did the system start exhibiting this problem,
and what has changed since then?

If you have another video card you might try it. If not,
unplug AC and try seating the video card in the slot better.
 
OK, so did you try to put Ubuntu on it, what is the actual
state of the OS on this system?


How confident are you that it is actually booting windows?

At what point, exactly, does the screen go black?
What is the last thing you see on screen?
Can you successfully boot into safe mode?





Is it a video card or integrated video?
What if you go into the bios menu and leave it sitting there
for several minutes, does the video then disappear? What if
you boot to DOS, or run memtest86+, does it then remain
stable and (with memtest86+) error free?

At what point did the system start exhibiting this problem,
and what has changed since then?

If you have another video card you might try it. If not,
unplug AC and try seating the video card in the slot better.
Click to expand...

When I turn it on I get an HP splash screen for about 1 second. I
tried going into bios and got just a second of text at the top of the
screen and then the screen goes black. If I don't try to get into
bios I get a flash of the WIN ME splash screen and then black. If I
wait a bit and then hit the enter key I hear the Windows music when it
normally boots, but the screen is black.
 
When I turn it on I get an HP splash screen for about 1 second. I
tried going into bios and got just a second of text at the top of the
screen and then the screen goes black. If I don't try to get into
bios I get a flash of the WIN ME splash screen and then black. If I
wait a bit and then hit the enter key I hear the Windows music when it
normally boots, but the screen is black.
Click to expand...


You did not answer all questions, like whether it is
integrated video or a video card, and what happens if you
run a long term test like memtest86+.

Check all fans, and that all heatsinks are in good contact
with the GPU or northbridge.

Otherwise the fault is ambiguous, you might take multimeter
readings of the PSU output, and unplug PSU from AC power for
several minutes before inspecting it. Otherwise if these
two show no problem, I would clear CMOS on the motherboard
and if it didn't help, replace the motherboard.
 
When I turn it on I get an HP splash screen for about 1 second. I
tried going into bios and got just a second of text at the top of the
screen and then the screen goes black. If I don't try to get into
bios I get a flash of the WIN ME splash screen and then black. If I
wait a bit and then hit the enter key I hear the Windows music when it
normally boots, but the screen is black.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the monitor is failing.

If you boot the machine and let it get into Windows, what happens when you
turn the monitor off for a few minutes then back on?
 
Sounds like the monitor is failing.

If you boot the machine and let it get into Windows, what happens when you
turn the monitor off for a few minutes then back on?
Click to expand...

I think you got it Noozer. I tried your recommendation and when I
turned the monitor back on I saw my desktop for a few seconds and then
it blacked out. I assume that means I need a new monitor.
 
RWM said:
I think you got it Noozer. I tried your recommendation and when I
turned the monitor back on I saw my desktop for a few seconds and then
it blacked out. I assume that means I need a new monitor.
Click to expand...

Turn the level down on the monitor, so the backlight doesn't have to
work as hard. It is going to be hard to see the OSD to do that
(so making the adjustment will not be easy). What should happen, is
the monitor will stay on a bit longer. It still means you need a new
monitor, but it'll give you a little time to arrange it.

You can repair LCD monitors, if you have the time and patience. The
parts involved are the high voltage inverter (makes 700 to 1000VAC
at about 3 watts per bulb), and the CCFL backlight itself (a long
glass tube). When the inverter thinks it is being overloaded,
it shuts off and no light comes from the backlight. When you
adjust the contrast, it means the inverter has to supply slightly
less voltage to the backlight, and it'll stay on longer.

The problem is, figuring out if you are getting the proper part or
not. The inverter and the backlight are matched to one another, and
the inverter is designed to work with a certain load on it. So when
they make substitutions and provide a different board to use as an
inverter, there is no way of knowing how long it will last (or if
it will even fit in the space used by the old one). If you
happen to see a product that looks exactly like yours, then it might
make a good replacement.

http://www.lcdparts.net/DesktopInverter.aspx

Sometimes the problem is just a bad connection, in which case playing
with it may be enough to get it working again, for a while.

Paul
 
Paul said:
Turn the level down on the monitor, so the backlight doesn't have to
work as hard. It is going to be hard to see the OSD to do that
(so making the adjustment will not be easy). What should happen, is
the monitor will stay on a bit longer. It still means you need a new
monitor, but it'll give you a little time to arrange it.

You can repair LCD monitors, if you have the time and patience. The
parts involved are the high voltage inverter (makes 700 to 1000VAC
at about 3 watts per bulb), and the CCFL backlight itself (a long
glass tube). When the inverter thinks it is being overloaded,
it shuts off and no light comes from the backlight. When you
adjust the contrast, it means the inverter has to supply slightly
less voltage to the backlight, and it'll stay on longer.

The problem is, figuring out if you are getting the proper part or
not. The inverter and the backlight are matched to one another, and
the inverter is designed to work with a certain load on it. So when
they make substitutions and provide a different board to use as an
inverter, there is no way of knowing how long it will last (or if
it will even fit in the space used by the old one). If you
happen to see a product that looks exactly like yours, then it might
make a good replacement.

http://www.lcdparts.net/DesktopInverter.aspx

Sometimes the problem is just a bad connection, in which case playing
with it may be enough to get it working again, for a while.

Paul
Click to expand...

But Noozer didn' t tell us if he has an LCD or a CRT. Because he mentions
"an old HP", it will probably be a CRT...
 
ElJerid said:
But Noozer didn' t tell us if he has an LCD or a CRT. Because he mentions
"an old HP", it will probably be a CRT...
Click to expand...

Good point. We really don't know anything about the hardware.

Paul
 
Back
Top