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Stuck at VGA LED, but boot after 2-3 mins (Help)

This is my full basic spec:

  1. Intel Core i7-6700K
  2. MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon
  3. Corsair LPX DDR4 2400MHz, 2x8GB
  4. 1 TB SSD M.2 SATA
  5. Toshiba 2x3TB HDD
  6. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founder's Edition (dGPU), Intel iGPU is enabled via BIOS, in order to use QS, but all monitors are plugged to GTX 1070.
  7. CM GX II 650W
  8. ASUS VK228H and Acer H226HQL (LED Power : Orange - Not detected, Blue - Detected)

It is like any other day. I decided to start my computer up, and the MSI EZ Debug LED stuck at VGA. My monitor is correctly detecting the signal from the dGPU, since my monitor LED power light is blue. I did the troubleshooting steps:

  1. Since I have two monitors, I plugged each monitor to each GPU, dGPU and iGPU. Resolution: dGPU picks up, LED power is blue, but still black screen (powered).
  2. Take out dGPU and test with iGPU. Resolution: iGPU picks up, LED power is blue, but still black screen (powered).
  3. Already cleared the CMOS and take battery out, I'm still using the iGPU, iGPU picks up, LED power is blue, but still black screen (powered).

I decided to browse my second hand online app for a new Z1/270 board. In about two-three minutes. The screen shows the 'BIOS reset', and I decided to use the OOB (out-of-box) stock settings, and I managed to get into Windows. So I decided to shut down and decided to plug my dGPU back into the motherboard.

 

The same problem occurred, the EZ Debug LED is stuck at VGA, however, the monitor (now dGPU) is correctly detecting signal, but still black screen (powered). I decided to wait about 2-3 minutes, and I managed to get into Windows. I decided to leave iGPU disabled.

 

I decided to do a BIOS update, as I'm on 1.3, so to assume that it is just an older BIOS, I upgrade to the next 1.4 (1.6 has Kaby Lake support). Nope, same thing, after 6 minutes (2 restarts), a slow to boot.

 

I'm just wondering, is this board about to die?

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32 minutes ago, AlfaProto said:

I'm just wondering, is this board about to die?

First thing. You didn't flash GPU with new bios by any chance? Maybe check if secure boot is enabled and CSM is disabled. ( I know this sounds odd, but I have experienced odd stuff, lol)

CPU: Ryzen 5800X3D | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Elite V2 | RAM: G.Skill Aegis 2x16gb 3200 @3600mhz | PSU: EVGA SuperNova 750 G3 | Monitor: LG 27GL850-B , Samsung C27HG70 | 
GPU: Red Devil RX 7900XT | Sound: Odac + Fiio E09K | Case: Fractal Design R6 TG Blackout |Storage: MP510 960gb and 860 Evo 500gb | Cooling: CPU: Noctua NH-D15 with one fan

FS in Denmark/EU:

Asus Dual GTX 1060 3GB. Used maximum 4 months total. Looks like new. Card never opened. Give me a price. 

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35 minutes ago, DoctorNick said:

First thing. You didn't flash GPU with new bios by any chance? Maybe check if secure boot is enabled and CSM is disabled. ( I know this sounds odd, but I have experienced odd stuff, lol)

As far as I remember, I didn't flash the GPU with the latest BIOS, as my 1070 is using Samsung memory, not Micron. There's no reason to mess around the BIOS. While it's a Founder's Edition, it's from ASUS, with the . Secure Boot is disabled (default), and CSM is disabled, as I'm not using it for Windows 7 or older. I'm using Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit.

Plus, it's like any other day, the previous day, it was working well, I didn't touch anything, just cold start (turn on)/resume from sleep. There wasn't even a Windows Update.

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15 minutes ago, AlfaProto said:

As far as I remember, I didn't flash the GPU with the latest BIOS, as my 1070 is using Samsung memory, not Micron. There's no reason to mess around the BIOS. While it's a Founder's Edition, it's from ASUS, with the . Secure Boot is disabled (default), and CSM is disabled, as I'm not using it for Windows 7 or older. I'm using Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit.

Plus, it's like any other day, the previous day, it was working well, I didn't touch anything, just cold start (turn on)/resume from sleep. There wasn't even a Windows Update.

Just checking. Alright. Does the PC boot (no display) tried other output on GPU?

CPU: Ryzen 5800X3D | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Elite V2 | RAM: G.Skill Aegis 2x16gb 3200 @3600mhz | PSU: EVGA SuperNova 750 G3 | Monitor: LG 27GL850-B , Samsung C27HG70 | 
GPU: Red Devil RX 7900XT | Sound: Odac + Fiio E09K | Case: Fractal Design R6 TG Blackout |Storage: MP510 960gb and 860 Evo 500gb | Cooling: CPU: Noctua NH-D15 with one fan

FS in Denmark/EU:

Asus Dual GTX 1060 3GB. Used maximum 4 months total. Looks like new. Card never opened. Give me a price. 

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27 minutes ago, DoctorNick said:

Just checking. Alright. Does the PC boot (no display) tried other output on GPU?

Even switching my only DP cable to the other two DP output on my 1070 failed. The screen is powered, but black, the EZ Debug LED VGA lights up.

I also did the same thing on the iGPU, no success.

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Seems strange, do you got a friend or something that has a rig you could test GPU in?

CPU: Ryzen 5800X3D | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Elite V2 | RAM: G.Skill Aegis 2x16gb 3200 @3600mhz | PSU: EVGA SuperNova 750 G3 | Monitor: LG 27GL850-B , Samsung C27HG70 | 
GPU: Red Devil RX 7900XT | Sound: Odac + Fiio E09K | Case: Fractal Design R6 TG Blackout |Storage: MP510 960gb and 860 Evo 500gb | Cooling: CPU: Noctua NH-D15 with one fan

FS in Denmark/EU:

Asus Dual GTX 1060 3GB. Used maximum 4 months total. Looks like new. Card never opened. Give me a price. 

