rec.autos.simulators

In the last week I have had this happen to me twice:

I press the power button for the computer and I hear it power up and
begin booting WinXP. However, I get no video signal to the monitor.
There is no error message or the <beep> that you get if there was no
video card or a display device connected. As I recall, the machine
wouldn't even boot if that was the case.

The first time it happened, I tried a different monitor and that wasn't
the issue as it did the same thing on both an LCD and a CRT monitor. I
then removed and reseated the video card and it worked again. Worked
fine for about a week and then this morning it happened again.

Can anyone offer a suggestion as to the cause? I suppose a dying video
card is one thing, but the warranty on the computer itself expires soon
and if it's a mobo issue, then I need to contact Dell ASAP. I'd hate to
buy a video card and find out it's the computer itself.

The biggest problem is that it happens so (relatively) infrequently,
that trying to pinpoint the issue may carry me past the warranty
period.

I can only hope that someone has experienced or troubleshot a similar
problem and can shed some light on the real issue.

Thanks.

Hi Darus. There have been some well publicized, but never solved issues
with Radeon cards that don't boot. I've got a 9800pro that was doing it,
exchanging it for a new one solved it. What usually works is: before
booting up or when it fails to boot, disconnect the power supply, either by
turning it(the power supply) on and off with it's power switch if it has
one or just unplug it and then plug it back in, then reboot. If you still
have time to exchange the card under warranty I would suggest you do. Don

read up:

http://forums.viaarena.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=42582
&STARTPAGE=9&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

Here's something else that I have noticed. (Again it's a Dell.) When it
does boot correctly, the green power light on the case lights as well
as the busy light for the hard drive. When the video fails to work, the
same power light does not work. I can hear the computer running and can
see the green power light on the mobo. The 2 optical drives initialize
and flash the "in use" lights briefly as well. Just the power light
acts differently.

In the event that I <DO> need to go with a new card (and I hope I
don't), based on the specs above, what would be a good fit? I am
typically 1 generation behind in technology simply because I refuse to
pay the outrageous prices for technology that hasn't been implemented
by the mfg's yet. What would a good "shoot for the moon" card (very
pricey) and what would a good compromise card card be?

Primarily, the computer is used for GTL, rFactor and NR2003.

Thanks again.

Try swapping out the power supply. If that's not the issue you
can always return the power supply.

Jeff Reid enlightened us with:

I can't see the psu being the cause as it hasn't affected anything
else. I have plugged other free molex connectors to the gpu and I still
get the issue.

Mine started doing it shortly after purchase, and seemed to get worse after
I installed a Artic Cooling VGA Silencer cooler(coincidental I think, and
it didn't improve with the OEM cooler replaced) Various tricks seemed to
cure it(cycling the power supply, using the secondary video output,
changing power supplies) but it always returned, and progressively got
worse. It is without question a design flaw in the card. Even though it's
out of warranty, considering the publicized history of the problem it might
be worth making a stink and trying to get it replaced, not much to lose.  
Don

You dont need to replace it until it really gets on your nerves.
Its not a faulty card I think, its a bad design of the card or the
drivers, I tend to say drivers, because I never had the problem in Windows
Me.

When I was still using my 3dfx Voodoo5 the Radeon was used in another system
running Windows Me without a single problem. In my system running Windows Me
everything is ok, too. Only with XP its making trouble.

Perhaps you did update drivers or OS!?!

My lights are the same in both cases. My system really seems to boot up
correctly, just without showing a picture. I can shotdown it using
keyboard-shortcuts.

I forgot to tell you what did reduce the frequency of the problem:
Go to the screen which should be called "services" in the English version of
XP. There you have to disable "Ati HotKey Poller" and "ATI Smart". You dont
loose performance by doing that, those two services are pretty useless.

Summary: On my system the problem only occurs when booting XP with a cold
start when the ATX-PSU was left on. I have everything connected to a
connector strip which has a seperate on/off-switch to cut the power
completely, so I use that switch and the problem is "solved" :-)

Best regards
Stephan