Monitor refuses to display for more than 2 seconds on boot

[Janna1]

People usually come to me for tech support. Ah well.

I just finished building a computer, and there was that wonderful moment when it booted instead of exploding. Wonderful. Then when I connect the monitor, it detects a signal (LED changes from orange to green), but only stays on for 2 seconds or so before going black (like it is going to sleep, though the light remains green). I reboot a million times, but to no avail. However, if I turn off the monitor and turn it on again, it displays the picture again, but only for a couple of seconds before it turns off, the LED still shining green despite there not being any display.


HYPOTHESIS 1 - BROKEN MONITOR?
I take the monitor to a different computer, plug in, and it functions flawlessly, so the issue isn't necessarily the monitor.

HYPOTHESIS 2 - BROKEN VIDEO CARD?
I take an ancient LCD and plug it into my just-built computer, and it functions flawlessly. So it isn't necessarily the card, though it is quite old. (Admittedly, I should just pony up the cash for another video card, but if this one is still working...)

So what is it? I've been racking my brains all day.

Thanks in advance.



SPECIFICATIONS -
1st DISPLAY - Rosewill R913E (Broken?)
2nd DISPLAY - Sony SDM-S51 (Not broken?)
MOTHERBOARD - MSI Z68A - GD55(G3)
CPU - Core i5 2550K
MEMORY - 8GB Patriot Gamer 2 DDR3 10666 1333MHz
GPU - Radeon 9200SE (D
PSU - OCZ ZS 650W

 

[Harvey]

Most newer monitors are PnP so Windows should detect the proper settings. If it isn't detecting properly, it may be that your video settings are incompatible with the monitor that goes black.

Connect the "ancient LCD" so you can see what you're doing, and set the resolution and/or refresh rate to some lower values. Then, connect the other monitor. If it doesn't go black, you can play with the settings to get the best available performance.

 

[Janna1]

Most newer monitors are PnP so Windows should detect the proper settings.

I have yet to install Windows. Should I do so? I figured just running off the motherboard would be the most basic environment to look over hardware configurations.

 

[Harvey]

No, if you get no picture even before you get to an initial start up screen, you're back to a bad monitor or vid card. Did you try reseating the vid card? If that doesn't work, I'm out of ideas on this one.

 

[Steltek]

Does the MSI Z68A has integrated graphics? If so, it could be defaulting to the graphics port on the motherboard instead of the one on your graphics card. You might need to hook up the old monitor, go into the BIOS, and disable the onboard graphics (or set it to default to initialize the add-in graphics card first...).

You might be better off with modern integrated graphics over the 9200SE - that is a pretty old video card.

 

[Janna1]

As mysteriously as it came, it left. My monitor is working fine now.

Since there was no explanation for the error in the first place, it makes perfect sense that it should inexplicably disappear!

If it does come back, I'll make sure to bug all of you again. Thanks anyways!

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you are using a VGA monitor cable, it may have a broken wire in one of the pins used for DPMS/DDC signalling (the data channel that the monitor and video card exchange info to learn what resolutions and timings are supported).

If that data exchange doesn't go well, then the video card may not set a resolution, or may set one that is not compatible with the monitor.

 

[sm625]

I've seen a monitor like this. It had a dying dead/backlight If you look at the screen carefully, you should be able to see the desktop (or BIOS post screen) in the background even without a functional backlight. That is how you tell if it is the backlight.