Screen staying standby

[Massimo]

Hey Tech!

So.. last time I had a problem with my laptop, which got sorted out beautifully in this section, but now my PC is causing problems.

Basically; it said this sound (A sound that it has been saying for the past year or so, when it's about to freeze by itself) while I was playing FFXI, I figured that it would be like normal and I'd just have to adjust the graphic card a little, like always (I do this, because I probably did something wrong when I put it in myself like 5 years ago, although it could be over-heating).

I got some "Please change your stand-alone slavedriver to somethingsomething" in red bolded text like I do sometimes, still figuring that it was like it usually went down, and tried adjusting it some more. Well it ended up with the screen staying in standby and my PC beeping three times, waiting a little then beeping three times again. To fix this, I took all cables out and tried to dust the fans, took my RAM card out and put it back in, made sure that every cable fit, etc.
This fixed the beeping sound, but the screen is still on standby whenever I turn on my PC, and I am really out of ideas of what to do. I know I haven't really been treating it nicely, but yeah.. it's worked so far. This is a .. G-Force 6800 128MB RAM graphic card I think, that I put in myself around 5 years ago. The computer gotta be at least 8 years old.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

[Ramor]

I had this same problem happen to me (hopefully you're not in the same boat) but after I had some legit tech-support guy come over and take a look he told me my mobo was fried, and that it's basically cheaper to just get a new computer (which I did). What had happened to mine was a power surge I believe (even though it was in a surge protector?), which apparently fried it and made it deadweight, so the computer would turn on and everything would light up and the fans would start but it wouldn't do anything except show the standby screen.

Hopefully it's something different (which someone else can identify) but it sounds pretty much exactly like what happened to me.

[Kohan]

Well it ended up with the screen staying in standby and my PC beeping three times, waiting a little then beeping three times again.

The beeping sound which you "fixed" is known as a BIOS POST code. These beep codes are a computer's way of communicating with the user and telling them what's wrong. To determine what the problem was, we'd need to know what motherboard model you have so we can find out which BIOS it uses.

[Massimo]

Looking at the motherboard, it says "Asrock K7VM4", I don't know what else it could be. Searched around for that name a little, and that seems to be a model, so yeah.

Also thanks for the help, much appreciated.

[Kohan]

Looking at the motherboard, it says "Asrock K7VM4", I don't know what else it could be. Searched around for that name a little, and that seems to be a model, so yeah.

Also thanks for the help, much appreciated.

That has an AMI BIOS, so the three beeps is probably due to memory problems. That would explain why your reseating the memory fixed it, sort of.

When you turn on the computer, even though you can't see anything on screen, does it sound like it's starting up and booting into Windows per normal? Basically, is the HDD spinning, does it try to read your floppy and CD drives, and so on? If you have speakers plugged in and turned on, do you hear the Windows startup sound?

There is a very fair chance that your video card simply needs replacing.

[Massimo]

It just kinda turns on then keeps running at full speed, normally when it would load up and be on the desktop, it would start relaxing after a while. It doesn't make the initial "one-beep" sound when I turn it on that it does normally, and it doesn't really seem like it's turning on correctly.

As my speakers are dead at the moment, I don't really know if it makes the Windows Startup sound, but this doesn't seem like when it turns on usually.

Also, by a new Video Card; is that the same as a Graphic Card? (I know so little about computers and the language-barrier doesn't make it easier, it's called graphic card in danish) Because the computer already had a graphic card in the it when I bought it, which was really small and not enough for the stuff I wanted to use it for, but it should still be there. I have tried taking the new one out and just using the plug that I would have before I bought it, which results in the same thing.

[Kohan]

Also, by a new Video Card; is that the same as a Graphic Card? (I know so little about computers and the language-barrier doesn't make it easier, it's called graphic card in danish)

That's interesting. Nowadays, they are essentially the same exact thing, but for the heck of it, let me explain the difference in a completely non-technical way.

Video card: A device which delivers a video signal from a computer to your monitor.

Graphics card: A device which does the same thing as a video card, but additionally provides "graphics acceleration," enabling the user to see things in higher resolutions with more colors. These also enable the use of 3D applications, among other things.

Nowadays, "video card" and "graphic card" are used interchangeably, as no one--aside from businesses--buys cards without 3D acceleration. So, you could get away with assuming they mean the same exact thing. I'm saying video card, but if you're being technical about the terms' definition, what I'm referring to is a graphics card.

In summary: yes, we're talking about the same thing.

Because the computer already had a graphic card in the it when I bought it, which was really small and not enough for the stuff I wanted to use it for, but it should still be there. I have tried taking the new one out and just using the plug that I would have before I bought it, which results in the same thing.

Do you mean that your computer had a different graphics card inside before you bought the GeForce? Do you still have that one? If so, could you try installing it, plugging your monitor into that, and turning the machine on?

