VGA ports not working

[dEhiN]

Hi all, I'm helping a friend with their old desktop. It's an HP Pavilion Media Center m8300f series. When I was taking a look at the computer, I noticed that the onboard VGA port was loose. There is a video card installed (not sure the make/model) which has a DVI, HDMI, and VGA port. I initially tried using the onboard port, but no luck, so then I switched to the video card. Everything was fine - I started up the PC, did some clean up of old software, rebooted several times during this process, and even started to run Windows Update. (Note: I didn't end up finishing the check for new updates, so no new Windows updates were installed or even downloaded). At some point during all of this, I must've moved the desktop around because the onboard port fell into the frame! After this happened, the monitor stopped responding and just went to sleep, even though the computer seemed to turn on fine.

So I opened up the computer, found the connector, and noticed that the connections which are located on the bottom of the small, blue connector have broken off. I attached the connector through the slot (so it was loose), and turned on the computer again, still using the video card connection. Again, the monitor didn't respond even though I heard no beeps and the computer seemed to turn on fine. I double checked the monitor with my laptop and the monitor is working fine.

It seems like because the onboard VGA connector is no longer connected to the motherboard, for some reason the BIOS isn't even recognizing or trying to use the video card VGA connector. What should I do? Is there any way I can see what's happening?

Thanks in advance.

[banhien · Accepted solution]

@dEhiN 

Firstly Integrated graphics is disabled when a video card installed therfore you can't use onboard video port(s). As you said "So I opened up the computer, found the connector, and noticed that the connections which are located on the bottom of the small, blue connector have broken off." Its oWer should know why he/she disconnected it.

Now my question do othe ports (a DVI, HDMI) work ?

1. If not then

(a) Totally remove the card,

(b) Connect monitor using Integrated graphics.

2. If yes: you can use DVI or HDMI port for monitor. If monitor only has VGA input a DVI to VGA adapter can do the job for you.

Regards.

[dEhiN]

@Banhien

Thank you for your reply. I tried another VGA cable and the video card worked fine. I think the problem was that I hadn't connected the cable properly.