I am now in week 7, I think, of my nightmare. In early August, I booted up my computer one day to find that after the "Starting Windows" screen I lost all display. No cursor, no Explorer button, nothing. However, I did hear the Windows jingle, could blind-type my password, and could hear the sound for password acceptance. By blind-typing the right keys, I could shut down or restart the computer. I do not remember having had any video driver update or Windows updates in the days leading up to the day this problem began.
I initially thought my Radeon HD 5870 was dead. Stupid of me to not really try researching the problem first, but too late now. I purchased a brand new Sapphire Radeon R9-280 from Newegg. Popped it in... same problem. After 7 weeks searching on the Internet, here are amongst the myriad of things I've tried. Note, almost any night I try fixing the computer, I EVENTUALLY get into my desktop, but rarely after having performed the same action as some time before.
1. Booting into safe mode, stripping out the old drivers either with DDU or through Device Manager, booting up with the default drivers, and installing any one of 5 different versions of the AMD display drivers (including circa-early 2014 versions all the way up through the current Beta version). I do not think this is the cause of the problem, and any "success" I've had doing this is only coincidence. It does not always work, and the success rate is extremely low, leading me to believe it is just coincidental if it works.
2. Replacing CMOS battery and clearing CMOS. I read on an nVidia forum (apparently, this happens with nVidia, too) that this was a CMOS-related problem. This was the "solution" I tried tonight. Nothing doing.
3. Unplugging and replugging monitor when I think I've reached the login screen and after I think I've reached the desktop.
4. Set PCI Latency Timer in BIOS to 32 (and back to 64).
5. Ensured Explorer shell was properly set in Registry.
6. RMA-ing the new video card (Sapphire thought it was a bad card, and Newegg replaced it). Same problem.
7. Installing MSI Afterburner and trying to setup a profile to load at start that increases fan speed and decreases memory clock.
CURRENT THOUGHTS
A few days ago, it dawned on me that, over the last few weeks, it has taken longer and longer for me to find a "solution" on any given night to my problem. It started out taking 10-15 minutes to get a "fix." Then closer to 20-25... then 30-35... until I noticed that I was up to 45 minutes or so to get a fix... and the "fix" was random. Could be installing a different (or the same) driver, could be one of the other fixes, like resetting the PCI Latency Timer in BIOS... But I would get into the Windows desktop.
So, I hypothesized that there was a "time" aspect to all of this. This past Monday, I turned on the PC, let it go black-screen after "Starting Windows," and then I did nothing. I let it sit there for over 45 minutes while I watched a movie on TV. After that long, I rebooted, and... got display! It worked! That prompted me to conclude, tentatively, that the problem was the CMOS battery. As I said above, an nVidia forum suggested the CMOS was the problem. Replacing the battery did nothing, nor did clearing CMOS with either the old or new battery installed.
Tonight, it took around 70 minutes of waiting (and rebooting several times and then letting the computer sit on the F8 menu after boot) before I got to Windows desktop. I replaced the CMOS battery to start the night. That was the start of the 70 minutes or so before I eventually was able to boot into the desktop.
My next step is another "exotic" fix, whereby I define 'exotic' as something that should have NOTHING to do with the problem... and that would be to upgrade my BIOS to the latest version.
Something very, very wrong is going on here, and I cannot figure it out. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. I am deathly afraid at this point that the problem is unsolvable and can only be overcome by getting a new processor and motherboard... But even at that, I can't guarantee it actually IS a motherboard problem.
I am as frustrated and stuck as can be, folks. If anyone has any suggestions beyond what I've done already, it's worth a shot...
Thanks in advance...