[Massimo]

Supposedly there was one integrated in the computer when I bought it, which allowed me to play stuff like Warcraft III etc., but when I wanted to do some stuff that it couldn't handle, I bought 1k more RAM and a new Video Card (lol) to upgrade it.

I've tried just putting the cable into the old plug in my computer that would connect it to the old card, in the past, which actually worked fine as far as I remember.. so I really don't know if that's it. I can try and plug everything out and put it back together again tomorrow, it's like 8 AM now and I'm going to sleep.



And okay, thanks for the explanation. D:

[Kohan]

Supposedly there was one integrated in the computer when I bought it, which allowed me to play stuff like Warcraft III etc., but when I wanted to do some stuff that it couldn't handle, I bought 1k more RAM and a new Video Card (lol) to upgrade it.

I've tried just putting the cable into the old plug in my computer that would connect it to the old card, in the past, which actually worked fine as far as I remember.. so I really don't know if that's it. I can try and plug everything out and put it back together again tomorrow, it's like 8 AM now and I'm going to sleep.

From the sounds of things, you're plugging your monitor cable into your old integrated video port. However, if your GeForce is still inside of the computer, this probably won't work. Your motherboard is still detecting the graphics card as the primary video output and isn't feeding anything through the other port.

Open your PC, remove the GeForce, then plug your monitor cable into the integrated video port and start the machine. See if anything displays then.

And okay, thanks for the explanation. D:

You're welcome.

[Massimo]

From the sounds of things, you're plugging your monitor cable into your old integrated video port. However, if your GeForce is still inside of the computer, this probably won't work. Your motherboard is still detecting the graphics card as the primary video output and isn't feeding anything through the other port.

Open your PC, remove the GeForce, then plug your monitor cable into the integrated video port and start the machine. See if anything displays then.

That's what I was doing already.. lol. I'll try and be more clear next time.

[Kohan]

That's what I was doing already.. lol. I'll try and be more clear next time.

Sorry. I wasn't sure that was what you meant, so I thought it would be a good suggestion.

Since you've already tried that, and you're very sure Windows isn't starting, then it may not be your graphics card at all. The former beeping during POST and the age of the motherboard could point to its having gone kaput. Although it was reporting a problem with the RAM (via beeping three times), that doesn't necessarily mean the RAM itself is bad; the motherboard may be having trouble with it because of its own problems.

There's not really much else you can do at this point, aside from what you mentioned (disconnecting everything, then connecting things one at a time before trying to turn it on).

[Massimo]

Finally had the time to pick it apart and put back together again.. and now it's starting the 3 beeping thing once more.. Really clueless as to what is causing this.

Can't afford a new PC as it is, and I really need it.

[Cephius]

Finally had the time to pick it apart and put back together again.. and now it's starting the 3 beeping thing once more.. Really clueless as to what is causing this.

Can't afford a new PC as it is, and I really need it.

Disconnect everything except for power, and put one ram stick in the furthest slot away from the CPU. Turn computer on. Does it still give you the 3 beeps?

[Pikarya]

This happened to me awhile back on one of my PC's. Happened to be a dead videocard (Something with some Nvidia card having a bios at boot?). Anyways I replaced it and problem solved.

[Kohan]

When you say you've disconnected and reconnected everything, did you do it one piece at a time? As in, did you try starting the computer with your HDD and CD-ROM disconnected? To lay it all out, you could try something like...

Start the machine with only a stick of RAM inside (Cephius's suggestion).
Start the machine with nothing attached except for the GeForce (which means the HDD, CD-ROM, RAM, and so on, wouldn't be hooked up).

There's also another thing you can try. I know you've stated that you've disconnected the GeForce and tried to start the machine that way, but have you cleared the BIOS at any point? If not, do this:

1. Disconnect your PC from all sources of power.
2. Remove the GeForce, your RAM, and disconnect any other peripherals (e.g., HDD).
3. Locate the large silver watch battery (it's probably a CR-2032) on your motherboard.
4. Carefully remove the battery, which probably has a release latch you can depress to get it to pop out safely.
5. Wait for a good five seconds or so, then pop the battery back in.
6. Connect your monitor to the on-board chipset's video port, and try to start the computer.

If this gives you a display, start attaching everything EXCEPT the GeForce piece by piece, restarting every time. Your goal, obviously, is to your computer successfully started, if not to diagnose the problem more specifically.

As mentioned, the BIOS beeping is pointing toward a RAM problem. Since you say you upgraded that, do you have the old stick lying around anywhere? If not, do you or a friend have another machine with compatible RAM you can try?

If you exhaust all of these options and it's still not working, then you may have to accept that your motherboard could be responsible. Of course, that ideally won't be the case.

[Massimo]

When I try starting up with nothing connected, except for the floppy-drive (I don't think I'd be able to put this back in.. the cable is weird), it still does the 3-beeping sound.
I'm quite unable to pop out the battery, without bending two small metal plates that cover it so it won't fall out, and I'm not certain if that's wise?

