Video problem - should I worry?

[Lee MacMillan]

Turned on my basement computer today (only use it about 3 times/week), the
screen said "no video signal" or something like that and I heard alternate
high/low sounds from the computer (almost like the sirens on foreign police
cars.) Disconnected and reconnect both ends of the video cable and then it
booted fine. Video card is a 2 yr old Radeon 9250, never had a problem
before.

A fluke or an omen of things to come? Or too early to tell?

Thanks.

 

[Frank McCoy]

Turned on my basement computer today (only use it about 3 times/week), the
screen said "no video signal" or something like that and I heard alternate
high/low sounds from the computer (almost like the sirens on foreign police
cars.) Disconnected and reconnect both ends of the video cable and then it
booted fine. Video card is a 2 yr old Radeon 9250, never had a problem
before.

A fluke or an omen of things to come? Or too early to tell?

Either the fan in the video-card is going bad, or one of your drives.
I'd suspect the disk, myself.

NOT good, in either case.

 

[JAD]

Turned on my basement computer today (only use it about 3 times/week),

humidity level of the basement? check your fans for dirt and lint...PSU CPU and case fans

the

 

[Phisherman]

Turned on my basement computer today (only use it about 3 times/week), the
screen said "no video signal" or something like that and I heard alternate
high/low sounds from the computer (almost like the sirens on foreign police
cars.) Disconnected and reconnect both ends of the video cable and then it
booted fine. Video card is a 2 yr old Radeon 9250, never had a problem
before.

A fluke or an omen of things to come? Or too early to tell?

Thanks.

That can happen with a loose/damaged cable connection.

 

[Paul]

Turned on my basement computer today (only use it about 3 times/week), the
screen said "no video signal" or something like that and I heard alternate
high/low sounds from the computer (almost like the sirens on foreign police
cars.) Disconnected and reconnect both ends of the video cable and then it
booted fine. Video card is a 2 yr old Radeon 9250, never had a problem
before.

A fluke or an omen of things to come? Or too early to tell?

Thanks.

Enter the BIOS and go to the hardware monitor page.

Check measured voltage levels. The voltages that come from the supply,
should be +/-5% to be within tolerance. If something reads out of
whack, you'll need to verify with a multimeter. Some rails (like the
+12V on the machine I'm typing this on) don't read properly, and only
a multimeter will tell you the truth.

The "donkey siren" could mean the BIOS has noticed something is not
within spec - such as the Vcore regulator for the processor is too
low for the expected value.

I'm not even sure the "donkey siren" is documented in any manual.
Beep codes listed are for POST events, as the computer is coming
up, but I believe the "donkey siren" can happen while the machine
is running.

http://support.asus.com.tw/faq/faq_...E-1E9F-86A1-F98F-05582E64010C&SLanguage=en-us

Also, you might carefully eyeball the fit of the video card into
its slot. The video card mechanical details involve all three
dimensions. Sometimes the video card rests too high, and the
contacts are not mating properly. That could happen if you used
the wrong standoffs underneath the motherboard. The only standoffs
you can trust, are the ones that come with the computer case, as
cases can use different height standoffs. That is a "Z axis"
error. In the X-Y plane, you can put strain on the video card, if
the motherboard is not properly aligned with the slot covers. It
may take a couple tries, so that PCI slot 5 and the AGP slot,
both work smoothly. Adjust the motherboard X-Y position, until that
is true. If the slot connector on the card still doesn't look like
it is mating properly, try a brand new computer case.

Paul

 

[the_slay_er]

too many answers lol...

over time any connections can vibrate loose etc... if you have a no signal
warning then it was simply a loose cable.

it happens,, its a part of the routine maintenance of any electrical item
which has stuff plugged in. clean the conatcts and reseat occasionally.

nothing to worry about.

regards dave

 

[Michael Hawes]

too many answers lol...

over time any connections can vibrate loose etc... if you have a no signal
warning then it was simply a loose cable.

it happens,, its a part of the routine maintenance of any electrical item
which has stuff plugged in. clean the conatcts and reseat occasionally.

nothing to worry about.

regards dave

Siren sound is often overtemp on CPU. Your CPU fan may be getting slow
to startup, or just plain slow. Check if it is choked with dust and fluff,
clean with a dry paintbrush (1/2 in).

Mike.

 

[Lee M.]

Enter the BIOS and go to the hardware monitor page.

Check measured voltage levels. The voltages that come from the supply,
should be +/-5% to be within tolerance. If something reads out of
whack, you'll need to verify with a multimeter. Some rails (like the
+12V on the machine I'm typing this on) don't read properly, and only
a multimeter will tell you the truth.

The "donkey siren" could mean the BIOS has noticed something is not
within spec - such as the Vcore regulator for the processor is too
low for the expected value.

I'm not even sure the "donkey siren" is documented in any manual.
Beep codes listed are for POST events, as the computer is coming
up, but I believe the "donkey siren" can happen while the machine
is running.

http://support.asus.com.tw/faq/faq_...E-1E9F-86A1-F98F-05582E64010C&SLanguage=en-us

Also, you might carefully eyeball the fit of the video card into
its slot. The video card mechanical details involve all three
dimensions. Sometimes the video card rests too high, and the
contacts are not mating properly. That could happen if you used
the wrong standoffs underneath the motherboard. The only standoffs
you can trust, are the ones that come with the computer case, as
cases can use different height standoffs. That is a "Z axis"
error. In the X-Y plane, you can put strain on the video card, if
the motherboard is not properly aligned with the slot covers. It
may take a couple tries, so that PCI slot 5 and the AGP slot,
both work smoothly. Adjust the motherboard X-Y position, until that
is true. If the slot connector on the card still doesn't look like
it is mating properly, try a brand new computer case.

Paul

Interesting info, thanks.

My Epox 8RDA+ has bulging, leaking caps and the Vcore voltage fluctuates
between 1.4 and 1.6 but that hasn't seemed to affect the operation so far.
Maybe it's on its last legs. I have a backup mobo if needed.

The video card (which is fanless) was moved from my other computer about 2
months ago and hasn't exhibited a problem until yesterday. I will follow
your suggestions. I did check the 3.3v rail recently because MBM claims it
is only give 2.7v. The multimeter read 3.2. Haven't looked at the BIOS
voltage reading but will check those next time I turn it on. The case/power
supply is a low cost Raidmax that I got because it was cheap and this is a
secondary computer. It's a lightly loaded system but the cheap PSU could be
part of the problem.

Thanks for your help.

Lee

 

[km]

Turned on my basement computer today (only use it about 3 times/week), the
screen said "no video signal" or something like that and I heard alternate
high/low sounds from the computer (almost like the sirens on foreign police
cars.) Disconnected and reconnect both ends of the video cable and then it
booted fine. Video card is a 2 yr old Radeon 9250, never had a problem
before.

A fluke or an omen of things to come? Or too early to tell?

Thanks.

Test it in another PC to eliminate the video card as the cause.

km