(Display issue) Non -graphics card / -monitor / -driver related.
Brandon Bloom
I am looking for a bit of help. I have been having some crazy problems
with my compter's display lately. Several weeks ago I began to turn my
computer on and be greetted by a many thing horizontal lines moving up and
down my screen. Over the next fifteen minutes the image would begin to get
better and the lines would disspear. Since then I have had both the monitor
and the graphics card replaced. I attempted to reinstall the drivers and am
now stumped. The problem does not seem to go away, although it has seemed to
have changed a bit. Now all the white on the screen has a green blur on the
right hand side of it. Those green blurs also seem to fade eventually. After
the image appears perfect I still believe that there is something strange
about the refreshing of the screen. But what could possibly cause this and
persist after I installed a brand new graphics card and tested it on a
different monitor?
The key components of my machine:
AMD 1800XP+
512 DDR Ram
Geforce 3
Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this problem? Someone
suggested that my power suply may be going bad, but I am not sure how valid
this opinion is.
Some one please help!
Thanks in advanced,
Brandon Bloom
snp...@optonline.net
Mark Schieldrop
snp...@optonline.net says...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I am looking for a bit of help. I have been having some crazy problems
> with my compter's display lately. Several weeks ago I began to turn my
> computer on and be greetted by a many thing horizontal lines moving up and
> down my screen. Over the next fifteen minutes the image would begin to get
> better and the lines would disspear. Since then I have had both the monitor
> and the graphics card replaced. I attempted to reinstall the drivers and am
> now stumped. The problem does not seem to go away, although it has seemed to
> have changed a bit. Now all the white on the screen has a green blur on the
> right hand side of it. Those green blurs also seem to fade eventually. After
> the image appears perfect I still believe that there is something strange
> about the refreshing of the screen. But what could possibly cause this and
> persist after I installed a brand new graphics card and tested it on a
> different monitor?
>
> The key components of my machine:
> AMD 1800XP+
> 512 DDR Ram
> Geforce 3
Is your monitor near any unshielded equipment such as a speaker system
or other magnetic appliance? It sounds like interference of some kind.
Dave Cosgrove
I have a big green spot on one of my monitors from leaving some magnetic
tools next to it over the weekend.
--
Dave Cosgrove/Computer Network Solutions
1430 Rt. 300
Newburgh, NY 12550
www.cns-newburgh.com
3ChordGuitarist
an option to "DeGauss" the screen, which should remove any unwanted
stray magnetism.( the greenish colors..)
Try powering up just the monitor. Do any of the (usual) on screen
items appear ( i.e. "no video signal", or "going to sleep/suspend"
mode, and are they OK?
I thought the lines the original poster was talking about were due to
no/insufficient video signal. Seeing as he replaced both monitor and
video card it sounds like a bad solder joint, either on the socket of
the video card if cards were not installed/uninstalled gracefully, or
the connector on the mobo where the monitor connects. The apparent
improvement to the video over time suggests heat causing a solder
joint to expand and make a bit of a better contact.( or for that
matter, any metal circuit trace on the mobo..)
If there were to be an intermittent connection somewhere, the repeated
cycle of signal/no signal/signal may be turning the high voltage to
the CRT on and off at unwanted rates, which could easily cause
unwanted magnetic fields .
And if all my ramblings don't help, here's a link with some video
testing stuff: http://www.epanorama.net/links/videotest.html
To me, it seems that if all environmental factors stay the same ( no
new lights on/off, cell phones, vacuum cleaners ( Very evil magnetic
field when turning on/off ! ) , then it must be either a bad mobo or
as I have mentioned, an electrical connection.
HTH.
3CG
Brandon Bloom
feet from a 50 watt speaker (about 5 inches in diameter) and a
portable phone rests atop the speaker. A foot past those is a TV. Each
of these devices have sat next to the monitor for over a year with no
previous problems. However I did attempt removing them as well as
tried a different monitor - the problem persisted.
I am very tech savy and have done a pretty good job looking for a
possible common cause. But now I am stumped, so I was hoping that
someone has had a similar experiance.
Thanks,
Brandon Bloom
Dave Cosgrove
issue. Have you installed any major electronics in your home lately? You
would really need an O-Scope to see if you had disturbances in the power at
that outlet.
Brandon Bloom
have yet to speak with on this issue.
Comments inline below:
3ChordGuitarist <ch...@computer.desk> wrote in message news:<fa4q5v09al8p3svko...@4ax.com>...
