Here Comes "Needy" Again - This Time It's the Monitor

[BobH]

Well, I've done it again. (Warning: This will read like The Art of Zen and Motorcycle Mechanics)

This time the monitor on MY desktop has quit working (after I spent hours working inside the case.

This all started when I tried to put an SD memory card in the card reader built into the 3.5" floppy drive. It wouldn't read. I've never used the card reader before. I popped the case and realized that the card reader requires an internal USB header but there is not one on this old Dell Dimension 4700 mobo. I remembered then that I had been through this when I installed the floppy drive. Looking inside, I realized that one of my internal hard drives was not connected; so I connected it. I got a bit frustrated because there are too many cables inside.

I got a good deal on a 650W PSU some time back and bought it thinking that I'll be buying a new mobo and chipset sometime soon (another tale best saved for later). The 650W PSU has lots of spare cables that this little Dell doesn't use. I had not been a very careful tech when I installed it. The cables had come to look like a rat's nest ; so . . . I disconnected ALL cables and cleaned and vacuumed the dust bunnies. When I reconnected all the devices and fans, I paid a good deal more attention and even used cable ties to neaten things up a bit inside. I looped and tied off cables that were unnecessarily long and looped and tied off the unused power cables (several molex for non-SATA devices, a spare SATA power cable and several IDE power connectors.

Of course, before I dove under the covers I disconnected all the external cables to make handling the tower case easier. Before reconnecting the external cables, I connected the power cable to check that the fans all spun and that the BIOS hit all the drives. I then reconnected the external cable saving the power cable for last. I connected the power and all was well except that the Dell flat screen monitor indicator light went from green to amber and I never got a display.

The monitor is getting power (indicator light is on and diagnostics and adjustment switches work) but is not getting signal. The monitor is DVI cabled. I disconnected and reconnected that cable several times (after disconnecting CPU power) to no avail. The after-market graphics card has 2 DVI connectors; so I tried both. Again, to no avail.

I would welcome and greatly appreciate suggestions for further trouble shooting. I have already suggested to myself that well-enough should be left alone but it is far too late for me to heed that advice.

TIA

[StuartR]

Do you have a separate graphics card, or do you use the graphics chipset on your motherboard?
One possibility is that the graphics card has been damaged (maybe by static).
Another possibility is that the graphics card needs a power connection that you have not reconnected.

Do you have any other PCs in the house. It would be good to borrow a known good monitor and cable from another PC to see if that works.

[jonwallace]

We have a lot of Dell monitors at work, and if memory serves, when they fail, the indicator light either doesn't come on, or it flashes rapidly. If it stays amber, it is not getting a signal. You could try plugging the monitor into the monitor port of a laptop and see what happens.

It's possible that the graphics card has come loose or otherwise dislodged, try unplugging it from the motherboard and reseating it. (although Stuart's idea that it might need a power connector is plausible)

[BobH]

All is well again!

Thank you, Stuart and John for the suggestions.

I think that yesterday I was too close to the problem to see it clearly. After sleeping on it and starting afresh, I discovered that the motherboard power connector was not seated. I discovered this after removing and reinstalling the graphics card and re-seating all cables internally.

When I reconnected all the external cables and the power supply, the system came up as it should.

Again, thank you for being my sounding board and offering helpful solutions.