Strange computer problem... (SOLVED)

Ubel · Sat 24/06/2006 14:13:04

Okay, so here's the deal. Last night I was happily scripting something with AGS, skyping with Ishmael, IRCing and doing the stuff I usually do. Well, then suddenly when I tried to press ALT+F4 to close a window, I think I accidently pressed some other buttons aswell, my monitor shut down.

I was very confused. The computer was still running, the monitor was still on, but the screen was black. The light in the down-right corner of the monitor was blinking which usually means the power of the PC is turned off. But it wasn't...

So I thought "Of course restarting the computer helps! It always does!". So I manually restarted it... but it didn't work. The screen worked perfectly when the computer was restarting, but as soon as Windows started, it shut down again.

My brother suspects that the resolution had somehow turned so high my monitor couldn't display it anymore. Does that make any sense? Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this situation? I'd really want to get my computer working again.

Oh, and if anyone's wondering, I'm using my laptop to send this message.

Ashen · Sat 24/06/2006 14:18:34

Try using F8, booting Windows in Safe Mode, and changing the res from there? If it IS the resolution, of course.
Even if it's not, trying Safe Mode might help figure out what it IS.

Ubel · Sat 24/06/2006 14:20:24

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have tried that. I couldn't figure out the problem. :\

Babar · Sat 24/06/2006 14:46:31

Perhaps your computer monitor is in sleep mode? Or something to do with the "Power Management" tool? No idea what that is, or what I did to fix it, but I used to get that too. I think it happened sometimes when I pressed the Sleep button on the top of my keyboard.

GarageGothic · Sat 24/06/2006 15:47:36

It does sound an awful lot like you triggered a keyboard shortcut to change the resolution to something that the monitor doesn't support. When you boot in Safe Mode, do you see anything on the screen? If so, try to set the resolution to something like 640x480 at 16bit color and the refresh speed (important) to something low like 60Hz and restart.
Alternately, you could try uninstalling the video card drivers. That usually forces the resolution to default settings.

dasjoe · Sat 24/06/2006 16:20:32

you probably told your graphics card to switch to tv-out only mode or sth like that, uninstall the drivers to fix it

Ubel · Sat 24/06/2006 16:27:46

Thanks for all the tips guys, it's very appreciated! But I just solved the problem. I'm not really sure how though, and what the problem was. I borrowed a 17" TFT screen (I thought it might work because it supports so high resolutions), used it on my computer and it worked.

Then I realised the problem was never the resolution. I suspect I had somehow changed the monitor to work as the secondary screen. But as I don't have the options for supporting two screens turned on, the screen didn't show anything.

Apparently the reason for the TFT screen working was that I didn't put the wire in the same plug as the monitor was in. So it kind of worked as the main screen. Then I fiddled around with the screen settings a bit and it's working properly again.

I hope this makes some sense. Thanks guys, your suggestions helped me to get a little closer to the problem, little by little.

And I didn't even have to touch the driver settings, yay.

Haddas · Sat 24/06/2006 16:30:43

Quote from: Pablo on Sat 24/06/2006 16:27:46
Thanks for all the tips guys, it's very appreciated! But I just solved the problem. I'm not really sure how though, and what the problem was. I borrowed a 17" TFT screen (I thought it might work because it supports so high resolutions), used it on my computer and it worked.

Then I realised the problem was never the resolution. I suspect I had somehow changed the monitor to work as the secondary screen. But as I don't have the options for supporting two screens turned on, the screen didn't show anything.

Apparently the reason for the TFT screen working was that I didn't put the wire in the same plug as the monitor was in. So it kind of worked as the main screen. Then I fiddled around with the screen settings a bit and it's working properly again.

I hope this makes some sense. Thanks guys, your suggestions helped me to get a little closer to the problem, little by little. And I didn't even have to touch the driver settings, yay.

Try rebooting. That usually works. You might have accidentally set your main monitor to be your secondary monitor. Try plugging another monitor in to see if that helps.