Mystifying PC problem

D

DexterMorgan

A Smooth-Skin
All right, I have a problem that has me stumped. My sister's PC (actually my old PC that I gave to her) is having some issues.

The video card seems to be malfunctioning in that it will fail to provide output sometimes. Rather, the image on the screen will often just flash and then go dark (the screen stays in power on mode). If this happens during boot, it will flash twice during POST and then the boot process will hang with no error messages. If the computer is already booted up, the screen will eventually go into power saving mode and when coming back out will do the same thing - briefly flash and then go dark (without switching the LCD back into standby).

At first I thought the problem was with power distribution, but I rearranged the power cabling and it seemed to function properly for a bit, now it's back to doing same shenanigans.

If I keep switching the cables from the card to the screen the image will eventually show up and remain stable but there appears to be no rule to this. The video card has two DVI outputs and is connecting to the screen via a VGA cable with DVI adapter PC-side.

The problem seems to be OS independent - happens both under Windows 7 and Ubuntu.

Anyone had a problem like this?
 
I had a very similar problem, but found out it was the screen. The image would go black, but the everything else, including the screen would stay ON (not standby). Thought it was a) power or b) graphics card. Never considered it was the LCD.

Found out it was like a neon light, trying to flash on, not getting enough kick and switching off. Shining a flashlight into the screen would reveal that the image is still actually there, just no back-light.

Would be funny if your problem was the same thing. I guess you'll have to try the card in a different system, then maybe try different power source. Dunno, I'm a n00b, why am I even typing? :lol
 
Check your video card in another system or use another video card, if it works then I guess it must be the monitor.
Also make sure the card is well inserted into the slot and it doesn't jiggle. Also check the cables and the ports they go into...
 
SkuLL said:
I had a very similar problem, but found out it was the screen. The image would go black, but the everything else, including the screen would stay ON (not standby). Thought it was a) power or b) graphics card. Never considered it was the LCD.
Click to expand...

this.

a broken graphics card will usually give you artifacts, screen tearing, strange colors and faulty textures, especially in games.

check the monitor, especially the cable and connector. i had 14" crt once where the vga connector was worn to the point that it would lose the "red" signal. looked quite strange, just like night vision. it would then flicker or go out completely. you can easily check this by "wiggling" the connector or cable.
 
when my vid card died my light on my monitor would go blue for a while and then turn amber never showing an image
 
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