Increased Display rez then CPU/Monitor Not Work?

I upped my display resolution to a measly 1024x768, from 800x600. 2 hours later the screen was blank and the CPU had shut itself off

I powered back up and the CPU power light on the front panel stayed blinking. There was HDD activity for the normal 120 second full start up, but just a blank monitor. I Powered down/waited/Power Up, same thing.

Then Powered it down overnite, powered up this morning, same thing- a blinking CPU power light, normal HDD activity, but no display on the monitor except for its "On Screen Display" setup menu that will not take input from the front panel.

BTW, i recently ran h/w diags on HDD/SMART and showed no probs. And 1024x768 is well within the specs of the video card and monitor. Neither Nvidia/Jaton nor Princeton sites had an answer that fixed it. I haven't cracked the pc case in 2 months. I don't get it.
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Athlon TBird 1.4Ghz, 512mb Crucial, WinME{it ain't as bad as it is, really}
GeForce2 MX400 64MB 3DForce Nvidia/Jaton
Princeton Ultra 73e CRT monitor
Award bios 6, Sony cd/rw-dvd, Samsung 40gig HDD

 

trials.

You need to begin substitution, trying the monitor on another computer and another computer on the monitor. If that doen't clear things up ( I mean show what the problem is) let us know.

 

Rex:
Did you change your refresh rate too? If yes, boot into safe mode a startup and drop it back down to a minimal refresh rate setting or change it to a standard adapter, then try rebooting into normal mode. Not sure about ME settings because I avoid it like the plague but recently forgot to reset an XP machine (had it at 1600x1200 at 150mhz) and when it got hooked back up to its normal monitor, nice black screen.

 

Agree with Rockster,
What size monitor is it? Some 15" monitors are not happy above 800x600 even at a fairly low resolution. (70-75Hz). A lot of 17" monitors will not go above 85Hz. 85 Hz is generally all that is needed as flicker free is accepted as 75Hz and above. Although I can still see screen flicker at 75Hz, so prefer to use 85Hz. Some monitors will run too hot at higher frequencies of say 100+Hz. Hence they shut down and safe mode is needed to reset them.

 

Thanks for the tips,
I left the refresh rate on "Optimal" in the Nvidia driver menu (the other display rates were available but "optimal" has been fine), the CRT is 17" and claims to be good for this resolution and the "True" color display. Don't think I can maneuver into 'safe' mode, cuz no display and cpu/monitor isn't responding to keyboard, F5 or F8.

I'll do the monitors/cpu substitution to narrow it down, cross my digits, and see whass' up w'dat.

ps: Avoid WinME like the plague? Whatever for? It's only the unhandiest software, needing the most tweaks, to come out of Renton but I've an ongoing love/hate relationship

 

My T-Bird works again, I'm on it now. Took the 'hint' and changed the display back to 800x600 and another full system backup. And while in there installed USB2 and Firewire cards

But now I'm cuz all I did was set it on the kitchen table to troubleshoot, and it powered/booted up normally. I need some help on what the problem is going to be.

Problem Recap:
-Upped the display to{edit} 1024x768 on the Nvidia/Jaton GeForce2 MX400.
-3 hours later it had auto-shutdown.
-Upon PowerUp, the power light blinked ~every second, would not Boot up,
no display, no keyboard input. HDD activity for 15secs vice normal 120secs.

-Now, it boots up normally and the display is fine.
-All the fans are working (HSF, case and Sparkle 400w PSU).
-MBM5 Temps are normal: mobo 24c, chip 27c, case 23c or 71F-82F.
-This SysteMax 'puter/mobo/HDD & monitor are 3 yrs old, GeForce2 card & {edit} 400w PSU are <2 yrs old.

What can I troubleshoot that may be near failure? No errors at all during bootup nor while its been running 3 hours now. I've got a volt-ohm-amp meter and some electro-mechanical knowledge after 50 years, what should I be checking? Thanks for more help . . .

