Video card is dead! Damn what a crappy day!

[Noozer]

Short version:

Booted my PC earlier today and I got some wierd beeps and no video.
Diagnostic LED on the mainboard was flashing, indicating that startp wasn't
normal. Shut down, restarted and it was fine. Next boot, same pattern. Now
it just won't boot - or at least doesn't have any video.

I stuck a PCI card in an empty slot and now I'm able to get into the PC
without any problem. Device manager is not showing any videocard except the
PCI card. No unknown devices either.

256meg EVGA 7600GT PCIe card. At least it's in warranty.


Long version (I wanna rant!):

Had the chance to pick up a pair of 200g SATA Seagate drives @ $35 (CAD)
each. Also decided to get a Constant Ink Supply system for my Epson R200
printer, again $35 (CAD). I had a meeting at work today, so I planned on
doing this all in one roundaboute trip. Sounds good, eh?

First stop, the gas station - THEY HAD NO GAS! Idjits...

Second stop, pick up the hard drives... Got to the door, nobody was home.
CRAP! Called the phone number... "My wife should be at home, lemme
check - - - Ya, she's there." Hrm... "Your address is xxx abc street?"
"Yup!" DAMN! I'm on the wrong friggen street! Swing around to the RIGHT
place and get the drives - but no change for a $20? Ya, a cheque for the
difference is OK.

Third stop, pick up the CIS for my printer... Traffic sucks and I have to
all the way across town. Whats worse is I keep picking the routes under
construction. BLAH! Guys there and I get the kit. No problem.... but...

Fourth stop, my meeting at work! Back across town, through the crappy
traffic, with only 20 minutes to spare. No matter what lane I'm in, it's the
slow one. I get to work 20 minutes late - but at least the parking space was
free!

Stop number five, the bank to deposit the $10 cheque from the hard drives.
Get in line at the drive through, get to the ATM, get an envelope, put my
card in... CRAP! My name isn't on the cheque and I don't have a pen. Grab my
card and drive home.

Now I'm at home...Pop open the PC to mount one of the new 200gig drives.
This is where the PC starts to complain at boot. I assume the extra drive is
overloading the PSU, so I disconnect the CD and a spare drive. Still no go.
Clear the CMOS settings... no change. Did I fry the PSU? Swap it out, no
change. The beep code is way to fast to make any sense of. Diagnostic LEDs
just show that "something" isn't right. Next try the PC boots and I copy my
current OS drive to the new drive. Took a few tries with Acronis to realize
that it doesn't like the drive assignments, so I boot to Ghost and the job
is doen. Then the PC plain will no loger boot. I pulled my TV tuner and
installed the PCI video card and the machine complains, but then I get video
and at least I can do something with my PC.

Finally, time to install the CIS. I pull out my current cartridges and find
that my black has been leaking all over. Godamit! 20 minutes of dabbing and
wiping and it's kinda clean. Best that it'll get...By this time my fingers
are worse than the mess I found in the printer. I install the CIS
cartridges... All register as empty. I try and try and try reseating them,
etc. Try my chp resetter... nothing. Email off to the dude who sold it to
me - then my next try works. BLAH! So I pull the vent plugs on the tanks and
install the filters - and I'm missing a filter. *sigh* I give up.


.... hope your day went better than mine did!!!

 

[Yes Baby]

Short version:

Booted my PC earlier today and I got some wierd beeps and no video.
Diagnostic LED on the mainboard was flashing, indicating that startp
wasn't normal. Shut down, restarted and it was fine. Next boot, same
pattern. Now it just won't boot - or at least doesn't have any video.

I stuck a PCI card in an empty slot and now I'm able to get into the PC
without any problem. Device manager is not showing any videocard except
the PCI card. No unknown devices either.

256meg EVGA 7600GT PCIe card. At least it's in warranty.


