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No video signal?

P

pdxpc

Junior Member
I'm just about ready to give up on this and simply sell all the parts. I
started out by buying a used ECS K7S5A mobo, Athlon 1GHz, 512MB SDRAM and
32MB GF2 AGP card to build a low budget rig for one of the kids in my
neighborhood. The seller allowed me to test to POST at his place before
buying. I got everything home and mounted it all in a case with HDD, DVD and
my Enermax 300W PSU. It powers up - fans spin, HDD LED blinks, etc. - but
the monitor doesn't come on. I reset the BIOS jumper, still no video. I swap
out the video card for a GF3 Ti200 that I have, still no video. I try a
different monitor, still no video. I disconnect everything except the
motherboard, CPU/HSF, PSU, videocard, RAM and power button - still no video.
I remove everything from the case and bench test with just those parts,
still no video. I try swapping the SDRAM out for a stick of PC2100 DDR (the
mobo can use either), still no video. Thinking that I must have somehow
destroyed the processor, I swap out to a Duron 1.2GHz, still no video. Ok,
must be the motherboard. So a quick trip to Fry's yields me a PC Chips
M811LU. Guess what - still no video! My friend let me borrow his Athlon
1.9GHz CPU out of a working system, still no video. I buy a new 400W PSU,
still no video. I try a new Radeon 7000, still no video.

To date I've tried 3 processors, 3 video cards, 3 monitors, 2 motherboards,
2 sticks of RAM and 2 PSUs in every possible combination and still get no
video signal. It's unlikely that all of these parts are damaged, so the
fault is probably my own. What could I be doing wrong that isn't allowing a
signal to travel from the video card to the monitor?
 
Originally posted by: pdxpc
I'm just about ready to give up on this and simply sell all the parts. I
started out by buying a used ECS K7S5A mobo, Athlon 1GHz, 512MB SDRAM and
32MB GF2 AGP card to build a low budget rig for one of the kids in my
neighborhood. The seller allowed me to test to POST at his place before
buying. I got everything home and mounted it all in a case with HDD, DVD and
my Enermax 300W PSU. It powers up - fans spin, HDD LED blinks, etc. - but
the monitor doesn't come on. I reset the BIOS jumper, still no video. I swap
out the video card for a GF3 Ti200 that I have, still no video. I try a
different monitor, still no video. I disconnect everything except the
motherboard, CPU/HSF, PSU, videocard, RAM and power button - still no video.
I remove everything from the case and bench test with just those parts,
still no video. I try swapping the SDRAM out for a stick of PC2100 DDR (the
mobo can use either), still no video. Thinking that I must have somehow
destroyed the processor, I swap out to a Duron 1.2GHz, still no video. Ok,
must be the motherboard. So a quick trip to Fry's yields me a PC Chips
M811LU. Guess what - still no video! My friend let me borrow his Athlon
1.9GHz CPU out of a working system, still no video. I buy a new 400W PSU,
still no video. I try a new Radeon 7000, still no video.

To date I've tried 3 processors, 3 video cards, 3 monitors, 2 motherboards,
2 sticks of RAM and 2 PSUs in every possible combination and still get no
video signal. It's unlikely that all of these parts are damaged, so the
fault is probably my own. What could I be doing wrong that isn't allowing a
signal to travel from the video card to the monitor?
Click to expand...
LOL, thats pretty ridiculous!!! Ok, do this, you have another rig that is working that you can ****** around with? If so, are most of the components in that rig interchangeable with this rig? how much?

In most cases (Assuming processor isn't compatible) what I'd do is, take the PSU, Video card, ram and HDD then stick it into that other rig (removing the original components of course), boot and see if it works.

K, Remember the components you took out from that other rig? Now, since they were all supposedly working, try to get them working in the "problem machine", do they worK? If not, it's more than likely your board.
 
Seems like you have tried everything. Maybe both motherboard are bad. ECS and PCChip are not the greatest brands. You would probably have saved more money by just buying the 129 dollars computer from outpost.
 
Originally posted by: moonsite
Seems like you have tried everything. Maybe both motherboard are bad. ECS and PCChip are not the greatest brands. You would probably have saved more money by just buying the 129 dollars computer from outpost.
Click to expand...

Agreed, thats what I was thinking.
 
Ok, just wanted to see if anyone else could come up with something I was maybe missing. I messed around with it some more this morning, again trying every possible combination - including adding a known good PCI videocard into the mix - without any luck. The PC Chips board will be taken back to Fry's (gotta love their return policy) and I'll sell the rest of it on Craigslist as-is. Hell, all the components can't be bad and I'll be damned if I can figure out what's wrong. Basic troubleshooting says that you swap in known good parts one at a time until the problem identifies itself. It's just not working in this instance. Next time Fry's has the Sempron combo for $60 I'll pick one up. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
ECS K7S5A is a problematic mobo.Serious problems with being picky on ps and problem with cold boots...junk the mobo!!! Check out this forum http://p199.ezboard.com/bk7s5amotherboardforum

As far as the other problems...very bad luck? Well been thinking and since you've swapted out peices already with good ones is there a comon item that you haven't mentioned yet?have you tried to do a partial assembly outside the case to see if it will post just incase its grouding out in the case?...Are you grounded while handling to prevent damage from ESD?...
 
I just got back from Fry's. When I told them I was unable to POST with the PC Chips board they offered an exchange or refund. I thought I'd give it one more go. So, I got the new board home and tried all the different combinations, still no video signal.

Thanks for all the offers of help, but seriously guys - it's not anything obvious. I'm bench testing on top of the motherboard's cardboard box, using the mobo, cpu, hsf, ram and videocard only. I'm trying three different processors, two different sticks of ram (one at a time, even changing slots), three different agp cards and a pci videocard. I've got the case speaker hooked up and am not getting any beeps. Even if the ram is removed the speaker is silent. If this was happening to just the ECS board I'd declare it dead. But I'm getting the exact same issue with the two new PC Chips boards.

I've effectively built three completely different systems and they all have the exact same problem with no commonality between them other than me (even tried a different hsf). That's why I was hoping that I was doing something incorrect. I built a Duron 1.3 system with the K7S5A board a few years ago for my mom and it's still running strong.

Bottom line is I'm finished trying. The forum from the link country2 posted has a few others with problems very similar to mine. They also tried swapping parts trying to locate the problem and never found a solution. My last hope is to sell everything one piece at a time. Eventually I may get a call from some buyer that wasn't able to get the part he bought to work and I'll finally know what it was. Or, perhaps each of the parts won't work and I'll know it was all of them!
 
You have a system that works already, right? If so, why don't you take out all the components except the mobo, processor and PSU, test the components from the 'other systems' and see if they all work. I don't see how thats very difficult at all. Test your video card/HDD, RAM what ever on the other system one at a time and see if they work.
 
Originally posted by: Philippine Mango
You have a system that works already, right? If so, why don't you take out all the components except the mobo, processor and PSU, test the components from the 'other systems' and see if they all work. I don't see how thats very difficult at all. Test your video card/HDD, RAM what ever on the other system one at a time and see if they work.
Click to expand...



Here's why: let's say the RAM is the problem and because I've tested it in each of the other three motherboards it's somehow caused them to no longer function correctly. Now I place that defect into my own personal rig and poof, now my PC don't work. Or I take the known good videocard out of my PC and put it in a motherboard that frys it. Probably superstitious bullshit, but why risk it.

I've already introduced known good and new components into the equation without success. Not gonna break any of my stuff for further testing.
 
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