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Anyone interested in a computer problem, I've got one that's stumping me.

Original goal: I got a new graphics card (an nvidia 1060) for my desktop and tried to install it today. I wanted to take the old card (a 760) out and put the new one in, and I was planning to take this opportunity to reinstall windows on the main hard drive (C:) to clear up the accumulated weirdness and unused programs that accumulate. Windows got reinstalled with the old hardware, then I swapped out the old card and put the new one in. This is when the problem happened.

Issue: When power is turned on, lights come on and fans (case, processor, and graphics card) all start moving. No other indications of startup occur- no beeps, no output to monitors, no start music out the speaker.

Specs: Lenovo H535 base, changes are as follows; Corsair GS700 power supply swapped in, Seagate 4TB extra hard drive (D:) in addition to the default, and the two graphics cards. RAM sticks might be replacements, I can't remember, but I would be surprised if they were relevant.

Tests performed: 1. To check if the new card was dead on arrival, I took that card out and plugged the monitors into the motherboard ports. No change. 2. To check if the monitor had gotten unplugged or something, I plugged the monitor into my laptop. The monitor immedietly showed a mirror of my laptop, so the monitor is good. (Tested both monitors, both are good.) 3. Worried, I took the new card out and put the old card in. No change- that is, I still get a black "signal not found" message from the monitor. 4. Confused, I unplugged both hard drives, the graphics card, both sticks of RAM, the RJ-45 (internet) and all USB devices. The only things internally are the power supply, the processor, and the case and processor fan. The only things externally are a single VGA monitor cable and the power cable. Turning this on showed no change, monitor was still black, no beeps.

I'm not actually sure I've ever heard this computer make a beep code, even on a normal start.

The system worked fine as of this time yesterday. As of this morning, it was working with the reinstalled OS. As of right now, it's an expensive trio of fans and a shiny blue LED.

Possibly relevant: To ensure I couldn't accidentally overwrite anything on the data drive (D:) I turned it off, opened the box up, unplugged D: from power and data (a SATA connection) and turned it back on. It's at this point that the problem first emerged, where the monitor wasn't receiving a signal. I opened it up again to double check I'd gotten the right hard drive (plug the unplugged one in, unplug the other one) and got the same problem. Then I noticed the SATA cables were loose on the motherboard side, unplugged those and plugged them in again more firmly, and on the next power up I got a bios-like message complaining that it lacked a boot media. Figuring I'd gotten the right drive the first time, I swapped drives again and this time it booted into windows.

I've checked and rechecked those SATA cables a half-dozen times now, but it's weird that I had this issue and then apparently solved it, only for the problem to re-emerge a few hours later.

Question: What's wrong with this thing, and how do I get it working again?

1 Answer 1

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I suspect the system is not working. Can you get to the bios screen?, The bios VESA video drivers loads before the OS etc. etc.

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  • Not that I can tell. For a Lenovo, I believe the key to hit to get into BIOS is F1, but either I can't hit the key fast enough or else even BIOS can't display anything out to the monitor. (Granted, there are only ports for a USB keyboard, so I might not even have keyboard support that early.) Sep 30, 2020 at 13:39
  • USB should work fine, Immediately press the F1 key 5-10 times after the power on button is pressed or restart the system and press F1 when the Lenovo logo is displayed. If you don't see it or hear any fans I believe you may have a dead system. Sep 30, 2020 at 13:46
  • Lenovo logo is not displayed, though it used to be when everything was working. Fans (case, processor, and graphics card if plugged in) all come on within a second of hitting power. Monitor continues to have a "check signal cable" message like nothing at all is connected. Sep 30, 2020 at 13:56
  • Make sure the video card is firmly seated as the next step. Sep 30, 2020 at 13:59
  • Currently, old graphics card is in. Just took it out and put it back, the clip is secure, the external plate is screwed down, I gave it a good steady push. Same results. Also, with no graphics card present I would expect the motherboard to send something out the onboard VGA port, but removing the graphics card and turning it on gives no response on the monitor. (Fans still turn on.) Sep 30, 2020 at 14:27

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