Help my monitor at my home desk top will not come on

[shutterfire]

I have a Dell system bought 1 year ago and now when I go to boot up the system the light on my monitor flashes amber. I hear the Cpu sounds of windows starting but the screen is black. I thought maybe it was the wireless mouse so I bought a new mouse and connected it. Same senerio. Could it be the monitor or the graphics card is bad. I switched monitors to a old one that I had and Nada it flashes also. Any suggestions?

[dmcantrell]

Typically a monitor that flashes amber means that it is not getting a signal from the video card / video output.

I know this sounds silly, but try removing all the video cables and re-seating them firmly. Some cables transmit digital information and the slightest bad connection can cause total signal failure.

If that does not fix the problem, inspect the cables for damage. Sometimes my cats nibble on the cables and ruin them. The video cables are actually bundles of many tiny wires and if one of them is cut it can ruin the signal.

If that does not work, do you know if you have a standalone video card or onboard video? If you have a standalone video card, perhaps you can bypass it and try the onboard video or vise-versa.

[ldelacruz]

If you tried a new monitor then it is most likely a PC based issue. Try the monitor on another computer and if your familiar with computers reseat your video card, memory and ribbon cables.

[shutterfire]

Will do when I get home.

[azbaron]

If you have the y cable that comes with the Dell computers and you are using the white DVI one, take it off and use the blue VGA one. We have lots and lots of Dell computers at work and sometimes it just all of a sudden doesn't like the DVI any more...it's weird but....

azbaron

[Rson]

If you connect to a laptop and nothing, the monitor has issues.

Otherwise, sounds like video issues.

Lucky for you, I drive through Gvine every night. PM me and I bet I can get you going.

[dmcantrell]

Originally Posted by azbaron

If you have the y cable that comes with the Dell computers and you are using the white DVI one, take it off and use the blue VGA one. We have lots and lots of Dell computers at work and sometimes it just all of a sudden doesn't like the DVI any more...it's weird but....

That's because many of the Dell parts cheat on the DVI electrical standard a little, effectively rendering it "borderline". This is (usually) fine if a Dell machine is driving a Dell monitor, but if you have a non-Dell monitor there may be issues. I could go into the details, but I don't want to derail the thread.

[Rson]

Originally Posted by dmcantrell

that's because many of the dell parts cheat on the dvi electrical standard a little, effectively rendering it "borderline". This is (usually) fine if a dell machine is driving a dell monitor, but if you have a non-dell monitor there may be issues. I could go into the details, but i don't want to derail the thread.

post tease

[RKEnnis]

Originally Posted by dmcantrell

That's because many of the Dell parts cheat on the DVI electrical standard a little, effectively rendering it "borderline". This is (usually) fine if a Dell machine is driving a Dell monitor, but if you have a non-Dell monitor there may be issues. I could go into the details, but I don't want to derail the thread.

I actually wouldn't mind a little detail about this...

[dmcantrell]

Originally Posted by RKEnnis

I actually wouldn't mind a little detail about this...

Ah ok.

So, a year or so ago I had a Dell port replicator (LATITUDE D SERIES DOCKING STATION) at my house that was intended to give me the ability to have my work setup at home. This is the "laptop docking station", intended to be used with a Dell D800 laptop. On the back of this thing are two video ports -- a white DVI port and a blue VGA port. At my work location, I have the DVI port running one monitor and the VGA port running another monitor -- both Dell 2001FP monitors. Everything worked just fine. I acquired another docking station from my company to be used at home. I have two Viewsonic VX2435wm monitors at home. The Viewsonic monitor that was driven by the DVI port of the docking station would not work. I tried both monitors and it never would work with the DVI port. The next day, I brought home three different Dell docking stations, all with different model numbers and build dates -- none of them would drive the Viewsonic monitor with the DVI port.

I need to mention that my Nvidia 7800GT drives both Viewsonic monitors using the DVI ports just fine.

I called Viewsonic support, and they said to call Dell. I called Dell, and learned that the docking stations have little graphics cards in them. The Dell tech wasn't very helpful, we tried a few things (settings on the laptop) but never resolved the problem.

This sent me diving off onto the world wide web for an answer. I stumbled across some hole-in-the-wall website (I don't remember the URL, sorry) that had all these eye diagrams of various different computer components, including the Dell docking station in question. The eye diagrams for the DVI electrical standard have somewhat crisp transitions, and the ones from the Dell components were rounded off. If the transmitter (vid card) and the receiver (monitor) both expect the rounded off signal transitions, then everything is fine. If the transmitter (vid card) sends a rounded off signal, but the receiver (monitor) is expecting a nice crisp signal, then the receiver will not recognize the signal as a valid "DVI" signal and the receiver will not function properly. Since this is a digital standard, it either works or it doesn't, there's no "fuzzy picture" so-to-speak. In the world of electronics and IC Design, it's easier (and cheaper) to produce a device that cheats on the signal quality a little. If both the receiver and the transmitter are expecting the degraded signal then no one is the wiser.

I never got any of the three Dell docking station to run either of my two Viewsonic monitors using the DVI port. Now, this is one anecdotal piece of evidence so take it with a grain of salt. But, be aware that all "DVI" may not be the same, even though there is a "DDWG DVI standard".

[azbaron]

Interesting. Ironically my agency gets the Dell PC's with View Sonic monitors. However, in some cases the View Sonic monitor will work for a year or more just fine on the DVI cable and then suddenly doesn't like it any more.

Thanks for the explanation. So of my fellow LAN Admins will be interested in this...

azbaron

[RKEnnis]

Huh! Thanks for the extra detail. Interesting indeed.

[ldelacruz]

Did you figure it out?

[shutterfire]

No lonnie. I am corresponding with Dell it should still be covered. I just bought it in sept. it depends if they are going to cover it or not? In the meantime all of my lightroom and photoshop duties are falling to the wayside.

[shutterfire]

Thanks for all your help everyone.

well you guys know as well as I do it may not be but we will see. So according to Dell and a few tests of my own. The Monitor has died. So now Looking for a new monitor because as my luck would have it the monitor is older than the CPU so of course its out of warranty. So any suggestions for a monitor thats compatable with the Dell Cpu using DVI or VGA and which would you guys suggest. I know it all depends on price point and budget will allow for about 300-400 for a monitor, which that was going toward a nice piece of glass. But what the hey," got to do whatcha gotta do."