Video card (?) failure
From: Mark Tangard (Mark_at_RemoveThisToReply_Tangard.com)
Date: 07/08/04
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Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 05:37:06 -0700
Hi gang. I eat software for breakfast, but many 6-year-olds grasp
hardware issues (esp. video) better than I ever will, so please bear
with me if what follows sounds uninformed or even hilarious.
We have have a 6-month-old Dell running WinXP Pro with Dell's 20-inch
2001FP flat-panel monitor and a 128MB NVidia GeForce 5200 graphics card.
No big problems til yesterday morn, when the display showed absolutely
nothing (i.e., black screen) at bootup.
No funny noises. No games in use. No other unusually video-intensive
apps. The monitor's power light is now amber. Not 100% sure but I
think it was green before yesterday. No programs recently installed or
uninstalled. No mishandling or problematic environmental exposures.
Gobs of HD space and 1GB of RAM. Everything has worked well since
January. Last night's shutdown was proper and uneventful, as are
virtually all here. The system doesn't hang at these bootups (inserted
music CDs play just fine.); you just can't see anything.
Followed Dell's troubleshooting steps. With the monitor disconnected we
get the expectable floating colored boxes. On reconnecting it, bootups
return to the empty black screens. Connecting an older analog monitor
works fine in all senses (except the claustrophobia, of course) and in
that situation, Device Manager says the card is working properly ... I
guess at least the part of it the older monitor can see is.
Dell's troubleshooting guide asserts the monitor is fine and says the
problem lies in the controller or (their words) "the computer system."
I just love detailed explanations, duh.
This is a mission-critical machine and sees a LOT of use. I use it
hours open day, so sending the whole system back to Dell, which I expect
is what they'll want for warranty service, is my last resort and at this
moment has all the appeal of the dry heaves. To my exhausted brain the
next logical choice is resignedly buying a new card. Questions:
- Can I pretty well assume this is a sick video card?
- Is 128MB "enough" for this whale-sized monitor?
(Occasionally a menu will persist after being dismissed)
- Anyone hear of recurring problems with this card?
- Is the widely sold NVidia 5200 "Ultra" a different (better?) card?
- Is there another NG whose regulars are likely to know what's up?
Whoever helps fix this deserves a statue. Pls specify stone or bronze.
-- Mark Tangard "Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters
- Next message: clifford hewitt: "blackwidow scanner 648 home"
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