Monitor Problem???

[needles 1,010]

Hi Guys,

I have just started having problems with my Samsung 225BW Monitor.

When I switch my PC on at the same time as my monitor, the monitor does not seem to give any image.

If I switch my PC on, wait a few minutes, the monitor comes on briefly then goes to black screen.

Now, if I press the reset switch on my PC, it boots up but then I have to keep switching my monitor on and off a few times before I get a steady picture.

Have any of you experienced such a problem before?

If so please let me know what the problem was.

I have not yet tried swapping the monitor to a different PC but I have tried both outputs from my Graphics card and I get the same result.

Look forward to your thoughts.

Cheers

Brian

EDIT: Once the monitor is on and stable, it remains so until I switch my PC off again.

[MartinW 0]

Like most PC issues, it could be a number of things.

Have you tried different cables? Re-seating the cables? Sometimes the pins get bent, or the connector has crept out over time.

It's possible its a GPU issue. Try reinstalling the driver. Or roll back to an older driver if you have just tried a new one.

Try re-seating the graphics card. Re-seat graphics card cables, the constant heating and cooling can make them start to creep out a tad..

Do you see any LED's lit up on the monitor? What colour are they? What does that colour mean? Has it gone into standby? Can you bring up the monitor menu, when you hit the button?

Would be a good idea to try a different PC, that way you eliminate the PC.

Process of illumination.

Try a different monitor too if you can grab one.

[mutley 4,487]

Hi Brian,

I couldn'y add more than Uncle Martin has. How old is your monitor? it sounds a little like some component is on its way out, probably in the monitor but swapping it out with another would be the first step to try and isolate the problem.

[allardjd 1,853]

Process of illumination.

[mutley 4,487]

Process of illumination.

:wacko:

[allardjd 1,853]

I think he meant "process of ELIMINATION", not "process of ILLUMINATION".

It almost works in the context where he used it, however. If intentional, it's clever - it accidental it's hilarious, at least to my warped sense of humor.

John

[flybytes 34]

Hi Brian.

1 - If your monitor has both analogue (vga) and digital inputs (dvi) try swapping to other i/p (assuming you have the relevant cable/adapter).

2 - Try configuring monitor to a lower or higher frame rate i.e. 60 Hz/70Hz/80Hz/auto etc or different synch frequency.

Good luck!

Ray.

[needles 1,010]

Cheers Guys,

@John & Joe, I got it straight away but chose to ignore it as I was not a happy bunny when it appears my monitor or GPU is up the shute.

I have reset everything and it seems fine but as with all things PC related, you can never be 100% sure eh?

For now, it's working so I'll leave it alone.

[mutley 4,487]

For now, that good news Brian, I hope it stays that way

[MartinW 0]

Process of illumination.

Well John, you may think that was a failing of my spell check utility. But actually no, I'm sure when the nanites I've sent by mail arrive at Needles house, and he downs the full dose, he will be illuminated.

The little critters are loaded with the genes responsible for bioluminescence. Just like Photinus Pyralis.

I have some programed for peculiar political persuasions if you want some?

[mutley 4,487]

John already glows green in the dark, occupational hazard, I should know I have met him!

[allardjd 1,853]

Now THAT is a process of illumination - a little tritium never hurt anyone.

John

[needles 1,010]

Hi Guys,

When I started this topic way back in September 2011, my last report was that my monitor seemed to be working stable again, so I left it at that.

Well, since then it died on me completely and I purchased another 23" monitor.

I resigned the broken monitor to the attic, (I never throw anything away that *may* come in useful at a later date).

I then trawled the 'www' looking for answers to the problem I had with the monitor.

Almost everyone was saying that it would be cheaper to buy another monitor than try to repair the broken one.

I then found a post by somebody that it could very well be that some of the 'electrolytic capacitors' could be the fault.

I pulled the circuit board out and there before my eyes were 3 bulging capacitors.

I managed to track the same value caps' down from ebay and they arrived this morning.

I soldered them in place and very gingerly plugged my defunct monitor into my PC.

WOW! I am now a monitor engineer. It worked. I now have two fully functioning monitors.

BTW, the capacitors cost me a whopping sum of £3.00 including delivery.

Moral of my story....investigate things before reigning them to the landfill. You may be surprised at how little it could cost to repair things.

Cheers

A happy bunny.

[David TRIGGS 0]

Felicitations, mon brave!!

[needles 1,010]

Merci mon ami.

I am quite interested in electronics so I thought why not give it a go and see what came of it. At £3 to repair it I had nothing to lose.

Cheers David.

[mutley 4,487]

Superb result Brian, what are you going to use it for?

[needles 1,010]

@Mike, Result eh! I am glad I didn't send it to the recycle centre in the sky.

@Joe, When I've managed to get another 23" monitor I'm going to hook them up to a TH2Go Digital. Then run them as one. At the moment though it's handy for doing my photoshop work on.

[allardjd 1,853]

I don't know why they insist on using electrolytic capacitors. Most all other modern electronic components have what is essentially an indefinite, if not infinite service life if kept cool and protected from surges, etc. Not so electrolytics - they're like hard disks - it's not if they'll fail, just when.

I suppose they're cheaper than designing in a warranty expiration timer to fail the device a few weeks after the warranty is up, and just as effective.

 

John

[M31 0]

Glad you got it fixed Brian, when I read this I was thinking, uh oh, hope its nothing to do with our recent graphic card deal, but reading on I realised it was an old post bumped

[needles 1,010]

Glad you got it fixed Brian, when I read this I was thinking, uh oh, hope its nothing to do with our recent graphic card deal, but reading on I realised it was an old post bumped

Quite right Colin.

The card is great so far and I am not expecting anything less from it. Thanks.

I almost threw the Samsung lcd in the dump. How happy I was when I ignored a lot of advice on the net to throw it away as it was more expensive to repair than to get a new one. Pah!

I can solder, I know what a Capacitor is, sorted. I need one more 23" LCD then I will have to start saving for a Triple Head 2 Go. Once our deal is done.

Cheers, I will be in touch soon.

Regards

Brian

[M31 0]

No worries Brian.

I wish I had your electronic skillls ... I have a blown PSU here from a friends comp ( I like to help friends and family fix their PC's ) that seems borked but might be something simple, I've left it unpowered to discharge for a few weeks now and the original PC has a new PSU, might pull it apart to see if there is something obvious like a blown internal fuse (I've seen that before with hi fi amps and suchlike) if so it will power some parts I've got lying around to build another PC.

I once fixed an old Sony 20"" CRT monitor that over age grew too bright by soldering a resistor or something between two points on a PCB that I bought in Maplins Aberdeen for penny's ... I cant take the credit for that though, Googled the fix and lo and behold the monitor was like new again, I was well chuffed at the time

[needles 1,010]

Hey Colin,

I wouldn't call my soldering attempts and tinkering with led's, capacitors etc, as skills. It's more a luck game with me.

I do scour the web for advice before I tinker with electronics.

It's more a healthy interest than skill.

I am just a person that will pull something apart, see how it works then try and emulate it.

Maplin is my second home.

Take a look here: http://www.instructables.com/

This is a great source of how to do things.

Cheers mate.