No signal to my monitor unless I use onboard graphics

[Chris911]

I have a Cooler Master 650W power supply and a Nvidia Geforce 8800gt. Last week I decided to install a really old game I have which is incompatible with new video cards so I shut down my computer and unplugged my VGA cable out of my DVI-to-VGA adapter (In my video card) and plugged it into my VGA port on my motherboard to use onboard graphics for this old game.

When I tried to switch my computer on I got no signal whatsoever so I plugged my VGA cable back into my video card then I get no signal again. After about 2 days of googling this problem and posting problems on forums on my iphone (torture!) someone told me to remove my video card physically then use onboard graphics.

My computer monitor now displays! But I can't use my nvidia 8800gt anymore! Does anyone know the fix to this?

More info: When my video card is physically in my motherboard my monitor won't display anything even if my VGA cable is in the motherboard. When I plug my VGA cable into port 1 of my video card my monitor light is green but the screen stays black. If I use port 2 my monitor gets no signal and the light is orange!

Also I noticed my PSU fan doesn't spin anymore but the fan on my video card spins fine.

Help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[brucethetech]

once youve insert a graphics card into the board it alot of time becomes the primary display. this setting can also be manipulated in the bios of some computer manufacturers. Your monitor is probably not getting a signal becuase the adapter is not enable in the computer or the settings of the card are not set to spec that can display on your monitor (resolution to high or low, refresh rate, etc)

 

[brucethetech]

i just read that back and that was poorly typed. you'd think i was some overseas helpdesk guy

 

[Chris911]

Thank you for the reply

How would I re-enable my graphics card? When my graphics card is in my PCI-e port I can't even go into BIOS as my screen just stays black (No signal comes up if I use port 2 on my graphics card). This problem has been occuring for a week now ahh.

Don't worry as long as it's readable then it's all good

 

[brucethetech]

do this with a monitor configuration that works. get video (any monitor any card) and get into the bios to check for that setting.it may say something along the lines of onboard video settings.

 

[Chris911]

Unfortunetely my BIOS doesn't have this setting :/ The closest it has is "INIT Display" with options for VGA chip or PCI-e I had the PCI-e highlighted but my monitor still got no signal.

I've tried enabling my graphics card blind by going by the instructions in a thread on this forum. (Can't post link as my post count is less than 5 )

This still didn't help although i'm not sure if I did it right as my computer didn't automatically restart. I'm tempted to just shove my graphics card in now while my computer is still on but that most likely will not be good.

 

[mike1959]

DONT pull the card out with the power on, you could and most likely will, lose graphics card and motherboard.
What's happening is your BIOS setting is to use your on-board VGA chip IF NO CARD IN PCI-E slot, otherwise known as 'auto-detect'.
So when you plug in your PCI-E card, the on-board VGA socket (Blue) is not active.
Then switch the monitor lead to the PCI-E card and you should see the monitor display as normal.

 

[Chris911]

I wouldn't do that but it is tempting as I have tried possibly everything! Thing is when I plug my monitor lead into my graphics card, nothing displays.

What's even weirder is that when I plug the monitor cable into port 1 on my graphics card (8800gt has 2 ports) my monitor light is green but the screen stays black and flashes so it's getting signal just displaying nothing. If it's in port 2 my monitor get's no signal at all and the light on it is orange.

Is this a sign my graphics card is dead? It was working perfectly fine a days ago but ever since I unplugged my monitor cable out of my graphics card and into my motherboard it seems to have just messed up my graphics card or changed some sort of setting.

Thank you for the reply. Do you know the solution to this? I've googled countless things related to this and been on hundreds of threads but i've found nothing.

 

[mike1959]

First thing is to accept that the graphics card could have failed.
But, you need to prove what does work, before anything else.
So are you certain the monitor and it's cable are good ? Can you test it on another setup, maybe on the VGA out on a laptop? Wires can break inside cables, not common but you have to prove it. Is the monitor stuck in stand-by mode?
Assuming the monitor + cable are good, take the graphic card out, connect monitor to the motherboard's VGA socket. Now you should get a picture on monitor, if all is ok with motherboard + monitor + cable. (Yes/no?)

If you can use the pc now, go into Device manager, find the entry for your 8800gt card, and un-install the driver.
Go to the Nvidia site and download the driver again. Save it, but don't try to install.
Reboot pc. Go into BIOS. Does the 'init display' (on mine 'Video'), show 'auto' or 'PCI-E' or similar? 'Auto' is best here. Save settings and exit, (F11). Let the pc go onto the desktop. Shut down. Fit 8800gt card. Move cable over to 8800gt output socket. Boot pc. What happens ?
If 8800gt is ok, pc should go through to desktop. Then you can locate the 8800gt driver you have saved, run the installer and set the mode/res as you want.
If you get no picture with the card in PCI-E slot, it probably means the card has failed, unfortunately. But look at it as a chance to upgrade. (Trying to find a positive side to this, I had a very similar story with a 7600, and had to buy a Radeon X1650 pro, using it still, best move I made!)

 

[Chris911]

Sorry for the late reply I've been away.

I tried all of this and nothing worked. I presume my graphics card has simply failed? No matter what I do I can not get a signal with this graphics card when it's seated in my Motherboard. I've even tried to enable it in device manager by doing it blind and that did nothing.

Can a graphics card 'break' if you simply unplug the monitor cable from it? I mean really? I'm unemployed at the moment and don't have alot of money, I've found a 9800gt for £35 but i'd rather be sure that my graphics card is broken and in need of replacing.

 

[mike1959]

I think some components are faulty from new, I don't believe they are all tested in the factory, no doubt some are. If you have done all variations of testing, then it comes down to the card has failed in some way. If you have proved what is working, by substitution, then you are either going to have to use 'on-board' graphics or buy a new card. Even £35 can buy a fairly good card now.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...R2+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=39987

http://www.calibex.co.uk/Gigabyte-T...rices-html?nxtg=41860a280d08-C37A73BC0CC6E541

(But it's worth aiming for a 128bit data bus, or 256, rather than 64 bit. )
Such as;
http://www.it-buy.co.uk/Graphics_Cards/PCI_Express_Cards/ATI_PCIe_Cards/HD-555X-ZHF2.htm

*( And I do think it's possible to break components by pulling the cables out while 'live', it doesn't take much to do a lot of damage.
Be sure to earth the pc case when you do work on it, and only hold the cards by the circuit board, not touching the gold edge connectors or chips at
all, and ideally only handle the card when you fit it into the motherboard~ once the card is in the motherboard, it's much safer.)