Question System POST but not loading into OS

[Rextus]

Hello everyone,
This morning when I turned my PC on, it displayed the motherboard vendor logo (http://prnt.sc/nbvlya), then proceeded to the windows 10 startup animation(http://prnt.sc/nbvmbs). However after the startup animation the screen simply turned black (but screen is still turned on) (http://prnt.sc/nbvmok). I tried stripping the PC to mobo, CPU and RAM, same problem. I tried RAM in different slots, same problem. I don't currently have another PC to test the hard drive on, but seeing that it loads the windows 10 startup animation I believe it is working. Same for CPU and RAM. I also noticed that the BIOS is kind of glitchy (usually looks like http://prnt.sc/nbwfty) , so I upgraded it to lastest version, still as glitchy and still not working (http://prnt.sc/nbvjw2). I'm running out of ideas so if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Darkbreeze]

Honestly, it sounds like either a faulty motherboard or a driver problem. Drivers however won't affect your BIOS. Why and what do you mean by "glitchy", because I'm not seeing anything in your screenshots that explains that.

As far as going black screen when loading windows, that is likely a graphics issue. Try booting to safe mode:

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10

And choose the safe mode with networking option.

Download Wagnard tools Display driver uninstaller. Download the latest graphics drivers for your graphics card. Run the DDU for your graphics card model. Then install the latest drivers.

Here are the first steps to take when trying to solve these kinds of hardware problems. If you have already tried these steps, all of them, exactly as outlined, we can move along to more advanced solutions.

If there are any you have NOT done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.


First, make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.

Second, go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.

IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.

The last thing we want to look at, for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.

If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.

Here are the full instructions on running the Display driver uninstaller and CLEAN installing new drivers.

Graphics card CLEAN install tutorial using the DDU


​

 

[Barty1884]

Can you interrupt the boot process manually (2-3 times IIRC) and be presented with the 'recovery' screen? When the Windows loading circle appears, hit the rest button/cut the power.
After doing that a few times, you'll get the "automatic repair" screen, and should be able to troubleshoot by entering in Safe Mode.

As for a glitchy BIOS, it looks fine to me?

EDIT Darkbreeze beat me to it.

 

[Rextus]

What I mean by glitchy BIOS can be seen when comparing these two images included above.
What BIOS should look like: http://prnt.sc/nbwfty
What my glitchy BIOS looks like:
http://prnt.sc/nbvjw2
Note the lack of menus on the bottom and background pattern, which leads me to think that the mobo is dying.
Also in the excitement (or lack thereof) of the moment I forgot to include my system specs. Here they are:
Ryzen 7 1700
Biostar B350GT5 version 5.0
Evga GTX 1070 SC
Ripjaws 4 2x8 GB DDR4 RAM
Toshiba 1000 GB hard drive
I heard those Toshiba drives are a known issue so I will test it tomorrow on a known working system. As for DDU, I ran it a few months prior after testing an HD 5750 which messed up my drivers, but this time I can't even access the OS to do so. Heck the system seems to start up as normal just without the display, as I heard the windows notification tone the first time I started my PC this morning. I will try to interrupt boot sequence 3 times in a row for safe mode, and I'll give updates as I progress through the steps. Thanks a lot for your useful feedback, both of you.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Honestly, it wouldn't be surprising. Biostar makes low quality aftermarket boards in my opinion. Their OEM boards have a history of being pretty spotty too. Usually used in low quality prebuilts like the old Gateway's and some others. Nothing they've done in the last handful of years leads me to believe the quality has gotten any better either. That being said, they DO have SOME high quality boards, but mainly their mainstream and budget stuff is junk. I'd recommend getting a decent ASUS or ASRock B450 or X470 board, unless you can wait for the X570 boards coming in June or thereabouts, which I doubt if this is your daily driver.

 

[Rextus]

As far as going black screen when loading windows, that is likely a graphics issue.

​

I installed my hard drive in a working computer at work and everything booted fine. Do you think it still might be a display driver problem or more likely the glitchy mobo and its brand reputation? As for running DDU, if I run a full uninstall on the computer at work wouldn't it then load the display drivers for that exact model onto the hard drive the second DDU completes the uninstall and boots into windows?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Every time you put a drive with an OS on it in another computer, and allow it to automatically make changes to the registry for the changed hardware platform and drivers, it makes things worse. At this point, I'd probably recommend that you get everything important in terms of files, documents, folders, music, movies, etc., off that drive and onto another drive and then do a clean install of Windows WITH it installed in the system it is going to be used in.

