HP A305W video problem

[John Steven]

Hi All,

I'm not in front of the problem computer right now , but need some ideas of what to look for (its for a resident in a nursing home).

This is a HP A305W desktop w/XP Home SP2. Problem is when the machine boots it may stay running for about 1 to 2 minutes then the video shuts off (HDD continues to run). I have to restart (hard restart) the machine five or six times then the video will stay on.

I have already blew out the dust bunnies from the inside, replaced a faulty CPU fan, applied artic silver to the heat sink, went into the BIOS and found that the video was set to PCI not Onboard (no video card in machine). Changed the setting to Onboard (saved my changes) and all worked well for a day or so then the problem returned. I thought I had the problem solved with the BIOS setting being wrong, but I geuss not. I might add that there could have been some tampering with this machine by someone in the home.

Any ideas??

[Steve R Jones]

I'd be inclined to try a new psu...

[John Steven]

I'll take a look at that, but why would the HDD continue to run? Does the video require that much more power?

[liam858]

The video is onboard so the motherboard is the only thing requiring power, i'd check the PSU as Steve recomended, either test the current PSU, or try running the system with another working PSU.


Liam

[John Steven]

I finally made it back from vacation (Oregon) and have the machine in front of me. I just installed a brand new Cooler Master 430 watt PSU and still have the same problem (black screen after about a minute while the HDD continues to run). Any other ideas???

[SuperSparks]

It could be the graphics card overheating. Try taking the side off the case and blowing a room fan over the card and see if that helps.

[John Steven]

Machine has On board video.....

[eddds40]

Try updating the Motherboard drivers

[John Steven]

All updated........

[jdc2000]

Things to check:

Make sure that all power management options, especially "Turn Off Monitor" are set to Never.

Check the motherboard for loose / overheated heat sinks and bulging or leaking capacitorrs.

[John Steven]

Things to check:

Make sure that all power management options, especially "Turn Off Monitor" are set to Never.

Check the motherboard for loose / overheated heat sinks and bulging or leaking capacitorrs.

In power management all items were already set to "never" and no visible signs of any capacitor bulging or leakage. Could this be a sign of a bad mobo???

[eddds40]

Sounds like a connection problem (which could be on the mother board)
Have you tried a agp or pci slot graphics card?
Do the fans continue to run when the screen goes blank?

[SuperSparks]

I'd still try blowing a room fan in to it, whether it is onboard graphics or not.

[jdc2000]

It could be a bad motherboard.

You could try using a DOS/WIn9x boot diskette and booting to a command prompt to see if the screen blacks out then. Or try booting and going into the BIOS setup and leaving that on (showing the temperature display screen if there is one) to see if it also blacks out then.

[lgbpop]

Your computer uses passive cooling on the chipset (heatsink only, no fan). I'd pop the heatsink off, clean it and the chipset, then apply new AS5 and remount it.

Also check the power and data cords to the monitor, make sure they're not loose where they enter the monitor case. Unplug the monitor from the tower and make sure its plug has no bent pins. Lastly, try another, known working monitor on the a305w and see if the problem still persists.