Computer turns on but no display on monitors and mouse and keyboard LED lights don't light up

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AlGTully

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#261918 22-Dec-2019 09:03

Hi there,

So just yesterday my son's Desktop PC seems to have stopped working. The issue is that when I turn the system unit on everything starts up i.e. fans, lights etc, but nothing appears on the monitors.

There are two monitors and I know that they are both working because when you turn them on and off the logos appear then says a message about there being no HDMI output detected, or something along those lines, and then they go to sleep and the power light is orange coloured. The mouse and keyboard also have LED lighting but these do not light up either. I have checked that all the cables are connected properly and still nothing. There were no beeps either and I have to hold the power button to turn it off.

I don't know too much about computers (only what I have searched on google) so does this sound like it would be an issue with the PSU or Motherboard? I will have to take it to a repair shop because I don't think it would be anything I could fix on my own. Any advice would be much appreciated.

There also have been no other parts added to it recently and no real issues prior to it though before this happened my son was online playing games (nothing major - just Roblox and Minecraft) and he had said that his games were lagging. He ended up shutting it down and then when he went back to it, that's when the issue occurred.

NOTE: When I had initially went to turn it on, probably after the 2nd or 3rd attempt of power it up, the Monitor did come on along with the mouse and keyboard and there was a message about the computer attempting an automatic repair. However, nothing came of that and the monitor went to sleep and I turned off the computer and now when I turn on the system nothing displays and the mouse and keyboard don't light up but the fans etc are all going.

A few extra details about the computer (I don't know if any of this is helpful). It is approximately 3-4 years old and has had no issues up until now.

- Runs Windows 10 Pro

- i7-4770 liquid-cooled

- Quad-Core 8 thread 4ghz

- ASUS H97 Motherboard

- 600W 88+ FSP PSU

- EVGA FTW GTX 1080 8GB

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611 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2379773 22-Dec-2019 09:32

Can you remove the graphics card and plug a monitor directly into the motherboard (using onboard video) to try and rule out the GPU?

I'd also try removing 1 stick of ram at a time (if you have more than 1). Diagnosis like this usually involves trying to isolate what could be causing the issue.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18667 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2379774 22-Dec-2019 09:33

Clearly your computer is not booting. Windows error messages are often misleading and may refer to something that has nothing to do with the actual problem. If Windows can't read the drive, it may try to 'repair' the boot sector. If nothing happens when you turn on the machine, this suggests a hardware failure of some kind since you ought to at least see BIOS/UEFI startup messages. Since you don't have a lot of technical know-how, you should probably just take it to a repair shop. I don't think this is the kind of thing you can fix yourself, but others will know more than I do about it.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#2379840 22-Dec-2019 11:26

AlGTully:

Hi there,

So just yesterday my son's Desktop PC seems to have stopped working. The issue is that when I turn the system unit on everything starts up i.e. fans, lights etc, but nothing appears on the monitors.

There are two monitors and I know that they are both working because when you turn them on and off the logos appear then says a message about there being no HDMI output detected, or something along those lines, and then they go to sleep and the power light is orange coloured. The mouse and keyboard also have LED lighting but these do not light up either. I have checked that all the cables are connected properly and still nothing. There were no beeps either and I have to hold the power button to turn it off.

I don't know too much about computers (only what I have searched on google) so does this sound like it would be an issue with the PSU or Motherboard? I will have to take it to a repair shop because I don't think it would be anything I could fix on my own. Any advice would be much appreciated.

There also have been no other parts added to it recently and no real issues prior to it though before this happened my son was online playing games (nothing major - just Roblox and Minecraft) and he had said that his games were lagging. He ended up shutting it down and then when he went back to it, that's when the issue occurred.

NOTE: When I had initially went to turn it on, probably after the 2nd or 3rd attempt of power it up, the Monitor did come on along with the mouse and keyboard and there was a message about the computer attempting an automatic repair. However, nothing came of that and the monitor went to sleep and I turned off the computer and now when I turn on the system nothing displays and the mouse and keyboard don't light up but the fans etc are all going.

A few extra details about the computer (I don't know if any of this is helpful). It is approximately 3-4 years old and has had no issues up until now.

- Runs Windows 10 Pro

- i7-4770 liquid-cooled

- Quad-Core 8 thread 4ghz

- ASUS H97 Motherboard

- 600W 88+ FSP PSU

- EVGA FTW GTX 1080 8GB

My view is that the most likely fault is with the gfx card. Over the years, all of my pc failures have been because of gfx card failures, or hard drive failures. But, this is not harddrive as that doesn't block the video signal from the pc.

