Question Flashing/Blinking underscore on screen

[JacobusTracks]

Hello all!

I recently tried to change something in my bios and it went horribly wrong for some reason.

Whenever i now turn on my computer it just immediately after the boot beep shows me a white flashing line on the screen, the screen also seems to be flashing with it (going to completely black when the underscore is disappearing and little less dark when it appears).

I can not get in to the bios or anywhere, and i am not even seeing the motherboard screen which i normally see at startup.

Things i have tried:

Pressing the DEL Key at startup (tried this a thousand times)
Pressing F keys at startup
Leaving only 1 SSD
Removing All HDD's/SSD's
Removing the RAM modules, only leaving 1. (tried multiple slots)
Reseating power cables
Unplugging power chord, and pressing power button for 30 sec.

Resetting the CMOS (took it out for 10 min)
Resetting the CMOS by shorting the pins
(this both leads to the computer booting without beep, then rebooting right away and then same thing happens, no bios)

With everything only a keyboard screen HDMI was plugged in.
Also tried both the HDMI and DVI ports with different screens.
Also tried 2 different keyboards.


If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be amazing.

Thank in advance!


Specs:
GA z87 HD3
i7 4790
DDR3 16gb ram (4gb modules)
SSD Crucial

 

[Ralston18]

What did you try to change in BIOS? And why?

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

 

[JacobusTracks]

What did you try to change in BIOS? And why?

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

This is all that I have connected now:

GA z87 HD3
i7 4790
Cooler master hyper Fan
2 system fans
1 Crucial 1600mhz DDR3 4gb ram
SSD Crucial 250 gb
650 watt cooler master PSU

I have had this pc as a hackintosh for many years, so I was trying to update the OS. I red somewhere that I needed to disable secure boot, and change allocated memory to 64. And I disabled the serial A port. But I believe it started acting up even before changing this. It would go to the blinking underscore 1 out of 3 times more or less. Now it just keeps going to the underscore right away.

 

[Ralston18]

One possible suspect is the PSU: how old is "many years"?

That said my thought is to delve a bit deeper. Look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and informational events that may be associated with the observed problems.

Another thing to do is to power down, unplug, open the case. Clean out dust and debris. Verify by sight and feel that all connections, cards, RAM, jumpers, and case connections are fully and firmly in place.

Use a bright flashlight to look for signs of damage.

Lastly run "dism" and "sfc /scannow" to find and fix any problems.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

Then, if the problems continue, consider, clearing CMOS and install a new CMOS battery in the process.

Refer to the motherboard's User Guide/Manual to ensure that both actions are done correctly,.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Whenever i now turn on my computer it just immediately after the boot beep shows me a white flashing line on the screen, the screen also seems to be flashing with it (going to completely black when the underscore is disappearing and little less dark when it appears).

Wrong boot mode.
Most likely OS installed in UEFI mode, but system trying to boot in legacy mode.

Could be also the other way - OS installed in legacy mode, but system trying to boot in UEFI.
Then it should go into BIOS automatically a after failed boot though.

Reset BIOS with CLEAR_CMOS jumper and
start your pc with single ram module installed.
Go into BIOS and fix boot mode settings.

Make sure fast boot is disabled and secure boot disabled.

 

[JacobusTracks]

Wrong boot mode.
Most likely OS installed in UEFI mode, but system trying to boot in legacy mode.

Could be also the other way - OS installed in legacy mode, but system trying to boot in UEFI.
Then it should go into BIOS automatically a after failed boot though.

Reset BIOS with CLEAR_CMOS jumper and
start your pc with single ram module installed.
Go into BIOS and fix boot mode settings.

Make sure fast boot is disabled and secure boot disabled.

I did multiple CMOS resets by cleared it with the jumper, also took out the battery for over an hour. After that it does seem to go to default settings because it restarts right away when turning it on but after that still flashing underscore, can't get in to bios at all.

I even tried a different CPU i3 4330 with same socket ofcourse and HD4600 graphics just as my i7 4790

Been trying everything with one ram module, tried different slots aswell. CPU, fans, and that's it. No success

 

[JacobusTracks]

One possible suspect is the PSU: how old is "many years"?

That said my thought is to delve a bit deeper. Look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and informational events that may be associated with the observed problems.

Another thing to do is to power down, unplug, open the case. Clean out dust and debris. Verify by sight and feel that all connections, cards, RAM, jumpers, and case connections are fully and firmly in place.

Use a bright flashlight to look for signs of damage.

Lastly run "dism" and "sfc /scannow" to find and fix any problems.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

Then, if the problems continue, consider, clearing CMOS and install a new CMOS battery in the process.

Refer to the motherboard's User Guide/Manual to ensure that both actions are done correctly,.

PSU is exactly what I am thinking, it is at least over 5/7 years old.

I can't get in to anything, the underscore immediately shows up. Not any keyboard key is working. Tried multiple keyboards btw.

 

[CountMike]

Hello all!

I recently tried to change something in my bios and it went horribly wrong for some reason.

Whenever i now turn on my computer it just immediately after the boot beep shows me a white flashing line on the screen, the screen also seems to be flashing with it (going to completely black when the underscore is disappearing and little less dark when it appears).

I can not get in to the bios or anywhere, and i am not even seeing the motherboard screen which i normally see at startup.

Things i have tried:

Pressing the DEL Key at startup (tried this a thousand times)
Pressing F keys at startup
Leaving only 1 SSD
Removing All HDD's/SSD's
Removing the RAM modules, only leaving 1. (tried multiple slots)
Reseating power cables
Unplugging power chord, and pressing power button for 30 sec.

Resetting the CMOS (took it out for 10 min)
Resetting the CMOS by shorting the pins
(this both leads to the computer booting without beep, then rebooting right away and then same thing happens, no bios)

With everything only a keyboard screen HDMI was plugged in.
Also tried both the HDMI and DVI ports with different screens.
Also tried 2 different keyboards.


If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be amazing.

Thank in advance!


Specs:
GA z87 HD3
i7 4790
DDR3 16gb ram (4gb modules)
SSD Crucial

BOOT sector not found, possibly UEFI/CSM mode mismatch with the way Windows were installed.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I did multiple CMOS resets by cleared it with the jumper, also took out the battery for over an hour. After that it does seem to go to default settings because it restarts right away when turning it on but after that still flashing underscore, can't get in to bios at all.

When you get to blinking underscore, it's already too late to get into BIOS.
Process for loading OS from HDD/SSD already has been started.
You have to start spamming DEL key right after pressing power button.

You can also disconnect OS drive. Then it won't get to loading OS step.

 

[JacobusTracks]

When you get to blinking underscore, it's already too late to get into BIOS.
Process for loading OS from HDD/SSD already has been started.
You have to start spamming DEL key right after pressing power button.

You can also disconnect OS drive. Then it won't get to loading OS step.

"Been trying everything with one ram module, tried different slots aswell. CPU, fans, and that's it. No success"

So I don't have a single hdd or SSD connected.

And believe me I'm spamming that key.

 

[SkyNetRising]

"Been trying everything with one ram module, tried different slots aswell. CPU, fans, and that's it. No success"
So I don't have a single hdd or SSD connected.
And believe me I'm spamming that key.

If you have no SSD or HDD connected, then it wouldn't go into displaying blinking underscore.
You'd get an error message.
Like this:

Spoiler

May be DEL key on your keyboard is not working. Try a different keyboard.

 

[JacobusTracks]

If you have no SSD or HDD connected, then it wouldn't go into displaying blinking underscore.
You'd get an error message.
Like this:

Spoiler

May be DEL key on your keyboard is not working. Try a different keyboard.

Well as I said I don't have any hdd or SSD connected.

Tried different keyboards.

And I don't see that message. Only an underscore blinking.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Can you show a photo of your system with side panel removed?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

Do you have PCIE M.2 adapter installed?