I bought a new Dell M781p monitor, but within 2 days, it went dark; with no red color! It took me off my chair. My immediate choice was calling the servicing guy, but before that I wanted to give it a try myself. I did not have a spare system, so I took it to my friend's place and connected my monitor. Voila! It was working perfectly.
The first guess! Faulty pins at the tower end........I ran a thorough check but found nothing wrong. I brought my friend's monitor and plugged it in, and again there was no red color. We agreed that it was something internal. Now the actual diagnosis begins:
1. RAM- ran the system check utility for RAM which takes almost 3 hours.
Result - RAM ok.
2. Reassembled the entire PC - took out the processor, and everything else.
Note: Graphics was through onboard graphics PCI Express
3. I use an AMD mainboard, so connected to AMD Live, and flashed the bios, and updated all the firmware.
Result - There was a dramatic improvement in performance but still the red color on the display was missing.
So, it was confirmed that the mainboard and RAM were working, and there was something in the graphics section that needed to be tested.
4. Now what??? I was clueless....well, there was only thing left....
I bought a new PCI Express graphics card and plugged it into the slot.
THE RED COLOR WAS BACK......and to top it all there was a performace increase.
Want to prevent such occurances in the future!
Now, let's understand what went wrong. I use a UPS so it meant no electrical surge, but somehow there has to be an explanation, or I thought so! A few days earlier, when I was still using my old monitor, I badly needed to be online, but at the same time it was raining accompanied by lightning. I plugged in the broadband cable and went ahead surfing the net. Nothing seemed wrong then, but after 2 days there was a flicker with the red color vanishing for a moment or two. Eventually, after a few days there was this condition with no red color on the monitor display.
Bottomline: Never use your PC while its lightning outside. Surges are sometimes unassuming but they do strike your computer down. Additionally, use a surge protector to prevent accidental damage.
The first guess! Faulty pins at the tower end........I ran a thorough check but found nothing wrong. I brought my friend's monitor and plugged it in, and again there was no red color. We agreed that it was something internal. Now the actual diagnosis begins:
1. RAM- ran the system check utility for RAM which takes almost 3 hours.
Result - RAM ok.
2. Reassembled the entire PC - took out the processor, and everything else.
Note: Graphics was through onboard graphics PCI Express
3. I use an AMD mainboard, so connected to AMD Live, and flashed the bios, and updated all the firmware.
Result - There was a dramatic improvement in performance but still the red color on the display was missing.
So, it was confirmed that the mainboard and RAM were working, and there was something in the graphics section that needed to be tested.
4. Now what??? I was clueless....well, there was only thing left....
I bought a new PCI Express graphics card and plugged it into the slot.
THE RED COLOR WAS BACK......and to top it all there was a performace increase.
Want to prevent such occurances in the future!
Now, let's understand what went wrong. I use a UPS so it meant no electrical surge, but somehow there has to be an explanation, or I thought so! A few days earlier, when I was still using my old monitor, I badly needed to be online, but at the same time it was raining accompanied by lightning. I plugged in the broadband cable and went ahead surfing the net. Nothing seemed wrong then, but after 2 days there was a flicker with the red color vanishing for a moment or two. Eventually, after a few days there was this condition with no red color on the monitor display.
Bottomline: Never use your PC while its lightning outside. Surges are sometimes unassuming but they do strike your computer down. Additionally, use a surge protector to prevent accidental damage.
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