On startup - monitor stays idle

[Zurev]

When the computer starts, the fans are on and stay on full blast and the monitor won't come out of an idle state. Its a 2 year old emachines computer, I assumed video card off the bat so I installed an old PCI video card in there, (current is onboard) and I got nothing. I next assumed RAM so I took each stick and tried running it with just one stick in case one was faulty and also nothing. Connections are fine, still unsure.

Any ideas? Thanks for the help!

 

[medabomb2000]

When the DVI or VGA cable is unplugged from the monitor/tower, does the monitor show a "No Connection Screen?"
This will show to see if the display on the monitor is still working. Also do you have a 2nd monitor you can use to test the output coming from the tower?

 

[Zurev]

Its VGA, and I get a no signal flashing when its not plugged in, and just the idle black screen when it is. I do have a second monitor I would be able to test with later.

 

[medabomb2000]

It sounds like the monitor may have gone out. Test the 2nd monitor and let me know if you are able to get a display. I would take the PCI card out and test it back on the mobo to place it back on your default settings as well.

 

[Zurev]

Thanks for the quick response, also curious, if that doesn't work is there anything else I should try? Since I only have limited access to the computer when I go over there.

 

[medabomb2000]

If the 2nd monitor is not displaying anything, I would see if you can use a different VGA cord (if you are not already). This will help test the connection between the computer and the monitor itself. If you are still running into issues, you can try to pull the PCI card out and test it on a secondary tower to make sure the card is working fine. If the card is fine, then more than likely the motherboard on the tower has a malfunction on it somewhere, preventing from the cmos to boot the graphics. Run these tests, and let me know what you find.

You can also just try to test the monitor on a second tower to see if that computer can get a display on the monitor. This may be a quick way to test it as well.

 

[Zurev]

No output on second monitor. Also num lock light doesn't turn on or off on toggle, which I was told is a sign of complete motherboard failure, is this true?

 

[medabomb2000]

Num Lock light could actually be several things, but one of them could be a motherboard failure. If you can, try to test the primary monitor on a different tower. With the sounds of it, it looks like the monitor is more than likely not the issue if a 2nd monitor isn't working either, but it doesn't hurt to run a quick test.

My guess would be if the monitor/s is in good condition with another computer, you are looking at some internally wrong with the motherboard. Electricity is flowing on the Mobo for the computer to turn on and start the fans. This means that most of the circuits are still in good condition. But there is something preventing the display to be started. When you turn the computer on, does the computer have a "beep" sound a few seconds after it starts up?