Help please

[HunterNott]

My monitor only stays on for a couple of seconds then goes blank. It's a KDS monitor for my ULTRA DELL PC P4 2.8 GHZ WIN XP-2. I literally have to keep turning the monitor on and off to get those precious couple of seconds of viewing. However, on a very rare occasion the monitor will stay on for 3 minutes or so. I've tried everything I can think of. Does anybody have any idea of what's happening and how I can fix it. On the verge of tears. Thanks

[PCResolver]

It sounds as if the power saving is not working correctly. You need to check in your BIOS: Press F2 or Del as the PC boots to enter your BIOS depending on the BIOS.
Then look for Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI) and make sure it is enabled.

To eliminate a potential power supply problem, change the power cables and wall socket with one that you know works (swap with your PC for example).

[wing987]

I agree with Steve. However I feel it is more likely to be a power issue in the monitor itself. If under warantee still, call dell. If not of course you dont want to waste it, so try a known good cable, with a known good power source (which includes the power strip). ALSO if your using the same ower strip for multiple items you may be drawing too much power. SOME more expensive strips will shut down only the outlet drawing too much power, but those are rare. Try using multiple outlets instead of one to distribute the power draw.

[HunterNott]

Thanks so much! I'll check it out tonight. I appreciate your help!

[dogbreath077]

One of the high voltage transformers or a ccfl may be going bad, causing a safety shutdown in the inverter board. This is pretty common.