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[Micro102]

Well the monitor (or maybe the cameras themselves) at my work place is broken and my boss wants me to fix it. It's a dell hanging monitor and when you try to turn it on, the power button just blinks and makes what sounds like a disk trying to spin, but then stopping due to friction. Like a skidding sound.

I can't find any other cases of this online and was wondering if anyone knows whats going on, or where I can find out. (don't you dare direct me to dell customer support)

[AlStar]

Well, I don't know if there's anything special about a hanging monitor, and, at a guess, I would imagine that a noise "like a disk trying to spin, but then stopping due to friction. Like a skidding sound" would only make the problem worse, but here's the first result under a Google "dell monitor power button flashing"

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/p/19278798/19499126.aspx

It does not look like good news - they're saying the backlight has gone out.

Do you have any other monitors that you could plug in, to test?

edit: Hmm, would that have fallen under your "don't you dare direct me to dell customer support"? Maybe, it is the Dell site, but I'm not just telling you to ask them.

For what it's worth, whenever I've had a monitor that makes bad, grindy sounds and/or flashing lights, it's always turned into a 'replace the monitor' moment.

[forsaken1111]

Cameras? Is this a security system? Are you qualified to work on such a system? It seems like kind of an unfair request on your boss's part.

Who installed the system in the first place?

As AlStar said, the first thing to do would be to determine what equipment is bad. plug in another monitor and see if it works, swap out the cabling if you can.

Really this is work for whoever installed the security system.

[Starver]

I'd ask... what video connections does it have?  VGA, BNC, SCART, a single Composite video cable?  Does it also have separate audio inputs (or no audio, or audio included in the SCART or something)?  Does it take any control signal from the monitor, towards the cameras (e.g. for pan/zoom control)?

If it's just VGA (or something else you can easily substitute a regular monitor with the relevant connection), first thing I'd do is see if this other monitor displays.  You may need to balance it on the stepladder, for the cables to reach (if you don't have KVM-like VGA extender cables/etc) while testing.


On the whole, though, I can't tell you what the mechanical sounds might be (unless it's an integrated PC with an HDD in it?).  I can think of a few electrical 'thunk's that might sound mechanical, but no friction-like sounds.  Except for general white noise.

But the blinking power button is very reminiscent of either the primary power converter or the bits that specifically power the LCD backlights malfunctioning.  Both mean bits that are repairable/replaceable, if you know how, but I'd go for a direct replacement if you don't.  Even then, if you're lucky, all you need to do is get an existing desktop monitor, unscrew it from its stand and screw onto the ceiling mount you'll by now have removed the duff one from, connecting up the (hopefully, being the simplest of all cases) VGA connectors, et voila.

If it's BNC/phono-style composite/SCART/whatever...  You can probably get a new unit with that capability as well.  Just at more cost, and less likely that one is just "hanging around" in the office.


(Am really assuming you have an LCD/TFT-like display.  If it's a CRT one, then it gets complicated.  If it's got the integrated camera scanning/recording functions in, then sounds like you need to replace what is effectively the main module.  But you should still be able to plump the old camera feeds into it, one way or another, even if you have to rewire or convert somehow.  If it's something that has the pan/zoom controls integrated, that might need a bit more shopping around, or hacking a replacement system...  Probably best/easiest,then, to go for something newer, anyway, assuming it isn't brand new in the first place.)


[Somewhat ninjaed, I think.]

[Micro102]

I just need to see if the monitor is the problem. I'm not touching the cameras.

And that thread in the link doesn't sound like the same problem. My power button blinks slowly, and there was no mentioning of a noise. Oddly enough. When I unplugged, and replugged the monitor in, the buzzing/skidding/mechanical sound sped up, but slowed back down again. I get the feeling it's a physical problem with the monitor.


I have never seen the cameras be controlled through the monitor. I'm guessing it's just a video feed. But it is hooked up to a mouse and you can rewind and look back at parts of the video and such. Only has one wire attaching it to a box which I'm guessing is the camera console.

[AlStar]

The monitor itself has a mouse attached to it?

I'm with forsaken1111, call up whoever installed the system and have them fix/replace it.

(My take on the noise is that it's probably a power supply or CPU fan that starts up, but as soon as your system is hitting whatever error, it stops, thus the noise.)

edit:

[Somewhat ninjaed, I think.]

Yeah, but you did a much better job of it then either myself or forsaken1111 did, IMO.

[forsaken1111]

If the 'monitor' has a mouse attached then it's not just a display but likely a thin client PC or at least attached to a PC somewhere else. In that case it could be that the PC part is malfunctioning. Considering that you hear a whirring sound from the thing I'm inclined to believe that it is a PC of some sort, one of those all-in-one things. Most monitors do not have fans or other moving parts in them which would make noise.

[Micro102]

Ah, sorry, the mouse is connected to the console, not the monitor.

The problem is, the camera system has been there before my boss bought the place. She is just going to buy a new monitor to hook up if I can't fix it.

[Greiger]

Like others said, never heard of a monitor of any kind having the parts that would make that kind of noise or really any moving parts in general.  And last I checked it is often more time and cost effective to just replace it.

Though taking it apart might still do some good.  There's a slim chance it's something fixable, and might learn something anyway and if not what's the worst you can do?  Break it?

[Micro102]

Well, I decided, that by removing the only wire, a video wire, and having the monitor act the same way, meant that it was a problem with the monitor itself. Will probably have it replaced. Thanks to all you guys.