System specs:
Monitor: Dell U2414H with Mini-DP out of the monitor and full DP into the video card
Motherboard: MSI 7522 (X58-Pro E) (NO onboard video capability)
BIOS Version: American Megatrends 8.6 (I know not the latest version)
CPU: Intel Core i7
Ram: Mixed manufacturers, including 12 GB of G.Skill DDR3 (not a recent addition... had this setup since December 2014)
Boot drive: Samsung 840 Pro 512GB
GPU: Radeon R9-280 (problem started when using Radeon HD 5870)
PSU: 750W
OS: Win 7 x64
I initially thought my Radeon HD 5870 was dead. Stupid of me to not really try researching the problem first, but too late now. I purchased a brand new Sapphire Radeon R9-280 from Newegg. Popped it in... same problem. After 7 weeks searching on the Internet, here are amongst the myriad of things I've tried. Note, almost any night I try fixing the computer, I EVENTUALLY get into my desktop, but rarely after having performed the same action as some time before.
1. Booting into safe mode, stripping out the old drivers either with DDU or through Device Manager, booting up with the default drivers, and installing any one of 5 different versions of the AMD display drivers (including circa-early 2014 versions all the way up through the current Beta version). I do not think this is the cause of the problem, and any "success" I've had doing this is only coincidence. It does not always work, and the success rate is extremely low, leading me to believe it is just coincidental if it works.
2. Replacing CMOS battery and clearing CMOS. I read on an nVidia forum (apparently, this happens with nVidia, too) that this was a CMOS-related problem. This was the "solution" I tried tonight. Nothing doing.
3. Unplugging and replugging monitor when I think I've reached the login screen and after I think I've reached the desktop.
4. Set PCI Latency Timer in BIOS to 32 (and back to 64).
5. Ensured Explorer shell was properly set in Registry.
6. RMA-ing the new video card (Sapphire thought it was a bad card, and Newegg replaced it). Same problem.
7. Installing MSI Afterburner and trying to setup a profile to load at start that increases fan speed and decreases memory clock.
CURRENT THOUGHTS
A few days ago, it dawned on me that, over the last few weeks, it has taken longer and longer for me to find a "solution" on any given night to my problem. It started out taking 10-15 minutes to get a "fix." Then closer to 20-25... then 30-35... until I noticed that I was up to 45 minutes or so to get a fix... and the "fix" was random. Could be installing a different (or the same) driver, could be one of the other fixes, like resetting the PCI Latency Timer in BIOS... But I would get into the Windows desktop.
So, I hypothesized that there was a "time" aspect to all of this. This past Monday, I turned on the PC, let it go black-screen after "Starting Windows," and then I did nothing. I let it sit there for over 45 minutes while I watched a movie on TV. After that long, I rebooted, and... got display! It worked! That prompted me to conclude, tentatively, that the problem was the CMOS battery. As I said above, an nVidia forum suggested the CMOS was the problem. Replacing the battery did nothing, nor did clearing CMOS with either the old or new battery installed.
Tonight, it took around 70 minutes of waiting (and rebooting several times and then letting the computer sit on the F8 menu after boot) before I got to Windows desktop. I replaced the CMOS battery to start the night. That was the start of the 70 minutes or so before I eventually was able to boot into the desktop.
My next step is another "exotic" fix, whereby I define 'exotic' as something that should have NOTHING to do with the problem... and that would be to upgrade my BIOS to the latest version.
Something very, very wrong is going on here, and I cannot figure it out. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. I am deathly afraid at this point that the problem is unsolvable and can only be overcome by getting a new processor and motherboard... But even at that, I can't guarantee it actually IS a motherboard problem.
I am as frustrated and stuck as can be, folks. If anyone has any suggestions beyond what I've done already, it's worth a shot...
Thanks in advance...
System specs:
Monitor: Dell U2414H with Mini-DP out of the monitor and full DP into the video card
Motherboard: MSI 7522 (X58-Pro E) (NO onboard video capability)
BIOS Version: American Megatrends 8.6 (I know not the latest version)
CPU: Intel Core i7
Ram: Mixed manufacturers, including 12 GB of G.Skill DDR3 (not a recent addition... had this setup since December 2014)
Boot drive: Samsung 840 Pro 512GB
GPU: Radeon R9-280 (problem started when using Radeon HD 5870)
PSU: 750W
OS: Win 7 x64
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