> I thought most newer monitors have, somewhere in their onscreen menus,
> an option to "DeGauss" the screen, which should remove any unwanted
> stray magnetism.( the greenish colors..)
The degauss does not cure the problem in the slightest.
> Try powering up just the monitor. Do any of the (usual) on screen
> items appear ( i.e. "no video signal", or "going to sleep/suspend"
> mode, and are they OK?
There isn't a "no video signal" screen (it just goes to low power) but
the menu does look fine, (although since I have checked that the
horizontal lines don't appear while the white with displaced greed
problem does. And there is no white in the menu. Although when placed
on a white background the green does not overlap the menu, so that
should be assumed 2 be fine. (expecially because I tried a different
one.
> I thought the lines the original poster was talking about were due to
> no/insufficient video signal. Seeing as he replaced both monitor and
> video card it sounds like a bad solder joint, either on the socket of
> the video card if cards were not installed/uninstalled gracefully, or
> the connector on the mobo where the monitor connects.
The connection between the card and the mobo is perfectly clear and no
pins are damnaged. I checked this carefully after cleaning the slot
with compressed air before changing the graphics card.
> The apparent
> improvement to the video over time suggests heat causing a solder
> joint to expand and make a bit of a better contact.( or for that
> matter, any metal circuit trace on the mobo..)
This is a new one on me, but sounds very possible.
> If there were to be an intermittent connection somewhere, the repeated
> cycle of signal/no signal/signal may be turning the high voltage to
> the CRT on and off at unwanted rates, which could easily cause
> unwanted magnetic fields .
Hmmmm......
So assuming the problem is a bad connection on the mobo, how would I
go about fixing it and advoid purchasing a new one? Where do I start?
Thanks a ton,
Brandon Bloom
3ChordGuitarist
Thanks for the compliment.
First, you can try an easy approach to troubleshoot this...
Power up everything ( monitor, and the computer, with it's case
removed..) and wait for the video to stabilze completely.
OK, now first things first, I do this for a living so when I stress
the idea of static damage to the computer, and what to do to avoid it,
I mean it ! I'd hate to give advice that kills someone's system.
First, touch the bare metal skeleton of the opened computer with both
hands, to get rid of static. Next, while watching the monitor display,
GENTLY tap on your video card once or twice and see if anything
happens to the display.( If video is affected, see NOTE 1) If nothing
happens to the display, touch the skeleton again, (static) and tap
EVER SO GENTLY once or twice on the case of the cooling fan or the
heatsink of your CPU, again, while watching the display. (If video is
affected, see NOTE 2) If nothing happens again, that kind of confirms
the connections are OK, hence, most likely, bad mobo.. You can
contiune to do the "touch the skeleton, tap on something" to your
other installed cards...any one of them acting goofy could easily
affect video performance by causing hissy fits on the data and address
lines of the CPU. ( and if it's not a critical card, you can always
pull it and power up without it and see if things are OK.)
__________________________________________________________
NOTE 1: Either a) the socket on the mobo has a physical defect causing
short or open circuits, or b) there is a bad solder joint on the
socket ( the point where the legs of the socket are soldered to the
circuit board)
Case A is very difficult to determine without a microscope, so I guess
Case A= new mobo.
Case B can be checked, although not nearly as easily without a
microscope. You will need access to the back side of your mobo, if you
have a fancy case you can probably get it quite easily. Otherwise you
will need to remove it from the case.( Touching the skeleton or
something grounded, every now and then. ) You want to look, using a
very bright light, at the little legs of the video card socket where
they come through the circuit board. Then, move the video card up and
down, or left and right, depending on how it's oriented, to cause a
little stress on the socket. If you see any of the socket legs move,
you have a bad connection, Either try to resolder it, or give up at
this point if you don't know how.
( sorry..)
__________________________________________________________
NOTE 2: See CASE A in NOTE 1
__________________________________________________________
If none of this tapping method works, it really seems to me to be a
bad mobo....the symptoms you describe, and how they actually change in
some ways, seems to act like thousands of circuit boards I have worked
on. That is how chips going bad, or connections going bad, tend to
act.
I guess it looks like your best hope is a bad, but re-solderable
connection on the video card socket.
Sorry I was so long winded and not-to-hopeful sounding, but look on
the bright side, mobo's can be bought pretty cheap, and if you got a
new one at least you'd know all your other hardware seems OK !
HTH, cause my fingers are getting tired from typing !
3CG.
On 27 Feb 2003 13:38:42 -0800, snp...@optonline.net (Brandon Bloom)
wrote: