need help with onboard video

[kevinpurkerson]

I have a Gateway DX100X and the video card or i think it is a onboard Intel GMA 900 graphics processor, no longer works. I have done a little research online and I geuss it doesn't have a place where you can add a deicated video card. So how do I get this computer going again? Do I have to find a GMA 900 graphics processor and install it after removing the old one? If so what is involved in doing so, and where can I find a GMA 900 graphics processor( if that is what it needs)?

[caperjack]

hi ,does the computer bootup at all ! if it does what happens ,and how do you know it the video that is causing the problem, if it boots up but has bad graphics ,maybe you just need to install video drivers .
as for getting new GMA 900 graphics processor that would involve changing the motherboard,or PCI conventional video card

video drivers here if needed .
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=1008602

[kevinpurkerson]

The computer comes on but you can't see anything on the monitor, I have tried to use a different monitor to no avail. It's like the monitor isin't hooked up, but it is. I have no clue what to do, any advice would be great.

[caperjack]

hard to help with that ,because it could be anything ,actuall it could be a bad power supply , or ram even ,do the cdroms open ,can you hear the windows sounds if enabled ,do you hear the harddrive running .

[kevinpurkerson]

The disk tray opens and I can hear the hard drive spinning. Wouldn't the BIOS still come up if it were anything else? Is there a process of elimination I can use to narrow it down?

[caperjack]

you could open the tower and unplug cd drives ,remove any pci addin cards if any, remove ram ,and then try and boot.if it make beeps because of missing ram reinstall it ,if you have more than one stick of ram just put one back in and try again .
a power supply going bad can cause it to only half boot up!

[kevinpurkerson]

would anything show up on the screen if it were the power supply going out?

[caperjack]

would anything show up on the screen if it were the power supply going out?

NO! ,thats what im trying to tell you .it could be a lot of things besides the video , I have replaced dozens of power supply that will power on but not boot windows fully and show anything on the screen ,I use a power supply tested to check the psu, before i change it !

[kevinpurkerson]

Ok I will do as you suggested and unhook the cd-rom, and take out both sticks of RAM and reboot it, then if it beeps I will put only one stick back in and try again. Then I guess I'll get back on here. Thanks for the advice.

[Suspishio]

I agree with the others that there are things to look for before suspecting the internal graphics.

If it isn't anything else based on the foregoing advice, then I suspect that you can add a cheap PCI graphics card after finding the motherboard bridge that must be pulled to disable the internal graphics. I can't guarateee that this particular motherboard has this facility, but it should.

Finally, just a sanity check - you obviously think it's booting up OK with no display. If that was the case, you'd see the keyboard lights flash early during booting and you'd hear the whirrs and clicks and see the disk led going for the usual amount of boot time. Presumably also you can enter your windows password at the right time and see more disk activity. Yes?

[kevinpurkerson]

yes the keyboard lights come on and everything seems to happen as usual except for the fact that it acts as though the monitor isn't attached. The only thing that is odd is that the light on the laser mouse doesn't come on, regardless of what usb port I use. I am not sure what to think about that. I did some research online this website http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/gateway-dx100x/4505-3118_7-31628170.html?tag=txt%3bpage it seams to say that i am stuck with the onboard video , and i am not sure where to get another one if that's what is wrong with it. but i guess i am about to try to unhook the dvd rom and take out the ram like caperjack suggested and see what happens, then get back on here for more advice if it is a dead end.

[caperjack]

this taken from the link you provided.
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There is a single free PCI slot and one x1 PCI Express slot, but no x16 PCI Express or AGP slots for adding a dedicated video card. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with the onboard Intel GMA 900 graphics processor.
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you can still buy standard PCI video cards ,not to be confused with x16 pci-e video cards .

like this one .
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1524186&Sku=D10-2048

or the one in the lower part of this page .
http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=VCD

[kevinpurkerson]

turned out to be the extension cord, thanks for the advice everyone.

[caperjack]

turned out to be the extension cord, thanks for the advice everyone.

extension cord ? you should never use a long one !