# Gateway 2000 Monitor Question



## Pete_29119 (Jul 31, 2007)

Hi all,

Well I've Googled 'til I'm dizzy, but I can't find the answer to what I think must be a rather basic question.

I recently inherited an old Gateway pc, a GP6-400, P II with onboard graphics card - but no monitor.

The only connector that looks like it might be a monitor connection is a DB15 on the back, right beside the audio in and outs. Now, I have a Dell monitor here, but it has a DB9 connection.

I'd just like to get this old thing up and running to see what it can do...something to experiment with... different OS's, etc.

But as things stand, I can't even start it up and SEE what's going on.

I'm thinking I could do one of two things:
a) Go and get a monitor which will work with this thing - I don't particularly like this idea) *OR*
b) Disconnect the PCI graphics card that's in the machine at the moment, and install a card with a DB9 monitor connector.

What would you guys do? And what's the story with this DB15 connector as far as monitors go? Apart from CPU speed of older pc's is this one of the reasons why Gateways, Dells, etc go for low prices on ebay, usually offered only as desktops - monitors rarely included?

Thanks,
Pete


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi Pete, :wave:

Are you sure the monitor only has a 9-pin connector? A DB9 connector is a serial port connector. Does the monitor have any other connectors?


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## Pete_29119 (Jul 31, 2007)

Hey TheMatt :wave:



TheMatt said:


> Are you sure the monitor only has a 9-pin connector? A DB9 connector is a serial port connector. Does the monitor have any other connectors?


Oops....no, I wasn't drinking while forum-ing, promise.

First of all, I'll stop throwing connector names around until I'm confident I know what I'm talking about.

Ok, the Dell monitor I have has only one connection option - it connects via a male 15-pin connector, the pins arranged in 3 rows of 5.

This old (1997) Gateway only has two female connectors at the rear, as follows:
The first is a 25-pin which I assume is a printer connection. 

The other one is a 15-pin connector (two rows, 1x7 and 1x8), located right beside the audio connectors. 

I kinda assumed that the second one would be a video out for a different kind of monitor because there are no other female connectors around - in fact the only other connectors are for "old" mice, etc.

Either the graphics card was removed, or the monitor must connect directly to the M/board...I believe this model had integrated graphics, so I assumed (perhaps unwisely) that the monitor connection would come directly off the M/board.

Many thanks,
Pete


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

The other 15-pin is an older VGA connector. There are adapters for these. We have one at the shop where I work. I will look online for one.


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## Pete_29119 (Jul 31, 2007)

Thanks again The Matt,



TheMatt said:


> The other 15-pin is an older VGA connector.


Ahhh....I knew it! Well, suspected it. If I KNEW it, I wouldn't be here:wink:



TheMatt said:


> There are adapters for these. We have one at the shop where I work. I will look online for one.


Many many thanks. What a good bloke!:grin:

Sincerely,
Pete


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I looked around and unfortunately I cannot find any of these for sale. Does this computer have any expansion slots?


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## Pete_29119 (Jul 31, 2007)

Hey TheMatt,



TheMatt said:


> I looked around and unfortunately I cannot find any of these for sale.


Thanks for having a look around. I also looked a lot, and was surprised that I could find nothing.



TheMatt said:


> Does this computer have any expansion slots?


The motherboard has one AGP slot, 4x PCI slots, and two ISA slots, *BUT*...

I've been researching this old Gateway, and I don't know if I want to put the time/money into it. At first I thought, well it would be ok for basic things like word processing, etc; but then when you factor in various things - the cost of memory, does the bios work (if not, is it still available), graphics card, sound card, the issue of integrated sound onboard (and bios issues), finding older drivers, replacing the fan if it konks out (a fan that will physically fit the unit) - well, the thing is so "specialised" that it would probably be more time and cost efficient to either:

*a)* just go and buy an older, functioning pc, or
*b)* hang onto the PII processor only, and look at building a whole "new"-old-second-hand system around it.

I dug up a lot of "basic" info after a LOT of searching the web....it wasn't easy to track down, wasn't just a matter of looking at the motherboard and hitting the net...I have sore eyes :smile:

I'm just *not sure* whether to post the info and links on this thread, or create another thread specifically for the Gateway 2000 (gp6-400) Pentium II 400MHZ pc. 

Watcha think, TheMatt?

Thanks for helping, much appreciated. 

Pete


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Do you have any working AGP/PCI video cards you can test?

Your best option would be to pick up a cheap AGP video card so that if the computer doesn't work, you will at least have not spent much money. Some stores allow you to return the card for a small restocking fee.

You can also boot up the system with no monitor and see if you hear any fatal error beeps. If you have a POST card lying around you can also use that to test whether the system functions.


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