Solved Computer not booting, just black screen.

Hi guys,
I am having a massive problem with my desktop. When I turn it on, it just sits there with a black screen. The HDD access light blinks for a few secs, then stops. It's custom built by a computer store, with a Gigabyte GA-P35-S3 mobo, Intel Core 2 Duo (unsure of exact model) overclocked to 3.06GHz, Galaxy nVidia GT240 1GB graphics card, Western Digital 500GB hard drive and an ASUS MW220 22" monitor. I can't boot it to a Linux LiveCD either, cause I don't even see the BIOS startup. Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with it?


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It's most likely the videocard.

I had this same problem a while ago and it turned out my videocard was not correctly installed.

Maybe gpu, but could be anything... What was going on before you had this?

You have an ageing setup, so it could be the psu dying and not powerful enough to boot... less likely,
Could be the cpu or mobo just decided to give up.

Doubt its RAM though.

Reseat the gpu, or if you have an oboard speaker, the beep on boot, take the gpu out and see if it squeels.

You could be in a long trial and error process.

Good luck

The last problem I had with this computer was a fried GPU, which was about 6mths ago. The computer store we bought it from fixed it. The actual computer is about 2 1/2yrs old. We tested the monitor by plugging in to my laptop, and it's fine. The mobo or the PSU were my original suspicions as well. My dad doesn't want to pull it open to check for fried components, and he won't let me check either.


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How is the power in where you live? Is it sketchy, ie do you lose it much, or is it mainly on?

Saddly without opening youre not going to get far.
Do you have access to a multimeter? You can test your psu with that.

It's a possible chance the gpu is fried again, but theres got to be a reason for it.

Do you remember the psu brand?

The power in our area is pretty good. We have a multimetre buried somewhere in the garage, but it's really old. I don't know the brand of PSU, or its wattage either, but the GPU was replaced when the old one died, so I really doubt it's the GPU. The computer is also plugged into a surge protector powerboard too, so I don't think a surge broke it, but you can never be too sure.

I'm thinking the gpu didn't die due to age/abuse, but tooken out by a bad psu, mobo or other component.

I finally convinced my father to let me have a quick poke around inside the computer. Nothing was broken, and the GPU was sitting perfectly in place. Nothing looked burnt/melted etc. so that rules out overheating. Anything else I should check. Oh and the PSU brand is iCute (same as the case) and is 450w.

Bodman256,

I just had to say that I like your avatar and welcome to the VF community.

P.S. - I am looking into your issue and will throw some alternative solutions your way soon!

If you're still able to "poke around" pull your ram out... Then boot, you should get abunch of beeps which mean you have no ram.