no display on startup/graphics card problem

[Guest]

After installing x64 vista in a machine using an asus eax1650 vista-certified
graphics card, my lcd/dvi monitor (a 3 yr old samsung clone running at 75 hz)
is no longer being recognized at boot. If I turn the monitor on and off
repeatedly for 10 minutes, I finally get a proper image, but in the meantime
colored vertical stripes appear on a black screen.

The card, cable and moniter have all been tested and are working properly. I
have updated to the latest asus drivers for vista64, only a few weeks old,
and my os updates are all current, and I've also downloaded all remotely
pertinent updates from the vista support site. Device manager shows all
components and drivers functioning properly.

Vista was installed over a 3 month older version of XP MCE which handled
things beautifully, but now that vista controls boot, booting into xp causes
the same problem.

Ideas please on this extremely annoying problem?

 

[JW]

Do I understand that you were able to complete the Vista X64 installation
process on the system without any problems and then after doing a normal
boot your graphics card stopped working?

Is the BIOS for you system up to date?
Do you see the boot screen? If yes have you tried a F8 safe mode boot.

 

[Guest]

Yes the installation of vista went off without a hitch. Actually the problem
developed after a few weeks after vista was running normally. And no I do not
have any bootscreen--just black with random vertical color bars.

What is strange is that eventually, simply by turning the monitor on and off
repeatedly, it jogs the gc to recognize the monitor.

I have updated my bios twice since this occurred.

 

[JW]

It sounds like a monitor or possibly a cable connection problem. With either
DVI or VGA connectors you have to be very careful to make sure that the
cable connector is not tilted. You can do this by turning the screws on
each side a turn or two and then turning the screw on the other side.
Also you might try reseating the graphics card in your system and make sure
if it also has a separate power connector that that cable is seated snugly.
Do you have any reason to suspect a power supply problem? If yes then set
your system to try and boot from your CD rom drive first as this will allow
your drives to be up to speed before your graphics card is initialized.
Of course if you have another graphics card available you might try it.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your replies JW

I'm rather at a loss as I've already reset the GC several times, last time
just yesterday after having it tested, and it has a heatsink and no aux
power. I've also reset the cable as you noted as well several times, and both
cable and monitor work fine on my old system.

And the bios is set to boot from cd first, then floppy then hdd.

I have also looked a timings; my bios shows my memory frequency (DDR2) at
800Mhz, my GC shows its "memory clock" at 780 Mhz DDR2. The card runs at
500Mhz. No OC, all bios settings are standard. Is this 20 Mhz difference
real, and would it cause such a problem?

 

[JW]

Very strange problem since your OS has nothing to do with the boot screen
display. It is controlled by the system BIOS and by the BIOS on the
graphics card itself.
It is also strange that you have problems with your other LCD monitor when
it was on the same system.
Have you made any recent hardware card or slot changes to your system?
The memory speed difference between the CPU and the Graphics card is not an
issue.
Are your monitor and your system being served by the same power outlet?
Is there a card in the slot next to your graphics controller? If yes have
you moved one card or the other?
Is your graphics card possibly sharing its IRQ with another device?

Have you tried contacting the system or MOBO manufacturer to see if they are
aware of any MOBO problems that could be causing your problem.

 

[Guest]

I very much agree this is a strange problem. Actually I've not attached
another monitor to this system but I have checked the monitor with my old
computer to be sure it's functioning properly.

As for slot changes, no, the mobo is a gigabyte mini atx/I965 chipset with
four slots and the gc far left, the next slot is empty. I also have an asus
tv tuner card in there but haven't configured it yet for the system--I'm not
a great tv fan. I use the onboard audio.

Both the monitor and the computer are on the same multiplug with other
peripherals, but it's high quality.

As for the irq, the device manager shows no conflicts.

I've updated the bios but have not looked further into potential problems
re: the mobo at this point, but will certainly see if I find anything and
report back.