The Black Screen

[emusattu]

Hi there,

I'm getting the black screen with no flashing icons or beeping and I can hear the rest of the computer running. The CD drive is also intact. I read your instructions on removing the CPU fan if the CPU has been dislodged due to transportation and performed the repair, but the CPU was not dislodged. The computer itself was working fine before I had left it in the trunk for 3 days.

However, I did not add more thermal paste below the fan and heat sink and to be honest, it didn't take much to pull the fan off. Could it be that most of my thermal paste had worn off and my CPU overheated and fried?

I also noticed that what looks to be the other CPU chipset (Northbridge I believe?) is set on my ECS motherboard on sort of an angle (i.e. it looks a little more like a diamond than a square). Is this normal or does this chipset also need to be placed back into proper position.

Thanks,
Andrew

P.S. I will upload some pictures if I can soon

[Dak]

When you say the CD drive is intact I am assuming you mean that it opens and closes with the button. This simply means it has power available.

When you say no beeping.. do you mean there is no alarm or the computer doesnt make any sounds at all?
If you can hear the computer running, when you first turned it on did it make any beeps at all, like a single beep a short time after switching it on?

If you heard a single beep, then the computer posted, and the CPU is ok. In this case, its a problem with your graphics.
This might be a loosened graphics card, or a bad connection between the graphics and the monitor, or a bad connection at the power supply connector for the graphics card if it has one. If you only have onboard graphics, then its probably the connection between computer and monitor.

If you heard no beep at all then the computer didnt successfully post, and you have a more serious problem.

POST: Power On Self Test  A procedure the computer goes through on starting to ensure all is well.

You are saying you have already checked the CPU, so also check the RAM cards, and any addon cards to make sure they all fit correctly. Unplug and reconnect every plug in the computer, one by one. Clean any dust from the computer with compressed air. Then try to start the computer. If the computer still doesnt post, then we are unable to help you, as you have a physical problem which will need physical testing at a repair shop.

If the CPU came out easily, and you didnt clean the thermal paste off, then its still there and should work ok. It would take some time to fry the CPU anyway, and you are saying it hasnt worked at all since you removed it from the trunk?

If the Northbridge is not loose, then its where it is supposed to be.

[Mitz]

Welcome to the forum!!!!

You mean you read this article from Tips4pc? Black Screen It is a very popular subject that unfortunately has at least a dozen answers. And the only way to find your answer is to try a few things.

Dak has hit the nail on the head. When repairing computers, I like to try the ram first as this is the most common cause. Then I would go on to try other suggestions.

He is also right about the beeps. No beeps at all isn't a good sign. But some computers still won't beep at faulty ram. Most will beep twice.


If you decide to remove the ram, do it very carefully and gently...We do not want to scratch it or try and put it where it doesn't fit. You can read http://www.tips4pc.com/Articles/Computer%20Maintenance/how_to_open_a_computer_case_safe.htm

[emusattu]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm running an older NVidia card and I tested it on a friends PC so I don't think that is the problem. What I meant by the trunk thing is that it ran at my brother's house as it normally does and then I transported it back to my house. 3 days elapsed while it was in the trunk and then when I put it back together at my own house I got the black screen. And yes, no beeps whatsoever. And yes, I meant that the CD drive had power. From what it seems, its probably a physical problem. To Mitz: Yes, I used your guide. I've taken computers apart before and whatnot so I can typically take care of it myself, but apparently not in this case :S

[Dak]

it certainly seems likely that its a physical problem. there is no easy test to work out which part exactly is the problem, but obviously since it happened after transportation it seems likely that something has moved. just the heat or cold of it being in the trunk will not have affected it, its the movement that has caused the problem.. unless your trunk leaks and it rained lol

you did say the computer makes noise didnt you? the fans run etc.. just no beeping noises? this probably rules out the power supply.

the ram in this case is the most likely culprit, as the computer wont post at all. if it was a connector to a hard drive or something like that then the computer would probably post but not find a hard drive. you could try removing the RAM card/cards first, making sure the slots and ram are nice and clean, and putting them back in. Do NOT attempt to clean the RAM cards with anything but compressed air. You can buy cans of compressed air at electronics shops, a handy thing to have to perform the regular cleaning that computers really should get anyway.

If that doesnt work, all i can suggest for now is that you dissassemble the computer as far as you are confident in doing, give it all a good clean with compressed air, and reassemble it with special care making sure everything is fitting snugly and correctly.

