[SOLVED] Having an issue getting video signal output

[bl4ckj4ck777]

Alright, this is a weird one for you problem solvers out there.

A little background. I'm fixing a deal-or-no-deal stand up arcade game that runs off of a normal computer in the rear cabinet. The game runs of a bare bones system and has no real operating system aside from the game itself.

We had some bad power issues in the area and I also noticed that the CPU fan froze. The computer itself completely died, I couldn't get any signs of life out of it other than an LED on a USB device that was plugged in. My first thought was, "Oh, CPU fan is dead, CPU was probably overheating and killed itself causing no boot". I also thought that the heat may have damaged the MOBO or RAM, so I ordered those parts as well as they are relatively inexpensive. It also occurred to me that since the power in the area has been shoddy, I'd replace that as well.

I've already done quite a bit of work on it, I replaced the motherboard, CPU, RAM and power supply. This made it to where the computer would turn on, but still output no video signal. I checked another VGA cable but to no avail.

At this point it will not even load to a MOBO screen or BIOS, just no video signal. I have made some progress though as the tower lights and the fans all spin now when the computer is turned on. Still not receiving any signal to the screen though.

The specs are as follows:
ASrock N68C-GS FX
Crucial 512 Ram
AMD Sempron processor
FSP 300-60PLN (power supply)

I haven't gone as far as troubleshooting any drives yet but it doesn't appear that this is the problem (yet) since I can't even get a basic boot screen.

Thanks for any help in advance, I can't think of anywhere else to check for problems at this point.

 

[Doc+Com]

The real issue here is that you haven't done any diagnosis...just swapped out parts that you "think" were bad, at least that's the way I'm reading it.
If you'd systematically tested each component before swapping it out, you'd be in a better place right now in knowing which path to follow, and probably not spending as much money.

You don't say if the parts you obtained are new, OEM, 3rd party or used but for the sake of keeping this short, I'd take everything off the motherboard apart from RAM, remove CMOS battery for a while, put it back in and see what happens. If you still get nothing take RAM out and see if the board beeps.
Test RAM if it beeps. Next I'd insert a post code reader into an open slot to see if you get POST activity (search 'pci post code reader' at amazon.c o m).

diagnosis is the key to a proper repair, don't forget that one.

 

[coffee]

Alright, this is a weird one for you problem solvers out there.

A little background. I'm fixing a deal-or-no-deal stand up arcade game that runs off of a normal computer in the rear cabinet. The game runs of a bare bones system and has no real operating system aside from the game itself.

We had some bad power issues in the area and I also noticed that the CPU fan froze. The computer itself completely died, I couldn't get any signs of life out of it other than an LED on a USB device that was plugged in. My first thought was, "Oh, CPU fan is dead, CPU was probably overheating and killed itself causing no boot". I also thought that the heat may have damaged the MOBO or RAM, so I ordered those parts as well as they are relatively inexpensive. It also occurred to me that since the power in the area has been shoddy, I'd replace that as well.

I've already done quite a bit of work on it, I replaced the motherboard, CPU, RAM and power supply. This made it to where the computer would turn on, but still output no video signal. I checked another VGA cable but to no avail.

At this point it will not even load to a MOBO screen or BIOS, just no video signal. I have made some progress though as the tower lights and the fans all spin now when the computer is turned on. Still not receiving any signal to the screen though.

The specs are as follows:
ASrock N68C-GS FX
Crucial 512 Ram
AMD Sempron processor
FSP 300-60PLN (power supply)

I haven't gone as far as troubleshooting any drives yet but it doesn't appear that this is the problem (yet) since I can't even get a basic boot screen.

Thanks for any help in advance, I can't think of anywhere else to check for problems at this point.

I have found thru experience that when you cannot even make it to the bios but the fans do spin up it points to only a few problems.

Im assuming you are using the onboard video right? Have you tried a regular pcie video card instead?

Please list your memory specs and processor specs. Without that I cannot go any further.

According to Asrock --> DDR3 memory is only supported by installing AM3/AM3+ CPU.

coffee

 

[bl4ckj4ck777]

I have found thru experience that when you cannot even make it to the bios but the fans do spin up it points to only a few problems.

Im assuming you are using the onboard video right? Have you tried a regular pcie video card instead?

Please list your memory specs and processor specs. Without that I cannot go any further.

According to Asrock --> DDR3 memory is only supported by installing AM3/AM3+ CPU.

coffee

The reason I am swapping parts out as a way to diagnose the problem is because I live in Alaska, working for a small arcade company as their tech and I have limited resources to good diagnostic tools aside from a multi-meter and a few other generic electronic tools.

