No RED on monitor for, like half an hor or so

My mate, sold me this computer for 70 quid..when i was at his house on it,
the monitor was fine, anyway...when i bought it, (3 mths ago), after a day
or 2, the 'red' took a while to flicker on..it became longer intervals, now
it could be the case that if i pick the right program to run, i get my
RED....anyone know what's causing this....it is an old shitty monitor, but i
don't see why it should just happen as i bought it , especially as it was OK
at his house.....No, he wouldn't rip me.................all the best FRED

 

How old is it? Did he give you a warranty?

Have you asked at one of these groups?
alt.comp.hardware.*

Do you realize monitors can go bad brand new, right out of the box?

 

Check that you haven't bent any of the pins on the connector.
I suggest you get rid of that silly AVG signature. It's completely meaningless.

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Not that there have been many viruses that
attach themselves to e-mail messages or usenet posts, we just want to spamvertise.

 

You've answered your own question.

 

Damn, you're good at this 24H stuff!

 

Back in my Windows 3.1 days, I bought a system and monitor from a local
retailer. The monitor was bad. So was the second (smoke on power up!). And
the third had a big nasty scratch down the middle of the CRT. But the fourth
one I got is still working <g>. It's probably 12 years old or more now.

 

I still have a PS1 with original monitor. Great color!

I did buy a 17" KDS monitor a few years ago and had to send it back
three times (yes, three times!) until I got one that was decent. I
will never buy that brand again!

 

Good lord...what size is it, from 1992?

 

Agreed. But c'mon, the OP had a huge "KICK ME" sign hanging
on it, too.

 

Oh yeah - 14" (12.9 viewable or so)...1024x768 resolution...one of the
"early" ones. It was *not* cheap <g>

 

Ow.

Not ow the price. Ow that you're using a 14" monitor.

 

Oh no - that's the "bench" monitor. I have a 17" on my desk, and the laptop
is 15". But I usually have the bench system on as much as the others
too...always working on something. In fact, two of the "executives" are
bringing in computers tomorrow...guess what...infected...go figure...that
college education isn't doing them much good, now is it? (No offense
intended for those in the newsgroup who stayed the course and finished...I
dropped out)

 

Straighten out the wire in back. Often works.

 

Gotcha. My occasional-use old laptop, wheezer, has 12 inches of blazing
800x600. A friend just gave me a 19" for the desktop. On the
average, I'm breaking even.

For the record: two degrees and Linux, here.

 

Could be a bad VGA cable. When it is a seperate cable, try another.

 

Cheers mate, but which wire is this...and i should have added that ..y'know
the connector..from mon-HD..well it's got 3 rows of say,10 odd pins...well 3
of the pins aren't there, i don't know wether or not that's meant to be the
case....I was even considering putting a thin bit of fuse-wire in 'em as
replacements..(but they might be missin' for a reason), anyway, it took
about 40 minutes today 2 get a proper picture...heh heh...it's not buggin me
enuff to buy another at the mo. tho'
Cheers for the help

 

It is quite normal for a standard monitor cable to have pins
missing. If you look at the allocation of pins:

http://www.networktechinc.com/technote.html

A lot of pins are to do with plug and play features which
will not be present on old monitors and won't stop the
monitor from working.

Pins 1,2 and 3 are the main signals and so, for one colour
to be missing, this area is the one to check for bent or
missing pins.

Don't try adding your own "pins". You will do more harm than
good.

If you have an intermittent colour, it could be the cable
has a break; if bending it/straightening it produces an
effect then the cable needs replacement. This shouldn't be
expensive - a replacement cable from an old "dead" monitor
will be ideal. Soldering to the tiny, close-spaced, pins on
the plug is very tricky and best left to someone who has
done it before (and has the wrecked plugs to prove it...).
Soldering inside the monitor case is easier but must be only
done by a professional. Learning by trial and error is not
appropriate either for tight-rope walkers or this as the
possible result will be much the same.

 

Yep.

Taking the kinks out of yer cable is excellent advice -- it will, at
least, let you forget about your monitor troubles for a little while.

Highly recommended. };O)

 

With any luck it will make an intermittent contact between
the ends of a broken wire in the cable a permanent fault. As
you intimate, that should let the OP stop worrying about
what the fault is and he can forget all about it.

 

WHOOOOOSHHHH!!!!