Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
3 Posts
0
20823
No Video: Dimension 2350
Problem: No video during and after boot.
I suspect the pins on the video connector may be damaged when my cousin tried to disconnect the
monitor cable from the back of the computer.
The monitor gives a 'no signal' message when plugged into the video port, and stays that way
during boot. There are no errors during boot ie no beeps, and the 4 diagnostic
lights stay lit at the end indicating the the OS has started.
But the screen remains blank or flashes the 'no signal' message.
I tried using a GeForce FX5200 video card. The 'no signal' error went away but there was no video.
How do I get this GeForce card to work or how do I solve the original connector problem?
Keep in mind that I cannot get into the BIOS because at no time do I get video..
Thanks to any answers..
vj84
24 Posts
0
August 9th, 2008 21:00
In that case, please remove the Video card and plug the monitor to the Integrated Blue VGA Port, restart the comp and check if you are getting video.... If you get a video then its a faulty video card!!!!
To the blue port as shown in pic below
caribsong
3 Posts
0
August 9th, 2008 21:00
It is a Dimension 2350. Says that on the front of the unit and my service tag matched.
And I was able to plug in the FX2500 into a slot on the system board.
vj84
24 Posts
0
August 9th, 2008 21:00
First of all the Dimension 2350 doesnt have an expansion slot like AGP or PCI-e to hold the FX5200 card....
Please recheck the system model and update....
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
August 10th, 2008 03:00
Apologies for interrupting, but you should know that there is a PCI version of the FX-5200. I use one in my D2400 which also has no AGP or PCI-Express slot. I am assuming that when you put the card into the machine you had no trouble inserting it into the slot or using the fastener to fasten the bracket to the card retainer.
If you get no video at all it will be difficult to do anything. You can try resetting the NVRAM by removing the lithium back-up cell for about fifteen minutes, putting the video card in while you wait, and after putting the cover back on, starting the machine. Wait for the keyboard lights to flash once and start tapping F2 to get into setup. If you are going to get any video from the card at all you should see it when setup comes up as this is a VGA signal that any video card should be able to use. If that works, use the arrow keys to scroll to your video settings and make sure that it is set to Automatic. You should only have one other setting, onboard, but that forces the use of the onboard video that you seem to be having trouble with.
If you see the video from setup, after you have made certain of the video setting, exit from setup saving changes and get ready to start tapping the F8 key. This puts you into the Windows start-up menu. Once there, select Safe Mode, which uses the same VGA signal that setup uses. Once the computer has finished booting go to the Device Manager, go to Display Adapters, click on the " + " mark to expand the contents, double click on Intel Graphics, and use the menu at the bottom of the dialog box to select " Do Not Use This Device - Disable ". If the box marked "Apply" is available, make sure you click on it. Otherwise, click on "OK" to close each window in turn. Restart the system. What this action should do is tell Windows not to use the driver for the onboard Intel Graphics so that when you boot up normally you will still have a VGA signal from the computer. If you successfully get the VGA display when Windows has finished booting normally you can use the drivers disk that came with the video card to load the appropriate driver. If you don't have a disk you should still be able to get the driver from the archives on the nVidia web page. Do not use the New Hardware wizard to install the card as it may not get all the settings correct. Instead, close the new hardware wizard and use the setup from the driver disk, or if you download the driver, double clicking the file name should bring up an installation wizard.
Good luck.
caribsong
3 Posts
0
August 16th, 2008 14:00
JackShack,
Thank you for your response and sorry about the late reply.
I followed your instructions to the letter but still no video.
However I noticed the 2 end diagnostic lights at the back of the unit are yellow.
The middle ones are green. I cannot find what this combination means on
the Dell site but it obviously an error. And it comes up with or without
the FX-5200 plugged in.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
August 17th, 2008 00:00
When that happens on my D2400 the manual suggests re-seating the data and power cables to the floppy drive and hard drive; it indicates a possible failure of one or the other. This might not mean anything on the 2350, but it's simple and easy to do. Are there any beeps during start-up?
One additional question; do you know which bios version you're running? I realize you probably can't check it now, but the original A00 bios did not have the capability to support a PCI video card. This was added in version A01. The most recent version is A02.