Unplug both monitors from the gfx card, then plug one of them into the onboard HDMI/video connector, which will be on the rear panel , somewhere near the USB ports.

See if the monitor fires up then.

If not, you may need to adjust bios settings if it has been hard set to use the external gfx. To do that, you need to open up the pc, then short the bios pins -- check the manual - -it will show you exactly where.

Then , try to restart the pc again.

Could also be the psu, or the mobo -- but, not as likely. Probably not memory because that wouldn't stop the display from turning on.

sqishy

470 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2379844 22-Dec-2019 11:42

Also check liquid cooler is not out of water and actually running. The PC will shut off on CPU overheat.

davidcole

6041 posts

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Trusted

#2379854 22-Dec-2019 12:19

Do you have a pc speaker in the case? Make sure that’s plugged in. A recent motherboard is miscalculated and was missing a video card. The post beeps told me what I was missing.

I’m unclear if your is not starting at all (no post). Or just not booting windows

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tehgerbil

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#2379874 22-Dec-2019 12:47

davidcole: Do you have a pc speaker in the case? Make sure that’s plugged in. A recent motherboard is miscalculated and was missing a video card. The post beeps told me what I was missing.

I’m unclear if your is not starting at all (no post). Or just not booting windows

If you're in CHCH, I have a beeper speaker that I'm happy to drop off to you! Your motherboard will have headers on the motherboard for it.

lNomNoml

1808 posts

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#2380048 22-Dec-2019 15:16

If you are in Auckland I can take a look at it for you.

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AlGTully

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2380134 22-Dec-2019 16:22

Hi everyone!

Thank you all for your advice. What I ended up doing was giving my computer a clean and removing the ram sticks then putting them back all while I had unplugged everything. So when I went to start it up again, I had some success but short-lived I might add. So this is what happened:

- the monitor and peripherals all turned on

- the repair screen came up where I tried various troubleshoot options - reset your PC, restore PC etc and finally when none of those worked I selected the USB option where it resulted in another screen. A black screen that said:

Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device.

So before doing anything, I left the room to do something and when I returned my son had turned the PC off. When I went to turn it back on I was back at square one.

The PC turns on but no display on the PC nor were the mouse and keyboard going. I tried to do what I had done before, cleaning it, removing ram, even connecting the monitor and peripherals using different ports i.e. connecting to the motherboard, however, nothing!

So based on what has happened, does this sound like something that would be costly to repair or rather something that can be fixed easily enough? that is by someone far more experienced and skilled than I!

lNomNoml

1808 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2380147 22-Dec-2019 17:06

AlGTully:

Hi everyone!

Thank you all for your advice. What I ended up doing was giving my computer a clean and removing the ram sticks then putting them back all while I had unplugged everything. So when I went to start it up again, I had some success but short-lived I might add. So this is what happened:

- the monitor and peripherals all turned on

- the repair screen came up where I tried various troubleshoot options - reset your PC, restore PC etc and finally when none of those worked I selected the USB option where it resulted in another screen. A black screen that said:

Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device.

So before doing anything, I left the room to do something and when I returned my son had turned the PC off. When I went to turn it back on I was back at square one.

The PC turns on but no display on the PC nor were the mouse and keyboard going. I tried to do what I had done before, cleaning it, removing ram, even connecting the monitor and peripherals using different ports i.e. connecting to the motherboard, however, nothing!

So based on what has happened, does this sound like something that would be costly to repair or rather something that can be fixed easily enough? that is by someone far more experienced and skilled than I!

Yeah it's going to need some troubleshooting to figure it out and get it working again. Like I said previously I can take a look at it for you if you are in Auckland it might be something simple it might not be, only one way to find out.

AlGTully

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2380148 22-Dec-2019 17:13

lNomNoml:

AlGTully:

Hi everyone!

Thank you all for your advice. What I ended up doing was giving my computer a clean and removing the ram sticks then putting them back all while I had unplugged everything. So when I went to start it up again, I had some success but short-lived I might add. So this is what happened:

- the monitor and peripherals all turned on

- the repair screen came up where I tried various troubleshoot options - reset your PC, restore PC etc and finally when none of those worked I selected the USB option where it resulted in another screen. A black screen that said:

Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device.

So before doing anything, I left the room to do something and when I returned my son had turned the PC off. When I went to turn it back on I was back at square one.

The PC turns on but no display on the PC nor were the mouse and keyboard going. I tried to do what I had done before, cleaning it, removing ram, even connecting the monitor and peripherals using different ports i.e. connecting to the motherboard, however, nothing!

So based on what has happened, does this sound like something that would be costly to repair or rather something that can be fixed easily enough? that is by someone far more experienced and skilled than I!

