video problem,, wont boot

Hello everybody,
This is my wifes PC:
Fic VB-601 slot 1 mobo with intel 440bx chipset.
pentium 2 @ 266MHz.
128 Mb pc100 sdram.
Older compaq Qvision PCI video card.

Heres the problem:
All the sudden when you power it up, the screen doesnt ccome on. It gives the beep code "one long, then two short beeps."
According to award bios, that means theres a video access problem, so I figured the video card had gone bad.

I changed over to an old ISA card I have, which allowed it to boot, but it only runs in 16 colors(this is a problem i had with this old card which is completely unrelated) which again pointed me in the direction of a new video card.

I borrowed a working agp card from a freind as a loner until I could get a new one, but it did the same thing, one long beep, followed by two short beeps.
Could this be a monitor problem? Or possibly a mobo problem?

I even tried the compaq card in different Pci slots, and I get the same thing.
Any ideas??
Thanks.

 

If you egt the POST code beeps like that and the card is seated correctly your card is more than likely shot as the BIOS doesn't even know it's there. As for the AGP card, you might want to check the BIOS settings so it will check for an AGP card instead of a PCI card. Also make sure the AGP versions are compatible between your MB and the AGP video card...2x...4x...whatever.

 

Quick update
the card is a 2X AGP, and the mobo is definately compatible, and has ran one before. I hooked her PC to my monitor, and got the same thing, so its not the monitor. Being as it doesnt access the monitor, I cant adjust the bios.

 

Good point....duh...I hadn't thought of that. Do you have access to an older ISA video card? Might want to give that a shot. Maybe your whole motherboard or CPU has gone south.

 

Could it be the cpu? I hadn't even thought of that. I'll try a diff cpu. I have an old isa card, but as I mentioned, it is mess up, however it does allow me to access the screen, just in 16 colors. If I install the drivers for this card, when it re-boots, it just shows a blank screen, but this is a problem ive had on all the systems this card has been in. I used it to change the innitial display to AGP in the bios, and i'm going to try the agp card again. I will update as soon as I'm done.

 

Well I used the ISA card to access the bios, and got it going on the AGP card, but it doesn't want to take the drivers. I've installed them several times, but it still says standard vga adapter in the device manager. Probably just wants to give me a headache. I'll keep posting.
Thanks Rockn

 

I knew it wanted to give me a headache.
after trying and trying to install the agp v. card , i decided to restart the PC , it went through its post and all that, but once it got to the win 98 screen, the monitor shut down. God I love computers. ( does anyone know a good priest to flush the demons from this satanic box before they enter my head...LOL!!)

 

Ok, lets change the tune just a little, and see how confused we get.

Swapping things around a little, and I ended up getting the original compaq Qvision to work. Installed the drivers and everything, and no problems, so I put the sound card and everything back in, and was ready to close it back up. turned it on and got the beep code again. Time for some hardware trouble shooting. I start unplugging things one at a time and bingo it's the printer. Yeah the printer, confused me too. If the printer is plugged in, it won't boot, but if you unplug it, then it boots fine. once its on, you can plug the printer in , and the printer works fine. The printer is a lexmark Z11. Any ideas?? I'm going to plug the printer in to my system to see what it does. Is there a chance that somehow the video card is using or trying to use some resources that the printer wants to use?? Maybe I could change some resources manually??

 

Is it a USB printer by chance?

 

No its not a usb printer, its just an old lexmark, it uses the lpt1 port.
However, since my last post, I've had time to run a few tests, and all I coulkd come up with is that the lpt port on the mobo went bad somehow.
When I plug the printer into my PC, it works just fine. no problems booting or anything.
So Iguess it stays hooked to mine, and the wife gets a new printer.
If it is a problem with the lpt port on the mobo, I guess I should look into a usb printer for hers, right?

 

Yep, as long as she's got usb ports

LPT ports can go out on the board....happened to a friend of mine......

But just for fun, take a look in the control panel, system, device manager, what's there for the LPT port? Conflicts? Exclamation marks?

 

Nope. Thats the wierd thing, there's no conflicts anywhere, everything checks out in the device manager. Plus, once the computer is on, you can plug the printer in, and it works fine. It just wont boot with it plugged in. It's kinda like the lpt port is good and bad at the same time. I don't know, but it does have usb ports, so I guess I get to go shopping.
Thanks again for all the help.
You guys and gals are the best.