Computer on, but no video output

[luis2423]

Please help! Just recently I got a new USB MP3 player (Nomad Muvo), while inserting it into my USB port, I heard a tweeking noise and my Monitor turned off, and it said Selft Test (G), Check check you PC and Signal Cable (R), Monitor is working (B) and then it goes into sleep mode. I rebooter my computer several times, but no video output, all I see is self test msgs again.

I connected different monitor and I get same thing. Connected my original monitor back and , after restarting the computer several times and turning the power suply on off several time somehow I could here the bootup sequence (floppy disk), then the windows logo came on and I was able to log in. After 5 minutes or so, I got a dll msg while using Music Match and aked to send MS error. After I oppened Music Match again, and played a song for about 30 seconds, my computer froze, I could not end task, I rebooted again and I was back to square 1, monitor goes into sleep mode and i don't hear the floppy disk. Also when I restart I don't see any lights on the keyboard and mouse.

I don't know what the problem is. Could it be my HD, Motherboard or who knows. Could it be my power supply?

NOTE: the MP3 player works great in diff computer. I also reformated my HD about 4 months ago. :mad:

I'm running Windows XP SP2, 384 MB RAM, AMD Athlon 1800+, NVDIA Gforce 64mb video card, 40GB hd, and it has been running great for the past 2 years.

Any help or troubleshooting tips will be greatly appreciated.

[Thong_Ispector]

Were you plugging it into a front USB connector or trying to fish it blindly into a rear port...

Is there a chance you tried to stick it into a 1394 firewire...
It looks similar but very different...

If your video card is a plug in card and not onboard could you have knocked the card loose?

Just a couple of things to check... or think about...

[luis2423]

Yes, I have 2 USB ports in the front, but they look exactly the same. I also checked my Video Card, took it our of the mother board and placed it back; everything looks good.

The weird thing is that every time I power-up, only the CD-ROM and CDR lights come on for a few seconds and I don't hear my Floppy Disk or see the keyboard and mouse lights come on as they should. I've tried resetting my PC many times and no luck. Any other suggestions or ideas. Thanks in advance...

[Thong_Ispector]

There is another possibility...

Is this a store bought PC or custom build?

If the USB connector from the front jack is connected incorrectly to the motherboard it will work... but only until a USB device is plugged in then it can short out... Basically, those four wires can be on wrong but if they are only acting as extensions to the motherboard pins you would not see any problem until you actually tried to use the device... Many of these usb (front case) plugs have individual wires that plug onto the motherboard....

Pin 1 RED VCC +5
Pin 2 Orange Data -
Pin 3 Yellow Data +
Pin 4 Brown Ground
Pin 5 Black Ground (Sometimes this is not used or included)

Pin 1 on the motherboard is usually identified with a mark of some kind...

If you get these backwards... Bad things happen....

[alc6379]

Try this:

• Ensure monitor connections are secure to the video card
• Reseat the video card
• Try a different video card.
• Attach the monitor to a different computer, see if it gets video there.

The USB device might have had something to do with it, but I'm somewhat doubtful. This should be troubleshoot just like any other no video issue initially. Do you get any video at all (BIOS Startup messages, etc), or nothing?

[oalee]

does the computer perform it's POST and stops at bootup? or is the monitor just simply dead when you turn it on? I agree with alex, it'd be the video card. unplug all of your USB devices and start it up again so you'll know if it's the USB.

[luis2423]

Thanks a bunch! I disconnected the front USB wires from the motherboard and now it works. After inspecting the front USB ports, I noticed that one of them is broken (missing the middle plastic part). I recall plugging in my MP3 player to that specific port. I'm so glad I didn't fry my motherboard. :mrgreen:

[Thong_Ispector]

Luis,
So glad to hear that fixed the problem and you got your PC back up and running.

Sometimes I am good at this stuff,

Sometimes I am just plain LUCKY...

How is that for a Christmas present?

[The DJ]

You know, for the longest time, I had a similar problem and I couldn't figure it out either, I don't know how I did this but somehow the plug was not inserted into the video card correctly, i.e. it was turned the wrong way and when I corrected that it worked again. I felt pretty silly about it afterwards. :mrgreen: