(I had a computer problem. I posted the following on Fetlife asking for ahelp. Below is my original post, followed by the message thread with the guy who helped. As there is good advice its a PSA.) :)
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Is it considered rude to call people "nerds"? I mean, a long time ago it was an insult from the "jocks". But now, the nerds own computer companies and write apps and make billions, and the jocks work for them. :)
Yesterday I had my PC on and went to forage for food. When I came back the monitor would not "wake up". So after some time I drug out an older PC from the closet and hooked it up to the "same" monitor using the "same" power cord and it works just fine...which I am using to type out this fascinatingly enthralling missive. :)
So a bit ago I rehooked up the "new" PC (its a couple years old) using once again the "same" monitor and cord and....nothing. Like an asexual cuckold without Viagra...nothing. The light comes on, the screen will flash the brand name or something, then some sort of message about not having a connection and....zilch. Nothing....like a limp dicked cuckold...no action, no power, no juice, nothing for Vanessa to "use".
As I live in a smallish area and can't really take my PC down to the local repair shop, due to the enormous quantity of homemade porn on it, would by chance anyone have a suggestion as to how to fix this issue? If so, it would be appreciated. Getting tech support from regular online sources is lame because no matter what you write out, about 99% of the time...the cretins will tell you to....update your browser. :)
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K
Hi I'm K. I saw your post, and I might be able to help. I'm going to skip the part of asking if "nerd" is a rude term.
The current PC you mentioned, the one that wouldn't "wake up" the monitor, is it a laptop, or a boxy tower unit? Same question for the one that did work.
We can call them PC-A and PC-B. PC-A being the not working one. Did you just swap in PC-B, same cords, same everything except for the unit itself?
VanessaChaland
Both are tower PC's.
I swapped the cord and monitor between the two.
K
That's good. It eliminates that cord and monitor as issues, and now we know that it's happening because of PC-A. Depending on how it's setup, 1 of 2 things has happened:
1 - while your computer was idle, it decided to install an update the screwed up your video settings. While annoying, a hard reset (power plug pulled from the back, wait 10 sec, plug it back in and power on) will usually fix it. This isn't unheard of, and I've had updates reset things before.
2a - Video card / chipset issue. Some systems use a stand alone video processing card, usually for mid to high end gaming systems, or for rendering video or 3D drawings (like for architects and such). If that's the case, then the card could have some loose and just needs to be pushed back in (this is called 'reseating').
2b - A small power surge could have fried your video card / video chipset. This isn't likely if your stuff is plugged into a surge protector, but it's possible.
If you want to text me a picture of the back of the machine so that I can see the layout of all the ports and plugs, then I can tell you if you have a standalone video card or not.
VanessaChaland
Overwhelmed with advice ...let me try to your first suggestion first and see what happens from there.
K
I totally understand. I used to work a corporate help desk for stuff like this, and it always seemed like some smart ass manager had some "useful" advice. Take your time, and don't worry. Most likely this will end up being something fairly simple in its cause and solution.
VanessaChaland
Okay, I plugged the cord back in, turned it on, it flashed that grey screen with a error message, I saw the word "Processor" and then it says hit escape key. Of course they give you one second to do that, so I missed it. Anyway, the screen turned blue, then the background page came on but with no login window. So, I turned it off at the button again, started it again and it went to the background. I was hitting escape key prior to that but it didn't matter. Getting two photos ready now..
VanessaChaland
Loaded two photos on my profile. One of the back of the PC, the other of the monitor where its on....but with no login window thingie.
K
Ok, that's odd. If you got to the login screen there, then things should be back to normal. But there isnt a login prompt.
So, you definitely don't have a standalone video card. Yours is part of the computer main board. It's an embedded video card. It's pretty common. Do you have your mouse or keyboard plugged in?
K
If windows managed to load to the point that it's showing the pre-login screen, then the system was most likely trying to update. Automatic updates seem to always fuck things up. The happen just because your computer sees you're not doing anything and it just starts to run.
VanessaChaland
I do not have mouse and keyboard plugged into the malfunctioning one at this moment.
K
Plug in your keyboard and see if you press any keys you can get the login prompt to pop up. Mine comes up with just the walpaper and no login box also, and I have to hit a key to bring up the login box.
VanessaChaland
Okay, going to unplug the plugs and replug the plugs so...back in about 17.3 years. :)
VanessaChaland
It worked!
K
I'm glad your system is up and running now.
VanessaChaland
I truly and sincerely do appreciate your advice. And I'm going to do a blog post about this (with your name removed obviously) as it may assist others in the future. :)
K
I'm happy to help. Nothing sucks worse than needing a working computer and having it just sit there. I mean you know it's not "actually" laughing at you, but even still, it does feel like somebody is fucking with you somewhere. Have a great night :)
