[SOLVED] PC wont boot without messing around with the monitor cables

[saka-rauka1]

Hi guys,

I've recently built a new PC with the following specs:

12900k
2x16GB DDR4 3600
MSI Z690 Pro A
GTX 980 (reused from old PC)
Seasonic Focus Platinum 850W (reused from old PC)
Windows 10 Pro x64

I'm also using the following monitors: Samsung Odyssey G7 32" (new), Dell U2312HM (old), BenQ XL2411z (old).

My issue is that when (re)starting the PC, it does not boot into windows smoothly, instead it will hang on a black screen and the motherboard's VGA diagnostic LED will shine white. Reseating cables will eventually get it to load into windows, but I haven't been able to determine which cable/monitor/slot combo is the one it wants. I usually just pull them all out, and then try 1 of the DVI cables from the older monitors until it finally works. One thing for sure is that the Samsung connected by DP cable has never booted into windows on it's own, I've always had to disconnect it until windows started.

I'm not sure what the culprit is here, whether it's the motherboard or the gfx card. I never had a problem like this on my old PC with win 7 and the 2 older monitors. I've already installed this: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/nv-uefi-update-x64/ but it doesn't appear to have changed anything. I also have the latest nvidia drivers installed.

 

[saka-rauka1]

New build, completed a week or 2 ago. Since day 1 it has taken forever to boot into windows. Motherboard shines a white VGA light every time the PC is turned on, and it lasts for a long while, often several minutes before it goes away and windows finally boots up. Tried 3 different monitors, 3 different ports on the gfx card (Gigabyte 980 G1 Gaming). MSI fast boot is enabled. I'd like to flash the BIOS and see if it fixes either this or one of the other problems I've been having, but I don't want to risk sitting on a black screen for several minutes not knowing if anything is happening during a BIOS update.

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

I have that same board and is working ok.
There is a new BIOS available that came out about 2 weeks ago. I have not updated mine yet as its stable.
I think there is an option in the BIOS to disable SATA detection on startup which may or may not help.
What storage do you have attached ?
Does it boot faster without any USB devices plugged in ?

 

[saka-rauka1]

Thanks for the reply

1. As I mentioned above, I'm hesitant to update BIOS given that there are issues rebooting this PC. I'll do it if I exhaust all other options.
2. I think this is covered under MSI fast boot but I'll double check.

• Samsung 830 256GB - C: Boot Drive
• Samsung 850 Evo 1TB - D: (This one has some problems being detected in windows)
• Samsung 980 Pro 2TB - E
• Seagate Barracuda 6TB - H

4. Tested just now with nothing plugged in at all except 1 monitor. Still had a solid white VGA light on the motherboard for 1 minute, followed by nothing, then it came on again for another minute, before windows finally booted up.

 

[saka-rauka1]

I disconnected the SATA cable from the 850 and this seems to have fixed the problem. I have now booted into windows in around 10 seconds twice in a row. I'm going to open a different topic to see what the problem is with that drive.

 

[saka-rauka1]

Problem fixed in this thread: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/slow-boot-on-msi-z690-pro-a.3746486/#post-22588752 Was an SSD issue apparently.