HELP! Bunch of problems...

If this is in the wrong forum I'm sorry I just chose the one that looked like it would belong the most.
I came here cuz I suck at computers and need a little help. So I'm hooking up a new monitor (my dad just gave me a flatscreen) and the sound goes out but the monitor works. So I open up the case to fix the sound card which I thought was the problem. The sound card was never properly screwed in so I put it in and screw it in, but I didn't turn the computer off. All of a sudden the computer turns off and I have to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to turn on again. Now the Monitor won't work with the computer and I don't know if the sound card works. Does anyone know what's wrong or what I could do to fix it if it is fixable?


To make sure it wasn't just that monitor i switched it with the old one and that one doesn't work either. The computer does turn on but nothing shows up on the monitor and I'm not sure the computer is even working properly. All the cards seem connected, someone said I might have to buy a new video card but I'm not sure that's the problem. My current video card is an ati all in wonder 8500 dv

Any help would be much appreciated!

Sounds like you broke your video card. That sucks because the 8500DV is a nice card. See if you can scrounge up another card to test in it.

F@#$
Alright, thanks, I'll try switching the video cards.

Edit: I can't seem to get the video card out, it comes loose on one side but is stuck on the other side. I don't want to pull really hard because I'm afraid to break it, do you think I should try pulling it out harder or should I leave it be?

many AGP slots (what most video cards plug into) have a little clip on the end of the slot to help keep heavy cards in. look at the end of the slot, and there might be a little clip you have to push down on. you can see what the clip looked like on one of the mother boards i had in this picture (the clip is circled in red). hope that helps.



if you dont have a clip, then make sure everything is unplugged from the card, and check the cover below the video card. sometimes ive had problems where the little metal plates on the back of the case overlap a little, and cards are hard to remove. good luck.

Thanks I think there might be something like that clip i'm gonna mess around with it a little more. I'm really angry that my computer is busted... I basically used it for capturing tv shows/encoding them and when I wasn't doing that serving them on IRC. I can't afford to spend another $200 on a new card that does capturing even though the Christmas season is coming up. I just got my car pretty much totaled, this year has not been working out very well for me.

Special thanks to you guys who posted and thanks for the picture, back to work for me

Edit: Way cool I managed to get the Video card out without it breaking, now I'm going to pop in this old Radeon 7000 As of right now I'm not sure what to think, it seems that if this card works I'm out $200+ (the cost of the 8500 dv) but if it doesn't work who the hell knows what problems i'm going to have. BTW space ranger joe>>what is your avatar of?

its one of the characters from pennyarcade.com. its name isnt appropriate for these forums though .

Alright I put in that radeon 7000 (finally) and it doesn't work either, wth could it be if it isn't the video card???

Unplug the system, pull ALL your cards out and clear the cmos. Put a video card and your mem back in and power the sucker back up while holding down the insert key.

This should bring the system back up.
Rob

Try removing the soundcard, and try once more with the radeon 7000... If that doesn't work, well... Then you MIGHT have broken your motherboard...

the monitor could be dead. the motherboard could be dead. lots of things. if you have another computer, try the monitor with that, and see what you find out.

I don't think it's the monitor since i tried 2 of them and both of them turn on and say can't find source or w/e

I don't think the motherboard is broken since the computer still seems to turn on, but I guess that's a possibility

what's "cmos"?

A friend thinks I may have fried a section of the mobo, i remember having the computer on when i was tampering with the sound card and maybe I friend a certain section of the mobo, is that possible?
Anyway I think i'll buy a new mobo and see what happens.


Edit: A little google searching later for CMOS and it seems like you have to have the computer working to be able to clear it.

the computer does not need to *work* to clear the cmos, it only needt to power up. just change the jumper to clear and power up the comp (only some of them even need to be powered up, others you just short the jumper). when you turn it on does all of the equipment power up but you get a black screen, or nothing happens at all?

and like robbie said, strip the comp of all but 1 hdd, 1 stick of ram and the vid card, see if it boots and re-add things one at a time if it does

Supertrucker said:

the computer does not need to *work* to clear the cmos, it only needt to power up. just change the jumper to clear and power up the comp (only some of them even need to be powered up, others you just short the jumper). when you turn it on does all of the equipment power up but you get a black screen, or nothing happens at all?

and like robbie said, strip the comp of all but 1 hdd, 1 stick of ram and the vid card, see if it boots and re-add things one at a time if it does

Click to expand...

Ok, yeah it starts up but the monitor doesn't process the computer, I don't think the computer is actually working though becuase it used to beep and do all that stuff but now it just turns on, and when i do press the restart button on the comp nothing happens I have to use the switch to turn it off and on.

Edit:
I'm gonna do that, and if that doesn't work I'll get a new motherboard

That didn't work, so I'm going to get a new mobo today (hopefully)
Wish me luck!

Did you hold down the insert key after you cleared the cmos?
Rob

I really don't understand how to clear the cmos, so nope Do you think that will really help?

It might. There's a jumper near the battery on the motherboard. Turn off the computer, switch the jumper, let it sit for a few seconds, and then move the jumper back to its original position. That should clear the CMOS, and your computer might boot after that.