Long version (I wanna rant!):

Had the chance to pick up a pair of 200g SATA Seagate drives @ $35 (CAD)
each. Also decided to get a Constant Ink Supply system for my Epson R200
printer, again $35 (CAD). I had a meeting at work today, so I planned on
doing this all in one roundaboute trip. Sounds good, eh?

First stop, the gas station - THEY HAD NO GAS! Idjits...

Second stop, pick up the hard drives... Got to the door, nobody was home.
CRAP! Called the phone number... "My wife should be at home, lemme
check - - - Ya, she's there." Hrm... "Your address is xxx abc street?"
"Yup!" DAMN! I'm on the wrong friggen street! Swing around to the RIGHT
place and get the drives - but no change for a $20? Ya, a cheque for the
difference is OK.

Third stop, pick up the CIS for my printer... Traffic sucks and I have to
all the way across town. Whats worse is I keep picking the routes under
construction. BLAH! Guys there and I get the kit. No problem.... but...

Fourth stop, my meeting at work! Back across town, through the crappy
traffic, with only 20 minutes to spare. No matter what lane I'm in, it's
the slow one. I get to work 20 minutes late - but at least the parking
space was free!

Stop number five, the bank to deposit the $10 cheque from the hard drives.
Get in line at the drive through, get to the ATM, get an envelope, put my
card in... CRAP! My name isn't on the cheque and I don't have a pen. Grab
my card and drive home.

Now I'm at home...Pop open the PC to mount one of the new 200gig drives.
This is where the PC starts to complain at boot. I assume the extra drive
is overloading the PSU, so I disconnect the CD and a spare drive. Still no
go. Clear the CMOS settings... no change. Did I fry the PSU? Swap it out,
no change. The beep code is way to fast to make any sense of. Diagnostic
LEDs just show that "something" isn't right. Next try the PC boots and I
copy my current OS drive to the new drive. Took a few tries with Acronis
to realize that it doesn't like the drive assignments, so I boot to Ghost
and the job is doen. Then the PC plain will no loger boot. I pulled my TV
tuner and installed the PCI video card and the machine complains, but then
I get video and at least I can do something with my PC.

Finally, time to install the CIS. I pull out my current cartridges and
find that my black has been leaking all over. Godamit! 20 minutes of
dabbing and wiping and it's kinda clean. Best that it'll get...By this
time my fingers are worse than the mess I found in the printer. I install
the CIS cartridges... All register as empty. I try and try and try
reseating them, etc. Try my chp resetter... nothing. Email off to the dude
who sold it to me - then my next try works. BLAH! So I pull the vent plugs
on the tanks and install the filters - and I'm missing a filter. *sigh* I
give up.


... hope your day went better than mine did!!!

yes, we were out of milk when I went for my cereals...............

 

[Paul]

Short version:

Booted my PC earlier today and I got some wierd beeps and no video.
Diagnostic LED on the mainboard was flashing, indicating that startp wasn't
normal. Shut down, restarted and it was fine. Next boot, same pattern. Now
it just won't boot - or at least doesn't have any video.

I stuck a PCI card in an empty slot and now I'm able to get into the PC
without any problem. Device manager is not showing any videocard except the
PCI card. No unknown devices either.

256meg EVGA 7600GT PCIe card. At least it's in warranty.

<<snip>>

You might want to verify exactly what has failed. I've heard of
the PCI Express slot being the failure point. Meaning the problem
could be the motherboard, rather than the video card. Try the
video card in another PCI Express machine.

Paul

 

[kony]

Short version:

Booted my PC earlier today and I got some wierd beeps and no video.
Diagnostic LED on the mainboard was flashing, indicating that startp wasn't
normal. Shut down, restarted and it was fine. Next boot, same pattern. Now
it just won't boot - or at least doesn't have any video.

1) Clear CMOS.
2) Check PSU voltages
3) Check video card fan (if it has one)
4) Post concise but complete system details at the start of
the thread, for all we know you could have a PSU failure.

