Strange power-up problem

[Chameleon]

Hi

I had a strange thing happen a few months ago where my NIC card stopped working (no connection to router and all lights out on card). I took the card out, but then my pc would not boot at all. I discovered, after some playing around with it, that I think it was the AGP graphics card (when you screw it into place, it kinda stretches it too far and it can pop out the back of the agp slot, either when you install it or when you play about with stuff) that stopped the pc booting.
Anyway ....... ever since this day, when I press the 'on' button on the pc, it all sounds ok, including the wurr of the cd drive if theres a cd in it, but the monitor does not come on. If I press the reset button, the pc boots again, the monitor comes on and all is ok. Once in a blue moon it will boot first time, and occasionally I will have to press the 'reset' button several times before it all works ok.
PC spec:

Abit KG7 raid mobo
2200xp+ amd cpu
packard bell e171 (I think) 17" monitor
gf4 4800se
sb live
all the other bits and bobs, etc

I'm guessing it's this problem with the agp slot. It's very weird how when you put a card in the agp slot, it doesnt seem to be far enough to screw into place ...... you always have to manipulate it a bit to get it to screw into place. The case is a coolercase storm.

Any advice on whether this could be power/anything else related or does sound like this agp slot appreciated. Also, is this problem with screwing the agp card into place common, particularly for those with coolercases?

tia

Ch@m

 

[xane]

Spooky because I am experiencing the exact same problem on an older system.

FOr some reason I forgot to screw in the video card and when the PC was pushed up against the wall it pushed in the video connector and eventually forced the card out of the slot, then the PC went dead.

I re-inserted it but since then I have been experiencing random bouts of cutouts and it will often start up with the same symptoms you have.

I have found that by holding the power button in for 4 seconds, even when it is switched off is enough to "reset" everything and it will boot normally after that, unless it cuts out again.

I can't trace it as often the machine will run perfectly smoothly for the entire evening.

I've considered a duff PSU or even the BIOS battery running low.

Specs are widely different, but what the hell:

Pentium III 733Mhz Slot One
Asus P3V4X (VIA Apollo Pro 133A)
crappy monitor
GeForce 2 GTS 32MB
Diamond Monster Sound II (Aureal Vortex 2)
lots of very crap bits and even crappier bobs

 

[LTF]

Had the same problem a while back, swapped psu, its been working happily ever since

 

[Chameleon]

d0nk3h - How similar were your symptoms? Were you getting the same 'no power to the monitor', unless you pressed 'reset'? If so, I suppose it could be the psu.

 

[xane]

Ch@m, is your monitor powered via the PSU or on a separate power lead ? When you say "no power to the monitor" you are talking about no signal right ?

 

[Chameleon]

Oh yes, how stupid of me. It does have it's own power supply.
I do have amd cpu and GF gfx, so I know it's a power hogger, but the psu is 350w iirc, so should be sufficient. I suppose it could still be psu related (i.e. power to mobo --> AGP) ...... but I must admit I had overlooked the blooming obvious with the seperate power supply lol

 

[LTF]

The monitor appeared to stay on stand by when the machine was powered up. If i turned the machine off at the psu for say, five seconds, then turn it back on and push the power button it would wake up.

Its possibly the motherboard, but my money is PSU.

 

[stimps]

I have a similar problem with my PC - when first powering up, the POST fails on the video card, as the motherboard is unable to supply enough current to initialise the card while everything else is starting up. (I changed the PSU to a 450w model, and it still happens, hence suspecting the mb).

The easy way round it is to wait for it to start up, give 2 beeps (video card failure code) and then quickly turn the pc off and back on again.

Thought I'd pass this on, as you may be better off looking at the mboard rather than just the PSU (although changing the PSU is a lot less hassle)

 

[Chameleon]

Thanks Stimps. I don't actually get any beeps at all on startup ...... the pc seems to think all is ok. I guess in my case (pardon the pun ) then, it could be the psu rather than the mobo.