I have a minor problem with my desktop computer after cleaning it out for dust.
When I first boot up the computer, the video card does not get detected so I can't see anything. In POST, I'm getting the "can't detect video card" beeps. The boot sequence continues normally, just without video. However, if I restart it (using the restart button) anytime after POST, it would boot up normally.
I have no reason to think that the motherboard, video card or PSU got damaged in the process. It was working fine before, works fine after resetting. Took all the necessary precautions while cleaning.
On the initial boot, I can hear the video card's fan power up but immediately power down and try again two more times only to stop (and ultimately fail). After the beep, resetting gets everything running and sounding normally.
I've reseated the card a couple of times and reset the BIOS but doesn't seem to help. I'm hoping I won't have to take it out and remove and reinstall everything again.
Does anyone recognize these symptoms to know exactly what the problem is? My guess is that the video card isn't getting enough juice initially to be running stable to be detected. I just don't know what I did (or didn't do) to get it to be in this state.
It's not a high priority thing for me at the moment, just means I have to always reset it after initially turning it on but will eventually remove everything and reinstall if it comes to that. (in the process of doing this right now) (didn't work) Problem is now I won't be able to have it automatically boot anymore since I need to be around to reset it.
I don't think the specs are relevant here but just in case, here's the relevant stuff:
- Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3P
- Video: EVGA GeForce 8600 GTS
- PSU: Antec True Power Trio 650W
- Built ~2 years ago, still running well
Best Answer
Problem solved.
It seems like something, whether it be the video card or power supply, just needed some time off, literally. I just came back home from 5-day holiday with it off and everything seems to be working and is running just fine at start up.
Some background on what happened. This computer is on almost all day every day. It is off when I am "off" (sleeping) except in those few cases when I need something running overnight. Always had it set up to automatically boot up in the morning up until the POST problem. I'm not sure what caused the problem exactly, but I guess it was a charge problem which needed to be discharged?