Video Card Issues

[Dante of the Inferno]

I'm dealing with an ASUS desktop bought years ago from a Best Buy...


The computer was not able to run past the boot screen and BIOS menu. It didn't like the OS on the HDD or my Linux on a Stick (that all other computers love - and yes, I made sure USB ports were enabled for Boot). At the very least, it was able to display the boot screen and BIOS menus. So I opened the case, removed some screws from the motherboard, and removed the HDD. I reformatted the drive and reinserted it into the case.

First off, the box has multiple video outs (VGA, DVI, HDMI), one set from the motherboard itself, and another set from a discrete ASUS video card. None have output to the test monitor (and yes, the monitor works). The first time I fired it up, the keyboard LED's would respond to simple things like flashing when restarting the BIOS (ctrl + alt + del).

While troubleshooting, I realized that the motherboard was still unscrewed from the side of the case. So, I screwed everything back in (making sure the screws were inside the ground circles), and turned the box back on.

Now there are some....discrepancies.
1. Machine hardware (fans, front lights, HDD) will start up for a few seconds, then automatically shut off, then restart and stay on.
2. The keyboard was flash when the box first turns on, but the keyboard is no longer responsive to ctrl + alt + del.
3. The machine STILL won't output a boot screen.


UPDATE:

So I tried detaching the motherboard again, as well as removing the discrete graphics card, disconnecting the HDD, removing and all extra RAM sticks (only 1 left). Still nothing. This is obviously something going on Pre-POST, but for the life of me, I don't know what.


Any ideas?

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by Dante of the Inferno

So I tried detaching the motherboard again, as well as removing the discrete graphics card, disconnecting the HDD, removing and all extra RAM sticks (only 1 left). Still nothing. This is obviously something going on Pre-POST, but for the life of me, I don't know what.


Any ideas?

If it still doesn't post even without the videocard and the monitor still says no input when you have it plugged into the onboard videocard then my guess is that it isn't the videocard at all but the mobo.
Since you tried total reseating that is what I think it is.
Does it beep? Does the light on the mobo flash in a particular order?
If so then look up what it means at the mobo manifacturer page or booklet.

[Dante of the Inferno]

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

If it still doesn't post even without the videocard and the monitor still says no input when you have it plugged into the onboard videocard then my guess is that it isn't the videocard at all but the mobo.
Since you tried total reseating that is what I think it is.
Does it beep? Does the light on the mobo flash in a particular order?
If so then look up what it means at the mobo manifacturer page or booklet.

Well, I ended up removing everything (even the RAM) so that there was only the PSU, mobo, and monitor. It didn't even let out a No RAM beep. I took combed through the mobo and found a transistor chip that looks like the pins were fried (no magic smoke, though, so I'm pretty sure the systemic failure was a near certainty when I was first testing at the client's house). Always sucks to tell a customer that we need to replace the mobo, but it seems he'll take it in stride.

Thanks for your help.