No video

[kwokkman]

I have a emachine w/ no video. Initially I thought it was the video card. The pc has powers. There is light on the motherboard and the fan on the processor is on. I got the ATI video card and plug it in. The tech support told me that it should automatic switch (AGP), but still no video. I read a posting that some board has a jumper setting. Since I don't get any video, I can't even check the bios. Today, I noticed that i can not eject the cd-rom.

Any suggestions?

Kwok

 

[micker377]

E-Machines normally have a very "small" (both size and output) power supply. Temporary check is to plug in a 300 (or better) watt power supply.

 

[kwokkman]

Why would it suddenly happen? No new hardware was added when the video went out.

 

[paparazi]

E-Machines as with any other budget system, use relatively low cost/quality power supplies, these just aren't that reliable.
Spend a little more and replace with a good branded 350watt or above PSU from:
Enermax, Antec, Fortron power, Thermaltake, Channel Well, FSP, Zalman, Sparkle etc etc
The replacement may well cost 3 times more than a cheap generic alternative but honestly it's worth it in the longterm.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[kwokkman]

I am not debating about the cost. I am thinking is this the problem. There is indication that there is power. The processor fan is on and the power supply fan is on.

 

[paparazi]

It is common for a PSU to fail on one power line and give the impression that everything in OK ie: lights and fans come on but no boot.
Ideally if you could beg steal or borrow one before actually shelly out your money just to be sure.
You don't have to mount the thing or remove the old one first, just plug it in out of case.
Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[SilentVision]

This sounds similiar to an issue I had with my Dell 8250. I would boot up the machine, everything would be fine, then after a random amount of time I would have video failure. The monitor would act as if it went to sleep. I thought at first I had a video card or monitor issue but I tested my theory by booting the system, playing an audio CD, and turning the monitor off.

What do you know after a while the cd started repeating the name note over and over again, it was stuck in an audio loop. I turned the monitor on, no video signal.

Long story short, I replaced the power supply with a far superior model than the system came with and issue resolved. That was several months ago and the video issue has not resurfaced.

I could see an argument that this is unrelated and may be a GFX card issue..but if you cannot eject the CD...sounds power related to me.

 

[kwokkman]

I will get it a try. Thanks to everyone who response to my posts.

Kwok

 

[micker377]

The only problem I've found is that the E-Machine power supply is "non-standard" (physically smaller than a replacement - also more expensive). That's why I stated a "temporary" check.