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Athlon Tbird 1.4{noc'd}, 512mb Crucial pc133 sdram
Mobo MS6340M VIA vt8365a, FSB 266mhz
Award BIOS v6.00pg, TweakedMe{98-}, IE5.5 SP2
IDE uata100, Samsung SV4084H HDD
Sparkle 400w PSU on UPS, Sony CD/RW, DVD
GF2 mx400/64, PCITel v.92/.44 HardModem
MBM5 online/idle: mobo-24c, chip-27c, case-23c
Mid-ATX 2 case fans, HSF & PSU

 

Hi Rexb,

Me, I would get some contact cleaner and clean the video card contacts. Clean the monitor connector pins and check that none are pushed in or bent (but dont be alarmed if one or two are missing, that is normal). If you had to lean around the back of the case to connect the monitor, then it may not have been seated properly.

Check that connecting the monitor does not move the video card a lot.

Could check your BIOS settings for power saving. See if the BIOS upgrades for your motherboard include anything related to video.

Unfortunately, it may be a component slowly breaking down.

Matt

 

Thanks mattman, i checked & cards are tight (i'll ga & clean gf2 and ram contacts), no loose cords or bent pins, nor loose connections wobbling/arcing by pulling hard with both hands while standing on case. All seriousness aside, i wrote this once but the site had a prob and slicked it.

Anywho, i thimk the symptoms have narrowed down my choices. The video works fine after a successful bootup finally, the PSU voltages are within ~2% of Sparkle/Athlon specs and no observable fluctuations so is ok, there's 1 minor BIOS flash but it doesn't deal with video or power.

The Q I'm asking now is "What caused the rythmically blinking power light for 3 days of unsuccessful boots?" "Mobo?" "Chipset?" I don't know how to TS computters much so am just guessing, just hope its not the beginning of a graceless decomposition.

BTW, is "mattman" similar to the honored "MatMan" aka Maintenance Man
who usually repairs electronics?

Thanks, lemme' know of further ideas to fix this beastie

 

RexB,

Rythmical blinking is usually the sign of "suspend" mode, the BIOS or operating system putting the monitor to sleep. It should not occur during startup. Have a look through your monitor's manual, but if this problem is there, it will probably be addressed by saying take it for service/repairs.

MatMan...never heard of him...that's alright, he's probably never heard of me either .

Luck
Matt

Edit: Rereading your posts, is the blinking light on the monitor or the case (housing the CPU)? If it it is from the case you should check the motherboard manual for what that would mean.
Appologies if I misread.

 

The blinking power light at startup, about every second, {was} the CPU case front panel power-button. The whole system has worked normally since I took it out of the wall cabinet to troubleshoot, gently threw it on the kitchen table, and then powered it up. Must've been my extraordinary maintenance touch that fixed it, for now

For the {former} blinking power light problem on startup, I searched the skimpy OEM manual, SysteMax OEM website, Sparkle website, Googled lots, but found no info yet as to cause.

When us Ops (operators) would break something, we went looking for the MatMan (maintenance man) to fix it. That's all i was getting at

 

Leave it in the open air.

RexB,

I think this is your clue:

"system has worked normally since I took it out of the wall cabinet to troubleshoot "

Soundslike a heat disipation problem, maybe not enough air circulation in cabinet. I'd leave it out, and maybe you'll be done troubleshooting for a while.

 

I hope that's it- yesterday i cut a hole and added another 80mm exhaust fan. An ugly hole, praise Neptune for silicone. Be nice if it cures the problem, but the 'before & after' temps were just 2c-4c lower. It and an Intel machine have been in the open-fronted cabinet over 3 years. My MBM5 logs show that the already cool running Athlon got a little cooler.

MBM5 Temps Online/Idle in 21c ambient:
....Before . After removal from an open wall cabinet (+ side panel off for T/S):
case 25c . 23c
mobo 27c. 24c
chip . 31c. 27c

And the log showed all voltages remained constant with no spikes and little variation, though it was sampling just every 10 secs.

