Serious Problem with Display

[ming]

The worst part of this event is that I've moved over to the SATA storage which I can't get data off since my other machines, and my friends, have only IDE connections. :s

 

[bush dogg]

man bush you really need to read the whole post he cant EVEN boot the machine at ALL

I did read the whole post what I missed the first time 3 posts down was “EDIT: I can't load windows anymore coz this problem causes the system to stall.”

In both my posts I mentioned reseat the card (this is just common practice) I didn’t see it mentioned that was tried (so I mentioned reseat the card and also safemode).

It’s common practice to try reseating the card and then safemode, especially if you’re working on a system that belongs to someone else and not ready to give up on it.

I’ve had this same problem and it wasn’t the card it was the power supply that was 11 months ago and the video card still works fine today.

I just wanted to be sure and cover all the bases before I said "it’s the card".

If Ming don’t want to try reseating the card “and then if possible safemode” on the hopes of getting lucky then Ming can tell me I don’t need you telling me lancer.

 

[American Zombie]

The worst part of this event is that I've moved over to the SATA storage which I can't get data off since my other machines, and my friends, have only IDE connections. :s

BartPE CD/DVD with Nero plugin then burn all the data to DVD's.

 

[ming]

Funnily enough, safe mode loads up, which is a relief.
Apart from that, I can't do much except copy some of the important files I need on to flash and use it on my laptop. Safe mode is the only thing I can do on the system now.

What I dont understand is why safe mode loads, and normal mode doesnt.

 

[bush dogg]

Ming I’m glad real glad it will load for you at least you can get your files saved now in case the worst is true.

As for loading in safe mode that’s when windows loads generic drivers in which case less power is needed and less things to conflict with each other. (I’ve had systems that wouldn’t load with the installed graphics drivers all of a sudden but would get in safemode) Driver corruption, power supply and /or still could be the card is bad.

Because you can get to safemode now what I would do is run a full virus scan then check the event log and possibly take a look at the card drivers.

Look in msconfig for anything that would be unusual to you. Maybe even look at the power supply too (I’ve had a power supply cause a very similar problem).

 

[ming]

bush, if you've had a power supply causing the problem then wouldn't that mean that the gpu stopped working and replacement was required? otherwise how did you manage to fix the problem?

 

[bush dogg]

I had the power supply tested by a shop here in town (because the video problem seemed strange the way it happened) and the guys there told me the voltage wasn’t consistent when it was first tested, one time the voltage would be fine then when under a load the voltage would drop. Then at times it would be the other way around the voltage was weak the minute they started to run the test. (I don’t remember all the details on what the voltage was, that was 11 months ago)

But I decided to take the chance and replace the power supply 11 months ago and the video card has not given me any trouble since then.

The system never rebooted on me but I did notice a lag from time to time. I didn’t think of a power supply issue until the video card trouble and thought “just have it tested I’m going out there anyway”.

I don’t know if it’s a power supply problem or not for sure or driver corruption, it may even be the video card but if it is a power problem I just would hate to see you have other hardware problems down the road because it wasn’t diagnosed early.

Just thought if you could get to safe mode you could trouble shoot the problem better by looking at the event logs and just looking around in general.

 

[ming]

event logs are showing nothing related to driver issues as far as i can see.

 

[lancer]

bushe's suggestion of it being a psu could be a valid one, do you have another machine you could use the psu from?

 

[Mainframeguy]

also as far as safe mode goes - remember this will be using a lower res from your GFX - which could use less power and help the display or could just enable the GFX to work (I dunno!)

 

[ming]

um... in safe mode, Im seeing 32-bit 1280x1024 res actually. looks exactly like what i usually use on my desktop in normal mode.

as for the psu, i dont have another machine that uses 24pins. also, i thought antec makes very stable psus according to you guys.

 

[bush dogg]

Do you remember what driver version you had installed in the windows environment, if so see if that’s the same driver that loads in safe mode if it is then there are a few things you could do.

1--- Have the power supply tested and make sure they can test it under a load. (Just to be sure and eliminate this as a problem)

2--- Run a full virus scan in safe mode.

3--- Remove the card/Inspect and clean the contacts if they look tarnished this could be a problem on the power side of things.

4--- “Make note of the driver version used in safe mode first” Enter safe mode and uninstall the video driver/reboot to normal windows (if it will I think the chances are good it will if it has to do with the driver) and let windows install the driver for the card.

5--- “In the event step 4 works” then you can reinstall the drivers you want and see if the problem comes back. If it comes back then you can revert to an older driver and go from there.

I don’t know if you got them yet but there were some hefty update for windows Tuesday, I haven’t heard of problems with them but it’s possible the updates or something else that happened in the last few weeks caused some driver corruption. (Power spike maybe or just windows getting stupid)

One easy thing you could try is disconnect the power cable to your Rom drives and floppy if you have one and see if windows will load. (If windows loads after the drives are disconnected then I would seriously look at the power supply, I would look at it anyway but this is easy enough to try)

By chance have you installed any new software or hardware in the last few weeks?

As for Antec I’ve had good luck with them for the most part but there are bad one’s out there.
I just want to be sure on the power supply because what I’ve seen happen when it’s not caught early is the HD is next to go and I don’t want to see you lose the HD.

You could check the refresh rate (if you can get to it) also, I have seen this reset to a rate the monitor could not handle and this same thing happens. (What reset them I don’t know but I’ve seen them change for no apparent reason)

 

[bush dogg]

I didn’t want this lost in the last post so I gave it a post all its own.

Keep in mind IF this does turn out to be the Video card in the end you shouldn’t have to do a complete reinstall of Windows/Software and hardware.

Because you can get into safe mode you would just uninstall the old card drivers and all software that came with it from there.
Shut down replace the old card with a new one and start the system/Install the drivers for the new card then do what little cleanup you feel necessary.

 

[ming]

Not sure where I can get my PSU tested around my area, but Im very certain that it's not going to be a driver issue because the problem occurs BEFORE windows startup.