Monitor Problem

[Alex2507]

Images on my monitor have a shadow just to the right of them so with text it looks like somebody has tried to erase everything leaving it still visible but smudged. Thinking it was the monitor at fault I replaced it only to have the same problem reoccur about a week later. That leads me to believe that the problem lies with my eMachines T5026. The b!tch of it is that I had a friend tell me to test the old monitor on my laptop but I saw that my replacement monitor worked fine for a few days so I just pitched the old one.

I'm not sure what my options are but thought I should mention that I have installed a sound card which has tied up the one and only PCI-E (I think) slot. The spec's in the link should tell anybody who knows anything more than I know. It's really weird that it took so long for the problem to manifest itself. I did have the computer unplugged for a day or two before replacing the monitor.

Okay, so what are my options?

 

[Hemlock]

Images on my monitor have a shadow just to the right of them so with text it looks like somebody has tried to erase everything leaving it still visible but smudged. Thinking it was the monitor at fault I replaced it only to have the same problem reoccur about a week later. That leads me to believe that the problem lies with my eMachines T5026. The b!tch of it is that I had a friend tell me to test the old monitor on my laptop but I saw that my replacement monitor worked fine for a few days so I just pitched the old one.

I'm not sure what my options are but thought I should mention that I have installed a sound card which has tied up the one and only PCI-E (I think) slot. The spec's in the link should tell anybody who knows anything more than I know. It's really weird that it took so long for the problem to manifest itself. I did have the computer unplugged for a day or two before replacing the monitor.

Okay, so what are my options?

I'm assuming this is and LCD monitor?

It's likely interference on the monitor cable.

you have another device that you added to your rats nest of cables?

unplug EVERTHING but the monitor and the PC power.
pull the monitor cable away from the PC and Monitor Power cables, better?

 

[Alex2507]

I'm assuming this is and LCD monitor?

It's likely interference on the monitor cable.

you have another device that you added to your rats nest of cables?

unplug EVERTHING but the monitor and the PC power.
pull the monitor cable away from the PC and Monitor Power cables, better?

The monitor is an LCD. I haven't added any devices and my cables have all been Velcro-ed into neat bundles with some thought having been put into cable management. I guess anything is possible ... but how could turning it off clear up the problem only to have it resurface later.

I'll try anything twice ... I'll even replace the VGA cable with some extras that I have. The only thing is that now that the computer has been off, the problem is gone but I have no way of knowing for how long. I only turned the problematic desktop back on to locate that monitor link because I didn't have that on my laptop.

 

[Hemlock]

The monitor is an LCD. I haven't added any devices and my cables have all been Velcro-ed into neat bundles with some thought having been put into cable management. I guess anything is possible ... but how could turning it off clear up the problem only to have it resurface later.

I'll try anything twice ... I'll even replace the VGA cable with some extras that I have. The only thing is that now that the computer has been off, the problem is gone but I have no way of knowing for how long. I only turned the problematic desktop back on to locate that monitor link because I didn't have that on my laptop.

Neatly Velcroed bundles might just be it.

Whatever the interference is it likely comes and goes, so turning off and back on would change whats flowing through the cables.
try rerouting the VGA cable, then replacing with a different one if that doesn't work.

Also try plugging your monitor into a UPS if it's not already, and if it is try unplugging everything else in it.

All that said I smell a heat problem... take the side cover off/open the case however you can and run it like that. GPU's are known to act up when they get hot.

 

[bandphan]

I think you should buy a 42" plasma for a new monitor with all the money you made selling the sub to a member On a serious note try a different resolution and see if the effect is still there, just for shiiits and giggles

 

[Alex2507]

Whatever the interference is it likely comes and goes,

To clarify, once the 'shadowing' problem occurs it is not going away until the computer gets turned of and has been off for a while. There really wasn't anything being turned on or off that I knew about.

try rerouting the VGA cable, then replacing with a different one if that doesn't work.

I just replaced the VGA cable with a lightly used Belkin (decent quality) cable not routed with any other cables and upgraded the power supply with an Antec unit I had hanging around. We'll see if it happens again.

This computer is about 5 years old and I have kept up with vacuuming out the dust bunnies and keeping the heat sink clean. I understand that a cable can go bad but I just can't imagine that cable routing or heat could just have become a problem over night so to speak. I don't like the idea of running it with an open case and can't imagine why I would need to after all this time. In the course of cleaning off the heat sink I reapplied that thermal paste (Arctic 5) and reseated the heat sink a couple of years ago and haven't had any trouble ... luckily ... until now. But the bottom line is that I don't know squat and if the problem returns I will remove the side of the case. I'm hoping that the issue doesn't return.

