No display when setting up older computer

[kronix]

Hi there.

Need some help as am learning how to fix things.

Am trying to restablish an older computer after its original motherboard had problems. I purchased a 2nd hand board (details below), and am having problems with its display. Fans are spinning, power is working etc, but no visual response. No beeping can be heard.

I havent bothered putting in the hard drive yet, its blank, and unused anyway, and im trying to establish whether the basics will work. E.g. Booting into BIOS options.

The screen does not respond, and I have now tried 3 different screens to double check. The Motherboard has built in graphics, so to test if the built in card is shagged, I plugged a working graphics card in and still nothing.

Any tips?

CPU - AMD Anthlon 64bit
MB - MSI K9NBPM2-FID (contains inbuilt Graphics card)
GC - Geoforce 7600 GT
RAM - DDR 2

 

[mike1959]

So you are trying to test your pc in a basic state, to prove the motherboard is stable.
If the m'board has built-in (integrated) graphics, normally a good guide to that, is the blue VGA socket on the board. To be sure the pc is using that output, the usual way is to;
1) Enable integrated graphic option in the BIOS, and;
2) Remove any graphic cards from either AGP or PCI-E slots.
That should force the pc to use the integrated graphics, via the VGA socket.
Hope that helps.

 

[kronix]

Yes. It is definatley built in. Has both VGA and DVI ports.

Ive tried it using only the inbuilt ports, which didnt work, then tried the graphics card. Both didnt work also.

I cant touch bios options as unfortunatley I cant see anything

 

[mike1959]

The standard way the BIOS is set up, is to 'auto' detect if a Graphic card is plugged in, then the video output is through the graphic card. But if a card is missing from AGP or PCI-E slot, the video is sent throught on-board VGA socket.
Some BIOS versions allow for manual setting of, 'integrated graphics', 'on' or 'off', and so I guess that's what might be happening to yours.
Are you sure you have the right 'F' key to access the BIOS screen?
Normally, power on, then F2. Guess that is what's happening, but you can't see it.
So I would say the only way you will get out of it is to reset the BIOS, so it drops back to 'auto'. (Will assume you know about that or can find out.)

If you take out the graphic card, reboot with the monitor connected to the motherboard's VGA output, and you are using a known good cable and monitor, there's no reason why you should not get a picture. So in the BIOS if you have 3 options, on/off/auto, choose auto, and you can use your better graphic card. Remember to move the monitor cable over to the graphic card output, and download the correct drivers for it.

 

[mailpup]

Maybe try removing the CMOS battery for a few minutes to reset the BIOS to default values. See if you can get some kind of video output.

 

[kronix]

Good suggestions guys. But unfortunatley no progress.

I removed the battery for a couple hours as I was preoccupied with something else. As well I changed the jumpers to 'clear bios', and still no display on a known working monitor. Yes, the graphics card has been removed.


Any other idea's?

Or is the motherboard shagged?

My last motherboard was not working for a different reason. Its SATA and IDE ports were not working, therefore having no harddrive or DVD drive capabilitiy.

 

[mailpup]

Did you install motherboard standoffs in the case? To make sure there are no shorts to the case you can remove the motherboard and place it next to the case on a soft, non-conducting surface with only the basics connected, CPU and heatsink/fan, one RAM stick, power supply, front panel switches and monitor. See if it will post. If it doesn't, the motherboard might be defective.

 

[kronix]

By standoffs do you mean the little bolt things?