Beeped when I took just RAM out, beeped when I took just DVD, GeForce, CD, HDD, everything basically out by itself.

Oh and I gave my old 256 RAM away to a friend, since I got the new one and he needed it. :/ Don't reallly got any access to another stick as it is.

[Spekkio]

start off by stripping it down to the bare essentials. pull everything, even the floppy cable. you can just yank it from the mobo and if you're worried about getting it back in the right orientation, get a sharpie marker and put a black mark on the bottom or left side of the connector. important things to make sure are removed are:
1.) expansion cards like video cards, ethernet cards (lawl), sound cards, or anything else like that. they'll probably be stacked up in a long column down the back side of your computer.
2.) CD ROM drives, hard drives, and floppy drives. since your PC is 5 years old, i'm guessing all your hard drives are IDE drives and not SATA, so look for thick, flat, wide cables (though you could have rounded IDE cables, but i doubt it) and detach them from the motherboard.
3.) any peripherals plugged into any ports on the PC. should only have power, keyboard, monitor, and maybe mouse hooked up.

things not to remove off the top of my head (but not inclusive):
1.) the coin battery. that keeps the memory settings for your BIOS stored. don't pull it.
2.) jumpers on the motherboard. probably aren't many anymore, but if you say pull the one off for BIOS clear, that could be bad.
3.) RAM. no RAM, no worky.
4.) any front panel leads such as USB, power switch, HDD LED, etc. no real reason to remove these and they're a PAIN to ensure you get right.
5.) if it's not in the front panel bundle, the speaker. you want to hear the beeps to know what's going on.
6.) if it's removable, the little chip on the board. that's the BIOS chip. touch it and bad things will happen.
7.) power cables to your motherboard. it's fine to pull power from the CD drives or HDD drives or whatnot, but make sure that all the appropriate power plugs are connected to your motherboard including the 4 pin power connector near the CPU if you need it on your rig.

try booting it in this configuration and see if anything happens.

you said you bought more memory for your computer at one time. i'm wondering if one of the sticks you had in there was a cheapo POS that's failed on you. you may also want to try ripping out one of the sticks and trying running on one stick alone then the other alone. if your memory has gone bad or there's some minute timing error between the mismatched brands, it may account for some of your problems. if we can't get your board to boot in this configuration, i'd guess that either your motherboard or your power supply is toast.

[Massimo]

I tried that just now, Spekkio, still beeping three times with all of that disconnected. Tried reseating the RAM into the other slot (I originally had a 256 RAM stick that came with the computer, replaced it with a 1024 stick around 4 years ago), nothing worked. Screen is still on standby and yeah..

It did this thing once before, with the beeping, and I honestly can't remember that I did anything other than dusting stuff and making sure that the cables were properly plugged in.. I made it work back then, but it has still been making problems since.

Every time it would restart, I would get that text which said something like; "Please change your stand-alone slavedriver to something" in red bolded letters when I started up the computer, and wouldn't allow me to go any further, which I also mentioned earlier. Where from here, I would yank my Video Card a little, or push it further in, which usually solved the problem.
I can try and figure out exactly what it said, if you think it may be of any use.


Again, thanks a lot for spending your time on this.

[Kohan]

things not to remove off the top of my head (but not inclusive):
1.) the coin battery. that keeps the memory settings for your BIOS stored. don't pull it.

When you're having problems starting a computer, it's perfectly normal to reset the BIOS. This can even be vital in cases like this where a video-related setting may be preventing the onboard chipset from functioning. I don't understand why you're giving this advice, but it isn't good.

3.) RAM. no RAM, no worky.

It's a given that the machine won't boot into an OS if it doesn't have RAM inside, but if the RAM or RAM slot is causing major conflicts, removing it can at least give the user an on-screen display with error messages. You do not need RAM inside a relatively recent computer to start it up at all.

I don't really disagree with the rest of your advice, but I can't understand these comments at all. Especially the one about the BIOS. Resetting that is one of the very first things you usually do when you're having severe and seemingly unsolvable hardware issues.

[Spekkio]

i didn't want him to remove the coin and reset the bios while we're working on troubleshooting the problem. that's a step i was going to take next (though as an untrained user, i'd rather keep him OUT of the bios if possible so he doesn't monkey with his voltage settings in there or something and fry his box.) but i'm trying to isolate his RAM and test that first. after we establish that a new stick or slot does nothing to solve the problem, we can move on to that step. when i'm doing remote tech support (which i do regularly for my job /wrists) i find it's far safer to give an excessive list of keep aways and slowly remove items lest the remote user decide to pick at something they find interesting and make things go from bad to worse.

as for removing the ram, the error he's getting as i read it was that the board was not detecting any memory in it, so i was trying to pick at that issue. in addition. since it has onboard video, it probably uses shared memory for video memory. not inserting ram into the machine, it has nowhere to work to display an image and is stuck using only beep codes. at least that's what i usually find with most of the cheapass motherboards we use at my office. no ram in it, you don't get anything but beeps.