computer boots up; no video

ok, this problem i cant figure out. A buddy needed to borrow some memory so i gave him a stick of 512 to borrow as i have 1.5G's, i can spare it. So i took it out, then booted my computer back up and my monitor wont come on. Computer will bootup fine but the video doesnt work.

I took out my Video card (ati 9800xt), and put it back in...same problem. I put a new video card in...same problem. Reseated my RAM...same problem.

Ive Reseted CMOS, nothing.

Ive taken my whole comp apart and put it together and now i get no power whatsoever.

I havent tried a new PSU...im thinking that might be my problem

 

PSUs degrade over time, and I've had computers that didn't have enough juice to power their video cards before. How big is your PSU and what're the amps on the 12V rails?

 

I HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM BEFORE ! It may not be the power supply !
Actually if the graphics card is faulty these symptoms will appear - a faulty graphics card can prevent the computer booting as the POST works -graphics first then the other tests and the power supply can switch itself off for a specific reset time if it encounters certain problems- leave the power unplugged from it for 10 minutes then retry but first....

1) make sure the fuse isnt blown in the power chord

2) take the computer apart clean everything with a soft brush or a hairdryer on COLD with the hairdryer no closer than 1ft (30cm)

3 replace all components making sure all the power connectors are properly seated

4) push the chord into the power supply and as you do so - see if the fan turns a couple of times - thats the test to see if the PSU workd - dont switch the computer on - see what happens as you push the live chord into the socket

I'd bet my bottom dollar that computer boots up if you try the above and if not then I'd bet its the graphics card not the PSU
also try running it on 512 - first one bar then the other - if they are by different manufacturers try them in different slots
try these
http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800pro/specs.html

 

Uhm how bout the obvious: you need to take out the 512's in pairs.

 

A few months ago, I was putting memory in a computer, and it wasn't being recognized. I then remembered that the power cord needed to be unplugged before installation. I did this, and it worked.

After all your messing around with cleaning and all that, put it all back together the way it was before. If the computer doesn't work at this point, then there definitely is another problem. Otherwise, try taking out the memory with the power cord unplugged.

It's sometimes something simple that causes problems.

 

Yea unplugging and letting it sit or re setting the BIOS is another one.

 

he had 1.5 gig - so if he took out 512meg that means he's left with a pair of 512's
he must have had an uneven amount to begin with
I considered what you suggest, but the above logic says otherwise.

The next best solution is though - that it might be a board where the ram must occupy slot 0 and slot 1 - you may have the ram in slot 1 and slot 2
move it to different slots

 

dude, you could have just knocked something lose in there when you took the ram out. i would definately clean it though and swap a known, good, power source unit in for testing. my PSU went bad a while back and my bios has a self test that sends sound to my speakers when it boots.

my psu went bad and i had no video and the bios test said "cpu test failed". i was like what and tested everything BUT the power source... finnally on a whim i tested the power source and that was my problem, now fixed.

 

Antec 350W +12 (max 16a) (min 0.8a)

the PSU doesnt looked burnt up anywhere

 

yeah, my psu didnt look burnt either. it didnt even smell... like when you blow a car amplifier. i still have it somewhere and it looks brand new minus some dust.

 

after working on for a few hours, im still getting no where. ive tryed taking the mobo out of the case, incase it was conflicting with metal. reset bios, cmos, new battery, new video card, different monitor...nothing.

i left it alone and this morning i powered it on and to my amazement it showed the initial mobo screen and wouldnt go past it. i powered down and entered my windows xp cd hoping to fix it, but now im back to square one. no video.

oh, and my PSU gave me a nice shock, literally, and shot a few sparks....so im guessing it is now dead ;P

 

try putting plastic washers between the board and the posts that you screw the board into

It seems too wierd that suddenly just because you remove a bar of ram all this happens - you just need to work through and find the cause - if you got a shock off the PSU - then maybe it is faulty but you will waste money if it turns out to be another component which I think is likely.

try booting with no usb components (mouse keyboard etc) in the slots also remove any internet cables and audio equipment cables
all you need is a self contained unit with the graphics card onboard
no other components

whenever I've had shocks its because of a usb component
and its also happened because of the ethernet cable being linked to a faulty box