Odd monitor issue

[Rob Every]

Not strictly related to sim hardware so please delete if mods think so. But the issue means I can't play so it does affect my gaming lol!

New PC, Chillblast mid range, Nvid 960 card. LG 24" monitor that has never had issues in the past with 7 year old PC. Monitor is 6 months old.

On initial bootup the PC often does not recognise the presence of a monitor and I get this triple beep from the machine, it still boots up anyway but I can't see anything.

Tried all the obvious stuff. Monitor only has HDMI input and am using that as I was on old PC on same monitor, tried another cable. cable is plugged into card not internal chipset obv.

Problem is, that you have to power down every time this happens, and keep rebooting, not great for the PSU.

Occasionally it will boot up fine, recognise the monitor and all is well, but next time it might not. I have tried to establish a pattern but just cant.

AS I say monitor worked fine on a much older machine using HDMI, but this one rarely powers up the monitor and sometimes will not recognise even if you manually boot. I don't have another monitor to try so cant really do that test.

Any ideas? All drivers are fine and new. And am in a situation now where place I bought it will not refund likely if they cant replicate the fault. And other than taking ALL my gear down there to show them I bet if they plug a monitor in it won't replicate it!! You know how it is.

 

[PicoBp]

As you have the error straight from BIOS post, it's a hardware fault. You can check two things:

a) Remove and reinstall the GPU
b) Remove and reinstall all RAM modules​

3 beeps tend to mean one of those, but without specific details on the config, it's just general advice.

 

[Paul Bennett]

I get this as well ramdom time's. GTX960 Asus 24inch boots fine sometimes no HDMI signal, changed cable as well.

 

[Rob Every]

Its a weird one huh.

Pico I know a bit about this stuff, but your post left me tech shy!

GPU? RAM I understand and that has been checked.

Noise is a single beep when it boots normally, then a long beep followed by two short ones and the machine starts to boot with no image and the monitor will eventually go to sleep mode.

And if it was a fjault why does it sometimes boot up normally?

 

[PicoBp]

Well, computers have souls.

Talking about souls, have you updated your BIOS to the latest version?

1 long 2 short can mean two things, based on which major BIOS is used. Either RAM failure (reseat, replace, try with single module, use different slots), or GPU failure (reseat, replace, try different slot). RAM is easier to troubleshoot, as you can probably borrow a single module from a friend, or just mess around with what you have. GPU is tricky, but the fact that it sometimes boots would rule out a hard failure. What's left is BIOS (update it), power (8/6 pin on the card), or a contact issue.

Check these out when you can, maybe one can solve your issue for good.

 

[Terry Rock]

@OP....your condition seems to happen quite a bit with some later GTX cards.
They're countless guys having everything from loss of signal to blank screens.
I personally believe some have timing issues with existing hardware.
My own GTX970 will not display any boot logging screens if PCI-e 3 is selected in the BIOS settings.
It runs fine once booted.
The GTX670 it replaced had no such issue.

 

[Rob Every]

Terry I am tempted to believe your version of events than any other actually. Pico, RAM was replaced when PSU failed a few weeks ago so doubtful its that, probably due to constant rebooting from power switch. As screen is blank and I had to turn off with power hold.

Timing issues, that is what it sort of feels like. As it is intermittent, but what I don't get is why it switches from working one boot and not the next. It never fails once it is booted, it is simply the boot sequence or timing that is the issue.

I am not confident enough to start messing about in BIOS, other than turning off the motherboard graphics boot section etc that you often have to do with older machines that have cards fitted.

And in all honesty, with a new machine you shouldn't have to do this kind of stuff. It should just work.

Problem is, it was bought through a sales portal, now they are wanting me to send it back to them (manufacturer has already agreed to refund, but they didnt sell it to me) and if they can't replicate the fault I am lumbered with the piece of crap. And I thought Nvidia were supposed to be good! This is the first time I have ever had any issue with any graphics cards.

We will see, they are picking it up this week, so no doubt a legal battle will ensue as to be honest I just want my money back.

 

[Terry Rock]

I'd use my GTX670 for about 2.5 years (with PCI-e 3.0 enabled in the BIOS) prior to buying the GTX970.
Initially on installation, I thought the GTX970 was 'dead'.
There was no video and the monitor just kept switching from HDMI-1 to HDMI-2 to VGA and back.
It cycled for a very long time...almost four minutes.
I did a 'hard' shutdown then powered on again.
I had to step away for a few minutes to do something unrelated.
Miraculously, after coming back ten minutes later it had booted to the desktop.
It's the first such issue I've ever experienced with any videocard.
Mine runs fine once booted but if I keep PCI-e 3.0 enabled in the BIOS, I do not get a BIOS screen (it's black until Windows splash screen appears).

 

[Rob Every]

Interesting Terry

I have never just left the PC to boot up and seen what happened if it did not recognise the monitor.
I just get a grey screen and the monitor goes to sleep as nothing is asking anything of it I presume? Am hopeful then I could change the timeout options on the monitor to see what happens.

As you say, it runs fine once booted and I don't get a BIOS screen either just a manufacturer loadup screen, I found BIOS by looking at the motherboard manufacturers instructions, as I say I know a bit about this stuff but not enough to start meddling too much. I don't know what PCI wotsit means other than a PCI slot on the motherboard.

Only difference with mine, is it does not try and switch, the monitor just gives up and sleeps, so I will have to turn it on again to see what is going on or try and adjust timeout settings on monitor. Might try it later.

 

[Rob Every]

Found out finally what the issue was, was something called an EDID?

Went on manufacturer of monitor page, downloaded the latest firmware and the problem was resolved.