Yeah it's going to need some troubleshooting to figure it out and get it working again. Like I said previously I can take a look at it for you if you are in Auckland it might be something simple it might not be, only one way to find out.

Unfortunately, I am in Hamilton. I guess I will have to take it to a repair shop tomorrow but I dont like my chances of having it repaired before Xmas *sigh*.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18667 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2380149 22-Dec-2019 17:13

One possibility is an intermittent connection problem on your motherboard, such as a bad solder joint, so when you replugged the RAMs you also jiggled the connection so the computer came on. When it was switched off, it cooled down and the bad connection recurred.

Another possibility, as others have suggested, is a touchy graphics card. Maybe you jostled that so it briefly started working again. Or the connection to the slot is poor and you affected that. However you still got the repair screen when it came on, which also suggests a problem with your hard drive or Windows installation.

One thing you can try is GENTLY pressing down on the motherboard wherever you can, to stress it a little. Be careful when doing this. Also be careful about static electricity if you were not already. When changing RAM chips or doing anything else in the computer you need to make sure you are properly grounded. Also try reseating the graphics card and jiggling any others a little.

I assume you are trying to keep costs to a minimum but it sounds like you really do need to have someone knowledgeable look at it. If you don't really know what you are doing, you can just end up going down a rabbit hole.

Good luck with it.

Edited to add: Make sure power is off when doing above.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

AlGTully

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2380165 22-Dec-2019 17:21

Rikkitic:

One possibility is an intermittent connection problem on your motherboard, such as a bad solder joint, so when you replugged the RAMs you also jiggled the connection so the computer came on. When it was switched off, it cooled down and the bad connection recurred.

Another possibility, as others have suggested, is a touchy graphics card. Maybe you jostled that so it briefly started working again. Or the connection to the slot is poor and you affected that. However you still got the repair screen when it came on, which also suggests a problem with your hard drive or Windows installation.

One thing you can try is GENTLY pressing down on the motherboard wherever you can, to stress it a little. Be careful when doing this. Also be careful about static electricity if you were not already. When changing RAM chips or doing anything else in the computer you need to make sure you are properly grounded. Also try reseating the graphics card and jiggling any others a little.

I assume you are trying to keep costs to a minimum but it sounds like you really do need to have someone knowledgeable look at it. If you don't really know what you are doing, you can just end up going down a rabbit hole.

Good luck with it.

Edited to add: Make sure power is off when doing above.

I had wondered if all the fiddling around I had done maybe jiggled a connection and that is why it did manage to start up. I think I will leave it to a professional to resolve it. I just hope it is not anything that is going to be expensive to fix but I will see how it goes.

I will post an update once I have had it looked at.

lNomNoml

1808 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2380170 22-Dec-2019 17:45

AlGTully:

Rikkitic:

One possibility is an intermittent connection problem on your motherboard, such as a bad solder joint, so when you replugged the RAMs you also jiggled the connection so the computer came on. When it was switched off, it cooled down and the bad connection recurred.

Another possibility, as others have suggested, is a touchy graphics card. Maybe you jostled that so it briefly started working again. Or the connection to the slot is poor and you affected that. However you still got the repair screen when it came on, which also suggests a problem with your hard drive or Windows installation.

One thing you can try is GENTLY pressing down on the motherboard wherever you can, to stress it a little. Be careful when doing this. Also be careful about static electricity if you were not already. When changing RAM chips or doing anything else in the computer you need to make sure you are properly grounded. Also try reseating the graphics card and jiggling any others a little.

I assume you are trying to keep costs to a minimum but it sounds like you really do need to have someone knowledgeable look at it. If you don't really know what you are doing, you can just end up going down a rabbit hole.

Good luck with it.

Edited to add: Make sure power is off when doing above.

I had wondered if all the fiddling around I had done maybe jiggled a connection and that is why it did manage to start up. I think I will leave it to a professional to resolve it. I just hope it is not anything that is going to be expensive to fix but I will see how it goes.

I will post an update once I have had it looked at.

I can vouch for PC Heroes, https://www.pcheroes.co.nz/

sqishy

470 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2381194 25-Dec-2019 12:52

Id say its shutdown due to CPU over heating, is water cooler working?

Go into bios on boot up and watch CPU temp.

AlGTully

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2381218 25-Dec-2019 14:34

So, I took it to PC Heroes and they assessed it. It wasn't good news. Unfortunately, the issue was the motherboard and I had two options:

1. Replace the motherboard along with other parts so that they are compatible which it would end up being better just to get a new computer altogether or

2. They source second-hand parts

Not the news I was wanting to hear but it is what it is.

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