what to do when video stops working?

[Colin McGregor]

On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 7:26 PM,  <matt.price-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> Quoting William Park <opengeometry-FFYn/CNdgSA at public.gmane.org>:
>
>> On Mon, Mar 08, 2010 at 03:44:29PM -0500, matt.price-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org wrote:
>>>
>>> my aging laptop has stopped producing a video signal; even on POST,
>>> the screen remains blank, and an external monitor plugged into the VGA
>>> port also gives nothing -- though the monitor power light glows green,
>>> suggesting the monitor sees that it's connected to something.
>>>
>>> as far as i can tell this problem started when i had the laptop up &
>>> running unattended; the screen was blank, the fan was running like a
>>> jet engine, and i ssh'ed in to shutdown remotely.  the shutdown failed
>>> but sshd was stopped, and i did a hard reset; now when i turn it on,
>>> it seems like GRUB is probably loading, but that boot is maybe
>>> interrupted by a filesystem error or something, because the network
>>> never comes up.
>>>
>>> anyway i'm wondering if there's a way to get data out of the machine
>>> to help with diagnosing the problem, even in the absence of a video
>>> cable.  I've heard you can do this with a "serial console" -- can
>>> anyone tell me more?  there's a serial port on the back of the
>>> machine, but i've never used it & don't really know how to begin with
>>> it.
>>>
>>> appreciate any help y'all can give!  best,
>>> matt
>>
>> If it doesn't post, then "serial" is of no use.  Remove the harddisk,
>> and use SATA-to-USB connector.
>
> you and colin seem to agree on this.  I will definitely try, but i have
> afeeling that it *is* posting -- the disk access light illuminates for quite
> a while before stopping, so i think GRUB activates.  but yes, i'll try to
> get some info from the hdd via a sata enclosure -- already have one -- &
> then maybe open hte thing up & see if there are some loose cables or
> something.  Would just be nice to lspci the system somehow, i was hoping the
> serial console might be a method.

Well first question is, what sort of a hard drive is in your laptop?
If it is more than about 5 years old, chances are it will be a 2.5"
IIDE/EIDE drive. If the machine is less than 2 years old chances are
strong that are you are looking at a SATA drive. The sort of adapter
you will need will depend on the sort of drive you have... Something
you should double check before you head out shopping...

Colin.
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