Unheard of Error - ideas? 4

[Undersedated]

I have been having an error on my computer recently, which i have never heard of before; it's almost as though a virus has caused it, but i dont think thats the case... it seems hardware related.

What happens is this: I'll be using my computer like normal, when out of nowhere (aka: not necessarily during any taxing work to the computer) the screen will go black, and the monitor will turn on its power saver mode. When i turn the monitor back on, a blue box is on the screen (not a blue screen of death) and inside it reads "No Connection" and a little icon of something like a monitor cord is next to it. The motherboard also says something to me like "Check...installation..." I can't make out everything that it says. And then i have to reset the computer.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Do you know what is causing this? I'd really appreciate any help! Thanks

 

[Blujacket]

Two possibilities, the video/display adapter is not sending a signal to the monitor or the monitor is losing the signal. I'd go for the first one. But try the monitor on another computer and another monitor on your computer. If no change you may need a new video card.

 

[Undersedated]

ok that is a good idea. COuld it be the motherboard as well? Possibly something wrong with that?

The mothoerboard says to me, upon error: "Check ID on forward installation" (i'm not sure if the word is forward, or soemthing else, but it sounds like forward). So... maybe you're right, maybe its the graphics card. I have a geforce 2 64 mb card, not too old... so i'm curious as to the error therewith. Could it be the driver for the video card?

 

[Blujacket]

Yes, it's possible the driver needs to re-installed or updated. Could be a malfunctioning slot the card is in. Could even be heat related.

 

[Undersedated]

the only reason i would say it isn't heat related it because i haven't been doing anything extremely taxing to the card when the error comes up.

I hope its not slot related because i only have 1 AGP slot.

Is there a way that i could test some of these theories to better focus on what the problem is? I'm not even sure if its graphics card related yet... ideas to test?

 

[SESaskDFC]

Howdy:

Had the exact same problem.. In my case, it turned out to be a bad video extension cable..

Moved stuff around so the monitor connected directly to the port on the back of the CPU and been good ever since..

Murray

 

[Miker75]

You could also try reseating the video card (pull it out, and slot it back in). This problem can happen if the card pulls out of the AGP slot, usually at the back of the card (most new boards have retaining clips at the rear of the AGP slot to prevent this)

Michael


HP Certified Technician

 

[csidano]

when I had the geforce 2 64mb card I had the same problem, except the cause of mine was overheating. The card would shut down when it got hot. Check if it has a fan if not get one. If it does, make sure it still works and move the cards beneath it if possible to give it more room to circulate the air.

Dano

 

[Undersedated]

all of those sound like good suggestions... and i would even believe them all. I had some of the same thoughts, so what i did was replace my geforce2 with an old ATI radeon 32mb card that i had... and to my surprise the error continues.

So perhaps it is the monitor to video card connection cable... that i have not tried. I would doubt that it is a card not all the way plugged in... because the error happens with another video card, which i'm sure is plugged in.

As for the overheating... i suppose it could be that. I checked my fan on the geforce2, and realized that it wasn't even running. So maybe it was overheating. But then why would the ATI have the same error? Could it be that this card is also overheating?

Thanks for the help folks

-eric