Random 1-2 second black screen

This has been happening a while on my very old Dual Pentium with Foxconn motherboard box.

Things I have tried to solve it.

Put in an Asus GT710 1gb Nvidia card as it was doing it with built in Intel Graphics.

Created 2 partitions on the C drive one for 64 bit Win 10 and one for 32 bit Win 10. I have to use 32 bit mostly as the 64 bit printer driver doesn't work with my HP Deskjet 710C. Not used 64 bit version extensively but black screen doesn't seem to appear.

Changed VGA cable to DVI-D cable but apart from proper screen resolution in 64 bit I think this is a red herring.

Have rolled back the Nvidia drivers to basic Microsoft video driver on 32 bit Win 10 and this is where I am at currently testing.

When the black screen occurs (last time was closing firefox) Hardware Error appears in the reliability history log but no details are given. The same happens when I press CTRL+SHIFT+WIN+B and a black screen is generated and the video driver is restarted.

Any ideas from the Vintage Machine Gurus?

Edited by Banger (Mon 01-Jan-24 01:10:41)

Any ideas?

If it’s happening with both the internal graphics and a separate graphics card it’s likely to be a problem with the monitor. Any way you could test it with another monitor?

Tested monitor on my main PC and all ok. Think this is a Win 10 32 bit problem as mouse and keyboard stop responding.

In reply to a post by Banger:

Tested monitor on my main PC and all ok. Think this is a Win 10 32 bit problem as mouse and keyboard stop responding.

Check the event logs, (Event Viewer) see if anything shows up in System log first around the same time. Ingore blue (informational) entries.

If you've updated video drivers, looked for chipset drivers (Intel, AMD or NVidia) and nothing there, and you are using HDMI or DisplayPort connection to the screen it could be a cable issue?

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by Banger:

Tested monitor on my main PC and all ok. Think this is a Win 10 32 bit problem as mouse and keyboard stop responding.

Check the event logs, (Event Viewer) see if anything shows up in System log first around the same time. Ingore blue (informational) entries.

If you've updated video drivers, looked for chipset drivers (Intel, AMD or NVidia) and nothing there, and you are using HDMI or DisplayPort connection to the screen it could be a cable issue?

I am using DVI-D and changed the cable, was using VGA cable. No different.

Here's what a screeshot of reliability history shows. https://pasteboard.co/5sFH8a196zui.png

In reply to a post by Banger:

Here's what a screeshot of reliability history shows. https://pasteboard.co/5sFH8a196zui.png

The Hardware Error on the 31/Dec would be worth looking into, perhaps your graphics card is overheating, a fan has stopped working properly, or dust in the case?

Thanks for the ideas. It's a fanless Nvidia GT710 graphics card, could be overheating I will install gtemp and monitor, although the onboard graphics were doing the same.

Edit: GPU Temp is currently 40C which seems about right, will monitor.

Edited by Banger (Wed 03-Jan-24 20:19:58)

I had a similar issue with an old Core2 Quad machine with a GeForce GT 730, eventually I just wrote it off to the old CPU either glitching or having compatibility issues with newer Windows updates or newer graphics drivers. I now use the same graphics card in a Core i3 with no issues.

But you wouldn't expect the built in Intel graphics to be incompatible with the CPU.

The fact that the same problem occurs with the built-in Intel graphics and the discrete GPU would suggest to me that the problem is not the CPU nor the drivers. Which, basically, leaves the hardware. So either a slight fault on this monitor, which occurs with this machine - but not on the other which, perhaps, provides a more stable signal - or, very likely, a problem with the PSU. (That could be exacerbated by fluctuations in the mains supply - during the current stormy weather we have had a number of momentary power blackouts so I wouldn't be surprised if there were also brownouts which cause problems with flakey equipment.)

The other possibility is that it's a bug in Windows; but you would expect that to be a well-known problem (as you would if it was a driver issue). My bet is still on a hardware weakness somewhere.