... try a different resolution and see if the effect is still there.

If it does it again I will try that.

Just to vent a little I want to say that I had bought this printer on Craigslist and spent some time having it drive me crazy because it said that it didn't have any paper when it clearly did have paper. I think I fixed it by moving the paper sensing micro switch through it's range of motion after much hassle. Why would they allow the machine to just flat out tell me something that's not true and then not enable me to tell it that it's full of it?

EDIT: Pic's of the inside of the stock PSU:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=705880#post705880

 

[Hemlock]

To clarify, once the 'shadowing' problem occurs it is not going away until the computer gets turned of and has been off for a while. There really wasn't anything being turned on or off that I knew about.

that screams HEAT PROBLEM

I just can't imagine that...heat could just have become a problem over night so to speak. I don't like the idea of running it with an open case and can't imagine why I would need to after all this time.

Heat doesn't become a problem overnight, that's just the way the symptoms manifest themselves, at some point the problem starts to show up, it doesn;t mean it wasn't there before it just meant that you couldn't see it.

As for running with the case open, that's not a solution, it's a diagnostic tool.
if it fixes the problem then we have an ambient case temperature issue which is fixed a few different ways, none of which include running with the case of open. we address airflow and fan upgrades.

VGA CABLE REROUTING: you should be able to tell if this is working by moving the cable closer to the bundle of cables.

Just to vent a little I want to say that I had bought this printer on Craigslist

Realy... well... we won't make that mistake again will we?

Printers are cheap and cheap. Too cheap not to buy new and too cheap too buy a used one...

EDIT: Pic's of the inside of the stock PSU:

eMachines... you keep saying you don't know anything but everything you've done on this machine qualifies you as a Level II IT tech.
log off of eMachines.com and go to newegg.com and START BUILDING A NEW PC!!.

use this program to generate some heat in your machine to try to duplicate the problem
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

 

[Alex2507]

As for running with the case open, that's not a solution, it's a diagnostic tool.

I knew that.

VGA CABLE REROUTING: you should be able to tell if this is working by moving the cable closer to the bundle of cables.

I see. I'm pretty sure my cabling issues are resolved if I indeed had any.

Just in case you missed the pic's in the link of the PSU innards showing evidence of overheating:

The black and brown globules under the caps might be glue. I think it started as brown like on the left but turned to the black on the right as it got cooked by the two resistors which left their heat signatures on the inside of the case.

Printers are cheap and cheap. Too cheap not to buy new and too cheap too buy a used one...

Point taken. I could have gotten it new for $65 presumably with ink as opposed to used for $40 sans ink but I bought it from a local cop, had a pretty interesting conversation, loaded it up with the 3x bigger ink cartridge and had an all around interesting time of it ... including the @ss ache of getting it to work. Live and learn though. I would kind of like to be able to print on it without a wired connection from my laptop but the Amazon review didn't make that look promising.

I should just start a thread titled MY COMPUTER QUESTIONS AND @SS ACHES.

eMachines... you keep saying you don't know anything but everything you've done on this machine qualifies you as a Level II IT tech.
log off of eMachines.com and go to newegg.com and START BUILDING A NEW PC!!.

Dusting and parts swapping doesn't make me anything. I'm dumber than I look.

use this program to generate some heat in your machine to try to duplicate the problem
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

NFW

I'm just scared.

Thanks for you interest, time and help. Check your User CP to see where all the little green squares came from. Soon you'll have more rep points than Seth.

 

[Hemlock]

Haa!

awesome.

fair enough. That program does a few things dpending on how you set it up but it forces your machine to do mathematics problems until it fails. if it doesn't fail, your PC is stable.

it was discovered by accident as someone wrote a program to discover prime numbers that kept crashing all the computers they tried to run it on.

it is now mainly used as a stress testor.

I saw the CPU, that is actually less indicitive of a heat problem than a resistance problem (READ: Cheap parts). Don't get me wrong, eMachines is a very good manufacturer as long as you know what you're getting into, they make cheap machines from cheap parts (inexpensive). as long as you don't mind replacing a part here or there you are fine.

I bought a Brother all in one for $80 as it was ending it's production run.

it scans copies faxes and prints photo's all wirelessly.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ACAW_en&q=mfc+490cw&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=1858691243330000037&ei=2Zy3S47jMI_6NYKpheIL&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBYQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers