[SOLVED] Boot sequence stops at VGA light & there's no display ?

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qoosghoune

Honorable
Feb 19, 2015
11
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10,510
Hi there,

I have probably the weirdest pc problem. It started with not booting once in a while. If it boots it works flawlessly. (no graphics problem, no unintentional reset or shutting off etc) Then these boot problems had become more often day by day. Now it doesnt boot at all...

The machine starts as usual, fans are turning etc. But boot sequence stops at VGA light. The white light stays lit. Nothing on the screen, not even the BIOS screen...

I tried other power cables, changed the placements of the RAM's, tried the other pci express slot etc. but they didn't make any difference.

And when I installed my old gfx card (a radeon 4850) it worked. So I thought it was a gfx card problem and I sent my gfx card to a repair service and after a long time they returned me and said "there is no problem with this gfx card, it works every time". They suggest me to look for a PSU or MOBO problem and I took my card, went home, installed it and it worked at first! Then it didn't again and again (tried about 20 times).

Took my case to a repair shop to test it with other PSU or MOBO, but it worked there! The guy started the machine over and over and it booted every time! Took it to another shop, again it worked...

But it doesn't work at my home!

I bought a new PSU, with all new power cables, but no difference. Bought a UPS, connected the PC with it, no difference...

Bought a new MOBO, no difference...

With these prices I can't buy a new gfx card just for testing, and I don't have any friend who has a modern gfx card.

Doesn't work at home, doesnt work at my office, but works at repair shop.

Any suggestions?


ASUS B450F gaming mobo
AMD ryzen 3600
MSI 1770 Ti
Corsair RM850x PSU
 
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Solution
So if it worked at gfx card repair shop, and it worked at the pc store with their mobo, and it doesn' work on your new mobo , maybe the gpu is not seated completely. The fans may spin and lights come on but if not seated all the way it won't produce a signal. When you install the gpu in to the pcie-slot do you hear or feel a click from the slot when you push down on it? It does take some force to get it to seat properly sometines. The release tab should be in the upright position when seated properly.
OIP.dhO65TZ6kRaBI9QgfQAKsQHaDu
OIP.GhxEeoMBXpon04BBTd27KwHaFj
So if it worked at gfx card repair shop, and it worked at the pc store with their mobo, and it doesn' work on your new mobo , maybe the gpu is not seated completely. The fans may spin and lights come on but if not seated all the way it won't produce a signal. When you install the gpu in to the pcie-slot do you hear or feel a click from the slot when you push down on it? It does take some force to get it to seat properly sometines. The release tab should be in the upright position when seated properly.
OIP.dhO65TZ6kRaBI9QgfQAKsQHaDu
OIP.GhxEeoMBXpon04BBTd27KwHaFj
 
Solution
One other thought. I had a problem with my 3080 card. It was seated properly, but would not produce a signal. Finally found that the power cables going into the gpu itself needed just the slightest press on them to get the signal back. No matter how many times I pulled the power cables and reseated them, it still needed that press to get signal.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
If your card works in your own PC anywhere but at your own home, then you may want to suspect external peripherals like your monitor for possibly feeding noise back into the PC through external connections and causing things to misbehave.

A few months ago, someone had weird crash issues with his PC and it turned out to be a defective mouse.
 

qoosghoune

Honorable
Feb 19, 2015
11
0
10,510
So if it worked at gfx card repair shop, and it worked at the pc store with their mobo, and it doesn' work on your new mobo , maybe the gpu is not seated completely. The fans may spin and lights come on but if not seated all the way it won't produce a signal. When you install the gpu in to the pcie-slot do you hear or feel a click from the slot when you push down on it? It does take some force to get it to seat properly sometines. The release tab should be in the upright position when seated properly.
OIP.dhO65TZ6kRaBI9QgfQAKsQHaDu
OIP.GhxEeoMBXpon04BBTd27KwHaFj

That was one of the first things that came to my mind and i checked it every time, the card is seated properly.

I tried your your other suggestion, and pressed on the power cables but no change...
 

qoosghoune

Honorable
Feb 19, 2015
11
0
10,510
If your card works in your own PC anywhere but at your own home, then you may want to suspect external peripherals like your monitor for possibly feeding noise back into the PC through external connections and causing things to misbehave.

A few months ago, someone had weird crash issues with his PC and it turned out to be a defective mouse.

I try to boot without the essential external peripherals (mouse, keyboard etc.) but don't work. I even disconnected the HDD's. I tried other monitors (I have three), doesn't work with neither of them. (All different cables)

I also took my PC to my office, different monitor, no mouse, no keyboard... Still didn't work. Took it to my mom's, checked it on her TV with an HDMI cable, didn't work...
 
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InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
Where did you get the windows that you installed on the new motherboard?
His PC is getting stuck with VGA debug LED, the OS is a non-factor at that point since the system fails to complete POST.

Since his GPU works in (some) other systems but not (reliably) in his own, he either has a flaky GPU or his motherboard needs a BIOS update at the very least. If he's really unlucky, maybe his CPU-MoBo-GPU-PSU combo is a no-go due to an odd quirk between the four components making it a no-go combo, though this very rarely happens at the lower end.
 
His PC is getting stuck with VGA debug LED, the OS is a non-factor at that point since the system fails to complete POST.

Since his GPU works in (some) other systems but not (reliably) in his own, he either has a flaky GPU or his motherboard needs a BIOS update at the very least. If he's really unlucky, maybe his CPU-MoBo-GPU-PSU combo is a no-go due to an odd quirk between the four components making it a no-go combo, though this very rarely happens at the lower end.
Yes I realized this thus the next question is about the bios. He bought a new motherboard and nothing has changed
 

qoosghoune

Honorable
Feb 19, 2015
11
0
10,510
His PC is getting stuck with VGA debug LED, the OS is a non-factor at that point since the system fails to complete POST.

Since his GPU works in (some) other systems but not (reliably) in his own, he either has a flaky GPU or his motherboard needs a BIOS update at the very least. If he's really unlucky, maybe his CPU-MoBo-GPU-PSU combo is a no-go due to an odd quirk between the four components making it a no-go combo, though this very rarely happens at the lower end.

I was using this system for a few years without any problem.
 

qoosghoune

Honorable
Feb 19, 2015
11
0
10,510
Pull the gpu out and inspect its gold contacts at the base. See if any of them are scratched. Give them a good cleaning with alcohol wipes and reseat it. See if it changes anything.

The repair guy had already checked the CPU, but i did it again, it doesn't seem to have any problem.

I bought a second hand ram this morning, tried it first with my old gfx card, it worked. Tried with my problem card and it didn't.

When I was looking for a second hand CPU, I remembered I have another CPU. I had dropped it and broke a pin and bent a few. After a long "operation" I fixed the bent ones, tried it with my old gfx card, it worked. Tried with the problem card, again it didn't.

So far I checked the card with another PSU, another MOBO, another RAM and another CPU. It always runs with my old radeon hd4850 but not with 1070ti. I would just go and buy a new gfx card but two things are holding me:
  1. The gfx card repair service is positive that the card is OK
  2. The system works at two other places with no fuss
 
The repair guy had already checked the CPU, but i did it again, it doesn't seem to have any problem.

I bought a second hand ram this morning, tried it first with my old gfx card, it worked. Tried with my problem card and it didn't.

When I was looking for a second hand CPU, I remembered I have another CPU. I had dropped it and broke a pin and bent a few. After a long "operation" I fixed the bent ones, tried it with my old gfx card, it worked. Tried with the problem card, again it didn't.

So far I checked the card with another PSU, another MOBO, another RAM and another CPU. It always runs with my old radeon hd4850 but not with 1070ti. I would just go and buy a new gfx card but two things are holding me:
  1. The gfx card repair service is positive that the card is OK
  2. The system works at two other places with no fuss
I suggested gpu not cpu.
 
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