video cards and monitors look fine, but no picture...

I have a Dell XPS 2, and I've been in the process of erasing and
reformatting the hard drives. I had to do it twice because of a
mistake on my part, and the second time around, my monitors (2 LCDs)
no longer seem to realize that they're connected to a computer.

The first symptom was that after turning on the computer, the
monitor's power light would blink, as if it were waiting for input. I
tried it with another monitor, and same thing. I've tried the analog,
digital, and s-video connections, all with the same result.

Also, it didn't sound like my computer was booting correctly (I didn't
hear any beeps), so I went inside, reseated the video card, hooked up
my second hard drive as the primary (in case the drive was the
problem), and then tried again. This time, I heard the two initial
beeps of a boot up, but all the monitor showed was a message saying it
wasn't connected to anything.

Any thoughts? Is the video card (actually, I think I have two)
trashed?

Thanks for any help,
Mike

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:51:03 -0800 (PST), mike
<screenaccount@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have a Dell XPS 2, and I've been in the process of erasing and
>reformatting the hard drives. I had to do it twice because of a
>mistake on my part, and the second time around, my monitors (2 LCDs)
>no longer seem to realize that they're connected to a computer.
>
>The first symptom was that after turning on the computer, the
>monitor's power light would blink, as if it were waiting for input. I
>tried it with another monitor, and same thing. I've tried the analog,
>digital, and s-video connections, all with the same result.
>
>Also, it didn't sound like my computer was booting correctly (I didn't
>hear any beeps), so I went inside, reseated the video card, hooked up
>my second hard drive as the primary (in case the drive was the
>problem), and then tried again. This time, I heard the two initial
>beeps of a boot up, but all the monitor showed was a message saying it
>wasn't connected to anything.
>
>Any thoughts? Is the video card (actually, I think I have two)
>trashed?
>
>Thanks for any help,
>Mike


Mike, I'm "guessing" but my intuition thinks it a faulty OS
installation or you didn't reseat something correctly (ram, video
card, controller card, etc.. ). I doubt 2 video cards are both no
good but I can't say it can't happen. I don't think it's a faulty
video driver because I believe winxp has some video drivers (tho they
may not be the up to date or the correct ones your video card mfg may
have).

"mike" <screenaccount@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d5a4a788-c3cd-47d2-b10e-c8d399351e12@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>I have a Dell XPS 2, and I've been in the process of erasing and
> reformatting the hard drives. I had to do it twice because of a
> mistake on my part, and the second time around, my monitors (2 LCDs)
> no longer seem to realize that they're connected to a computer.
>
> The first symptom was that after turning on the computer, the
> monitor's power light would blink, as if it were waiting for input. I
> tried it with another monitor, and same thing. I've tried the analog,
> digital, and s-video connections, all with the same result.
>
> Also, it didn't sound like my computer was booting correctly (I didn't
> hear any beeps), so I went inside, reseated the video card, hooked up
> my second hard drive as the primary (in case the drive was the
> problem), and then tried again. This time, I heard the two initial
> beeps of a boot up, but all the monitor showed was a message saying it
> wasn't connected to anything.
>
> Any thoughts? Is the video card (actually, I think I have two)
> trashed?
>
> Thanks for any help,
> Mike


Start with the diag LED codes. You can read up on them here:
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...ot.htm#1084976

That box is reasonably complex to work on, and I can't tell from your
description:

a) whether you actually have an OS installed upon the machine
b) the machine is completing POST (two beeps) but the video card isn't
initializing.
c) whether screwing around with the hard disks (RAID or non-RAID?) at this
point is a good idea or not

Assuming you're correct and it is completing POST, Windows/your hard disks
won't have a thing to do with the monitor having no display. This symptom
would indicate either a monitor/cabling problem or a video card problem.

Re-check all of your connections to the monitor, double check that the video
card is install properly, then reference the LED codes above in attempting
boot.

Stew

On Nov 15, 7:19 am, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
> "mike" <screenacco...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:d5a4a788-c3cd-47d2-b10e-c8d399351e12@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> >I have a Dell XPS 2, and I've been in the process of erasing and
> > reformatting the hard drives. I had to do it twice because of a
> > mistake on my part, and the second time around, my monitors (2 LCDs)
> > no longer seem to realize that they're connected to a computer.
>
> > The first symptom was that after turning on the computer, the
> > monitor's power light would blink, as if it were waiting for input. I
> > tried it with another monitor, and same thing. I've tried the analog,
> > digital, and s-video connections, all with the same result.
>
> > Also, it didn't sound like my computer was booting correctly (I didn't
> > hear any beeps), so I went inside, reseated the video card, hooked up
> > my second hard drive as the primary (in case the drive was the
> > problem), and then tried again. This time, I heard the two initial
> > beeps of a boot up, but all the monitor showed was a message saying it
> > wasn't connected to anything.
>
> > Any thoughts? Is the video card (actually, I think I have two)
> > trashed?
>
> > Thanks for any help,
> > Mike
>
> Start with the diag LED codes. You can read up on them here:http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...en/SM/adtshoot...
>
> That box is reasonably complex to work on, and I can't tell from your
> description:
>
> a) whether you actually have an OS installed upon the machine
> b) the machine is completing POST (two beeps) but the video card isn't
> initializing.
> c) whether screwing around with the hard disks (RAID or non-RAID?) at this
> point is a good idea or not
>
> Assuming you're correct and it is completing POST, Windows/your hard disks
> won't have a thing to do with the monitor having no display. This symptom
> would indicate either a monitor/cabling problem or a video card problem.
>
> Re-check all of your connections to the monitor, double check that the video
> card is install properly, then reference the LED codes above in attempting
> boot.
>
> Stew

Well, after the computer settles down, I'm left with 3 green lights (A-
C) and an amber (D). The guide treats that as an unknown error, I
believe, and suggests checking all the cables. Arg.

To answer some of your questions:

A) This happened after an erase, so no OS is installed right now.
B) not sure...
C) I think I had the disks set to non-RAID.

I'll have to try reconnecting everything, I guess.

Thanks for the help, all.

"mike" <screenaccount@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a803a12a-eb85-4b94-aa17-1fb9866d385b@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> On Nov 15, 7:19 am, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
>> "mike" <screenacco...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>

<snip>

Mike,

For the sake of just getting the machine up and with video (even if just
into BIOS), make sure all unneeded externals are disconnected from the
system as well.

That particular diag LED code ( GGGA ) doesn't necessarily indicate that the
system should be no video at this point. Meaning, I've seen that code
previously where you could still view the display.

Post back if/when you can.

Stew

Hi!

> Well, after the computer settles down, I'm left with 3 green lights
> (A-C) and an amber (D). The guide treats that as an unknown
> error, I believe, and suggests checking all the cables. Arg.

Before you give up hope...or get too frustrated, try removing power
from the system and leave it that way for a few minutes. During one of
the failed operating system setup attempts, the system board logic or
that of the video card could have become confused. The board may need
to really lose power before it will start up again.

If that doesn't do it, you may be looking at pulling the CMOS battery.
At that point, however, I'd be wondering if one of the video cards
died and is keeping both of them from doing anything. Maybe you
already looked into that.

William