Bios screen flashes and dies

[Sgent]

I'm a bit lost on this one and could use some help in diagnosing the problem.

I was playing an older game on a system stable for over a year and the screen turned black. The computer continued to run at least briefly. Since then the monitor will show the bios splash screen when powered on, then the screen goes black and doesn't start the boot sequence--although its getting some type of signal because the monitor doesn't sleep.

System:
Intel DH67CL motherboard
I5-2500 not over locked
Patriot memory
Seasonic 500w power
Amd 6950

Steps taken:
Removed video card and plugged monitor onto inboard video- still got the bios splash screen but nothing else.
Reseated memory and tried each of the two sticks alone
Unplugged computer, removed CMOS battery and reseated, held down power key for 60sec plugged back in

Any thoughts about a fix or at least what part is bad?

Thanks!

 

[Steltek]

Have you reseated all of the power cables (motherboard, CPU, and video card)? If so, I'm going to go with either bad power supply or bad motherboard.

Out of curiosity, what happens if you unplug all of the drives (HD, optical drives, SSDs, etc - both power and SATA cables) and try to boot the system with onboard video and one stick of DRAM? Does it get any further into the boot cycle? The reason I ask is that booting the system without any drives reduces the power requirements.

 

[Sgent]

Hmm... Thanks for the reminder to reseat everything.

I unplugged everything but 1 stick, the mboard, CPU, and keyboard and it seemed to make a very slight difference--the splash screen turned off and then the first few lines of text in the boot sequence flashed before dying.

 

[Steltek]

Hmm... Thanks for the reminder to reseat everything.

I unplugged everything but 1 stick, the mboard, CPU, and keyboard and it seemed to make a very slight difference--the splash screen turned off and then the first few lines of text in the boot sequence flashed before dying.

To me, that increases the possibility it is a bad power supply. It could still be the motherboard, but the fact the boot sequence progressed further with the other hardware disconnected still screams power supply to me. Any chance you have a spare available to swap it out with?

 

[Sgent]

Ok... So I yanked out a small power supply I had in a htpc... 270w but that should have been enough to post. Same thing happened so I'm thinking motherboard.

 

[Steltek]

Ok... So I yanked out a small power supply I had in a htpc... 270w but that should have been enough to post. Same thing happened so I'm thinking motherboard.

Yep, I agree.

Are you still in the warranty period? If I'm not mistaken, Intel has a 3 year warranty on those boards.

 

[Sgent]

I am... Just found the invoice. I've now got to see how long it will take...

Thanks for the assist!!!

 

[Sgent]

Just wanted to post a final update.... it wasn't the motherboard, but rather the monitor.

When I moved my laptop downstairs and plugged it in... the same problem occurred -- which resolved upon delivery of a new monitor.

 

[Smoove910]

so how long do you let it sit after you see the post? If you have Windows set to do a 'no GUI boot', you will have a black screen until you get the login screen/desktop.

Scenario: Say you didn't let it sit for a little bit (a couple minutes), when it first occurred you may have powered it off by hitting the power button (basically not shutting down how Windows prefers). If you have 'no GUI boot' enabled, you could post, the screen goes blank and then Windows does its diagnostics because it wasn't shut down correctly (all behind a blank screen).

Just thought I would throw this out there since it IS a possibility. Stranger things have happened...

Good Luck!

 

[Sgent]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I don't turn on "silent" boot for just this reason -- so I can see the post or other codes.

Once I hooked up my laptop to the monitor and had the same problem -- and realized I couldn't get the monitor's on screen display to work. I then hooked up my computer to my TV and the computer booted just fine.

If I were guessing it was probably some sort of sort corrosion issue which caused a short as the monitor started to heat up, explaining why I would get the initial splash screen and then it would go dark. I live in a condo built on top of a salt water lake, so salt air can do some weird stuff sometimes.