Graohics card woe

[NelsonPK]

I have just installed a PCI graphics card on my second computer, loaded the drivers and at the prompt to restart my computer, did so. Now I have no signal at all to the monitor from either the on board chip or the new card. I obviously cannot do a thing about reversing things as I cannot see a thing! Is there any way forward, Help please!!!

[pam123]

Welcome to pcmech NelsonPK,
Can you see the bios screens before windows loads?

[NelsonPK]

Hi pam123,
I get nothing at all. When I normally start the computer the monitor is initially in standby (orange status light), after a few seconds the light goes green and monitor powers up. Now the monitor just sits there in standby. I have also noticed that there is not the normal power up activity from the HD. I get 8 beeps from the computer about 30 secs after switching on followed approx 1 minute later by 2 beeps a short pause and then a single beep. I know they mean something but I am not knowledgeable enough to know what!!

[pam123]

I'm assuming your boot sequence hasn't been changed since you got the comp?
Do you have the floppy boot up disk?

This is overdue, what are your specs?!??

[glc]

Try reseating the card - and look carefully to see if you knocked anything loose in there when you installed the card, reseat everything. Do NOT do this with the computer plugged into the AC wall socket, pull the plug.

[NelsonPK]

Thanks for your help glc, I have tried all of your suggestions before I posted here. I have checked all connections, checked the monitor by plugging into my primary machine, removed the card and tried again, still nothing. I found a web site that explained the beeps.
http://www.tecks.co.uk/pdfs/amibios_beeps.pdf
Apparently 8 beeps is Display memory read/write failure and after following the suggestions there it looks pretty terminal to me. Amazing how what seems like a simple upgrade can cause so much grief.

[pam123]

Read the amibios beeps pdf.
You're right about it looking "pretty terminal".
The on board video wasn't disabled? So, when the drivers were installed for the new card the results damaged both?

[glc]

Display memory failure sounds to me like the card is defective. If you pull the card, does the onboard video still work? You may have said this in your first post, but it's not clear whether the card was out when you tried the onboard. Try clearing the CMOS with the jumper if it has one, otherwise remove the battery for 15 minutes. Do you know what model this motherboard is?

[NelsonPK]

I did pull the card before trying again and still no joy. I have also tried your suggestion of pulling the battery but it has not worked. I am unsure of the motherboard

[NelsonPK]

After fitting and enabling the card, I disabled the on board and it has not functioned since then. Does the current problem (8 beeps!) have any relation to my actions? It occurs to me that if the card was faulty and I have disabled the on board graphics then there is no way I can get an output to the monitor

[glc]

Your next step is try another PCI card.

[NelsonPK]

A friend of mine has a card and he is sending it to me to try. I would like to thank you both for your help, you came up with some useful suggestions that I hadn't thought of.