XPS 8910, no signal to monitor

Welcome to Dell Social Media Support, Could you private message me the Service Tag, so I can look into this for you right away? 
You could refer to the below link to find the Service Tag: 
dell.to/2KwgYVt

@Help Paul 

If the power button is solid white, the PC appears to have successfully completed its Power On Self Test (POST) which is a very good sign.

If the monitor works correctly when connected directly to an xBox, that's good too.

We now need to know:

• Version of Windows?
  
  
  
• Do you have an add-in (NVidia or AMD) video card or do you only have onboard Intel Graphics?

The onboard Intel Graphics HDMI and DisplayPorts (DP) ports are both in the area marked 1. An add-in video card would be at either 2, 3 or 4. 

If you have an add-in video card, the monitor needs to be connected to that card, not to either video port in area 1. NOTE: The ports in area 1 are disabled when an add-in video card is installed.

• • • So check to see if you have an add-in video card or not. Then tell us the type port at PC and monitor ends (eg HDMI, DP, etc).
      
      
      
    • When you know what port you should be using, make sure the video cable is fully/correctly connected at both PC and monitor ends.

• When you tested the monitor with the xBox, did you use the exact same video cable you would use with this PC, or a different cable? And did you use the same type port (eg, HDMI or DP) on both xBox and monitor that you would use with the PC?

Post your answers and we'll go from there...

(And I did tell you not to post your Service Tag in an open thread like this.)

Hi thank you so much for your reply,

it appears I do have a add in card which bizarrely I’ve never used, I’ve only been using the HDMI in section as far as I’m aware. 
in the box I’ve discovered a small HDMI connector I’ve connected that to the the HDMI lead and to monitor and now the start button is pulsing Amber x6 when tirmed on previously just solid white.

I’m using windows 10 

Thanks again for reply

For the xps 8910, the power button flashing 6 times for  means "Video card or chip failure".

You did not get that before, but you also didn't use the fancy pants video card before.  you previously only used the integrated video that is in the black area.

here's what i suggest... pull the power cord out of the back of the machine.  that is the fat cord in your photo, then press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to fully discharge the computer of any residual power.  then plug the power cord back in, and press the power button like usual to turn it on.  if it still complains with a blinking power button then press and hold the power button until the system shuts off, then move the video cable back to the old location which had been working ok for you and power on again.

@Help Paul - I can't tell from your pic exactly what that connector is and we can't see what port it's plugged into on the PC.

Please tell us exactly which video card you have. Go here and enter your Service Tag (don't post it here!). When the site recognizes your PC, look under Quick Links, on the right side, and click View Product Specs. When that opens, scroll down and to see what video card is listed. 

If you've always been using the HDMI in area 1 without problems, that suggests the add-in video card either isn't seated fully in its slot on the motherboard or it's just not working.

The other possibility is that BIOS settings got scrambled, especially if the motherboard battery hasn't been replaced in a long time (if ever). So if testing the HDMI in area 1 again as was suggested doesn't help, you may need to replace the motherboard battery. It's only ~$2 and not very hard to do. Instructions are in the Service Manual. Maybe you have a geeky friend/relative who can do that for you...

Hi thanks for your reply and advice I tried this but it did not work still blinking amber and the when when drained and restarted it stays white

Hi thanks for your input I’m really grateful.

The connector is a mini display port HDMI connector.

I have tried to locate the details of the video card but the product specs mostly just list part numbers but from what I remember or can tell I think it was a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750.

is it worth a try trying to reseat this card and then have a go at replacing the motherboard battery, I’ll attempt it myself.

@Help Paul If the light on the power button is white that is a good sign. Can you test your HDMI cable and your monitor on another computer?

@Vic384  The OP says monitor works with xBox, which should be a sign that it's working correctly.

@Help Paul  - Where is monitor connected now that you see solid white power button again? Is it still connected to the add-in video card or to the onboard HDMI port in area 1? 

GTX 750 Ti was one of the video card options Dell offered for this PC model and it has DP and DVI-D and DVI-I ports. I see the two DVI ports in your pic. What other ports are on your monitor? Does monitor have either DP or DVI ports?

Are you sure that adapter cable is correct? They typically work in only one direction so it has to be DP(PC)>HDMI(monitor). If it's actually an HDMI(PC)>DP(monitor) adapter cable, it's probably not going to work.  Look at the plugs on the ends of the adapter to see if they have marks (icons) for PC and monitor.

Re-seating the video card in its slot is worth trying. With PC unplugged, remove the old battery first, then press/hold the PC's power button for ~30 sec. Next, remove the video card. You can use some canned air to blow out that slot, if you have it available, and use a lint-free cloth to gently wipe the gold connectors on the card before re-installing it. Install a fresh battery (right-side-up!) last.

Close up and connect mouse and keyboard to USB and monitor to the video card, assuming the DP adapter you have is correct. Or if the monitor has its own DP port, you may want to get a DP(video card)>DP(monitor) cable and eliminate the adapter.

If you're at all doubtful about doing any of this yourself, find a geeky friend/relative to help. You don't want to cause any more problems...

@RoHe I'm sorry I missed the part where the OP said the tried the monitor on the Xbox. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti has three video ports, Dual-Link DVI-D, Dual-Link DVI-I, and miniHDMI. I have that graphics card. I believe the OP is connected via a miniHDMI to HDMI adapter cable, which if I recall correctly, comes with the computer from Dell. The part number of the adapter cable is DP/N 0DDR4T. That adapter cable is working for me so I don't think it is the problem. 

next i would suggest pulling the video card from the system and use the integrated video that you had been using before. it is not hard to remove the video card but is too complicated to describe.  the service manual shows a step by step guide to opening the case ad removing a card should you want to give it a try.

here is a link to the service manual for your system

https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/xps-8910-desktop_service-manual_en-us.pdf

ps. i suggest just removing the card as the most likely cause for failure is that the fan on the card has died. other may suggest reseating it, which is worth a try, but given that you had not even used it before tells me that you will not miss it and the fewer things to go wrong means a more reliable system.

@Vic384  Well, if that's a Mini-HDMI, then it all comes back to the video card.

Since @Help Paul has been using onboard graphics, either the card isn't seated correctly in the slot or it failed, because the onboard video ports should be disabled when a (working) video card is installed.

What's left unexplained is why this problem suddenly showed up now, if it's been working with onboard video for a while, given the age of an XPS 8910...