Monitor goes blank after start up.

raheny red

I shut down my PC normally the other night without any hassle, the next day I went to log on and that's when I started having the above problem. It's a Sony Vaio with windows xp. When I turned it on the sony and pentaium 4 symbols come up but after that the screen goes blank even though the PC is still running. I use the monitor for watching the TV and using the xbox so it's not a problem with that. Anyone got any ideas of how to fix this problem? Cheers.

corkcomp

raheny red wrote: »

I shut down my PC normally the other night without any hassle, the next day I went to log on and that's when I started having the above problem. It's a Sony Vaio with windows xp. When I turned it on the sony and pentaium 4 symbols come up but after that the screen goes blank even though the PC is still running. I use the monitor for watching the TV and using the xbox so it's not a problem with that. Anyone got any ideas of how to fix this problem? Cheers.

im not familiar with sony naming convention - is it a laptop or desktop? if it is a desktop you need to verify whether the pc is actually booting.. try connecting to it or use ping test etc.. if these are not options, try another screen.. if its a laptop try hooking up an external monitor and flipping the graphics output..

TouchingVirus

It sounds to me like you switched on the "external display" option, and while your computer is still running, it is trying to display on the external display and not your laptop screen. Look for a button on the F1, F2 etc keys which looks like it has two boxes, or a box inside a box. Press Fn + Fx (whatever that key is) and see how that goes.

raheny red

Cheers for the replies folks.........

corkcomp wrote: »

im not familiar with sony naming convention - is it a laptop or desktop? if it is a desktop you need to verify whether the pc is actually booting.. try connecting to it or use ping test etc.. if these are not options, try another screen.. if its a laptop try hooking up an external monitor and flipping the graphics output..

I have a desktop. What do you mean by connecting to it or using a ping test

TouchingVirus wrote: »

It sounds to me like you switched on the "external display" option, and while your computer is still running, it is trying to display on the external display and not your laptop screen. Look for a button on the F1, F2 etc keys which looks like it has two boxes, or a box inside a box. Press Fn + Fx (whatever that key is) and see how that goes.

I'll give that a shot, cheers.

corkcomp

raheny red wrote: »

Cheers for the replies folks.........



I have a desktop. What do you mean by connecting to it or using a ping test



I'll give that a shot, cheers.

no point trying that if its a desktop - the poster was saying to do this if you had a laptop..

check the connection to your graphics adapter on the pc and if the adapter is not attached to the motherboard try reseating it.. if that doesnt work replace it.. if the adapter is onboard you could have a problem with mb or graphics chip! its hard to say whether the computer is really running or not (vs psu fan spinning) without trying a network test or listening for disk activity

wolfric

Have you installed any new hardware or software recently?

Can you recall a bit more specifically what comes up before it blanks? Does it look like the normal stuff that comes up right before the windows logo.

See if you have a windows install cd or something you can boot from (i take it you don't have a linux one). Just let it boot to where you can see an image (as apposed to text) but don't actually go so far that you install anything (don't worry there should be menus before hand that ask you to do things like format the drive and where you want to install it)


Usually a problem like this is a resolution problem where someone sets the resolution too high for the monitor to display. See if you can press f8 (constantly be tapping it all the way through the startup if unsure when to press it) and you should get a menu that you can select safe mode in. If this works then you can reset the resolution and try a restart.

unnameduser

good suggestions above

Tap f8 repetively as the computer loads. If you are given options please choose safe mode.

How does this go? - report back. - All v important diagnostic info

raheny red

Cheers for more suggestions

corkcomp wrote: »

no point trying that if its a desktop - the poster was saying to do this if you had a laptop..

check the connection to your graphics adapter on the pc and if the adapter is not attached to the motherboard try reseating it.. if that doesnt work replace it.. if the adapter is onboard you could have a problem with mb or graphics chip! its hard to say whether the computer is really running or not (vs psu fan spinning) without trying a network test or listening for disk activity

I've never fiddled with computer parts before but I'll try it as a last resort if nothing else comes about.

wolfric wrote: »

Have you installed any new hardware or software recently?

Can you recall a bit more specifically what comes up before it blanks? Does it look like the normal stuff that comes up right before the windows logo.

See if you have a windows install cd or something you can boot from (i take it you don't have a linux one). Just let it boot to where you can see an image (as apposed to text) but don't actually go so far that you install anything (don't worry there should be menus before hand that ask you to do things like format the drive and where you want to install it)


Usually a problem like this is a resolution problem where someone sets the resolution too high for the monitor to display. See if you can press f8 (constantly be tapping it all the way through the startup if unsure when to press it) and you should get a menu that you can select safe mode in. If this works then you can reset the resolution and try a restart.

No, I haven't installed anything recently. Yeah all the normal stuff comes up right before the windows part and then the blankness kicks in. Sony and pentium logos appear however. Tried the safe mode option but when I hit enter the screen goes blank straight away......

raheny red

Just tried the safe mode option there again. I got this message all the way down the scrreen, any ideas?

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition/windows/system32/drivers

unnameduser

raheny red wrote: »

Just tried the safe mode option there again. I got this message all the way down the scrreen, any ideas?

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition/windows/system32/drivers

Does it not mention a file name with that path such as mup.sys or sr.sys?

raheny red

unnameduser wrote: »

Does it not mention a file name with that path such as mup.sys or sr.sys?

acpi.sys
pci.sys
isapnp.sys
phci1394.sys
1394bus.sys
pciide.sys
pciidex.sys
ftdisk.sys
partmgr.sys
volsnap.sys
atapi.sys
classpnp.sys
fltmgr.sys
sr.sys
pxhelp20.sys
ksecdd.sys
ntfs.sys
ndis.sys
mup.sys
agp440.sys

Oink

I've seen that before, but 'twere a long time ago.
Try this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324764

IIRC that's what worked for me.

unnameduser

does it get stuck on agp440.sys?

It really could be a number of things.
Have you another graphics card to try?
Have you tried chkdsk from recovery console?

raheny red

Oink wrote: »

I've seen that before, but 'twere a long time ago.
Try this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324764

IIRC that's what worked for me.

Cheers, I'm off work tomorrow so I'll search high and low for that disk

unnameduser wrote: »

does it get stuck on agp440.sys?

It really could be a number of things.
Have you another graphics card to try?
Have you tried chkdsk from recovery console?

Yeah it stops on the agp440.sys. I don't have another graphics card and do I try a chkdsk from recovery console? Cheers again.