If you still have problems after the clean install, and it needs to be CLEAN install, not a re-install, or an install to the existing partition. All partitions need to be deleted during the Windows installation process (Which it will allow you to do DURING the installation if you choose the Custom option when it asks) including the hidden EFI, restore and boot partitions.

Windows 10 Clean install tutorial​

Be sure to read these and if necessary, follow the instructions on attaching the OS to yourself, first.

How to associate your windows 10 license with a Microsoft account

Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change

Windows build 1607 (Or newer) and activation after a hardware change


Right now, after installing and booting into the desktop on that other computer, I'd just about bet that your copy of Windows is no longer activated. I'd be surprised if it was if that machine it was installed in is attached to the internet at all. Probably even if it isn't.​

 

[Rextus]

Working desktop was indeed disconnected from the servers. I didn't want them to know I was messing with their redundant workstations 😁

 

[Rextus]

@Darkbreeze I reinstalled windows on a brand new SSD. Computer loads into OS properly for about 15 mins before it black screens. And no it's not my graphics card, I tested it in another computer and it worked fine. Any suggestions?

 

[Rextus]

Weird that I can load into safe mode without any problem, but normal boot still gives me a black screen after windows booting animation.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If it works fine in safe mode, but not with normal full drivers loaded, then it's USUALLY a driver issue.

Boot into Safe mode with networking.

Make sure Windows automatic driver updating is turned OFF, as follows:

How To - How to stop Windows 10 from automatically updating device drivers

The transition to Windows 10 has been in some cases a breath of fresh air, and in others, more like a whiff of landfill. One of the areas that has NOT been well accepted is the decision to enforce updates whether you want them or not. While I happen to disagree with this policy, many think it's...

forums.tomshardware.com

Then try downloading and installing ALL of the following, without a restart. Once they are ALL installed, then restart and see what happens.

Chipset: https://download.biostar.com.tw/upload/Driver/Chipset/ATI/AM4/Chipset_RV.zip

LAN/Network adapter: https://download.biostar.com.tw/upload/Driver/LAN/Realtek/PCI_E/RTL8118AS/PCIe_Win10.exe

Realtek audio: https://download.biostar.com.tw/upload/Driver/Audio/Realtek/HD/W7__W10/8397/HD8252.exe

Also, download the latest Nvidia drivers from the Nvidia website as well as the DDU (Display driver uninstaller) Run the DDU while you are still in safe mode, then allow the system to restart and if it will boot to Windows, immediately install the Nvidia drivers. If it won't, then boot to safe mode again and install them, then restart.

Install them all, even if you think they are already up to date. Windows sometimes changes them without you knowing to versions IT thinks are better, but may not be. This OFTEN causes the kind of problems you are experiencing.

 

[Rextus]

I've downloaded the latter two drivers, but I could not download the chipset driver because it wasn't digitally signed. I tried loading into advanced boot settings but windows would not boot when selecting option 7 "Disable driver signature enforcement". Not sure what to do next, but right now safe mode w/ networking is booting fine if not a bit of a hassle everytime.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You need that chipset driver. That is the MOST important driver on the entire system. That is everything about the motherboard. I've never seen issues with not downloading digitally signed drivers before. Has to be a work around and is most likely a browser setting if that is the case. If it is an INSTALLATION problem because of it not being a signed driver, then try using this one.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/cpu/...d-ryzen-7-desktop-processors/amd-ryzen-7-1700

 

[Rextus]

The official AMD one doesn't work either, giving me the same error message. Error 99 - AMD installer cannot continue because the driver being installed has not been digitally signed. I tried going into command prompt to change
bcdedit /set testsigning on
to no avail.

 

[Darkbreeze]

My advice would be to try running the DDU to remove ALL AMD drivers, and then install the latest AMD all in one driver package.

 

[Rextus]

My advice would be to try running the DDU to remove ALL AMD drivers, and then install the latest AMD all in one driver package.

@Darkbreeze you'd never know, of all the things that could break, what actually broke in my setup. I decided to buy another screen for a dual screen setup for a friend. And I thought he surely wouldn't mind me testing it after all the help I was to him. Tried the screen, worked perfectly. It wasn't a graphics nor a motherboard issue, but a DISPLAY issue. 😳

 

[Darkbreeze]

It's actually not that surprising, but usually display or display cable issues present as severely corrupted displays or no display at all. At least you got it sorted, that's what counts. Good luck to you man.