I stuck a PCI card in an empty slot and now I'm able to get into the PC
without any problem. Device manager is not showing any videocard except the
PCI card. No unknown devices either.

256meg EVGA 7600GT PCIe card. At least it's in warranty.

It is fairly unusual for a video card to be working on one
use of the system then just *already* gone the next time you
try to start it. I'd at least pull the PCI card now (with
AC power disconnected of course while you also clear CMOS),
and retry the PCIe 7600GT.

Long version (I wanna rant!):

Now I'm at home...Pop open the PC to mount one of the new 200gig drives.
This is where the PC starts to complain at boot. I assume the extra drive is
overloading the PSU, so I disconnect the CD and a spare drive. Still no go.
Clear the CMOS settings... no change. Did I fry the PSU? Swap it out, no
change. The beep code is way to fast to make any sense of. Diagnostic LEDs
just show that "something" isn't right. Next try the PC boots and I copy my
current OS drive to the new drive. Took a few tries with Acronis to realize
that it doesn't like the drive assignments, so I boot to Ghost and the job
is doen. Then the PC plain will no loger boot. I pulled my TV tuner and
installed the PCI video card and the machine complains, but then I get video
and at least I can do something with my PC.

Hard to say, you might've just had ESD scramble the card
bios. You might hunt down a bios for that card and see if a
flasher can see it, making sure that it's not looking at
the PCI card. Also check cards/cables/etc in case being in
the case dislodged anything.

As Paul mentioned it'd be good to try the card in another
system.

Finally, time to install the CIS. I pull out my current cartridges and find
that my black has been leaking all over. Godamit! 20 minutes of dabbing and
wiping and it's kinda clean. Best that it'll get...By this time my fingers
are worse than the mess I found in the printer. I install the CIS
cartridges... All register as empty. I try and try and try reseating them,
etc. Try my chp resetter... nothing. Email off to the dude who sold it to
me - then my next try works. BLAH! So I pull the vent plugs on the tanks and
install the filters - and I'm missing a filter. *sigh* I give up.

When it rains it pours. Unless it's your only/main-use
system, take a day off from working on it, you may think of
something you'd missed after a break.

 

[Noozer]

<<snip>>

You might want to verify exactly what has failed. I've heard of
the PCI Express slot being the failure point. Meaning the problem
could be the motherboard, rather than the video card. Try the
video card in another PCI Express machine.

Don't have another PCIe machine, nor another PCIe card - BUT, my mainboard
has two 16x PCIe slots. I just moved my card over and now it's detected!
I've already deleted the nVidia drivers so I need to reload them.

Still not the greatest news - means my mainboard is toast. Guess it saved me
some time though.

 

[Noozer]

1) Clear CMOS.
2) Check PSU voltages
3) Check video card fan (if it has one)
4) Post concise but complete system details at the start of
the thread, for all we know you could have a PSU failure.

1 - already done
2 - already done
3 - Was fine. Checked sink contact to core. Also OK.
4 - System config is as follows:
- DFI LanParty nF4 Ultra-D mainboard
- Opteron 165 CPU @ 2.38Ghz (and cold) 7x340
- 2x512meg Kingston DDR @2.8v 3:2 clock rate to CPU
- PCI Audigy 4 soundcard
- WD 34gig Raptor SATA HDD
- Seagate 200gig 7200.7 SATA HDD
- BenQ DW1655 ATA DL DVD-RW

It is fairly unusual for a video card to be working on one
use of the system then just *already* gone the next time you
try to start it. I'd at least pull the PCI card now (with
AC power disconnected of course while you also clear CMOS),
and retry the PCIe 7600GT.

The video card did flake out over a couple of boots.

Since my MB has to 16x PCIe slots, I just tried the card in the other slot
and it's detected. Can't say 100% that it's the slot, but at least I can try
and test the card out a bit.

Hard to say, you might've just had ESD scramble the card
bios. You might hunt down a bios for that card and see if a
flasher can see it, making sure that it's not looking at
the PCI card. Also check cards/cables/etc in case being in
the case dislodged anything.