My video is definitely the on-board. I'm honestly not even sure if I could put a graphics card in and make it work through pci because of the nature of how they put this game together. I'm thinking it's pretty hardware specific because it boots no operating system and goes straight to the game on AC power on (so that you can turn games off with breakers). Yes, I realize that is a conclusion I am jumping to, but with two identical motherboards to try and use for this purpose, it should pretty much rule out the idea that the issue is with the on-board video unless it's in a component that is carrying the problem over from the original build. The only parts from the original machine at this point is the hard drive and the case itself.

I have two sticks of memory I can swap out to try and make it work. They are:

nanya pc2-5300e-555-12-g1 DDR2 667 1.1GB stick
Crucial 512 MB DIMM 64Mx64 DDR2 (the original stick from the game)

My processor is an AMD sempron SDX145HBK13GM 2.8 ghz CPU.
I also have an identical AMD sempron with a lower clock speed 2.3 GHZ.
I also have an Athlon II ADX2700CK23GM 3.4 GHZ that came with the replacement motherboard.

Thank you guys for all the help in advance. I'm going to try removing the components from the motherboard today like it was mentioned earlier in the thread. I'll post my results in the next few hours.

 

[JustInspired]

Can you not test the motherboard on the bench, not in the game console?
I like to 'test outside the case' to eliminate all but board, CPU and RAM from the test equation.

In our workshop we affectionately call it 'flat pack' - like the flat pack furniture that comes in 'assemble it yourself, Ikea type pieces'

 

[bl4ckj4ck777]

Oh yeah, the CPU is new for the one I currently have in the machine. The motherboard that I am using was from a show model that was hardly used. The RAM are both used. The PSU is new.

 

[bl4ckj4ck777]

Can you not test the motherboard on the bench, not in the game console?
I like to 'test outside the case' to eliminate all but board, CPU and RAM from the test equation.

In our workshop we affectionately call it 'flat pack' - like the flat pack furniture that comes in 'assemble it yourself, Ikea type pieces'

That's a pretty good idea, I will just have to remove the power supply from the game in order to get it to work. I can use a spare monitor to see if the bios will come up too. Thanks for the idea!

 

[bl4ckj4ck777]

After removing everything from the motherboard except CPU and RAM, then removing the CMOS for awhile and trying to start the computer again, the light in the front of the tower is indicating yellow instead of blue, the fans still spin up, but there is still no video signal.

Something else caught my attention though. The BIOS must be setup by default to automatically start up when power is given to the Mobo after AC power loss because as soon as the game is plugged in it tries to start up. BIOS are probably booting then, but still no video signal...

 

[KompuKare]

My video is definitely the on-board. I'm honestly not even sure if I could put a graphics card in and make it work through pci because of the nature of how they put this game together. I'm thinking it's pretty hardware specific because it boots no operating system and goes straight to the game on AC power on (so that you can turn games off with breakers).

While it might be hardware specific, it more likely (assuming this game is only 2d) just expects VESA2.0 compliance or similar. In other words as long as it can run at 640x480 / 800x600 in a certain colour depth it should be fine.

More likely than being hardware specific is something like MAME running straight of some Linux distro. In which case there should be lots of compatible configurations. And being Linux you should just be able to clone your drive and try it on different hardware.

Of course maybe both of the motherboards you tried were bad - after all the one you listed is Nvidia nFarce 7150 which is notoriously unreliable. Without at least trying a graphic card you won't get far.

 

[bl4ckj4ck777]

I have no tower beeper to trouble shoot with but I think I have made some progress. I finally got the board to post some video display.

I realized that the mobo's were not likely the issue here for one reason. I had both motherboards giving me the exact same results with multiple different parts. The fans would spin on both, the lights would come on in both cases, and the video would not show on both. This kind of consistency points to one of two things, both motherboards failed in the EXACT same way from two different sources, OR there was a component that was causing me to get the same problem on both working motherboards.

I understand this is not exactly the best method of diagnosis but it led me to another thought. If the mobo's WERE good, and all the components on them were functioning properly (just a guess from the consistency of every configuration I tried), then there was only one common factor. I had a failed power supply to begin with, so that was the only part I only had one of. It was also the only common factor between all of the testing I was doing. I checked out all the rails and low and behold...one of the wires coming off my brand new power supply for the ATX CPU connector had no voltage coming to it.

I decided to open it up and see what the problem might be and it was totally broken off of the PSU board. A little solder and TA DA!

BIOS screen =P

I think my problem is finally solved. =D

 

[coffee]