Once you have done that, if it still wont post, then you have a problem. Something isnt working properly and you will need a techie to physically test. If you want to avoid a techie, you could experiment by buying some new RAM as I still think its the most likely culprit and its reasonably cheap to buy. After that, you could replace the CPU, the motherboard etc, but as they cost a lot more it would be better to get a techie to check it out before spending any more cash.

[Mitz]

I have done this a few times...Driven around for a few days with a computer in the trunk or boot as we call it...Sometimes it is easy to put something back into place, but other times its a nightmare... You were right to try the CPU...That is the first thing I would have tried after travelling around with it in the car.

Follow Daks suggestions and see how you go.. and also maybe try the cpu again. Just always double check.

[emusattu]

Hey fellas,

I finally got around to getting some compressed air. I took the PC apart and sprayed out all of the dust and whatnot. I took the RAM out and cleaned it and the sockets out, too.

I booted the PC again and had the same problem, so I tried to use different amounts of ram (I have two 1 gig sticks) and in different slots. Nothing worked and after a couple attempts, a new problem arose.

The PC now boots, but instantly the power begins to wane in the fans and it seems as though its shutting down. Just before it all subsides it seems to boot up again and the fans begin to run as before. I hear all the familiar sounds except for the computer itself posting. After about 30 seconds to 1 minute of uptime, the computer shuts down by itself.

I'm taking it to a specialist because it's starting to frustrate me, but I'm interested in hearing your opinions about this case, too.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Dak]

30 seconds to one minute of uptime? please define uptime.

can you get into the bios? if you can, could you try finding and selecting 'load failsafe settings', saving it to CMOS and rebooting?

[woodyblade]

30 seconds to one minute of uptime? please define uptime.

Just to point some things out

At a guess I would think by the 30 seconds to one minute of uptime emusattu says means the time the computer is turned on, so they press the power button it does all the fan speed fluctuating they mention and then turns off.

By fan speeds fluctuating as described that leads me to think around the power supply or connectors which Dak mentioned earlier or even the actual Wall Sockets you have plugged the computer into, Try what Dak suggested first and then you could try plugging the computer into a different wall socket.
If it does the same in another wall socket then either the connectors themselves are done for or the power supply is dying, that's all I can draw from what I have read through here previously, just out of interest did you add any other hardware recently to the computer?

[emusattu]

How do you access the BIOS when you boot the PC and it doesn't even post?

Woodyblade is right about uptime. It starts when the power button is pressed and ends at shutdown.

I have not recently added any hardware to the PC; only transported it probably causing hardware displacement.

It may be the power supply on the computer as I've put some solid hours of gaming and school work/projects on it over the past 3-4 years, but I think its probably the connectors.

My friend (the specialist) told me it could be something failing on the MOBO or the HD.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Dak]

it seems to boot up again and the fans begin to run as before. I hear all the familiar sounds except for the computer itself posting. After about 30 seconds to 1 minute of uptime, the computer shuts down by itself.

sorry i had misread that to mean you had at least partially booted. Have you tried resetting the cmos ? Resetting the cmos basically involves crossing a couple of jumpers to remove all the old settings and restoring the bios to factory settings. Its done by moving a small block on the motherboard to cross a couple of connections, then moving it back.

if you know how to reset the cmos, then please do so. If not, then please advise me of your exact model name and number of your computer and I will walk you through trying this.
If your computer is custom built, then the model and number of the motherboard is what we need.

We can try this and possibly a few more things, but I still believe its some kind of hardware issue. Perhaps one of your cables or connectors are faulty rather than badly fitted, this can happen.

[emusattu]

Well for the time being my friend is going to be looking at it and hes fairly versed in computer hardware and software so I think he will be able to isolate the problem.

Aside from that, the PC is custom built using various different parts. Off the top of my head, these are the specs I know:

Video Card: Nvidia 7600 (I think?)
MOBO: ECS Elitegroup p965 Chipset (purple board)
RAM: Kingston (I believe) with Dual Channel
HD: Samsung or Seagate (pretty sure its the latter)
CPU: Intel Duo Core (or Dual, whichever of the two is faster) 1.8 GHZ with Hyper-threading

Thanks,
Andrew

[Dak]

No problem Andrew, sorry we weren't able to be of more help.

We would appreciate, when you have a solution, if you would let us know exactly what the problem was and how it was resolved. Then we will all have learnt something !

DAK.