No video issue.

[Greflin]

Hello. I just bought parts for a new PC. Had a friend assemble it and it worked when he shipped it to me. I get no video on it. all of the parts in the pc are installed correctly.

It has a sapphire ati x550 256mb card. My monitor is kinda old and only has a 14 pin connection. The vid card has 15 pin holes. Could this be the issue? Do they make adapters to make my monitor a 15 pin monitor?

thanks.

 

[weilin]

if your speaking about the standard VGA monitor, then no there shouldnt be any compatibility issues. Im not quite sure what the pin is for but the majoirity of hte monitors dont have it. thats not a problem, as for your pc, if u have antoher monitor test and see if the pc shows video with the new monitor. if not, come back and ill see what i can do to help you.

 

[Greflin]

It boots up fine without the monitor plugged in. I plug in the monitor and it gives me some error beeps. The monitor works fine in this pc. and another pc. Will try and get a diff monitor tomorrow to try.

Has anyone heard of a compatability issue between monitors and vid cards like this?

 

[weilin]

if there was, this would be the first 1. I have never heard of such a thing. Good luck to ya tomorrow.

 

[Greflin]

Got a new monitor from my mother. And sure enough it works. Old one doesnt. Don't know why. Well first time EVER.. my monitor is not compatible with my new computer. How could this even be possible. Does anyone know?

 

[4745454b]

I have had this problem. There have been times where clients 14/15" monitor can't be used with a newer video card. This problem has always been fixed by getting a newer monitor. Frankly, if you're still using a 14" monitor that bows more then aunt Ethels glasses, you should spend the $100 and get yourself a new 17" CRT that will be MUCH easier on the eyes...

 

[Greflin]

Not 14 inch 14 prongs. Its a 21 inch monitor about 5 years old. But it wont work. Gonna finish my install of programs get everything updated and try it again see if it works. But I dont have any hope for that.

 

[sailer]

One possible problem is if the monitor needs a specific driver to work correctly. I used to have a Dell monitor that did this. Any other monitor would would finewith my ALienware, but the Dell wouldn't until the specific driver for it was installed.

 

[Greflin]

Question. Is it harmful to the computer to unplug the monitor form the vid card while it is running and plug in a new one? Just wondering. Thanks.

 

[4745454b]

Don't worry, I know the difference between 14pins and 14". I was simply trying to explain the few times I've been in a situation where an old monitor failed to work with newer hardware. BTW, I've also seen monitors with as few as 11 or 12 pins work just fine. Not every monitor cable uses all 15pins...
As for your other question, not that I know of. I"ve had my monitor cable get pulled out due to kids, pets, vaccuum, etc without any problems. Just go back behind the desk and plug it back in.

 

[sailer]

That depends; how was it removed? If you just loosed the screws and gently pulled it out, shouldn't be any problem. If it was jerked out suddenly, it could damage the cable or the video card socket. On some older computers and monitors, if the monitor wasn't plugged in and turned on before the computer was turned on, the computer wouldn't recognize the monitor as being there. but I don't think your monitor or video card are that old. But in the situation that you describe, nothing bad should happen, and the next monitor should power up fine, provided there isn't already a problem with your video card.