My 'best guess' so far is that when I threw it on the kitchen table to T/S, a loose contact on *RAM?*, *Video Card?*, *PSU?* reseated. I took "mattman's" advice and cleaned all contacts that were cleanable and ensured they were tight. I'm still scratching my head though, cuz I didn't find the *for-sure* problem, and just hope this isn't sporadic cuz that's the worst to T/S But I'm it's working for now.

Thanks for everyone's help, and if another idea pops up for that blinking power light at failed startups . . .

 

Could it have been possibly "card creep "? Found the quote below from a PC help site...

"Most monitors and PCs have an LED that lights up when the power is on. The monitor LED will flash yellow when it doesn't see a connection to the PCs video card and comes on steady green when it syncs with the video card (green is good). So if your monitor has a flashing yellow LED the problem could rest with the PC. At this point make sure your monitor cable is also plugged securely into your PC and the thumbscrews are tight. Make sure the PC is turned on also. If it's still flashing the PC itself could be the problem. Sometimes moving a PC will cause the video card to "creep" out of its socket. Take the cover off, reseat the card and try again. Please note that newer PCs will boot up even if it doesn't see the monitor and some older systems will not boot until the video connection between the video card and monitor is detected. If at this point you can hear the fans on the PC and it sounds like something is going on in there you might want to borrow a monitor to confirm that yours isn't the problem. "

 

Thanks dobhar, and if that's what happened it *should* be fixed after cleaning the contacts and ensuring all cards/connections are well-seated.

Ya' know you guyz can answer this. Onboard submarines (I'm retired Navy) we had some pretty old 50's & 60's era equipment, in the 90's. I worked on our second-largest, most unforgiving computer system-- when it "went dorky" as it often did, I opened the drawers and reseated the cards with a 2 pound rubber mallet. And then it worked. No kidding.

I don't s'pose that's a good option on today's kinder, gentler, electronics?

 

May be a better motherboard manual here:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/manual/mnu/spt_mnu_list.php?kind=1&CHIP=Archives&ID=1
Version 3.0 or 5.0? I had a look at the version 5.0 and it lists your chipset. It did not mention the cause of a flashing led, from what I saw. It only listed the basics, although hopefully that may be better than what you have now.

Matt
BWT I was dubbed "mattman" by my friends kids. I am no longer referred to as Matt there, I am mattman (Edit: although I don't own any capes and I wear my underpants on the inside, in case you were wondering )

 

RexB,

Some of my friends have drilled holes in the back of wooden cabinets, as high up as possible (hot air rises),without showing from the front, and that has diminished heat problems.

It's also a good idea to periodically blow the dust out, especially from around the fan blades and power supply.

One of the first things I try in difficult-to-explain problems is to ensure adaquate cooling. That at least makes ME feel better.

 

Hey Guyz, I appreciate the help, and did you read my posted temperatures? This has never run over 34C by MBM5 logs (a pretty good sensor translator), which is real cool for an Athlon. Repeat, I added another 80mm fan, "Just For Grins ". It may be enroute a graceful "old and worn out" but heat is Not the problem.

I put queries in to Sparkle, MSI, and AMD to see if they had seen similar problems before.

 

Thanks mattman, it's a version 3, yeh MSI had the best so far. I had it and for a manufacturer's site specs i thought it was a pretty bare-bones description, but what can ya' do?. Maybe they will reply in a few days, but without the board in front of them to look at I can't expect much.

 

mbm just takes a sample.

RexB,

"never run over 34C by MBM5 logs "

Well, that's two places inside your case, but there're a few more chips in there sensitive to high temperatures that we're not testing, and we're not testing the interior of the psu; any of those might explain some apparently insoluble problems.

Cooling is about the least expensive tool we have to keep our machines running smothly.

 

Allright Sparrow: My mobo, chip and case never ran over 34C, Durn Cool for an Athlon. That means my PSU, with its own fan, never got much higher or the case temp would have too. What are the "more chips in there sensitive to high temperatures that we're not testing" that caused a blinking power light and failed boot? This is a well cooled case in an open-fronted cabinet. The temps prove it. Specifics, as in facts, please.