That's what I thought, but the flash software wouldn't detect the card to
save the current BIOS, so I doubt it would have flashed. Now that it's
working in my other PCIe slot I'm thinking it's more of a mainboard issue.

As Paul mentioned it'd be good to try the card in another
system.

This is the only PCIe system I have, and no other PCIe cards the check the
slot with either. Fortunately I did have the second 16x PCIe slot and it's
saved me some time.

I'd still like to find a stock copy of the BIOS for this video card... any
suggestions?

When it rains it pours. Unless it's your only/main-use
system, take a day off from working on it, you may think of
something you'd missed after a break.

Ya... A good sleep is always helpful.

Thanks for all the help guys!!!

 

[Stefano]

Second stop, pick up the hard drives... Got to the door, nobody was home.
CRAP! Called the phone number... "My wife should be at home, lemme
check - - - Ya, she's there." Hrm... "Your address is xxx abc street?"
"Yup!" DAMN! I'm on the wrong friggen street!

Just a question... where did you get the drives? not a store?

 

[Noozer]

Just a question... where did you get the drives? not a store?

Nope... bought them used from someone upgrading their RAID. They're working
fine.

 

[Noozer]

1) Clear CMOS.

1 - already done
2 - already done
3 - Was fine. Checked sink contact to core. Also OK.
4 - System config is as follows:
- DFI LanParty nF4 Ultra-D mainboard
- Opteron 165 CPU @ 2.38Ghz (and cold) 7x340
- 2x512meg Kingston DDR @2.8v 3:2 clock rate to CPU
- PCI Audigy 4 soundcard
- WD 34gig Raptor SATA HDD
- Seagate 200gig 7200.7 SATA HDD
- BenQ DW1655 ATA DL DVD-RW

Since my MB has to 16x PCIe slots, I just tried the card in the other slot
and it's detected. Can't say 100% that it's the slot, but at least I can
try and test the card out a bit.

Ok... here's an update.

By default one of my x16 slots run at 16x and the other at 2x. Video card in
the 16x slot isn't even detected by the system. In the 2x slot it boots, but
graphics are full of columns of "hash" and this is only if I start Windows
in VGA mode. I get nothing in Windows when booting normally.

Moved the jumpers on the mainboard so that it's is SLI mode, making both x16
slots run at 8x and the video card is detected in either slot, but still
lots of hash.

So, I'm 99% sure I've got a dud videocard here.

Screen shots:
http://members.shaw.ca/mystuff/video/hash1.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/mystuff/video/hash2.jpg

 

[Paul]

Ok... here's an update.

By default one of my x16 slots run at 16x and the other at 2x. Video card in
the 16x slot isn't even detected by the system. In the 2x slot it boots, but
graphics are full of columns of "hash" and this is only if I start Windows
in VGA mode. I get nothing in Windows when booting normally.

Moved the jumpers on the mainboard so that it's is SLI mode, making both x16
slots run at 8x and the video card is detected in either slot, but still
lots of hash.

So, I'm 99% sure I've got a dud videocard here.

Screen shots:
http://members.shaw.ca/mystuff/video/hash1.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/mystuff/video/hash2.jpg

Video card warranty to the rescue :-(

When the repaired/replaced card arrives, you'll be able to test
the motherboard again. Unless you're in a rush, in which case a
$50 PCI Express video card can be used while you're waiting on
the RMA.

Paul

 

[Paul]

Video card warranty to the rescue :-(

When the repaired/replaced card arrives, you'll be able to test
the motherboard again. Unless you're in a rush, in which case a
$50 PCI Express video card can be used while you're waiting on
the RMA.

Paul

Also, now that you've got some display to work with,
go into the BIOS, to the hardware monitor page, and
check the voltages. The ones from the PSU have
a 5% tolerance. This is not likely to be the problem,
but it's something you can check for free.

Paul