How would you remotely diagnose issues related to graphics cards?

fightingfi

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 9, 2008
Messages
3,231
always wondered how this would or can be done please im looking for a job and this is one of 2 questons ive wondered about.
 
It really depends on how big of an "issue" it is.

The main question I'd start with is:

Are you getting ANY video?

Then go from there.

If no: Check slot connection, power cable connection, if psu is powerful enough, etc. etc.

If so: Driver update, try to recreate the issue, see how it happens, check temps, etc. etc.
 
if the video card isnt working how do you login to see or resolve the issue?
I would guess they are asking you this to make sure you are capable of actually talking to a customer and walking them through physical trouble shooting. Not everything can be done directly by a remote tech, being able to walk the end user through things is an important skill.

For no video you have to verbally go through the basics. Make sure monitor has power, make sure video cable is connected properly, make sure the input is set correctly, make sure you're connected to GPU if a dedicated GPU is present etc. (If you are working for an MSP or a large company you can likely remote into this pc without user assistance. In that case you just pull up whatever software the company uses and connect. If you get video then it's likely a monitor/cable issue. )

If they are getting artifacting \ weird visual issues then you simply remote in and see if you can see the issues on your end. If you can, the card likely needs to be replaced. If you can't, it is a cable or monitor issue.
 
if the video card isnt working how do you login to see or resolve the issue?
You might be misunderstanding the question. Like Kardonxt pointed out, this question seemed geared to you working with customers over the phone/email/chat.

Its not expecting you to troubleshoot a bad GPU on a remote PC by yourself.
 
always wondered how this would or can be done please im looking for a job and this is one of 2 questons ive wondered about.
It seems like context would matter, including the particular symptoms of the problem, but a few ways I can think of:

Assuming no video output when powering the system on, the first thing to check is for a POST trouble code, on motherboards that are equipped with this feature. This is a pretty reliable way of determining if the problem is a graphics card or something else.

Alternately, you can just swap out the graphics card for a known-good one, or tell the user to plug the monitor cable into the motherboard's onboard video port and then remove the graphics card. This should work on almost every Intel system from the last 15 years or so, since they all have onboard graphics*. Most AMD machines don't have onboard graphics, so you'd need a known-good graphics card.

Beyond this, you'd really need to know more about what specific problem the user is having, and most of the troubleshooting steps really boil down to "remove the suspect card from the system, and see if the problem goes away."

I guess you could have them swap out the monitor cable as well. That seems like something a remote tech support position would be expected to try as an early step.

*With a few notable exceptions, such as most (all?) Xeons and the HEDT parts.
 
It's just like doing it in person, except you have to ask the user questions and tell them what to do.
 
always wondered how this would or can be done please im looking for a job and this is one of 2 questons ive wondered about.

Step 1: collect Underpants




Step 27-half: break into a Best buy Geek Squad and steal their over-the-phone troubleshooting script, and then pretend you know what you are doing (just like those idiots!)


Step Schifty Five: PROFIT!

Step 77: lerntoospeil!
 
Last edited:
Call them up, and ask about what they've put into their microwave lately? :)
tenor.gif


Beat me to it! LOL :D
 
I am surprised it hasn't been mentioned but the first thing you ask when troubleshooting is...

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

I prefer the good old "did you give it a good wallop"
 
Giving them something like this but maybe simplified (or highlight the user level parts) might help, then have them call back when they're doing checking all the basic stuff. If their main computer is down and they can't screeshare, doing a facetime or some sort of video sharing on their phone would also be helpful. Depends on how dense they are, but screen sharing resolves issues with people so much faster than trying to talk them through it over the phone if they're non-technical.
 

Attachments

  • video.gif
    video.gif
    43 KB · Views: 0
Back
Top