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Question

A pile of computers, and I still can't get the monitor on

Mar 16, 2018 8:15PM PDT

Alright, first things first:
This post is going to require a little bit of humility on my part so I'll go ahead and admit my mistake(s) most likely are obvious and due to my amateur naivete. Over the past few weeks I've been amassing an assortment of salvaged computer components. I have essentially been using these free ( to me ) machines and pieces to learn a little about hardware. I have literally been pulling what I deduced to be the best pieces out and attempting to build a functional desktop computer with them (yea as I type it out Its sounding more and more "blunderful"). I'm not hoping for much really, just wanna build my first computer ya know. I'll attempt list the components I've chosen in as much detail as possible, so you can tell me how stupid of a combination it is and hopefully point me in the right direction.
 The problem: tower starts up, I see the leds, I hear the fan, yet my monitor seems completely unaware of anything. It does briefly come out of sleep mode when I connect the cable, but tells me it doesn't detect a connection then goes back to sleep mode
 The machine: alright here's where it gets sticky, and again I openly admit that the following is likely to describe the actions of a completely computer illiterate novice. So the tower began as an HP slimline s3020n. I left the stock power supply in it, and really only added in some ddr2 RAM. I originally had a single 1gb stick and a 2gb stick in it. When it wouldnt turn the monitor on I pulled out the 2gb stick, seeing as I've never heard of a computer having 3gb of RAM before, so now I'm down to the 1gb stick of RAM all by its lonesome. It looks like the brand is "Transcend" and it says "1gb DDR2 800 DIMM CL5" on the sticker.
 The hard drive itself may very well be faulty, it's an older 250gb Hitachi. I have other hard drives but the is the one im using for the "test launch" so to speak. To be honest I'm planning on running a low requirement linux os from a usb to boot it up so I'm not too concerned with the hard drive itself for now. Am I wrong is assuming it would at least turn on and active my monitor even with a ****** hard drive? Would the screen at least come on to tell me there is a problem?
I should also mention that I have tried two different monitors, with two separate cords so I don't think they're the problem but hey, I'm the guy with all these parts and still can't get something to work. Again I'll admit naivete and say I don't know what type of cord they are. It's not HDMI, it's the old school blue connector with the two fasteners on the side
 And for the record I am pretty capable of handling the boot and install process, I'm no expert by any means but I'm not a complete stranger to linux. I just can't see. To get my hardware far enough to be able to boot. Hopefully someone can give me some advice. Just ask and I'll give any more details I can.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
It's kind of hard to read !
Mar 17, 2018 12:52AM PDT

I think folks are taking their time deciphering this ....

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Answer
Make it smaller
Mar 16, 2018 8:53PM PDT

do a bench test.
Find out if the Main board, RAM and CPU are compatible.
You have to check each component individually to see if these will work.
We've all did this before and is a great project ...

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So...
Mar 16, 2018 9:25PM PDT

Thank you, I've actually been researching online since I've posted. The cpu and mainboard (I'm assuming that's the same as motherboard?) Came with the tower, I never switched em so I'm assuming they're compatible but having said that I am gonna double check that both are stock and weren't switched or modified at some point before they reached me. Also for the record am I right in thinking I would at least see the monitor turn on even with a faulty hdd?

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No
Mar 16, 2018 9:39PM PDT

It's possible for a disk or disc or other connected device to be bad in such a way as to prevent a display on the screen.

So the easy thing to do is start unplugging stuff.......make it smaller.

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Thanks
Mar 16, 2018 9:46PM PDT

Alright looks like I'm going back into hardware mode. The HP website provided some pretty good info and I believe I'll take your advice and start small and move up. Thanks again, hopefully I learn enough to return the favor by give other lost newbies some good info.

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here's what I'm talking about
Mar 16, 2018 10:15PM PDT

the only way to test this is part by part !
There are no shortcuts.
Her'es some tutorials about how to Benchtest computer parts 
The HP website is null and void since you have multiple parts involved.

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no video
Mar 16, 2018 9:47PM PDT

you should still get a POST (power on self test) from the monitor without a HD connected