Monitor: No Signal?

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fuzen

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I just built a new pc and got the 8800gts 320 acs version but randomly while playing games my monitor will go black and say "no signal" then go completely black and I have to restart to get it back to normal. I assume everything else is working during this because I can still hear my music in the background. Anyone ever heard of this problem?
 

murphy82nd

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This could be a lot of things. Easiest is, are you sure the cable is plugged in securely on both ends? Ik, but sometimes we all get careless. Secondly, what are the specs of your PSU? Thirld, are you sure you installed the GPU correctly?
 

the_politician

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I don't know if I am happy or sad to hear that someone else is having the same issue as me. It has been so frustrating....

I have run out of ideas of what it could be, I have tried everything from drivers, to re-seating, PSU and RAM testing....everything.

On the good side, I am in talks with the manufacturer (XFX) right now to try and determine the root of the problem. Perhaps the only solution is an RMA, but we haven't gotten that far yet.
 

bobbknight

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If you are using Windows Vista, it is a Microsoft issue.
They have a hot fix for this problem, you may need to ask MS for it.
As always make sure all connections are proper and power is adequate for your setup.
 

the_politician

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Still, it could be an issue that happens with the core architecture of the cards (which are both nVidia). I will let you know what I find out regardless.
 

ailgatrat

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ATI Catalyst drivers have an option Under Digital Panel Properties - Attributes - DVI settings to Reduce DVI Frequency on high-resolution displays. I don't know what it's called in the NVIDIA control panel but it is the same function. Enable that option to see if that may not help some.

I have one of the Samsung 204B Monitors made in China in 2006 that actually has a hardware defect that also causes this problem. But enabling that setting lets me use the monitor just fine. I just can't upgrade my drivers over Catalyst 7.1.

Only reason I mention that last part is that it could be a hardware issue with the monitor that only happens with certain gfx card drivers.

I hope you can find a solution to your problem.

Bob
 

mogivite

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ok

ive read a lot about this no signal thing, because it has happend to me repeatedly.

ussuall complaints

-windows posts just befor logo screen no signal
-windows posts boots up fully works for 5 ten minutes then goes to no signal
-windows posts boots up fully works untill you start playing a game then goes to no signal.

i have tried everything under the sun

-new graphics card same model
-new cables
-clean install of vista
-clean drivers install
-variety of drivers
-used driver cleaner to wipe everything
-installing from safe mode
-pointing a house fan into my computer to make sure it wasnt heat related
tried different resolutions.....

and here is the kicker the native resolution of my monitor is 1440 by 900 so thats the resolution i was using. it didnt work

if i changed it to any resolution using the same ratio (width is 1.6 times hight) i get the no signal problem

but using a resolution that is of a different ratio (1280 x 960) my system has been stable for hours and hours and hours hopefully it will stay stable but so far so good, the resolutions with a ratio of 1.6 last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour befor failing.

im not sure if it's that particular ratio that matters or if its the ration of your monitors native resolution that matters or what.

all i know is that some resolutions work and the ones that i have tested that don't work are all the same ratio as my monitors native resolution.

 

marklp

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I would try the following to solve your problem. If you are using a DVI cable try the monitor with a VGA cable. If your monitor works correctly and dosn't shut down then you mave have a bad DVI cable or the monitors DVI input is bad. DVI cables can be problematic if bent sharply, too long, or of poor quality.
 

mogivite

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this happened with my old monitor, i have a new monitor now still happens when i use the 16:10 aspect ratio resolutions.

ive used both the dvi and the vga cables both the analog and the digital signal.

the only thing that has stopped it from happening is using the 1280 x 960 resolution.

on my old monitor the aspet ratio would have been 4:3 i think.

i can not fathom why it's happening only that it is.

so the problem occured with two sets of vga cables and one dvi cable on two different monitors with two video cards of the same model for me.

this means it has to be a driver issue a faulty mother board or for some reason the video card is not reading the edid properly and is deciding the monitor can not handle those resolutions OR something is causing it to change teh refresh rate and only rebooting sets it back and it only happens in those resolutions.

so far i have gone about 6 hours using the 1280 x 960 without any problems

im also guessing why for some people it only happens during games or videos.

for normal surfing word processing extra they happen to be using a safe resolution then they go to watch a video or play a game and the resolution changes to one of the problem ones and suddenly they get the no signal problem

and im sure everyone has had that moment where you come out of a game and your screen resolution has been changed to whatever the resolution was in game and you have to reset it to your ussual resolution. my guess is that this is why some people suddenly are getting the no signal untill they have restarted a few times.

 

Wolfshadw

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I ran into this problem a while back with an ATI X800XL I had just purchased from Newegg. I could watch TV and surf the web to my hearts content, but soon after firing up a game (City of Heroes in my case), "No Signal Input".

Like others have already posted, I'd tried everything I could think of and the recommendations of the CoH forumites to resolve the issue. After thee months of this, I gave up and RMA'd the card.

Newegg had apparently sold me the last one as they could not send a replacement and I got my money back. As soon as I could, I purchased an NVidia 7800GS. To my dismay, I found myself in the exact same scenario. Soon after firing up a game, "No Signal Input".

Finally, I managed to purchase a new power supply (500Watt Antec vs. a 1 year old 450watt Cooler Master). I haven't seen that problem since.

Just my $0.02

-Wolf sends
 

mogivite

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i find it difficult to understand how a power supple would allow it to work fine under some resolution and not fine under other resolutions especially since all the resolutions are supported by my monitor.
 

mogivite

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ok im hoping someone else has some information here are some things i want to try and have disocoverd.

-the computer/video card sometimes "forgets" wich monitor is installed and switches to a default monitor either generic pnp or generic non pnp when this happens if you are using a resolution supported by the default monitors you are fine if you are using one that is not but is supported by your actual monitor well you are not fine.

-is there a way to get the video card to get the edid information directly from the monitor rather then from the computer. i believe that what is happening is that there is a failure in the nvidia ctr panel wich causes the computer to have to reasses what monitor is installed and when it does it sometimes grabs the wrong edid information off the computer wich of course has all the default monitor settings because it needs those for when you boot up in safe mode.

my theory on what causes this is invidia's difficulty with monitor resolutions that are not dvisivle by 8. i was reading abou this bug on an intel forum.

to all of you that are having this problem or if you know of someone that is having this problem tell them that they need to set their monitor resolution to one that is divisible by 8 and preferably also supported by the generic monitors drivers that get installed when the system does not know what monitor is installed.

if anyone knows how to completely clear old edid information off your computer let me know.
 

marklp

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The video card gets the EDID information from the monitor. Normally it is read during boot up. If the graphics card fails to get the data from the monitor during boot a generic monitor driver will be loaded. The computer gets the EDID from the graphics card. Get the shareware program Powerstrip. It will help in finding out what is going on. You can tell it to go and get the EDID info from the monitor when you want. If you are not getting the EDID info displayed on Powerstrip then you have a problem with either the monitor, the cable, or the video card.
 

mariusb

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Hi,
Unfortunatly i have the exactly same problem as mentioned above. I have a ASUS M3N HD/HDMI and a ASUS ATI RADEON 4850 (512 MB on 256 bit). The thing is that in some games like Crysis i have no problems at all, while in games like Terminator - Salvation or Wanted, my monitor turns off every now and then.
First i tought it might be from the drivers. So i tought this could be a nice opportunity to install Windows 7. Well... when installing windows 7, after boot logo, surprise... my monitor went black (no signal).

Now, the thing is that i've tried installing using my onboard video card (GeForce 8600 i think) and.. same problem... after first boot, monitor (XEROX 19'') goes black. SO, the only thing that i may think of has to do with the monitor... I use a DVI cable to connect (the monitor doesn't have a VGA port) so i can't really try to change the cable or try a VGA cable... I touht going to warranty but the people there are... kind of stupid (they let dust between my protection screen and the LCD when the neons inside it went dead and changed in warranty) so i don't really think they could help.
I also tought it might be the power supply (i have a thermaltake 420W PSU) - and ati radeon cards are known to require alot of power - but... when installing windows and using onboard gfx had the same problem. So, the only problem may lay in the LCD...

If you come up with something... please let me/us know.
 

Dezzerker

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Okey, I got exactly the same problem as the first one, screen goes no signal but still hear sound like music, game effects and skype :S
Would love a soulution to this.
I'm on Windows 7 Ultimate, Nvidia Geforce 8800 gtx, AMD athlon x2 dual core x64.
:(
 

Dezzerker

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Okey, I got exactly the same problem as the first one, screen goes no signal but still hear sound like music, game effects and skype :S
Would love a soulution to this.
I'm on Windows 7 Ultimate, Nvidia Geforce 8800 gtx, AMD athlon x2 dual core x64.
:(
Got by remote assistance at MSN, a friend could take a screenshot at my screen when it got black for me.
Was a warning message:
Display driver stopped responding and has recovered
Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 190.38 stopped responding and has successfully recoverd.

Hope it can help.
 
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