Video Fail

[BoomerD]

My wife's Dell has on-board video. Yesterday, when she turned it on, it "made all the noises" like it was turning on, but no video output. I tried it with my monitor...still nothing.

Other than buying a new low-tech video card, (her PSU only has SATA connectors, no "molex," no 6 or 8 pin connectors for video cards) do you have any recommendations for how to find out if it's the video output from the board...or something else?

Thanks.

 

[denis280]

What is the model.(presario)

 

[BoomerD]

err....Dell?



Inspiron 546

AMD Athlon II X2 240

 

[denis280]

just get a gt-430 pci express.no need for the molex nneed for 6 and 8 pins

 

[BoomerD]

I've been looking at some of the various video cards in that category. In addition to not having the connectors for external GPU power, her PSU is only 300 watts...so those cards SHOULD work.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to reset the CMOS...but I'm not going to hold my breath that it will fix the problem.
Most likely, come payday, I'll be ordering a video card...and HOPING that fixes the problem.

 

[denis280]

should be fine.my wife pc is running with a 350 watts. with a Athlon IIX2 250 and one engt 430. msi mobo and 4gb ddr2 800.little bomb

 

[Matt1970]

Did you hear it actually booting all the way up or just fans & lights running? I have seen many a bad power supply make the fans spin up and lights come on but not boot.

 

[2timer]

Hey Boomer, have you tried the hair dryer trick? http://www.anandtech.com/show/6840/...ou-fix-a-failing-mobile-gpu-with-a-hair-dryer. This is for a mobile GPU, but onboard GPU should be the same.

 

[BoomerD]

Did you hear it actually booting all the way up or just fans & lights running? I have seen many a bad power supply make the fans spin up and lights come on but not boot.

ummm...not sure. I haven't really done much with it...yet.

obviously, this isn't MY PC...:whiste:

I do need to spend some time trying to get it working for her...

Hey Boomer, have you tried the hair dryer trick? http://www.anandtech.com/show/6840/...ou-fix-a-failing-mobile-gpu-with-a-hair-dryer. This is for a mobile GPU, but onboard GPU should be the same.

No, haven't tried that...probably won't. If it's failing to that point, better to just put in a discrete video card.

 

[BoomerD]

One more thing...she told me that about a week before the video stopped working...she lost her sound.
Motherboard or CPU?

This is a refurbished Dell...it might just be easier to replace the whole machine.

 

[denis280]

I doubt that it's the cpu.take a look at the mobo for bad caps.and it could be the PSU.

 

[Ketchup]

One more thing...she told me that about a week before the video stopped working...she lost her sound.
Motherboard or CPU?

This is a refurbished Dell...it might just be easier to replace the whole machine.

If it's both onboard video and sound, and not both at the same time, it's probably the motherboard. A PSU usually stops altogether or shows itself in moving parts (aka hard drive.)

Also, the controller chips for sound and video are both in the motherboard, so this also makes sense. Sounds like the north bridge is dying.

You could just replace the thing, but would probably get by with a new motherboard.

Unfortunately, Dell sells dozens of different configurations under the same model number, so the details you need for the replacement may be a little difficult to find, but not impossible.

I did a quick search and found this gem.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-Inspir...165012744?pt=Motherboards&hash=item3f22b1bb08

Sounds similar to your configuration, but if that is indeed your board I think that price is way too high. Again, just a quick search.

Good luck!

 

[BoomerD]

That looks like the right board. (dell says # F896N)
They have a refurbished mobo for only $129.99 + shipping!

 

[BoomerD]

Damn...I'm a hero.

Trying to troubleshoot this thing, I don't have a video card that doesn't require a power connection...so I took the GTX460 out of my PC and installed it...and ran the power from my PSU to it.
of course...that didn't actually work...

but when I reconnected her PC to a monitor...VOILA! it works.

(now if I only had a freakin clue what I did to fix it...I'd be happier)

 

[denis280]

you scared the onboard one.

 

[BoomerD]

you scared the onboard one.

I dunno...I had tried just about everything...of course, with no video card to use for troubleshooting, I'm STILL not sure where the problem actually was...just that it didn't work.
Still...any victory is a good one. ()