Monitor power light won't change from amber

[bill500]

What is wrong with monitor/mouse when it appears to be powering up but freezes in the amber mode. It only happens about 3-4 times a month and the problem can be corrected by disconnecting the mouse and reconnecting.

I solved this problem on another computer/monitor by simply changing to another mouse. That has not worked with this monitor/mouse.

 

[edfair]

You have a problem with the video not initializing.
Disconnecting the mouse will eventually cause the port to go out.
How about trying the reset button? Or the keyboard reset?
Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[irishkiwi007]

what about trying a USB mouse if it supports it or change the bios setting to halt on no errors maybe ?

 

[bill500]

This will attempt to provide answers to the three responses.

I have used the reset button and it doesn't help. The other computer, that had this problem, would boot when I disconnected the keyboard. This computer will not reboot unless the mouse is disconnected.

We purchased the entire system April 2001 and replaced the mointor in June because of this problem. The new monitor worked fine until this week.

I understand that the monitor is not initializing, but why? I also don't understand the monitor working for 7 months and suddenly failing with the same problem as the first monitor. What is the staring point of the problem? What is the relationship between the monitor, mouse and sometimes keyboard? Another computer with this problem was "fixed" by switching keyboards.

I also think it is odd that I never had this type of problem until 1998 when power save modes began appearing on monitors. Is there a connection to that feature?

I don't normally change settings in the bios for obvious reasons and hadn't considered it could provide an answer to the problem. Where do I make the change in the bios?

I appreciate your feedback and hope someone can shed more light on the problem.

Thanks,

 

[Jakespeare]

Sometimes cheap hardware is the "root of all evil."

What kind of computer is this ? What is the mainboard manufacturer ?

YOu really need to get this resolved before your warranty is up.

 

[edfair]

Based on experience I suspect that the root cause is failure during POST in that processing doesn't get to the section handling video. This can be anything from a ram problem to a BIOS corrosion problem , anything that affects address lines coming from the processor. I've seen processors that had corroded contacts (actually socket) that caused this. I've also reseated BIOS chips and memory and resolved similar problems. The mouse/keyboard reseating probably work because that cause BIOS to take alternate paths during POST. But it is a wierd enough problem that it is difficult to make a rational guess. So you'll probably get some wild suggestions on how to fix it. Don't discount any of them.
And I had one machine that failed like this where the power supply was late supplying the power good signal so the oscillator wouldn't crank up. I lived with the problem for months with it failing every 3 or 4 days. Would shut it down , wait for 15 seconds, then try again. And I have seen it in other machines where there was a super fast processor, that would POST to some power up test , then shut down. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Jakespeare]

edfairs - post above, has some good advice on this.

> It could be that the BIOS was poor from the factory.
A BIOS flash /update might fix the problem (but that is a WARRANTY issue, if I'm not mistaken).

> Switch keyboards, and mice.

> I'm sorry, I don't have any "wild" suggestions, but like Ed, I think that it could be something fairly exotic. Could, is the word.

> It's about the BIOS POST though.


Last: I would just make sure that the BIOS has all the proper settings, ** Including that the video is set appropriately,,,,,, to PCI or AGP.

 

[bill500]

I appreciate all of you providing the input because I needed fresh ideas about where to start.

The computer is a Compaq and considering the past history of the district's buying decisions, I am sure it has several defective parts in it.

If anyone has anything to add, please feel free to post and I will update the thread, if and when the problem is solved.

Thanks Again,

 

[palee72]

Just a thought, but could the monitor plug in the mobo be bad? Taking the mouse off and on may simply be enough let the cable and the port to connect for awhile.

Just a thought...

Lee

 

[bill500]

I appreciate the suggestions because I had no idea where to start. I did change the mouse to a more expensive one(why, not) and monitor has not failed to power up yet. However, the problem is still there because monitor gives little signs of trouble by powering up slower than normal and the amber light flickers on at times while in use.

Now, I have another Compaq with the same problem but re-connecting the mouse currently "fixes" the problem.

I am going to try a bios upgrade this week to see if that will solve the problem.

Thanks and if anyone can offer any suggestions, I welcome them.

 

[bill500]

Finally solved the monitor problem and thought I would post solution. Computer had two video cards that were constantly trying to "talk" to one another. Disconnected one and problem disappeared.

Still have no answer to other monitors since they do not have two video cards.