BSOD caused by monitor?

[Gary Richtmeyer]

Helped a friend the other night replace an 3-4 year-old Compaq PC with a new
eMachines PC (Win XP Home). He kept his old Compaq 17" monitor to use with
the new PC since the monitor didn't need to be replaced.

At the very first boot of XP Home, we got a BSOD (I believe with a 7F reason
code) about 10 seconds after the Win XP Home logo was displayed. We could
boot into safe mode, but all normal boots resulted in the BSOD.

The PC had been tested at the store (I watched them do it) so we figured it
was OK. That left the old monitor as the only variable. He had another
monitor (don't remember the make), so we connected it, rebooted and Win XP
Home came up just fine!

We proceeded to do all the normal initial setup work (firewall, internet,
update anti-virus, install all critical Win XP updates, etc) and everything
continued to be fine. At the end of the evening, hoping that the original
monitor would now work after everything was setup and updates applied, we
reconnected the original monitor, rebooted and got the BSOD again!
Reconnected the other monitor and everything was fine.

I've never heard of a monitor causing a Win XP BSOD. At the least, I would
have thought the display might be distorted or maybe not even display
anything, but not a BSOD.

Anybody run into this before? At this point, my friend has a monitor that
he can't use.


Gary Richtmeyer

 

[Kelly]

Hi Gary,

Have him supply the exact error message. In the meantime, have him reseat
the graphics card, and double check the power cord/monitor cord connection.
Also, while in Safe Mode go to the Device Manager and see what it reads
under Monitors/General. There will be a code if all is not well. Do the
same for the display adapter while there. Lastly, if nothing looks awry,
delete all that is listed under monitors and reboot.

Troubleshooting Device Manager Issues in Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_dm.htm

Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q310126

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

are the drivers for the monitor installed.and is the
connecting pins not damaged

 

[Kelly]

There aren't drivers per se' for monitors. )

 

[E McCann]

The only thing I could think of would be a bad monitor definition file -
though I'd expect an "Out of range" message, not a blue screen, if that were
the case. Then again, Compaq has done odd things with their hardware in the
past - perhaps the monitor has an odd pinout, or uses one of the "extra"
pins for some other sort of signal.

 

[Kelly]

Clearly, if that were the message, the OP would have stated so. In either
case, why would that be the issue beings XP would have recognized, easily,
the chosen setting? And as you stated, the out of range message is not
presented on a blue screen. Thus, what is the point of your reply and the
others as a matter of fact to this group?

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

I would suspect either a missing or broken pin on the connector on the end
of the monitor cable. Either that, or the monitor cannot handle the refresh
rate that the video card is currently set to.

Bobby

 

[Gary Richtmeyer]

Thanks Kelly,

Re your (and other poster's) comments:

1. I'll call him and see if he'll try the Compaq monitor again and write
down the BSOD message verbatim. But if remember right, the stop code was 7F
and all other hex digits were zero.

2. After the first BSOD, I rechecked the power/monitor cords thinking I had
messed up, but they were seated fine, the pins weren't bent, etc. etc.

3. Thought about opening the case to reseat the video adapter, but decided
not to since it was a brand new PC and the BIOS logo & Win XP logo were
displaying OK. And, as it turned out, the 2nd monitor worked OK too.

4. "Monitor" in Device Manager showed "Default Monitor" (is this value valid
when in safe mode?)

Since the monitor is usable in safe mode, one would think it has to be a
driver-type issue; but as you pointed out, there are no "drivers" per-se for
a monitor.

One possible clue that I just remembered is that the monitor has a built-in
microphone. I assume that the audio would use one of the video pins and
maybe that's what's causing the problem. But I wouldn't think a BSOD would
result; I would expect maybe a bad picture or a non-functioning mic, etc.

This one has me scratching my head.


Gary Richtmeyer

 

[Plato]

Anybody run into this before? At this point, my friend has a monitor that
he can't use.

Yes. It's quite possible that you need the XP monitor drivers for that
monitor.

The ebox may be setup with "their" monitor drivers. Best to delete them.
In fact, that's all you may have to do.

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

Compaq has the drivers for it's monitors on it's website. Simply search,
download and install.

Bobby

 

[Kelly]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the thorough feedback. See if any of this applies/helps:

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Start the computer from the Microsoft Windows XP CD-ROM. If you upgraded to
Windows XP, you are prompted to continue the upgrade or do a new install.
Choose to continue the upgrade.

When the installation program prompts you to press F6 to install a SCSI
driver, do not press F6. Instead, press F5, and then select Standard PC.

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

More info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q137539

If none of the above helps, try this newsgroup and good luck!
microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware