Question PC Randomly Reboots With VGA And BOOT Debug LEDs On

[Helmaar]

Hi.

For the past few weeks, I have been having this weird issue where my PC freezes with the screen turning black. If I am doing something (like watching a YouTube video), I can hear the audio but nothing shows up on the screen so I have to reboot. At other times, the PC just reboots itself. Upon rebooting, it gets to the power-on-self-test where the VGA debug LED turns on, followed by the BOOT debug LED. Both of them then proceed to remain on while nothing more happens and the PC doesn't boot into Windows and nothing shows up on the display. My research suggested that the GPU was lose in its PCIe slot so putting it in properly should fix the problem. Usually, unscrewing the GPU and screwing it back has fixed the problem in most cases. In rare cases, I have to take it out from the PCIe slot and put it back in to make it work again. Recently, the pc has started to straight up crash and reboot. The video doesn't hang while the audio plays or anything.. Sometimes, it gets through POST and boots into my OS. Other times, the VGA and boot led lights light up and the case fans start running at full power. The screen stays black. Today however, I spent more than an hour trying to fix the problem but it just won't boot into Windows. I turned the PC on, the usual VGA and BOOT LEDs came on and nothing happened. I removed the GPU from its PCIe slot and re-inserted it but still nothing happened.

Thankfully, I have a spare GT 610 card for debugging purposes. I put it in the same PCIe slot that my regular GPU goes in and the PC immediately turned on and booted into Windows. Before this however, I did get a BIOS prompt that a new CPU had been installed and that I should press F1 to go the the setup screen; which took me to the BIOS configuration screen. I simply exited it and the OS was booted successfully. Next, I turned off the PC and swapped the 610 my regular RX 6600 and now its started working again. I am failing to understand what the problem is and its driving me crazy. There is a lot of conflicting information online in this regard. There are no consistent or regular time intervals between these random crashes and reboots.

These crashes can occur at any time, regardless of whether the PC and any of its components are under heavy load or light/normal load. The debug LEDs on the Motherboard do not switch or jump between LEDs. Just the VGA and BOOT Debug LEDs stay on. Sometimes, the PC restarts while its in this state but I get back to the same state where the VGA and BOOT Debug LEDs stay on. All the fans on my PC (5 case fans, one CPU Cooler Fan and 2 GPU fans) keeping running and they sound like they are running at full speed. The following are changes that I have made recently. Before these changes, I was not having this problem:

I changed my PC case to a new one. I then took my CPU out, re-applied thermal paste and put it back in. Removed every component from my PC for cleaning purposes and put the entire thing back again. Replaced a failing NVME M.2 SSD. Added a new 2.5 inch SATA Hard Drive. Added a new 2.5 inch SATA SSD. I also updated my Motherboard's BIOS to version 3607 (ASUS).One thing to note is during the cleaning process, when I removed my stock AMD Wraith Prism Cooler, the CPU literally came out with it since they were stuck together while the CPU lock on the Motherboard was not unlocked. Almost gave me a heart attack but physical inspection shows no physical damage on the pins. The CPU was working fine.

PC Specifications:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X.
GPU (Primary): AMD Radeon RX 6600.
GPU (Debugging GPU): NVIDIA GT 610.
RAM: ADATA XPG Z1 8GB x 4.
PSU: Cougar GEX 850W PSU.
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B550 PLUS.
BIOS Version: 3607.
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11/Arch Linux (Dual Boot).

Apart from these, I have an additional of 2 PCIE expansion cards attached to this PC. One provides additional USB Ports while the other is a WiFi + Bluetooth connectivity card. Both are attached to the smaller PCIe slots (PCIe x1).

I have run multiple stress-ng tests on my CPU to check for CPU errors. Nothing has showed up in those tests. At this point, I am out of ideas and really cannot understand what the issue is at play. I would highly appreciate any sort of help in this regard.

 

[Aeacus]

PSU: Cougar GEX 850W PSU.

Rare specimen. Also, mediocre quality PSU.

I'd try with 2nd, known to work, good quality PSU. This rules out PSU issue since your symptoms point towards PSU being at fault.

Good PSUs to go for, are: Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium. In 650W range.
Or if you want the latest ATX 3.0/3.1, then: https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-atxv3-pcie5-ready-psus-picks-hardware-busters/2/

(My 3x PCs are also powered by Seasonic. I have 2x PRIME TX-650 units and one Focus PX-550 unit. Full specs with pics in my sig.)

At other times, the PC just reboots itself.

Only 3 things can cause the PC to reboot on it's own:
1. Way too high CPU/GPU temps.
2. Bad PSU.
3. Malware.

So, check your hardware temps, both idle and under a load. Though, i doubt it would be temps issue.
PSU can be easily validated by trying with 2nd PSU.
And malware can be cleaned by any AV program. E.g MalwareBytes.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If I am doing something (like watching a YouTube video), I can hear the audio but nothing shows up on the screen so I have to reboot. At other times, the PC just reboots itself.
Smells like a PSU issue to me or your GPU is dying or the PSU's slowly degrading your GPU in the process.

PSU: Cougar GEX 850W PSU.
How old is the PSU in your build? Might want to source(borrow, not buy) a reliably built PSU with at least 550W of power at your entire PC's disposal and see if the system shows the same hiccups as stated above.

when I removed my stock AMD Wraith Prism Cooler, the CPU literally came out with it since they were stuck together while the CPU lock on the Motherboard was not unlocked.
That shouldn't be a concern if you were able to drop the CPU back into the socket and the retention arm was able to fully engage when placed down. You're sure you didn't see any bent pins on the underside of the processor?

BIOS Version: 3607
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-c...plus/helpdesk_bios?model2Name=PRIME-B550-PLUS
You have one more BIOS version worth updating to. After you've verified that your BIOS was flashed successfully, clear the CMOS.

RAM: ADATA XPG Z1 8GB x 4.
Got a link to these? Also, have you tried working with just 2 sticks of ram and see if stability holds?

 

[triplex1]

I think that the real suspect in your system for what is happening is 3 things.
You mention the 2, but not the third
1.RAM: ADATA XPG Z1 8GB x 4.
2.PSU: Cougar GEX 850W PSU.
3. Who is your ssd disk

 

[Helmaar]

I think that the real suspect in your system for what is happening is 3 things.
You mention the 2, but not the third
1.RAM: ADATA XPG Z1 8GB x 4.
2.PSU: Cougar GEX 850W PSU.
3. Who is your ssd disk

The SSD is an NVME M.2 from Western Digital. I swapped it out for another M.2 I have from Crucial. Similar issues.

 

[triplex1]

The SSD is an NVME M.2 from Western Digital. I swapped it out for another M.2 I have from Crucial. Similar issues.

your ram was kit of 2 or kit of 4?

 

[Helmaar]

Thank you all for the comments. It seems that my PSU has something to do with the way my PC is behaving. I have therefore arranged for a PSU and CPU that I intend to put into my PC for testing purposes. In the meantime, I've taken the precaution to remove every component from my motherboard and re-insert it, including the CPU in-case if its a lose connection causing these crashes. I have also closely inspected my CPU pins and found no visible damage to them. I have even gone on to update my ASUS Motherboard BIOS to version 3611 that was just released a few days ago. Some of the cables. especially the GPU power supply cable, was stretched and bent at an awkward angle. I straightened it out as well. An initial operation of the PC with the old parts showed no abnormal operation signs. Temperatures were normal. Behavior was normal as well. I ran the PC for about 50 minutes and saw no issues. Although I now intend to use the spare PSU and CPU to test the system further and get to the bottom of this.

 

[Helmaar]

your ram was kit of 2 or kit of 4?

Its an 8x4GB kit. 32GB in total.