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43 minutes ago, DoctorNick said:

Seems strange, do you got a friend or something that has a rig you could test GPU in?

I doubt that it's the dGPU problem, as I did tried iGPU, without the dGPU installed. It will stuck at the VGA led, but the screen is powered and black. I need to wait for 2-3 minutes before it shows the MSI logo/wallpaper.

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5 minutes ago, AlfaProto said:

I doubt that it's the dGPU problem, as I did tried iGPU, without the dGPU installed. It will stuck at the VGA led, but the screen is powered and black. I need to wait for 2-3 minutes before it shows the MSI logo/wallpaper.

Yeah.. Your right. Your pretty stuck, when you don't have another board or anything.

CPU: Ryzen 5800X3D | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Elite V2 | RAM: G.Skill Aegis 2x16gb 3200 @3600mhz | PSU: EVGA SuperNova 750 G3 | Monitor: LG 27GL850-B , Samsung C27HG70 | 
GPU: Red Devil RX 7900XT | Sound: Odac + Fiio E09K | Case: Fractal Design R6 TG Blackout |Storage: MP510 960gb and 860 Evo 500gb | Cooling: CPU: Noctua NH-D15 with one fan

FS in Denmark/EU:

Asus Dual GTX 1060 3GB. Used maximum 4 months total. Looks like new. Card never opened. Give me a price. 

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4 hours ago, DoctorNick said:

Yeah.. Your right. Your pretty stuck, when you don't have another board or anything.

I wished I have a PCIE riser.

 

I have two PCs, RVZ02 and a 'office' LP case. I can't use the RVZ02, as I managed to stuck a HDD at the GPU aready with a strong adhesive double-sided tape. The office looking PC, is LP, and I don't want to take the guts out, as it's simply too crammed.


I already tested a GT 520, and a GTX 760, it's all the same issue. A very slow POST check.

20191119_232059_HDR.thumb.jpg.6627736e406da6073b63098ae6569e3b.jpg

Display pick up, and this is the EZ debug LED:

20191119_232107_HDR.thumb.jpg.d84daf6d25684cd062feaa78df6d28af.jpg

It's stuck at VGA.
 

Not sure about this one, I can't remember of this should show something other than 'Unknown Driver':

20191119_232400_HDR.thumb.jpg.a54d7d6ac06720b6af8cfd8c451ae813.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

Hey Proto, did you ever figure this one out, or what did you change to stop getting the strange behavior. I am getting the same behavior from an MSI z390a-pro, and a 4 minute boot is annoying to live with.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 12/31/2020 at 4:15 PM, kennyhwescott said:

Hey Proto, did you ever figure this one out, or what did you change to stop getting the strange behavior. I am getting the same behavior from an MSI z390a-pro, and a 4 minute boot is annoying to live with.

Dude same I’m having the exact same issue on the same motherboard z390a-pro the vga light will turn on for 2-3 minutes then after that it’ll just shut off and boot up is it like a bios thing maybe, part of me is thinking it’s because it’s an intel motherboard but a ryzen graphics card?

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On 1/1/2021 at 8:15 AM, kennyhwescott said:

Hey Proto, did you ever figure this one out, or what did you change to stop getting the strange behavior. I am getting the same behavior from an MSI z390a-pro, and a 4 minute boot is annoying to live with.

 

3 minutes ago, Rubberchicken7-8 said:

Dude same I’m having the exact same issue on the same motherboard z390a-pro the vga light will turn on for 2-3 minutes then after that it’ll just shut off and boot up is it like a bios thing maybe, part of me is thinking it’s because it’s an intel motherboard but a ryzen graphics card?

This post is over a year old and the OP hasn't been on the forum in several months. You'll be far better off creating new posts asking for help with your issues.

CPU: Intel i7 6700k  | Motherboard: Gigabyte Z170x Gaming 5 | RAM: 2x16GB 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX | GPU: Gigabyte Aorus GTX 1080ti | PSU: Corsair RM750x (2018) | Case: BeQuiet SilentBase 800 | Cooler: Arctic Freezer 34 eSports | SSD: Samsung 970 Evo 500GB + Samsung 840 500GB + Crucial MX500 2TB | Monitor: Acer Predator XB271HU + Samsung BX2450

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  • 4 months later...

Same problem.  Except mine sits on a black screen for about ten minutes.  I have flashed bios, pulled hdd, reset nvram, tried other VGA slots, tried specifying gen3 for pci, etc.  8 hours worth of troubleshooting.  Unfortunately I can't help whoever else is having this problem, yet, but I will update this post when I find the answer.  I have a z170a. 

 

I don't expect to get help here, @Spotty.  It's funny to me that the internet is full of people that go ask others for help, and when they get it, or they find the fix, they never bother to help anyone else that has the same problem.  They won't even reply. 

 

The typical internet search is 

a) find problem person posted for help 

b) find answers from community

c) never hear from op again

 

You know you've typically got a winner when the person never replies to say thanks or anything else. This isn't the case here, but it's close enough. OP probably fixed it. 

 

I will remove part of this comment when I find the fix. I have bookmarked this and hopefully will see you all soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, truepudding said:

Same problem.  Except mine sits on a black screen for about ten minutes.  I have flashed bios, pulled hdd, reset nvram, tried other VGA slots, tried specifying gen3 for pci, etc.  8 hours worth of troubleshooting.  Unfortunately I can't help whoever else is having this problem, yet, but I will update this post when I find the answer.  I have a z170a. 

 

I don't expect to get help here, @Spotty.  It's funny to me that the internet is full of people that go ask others for help, and when they get it, or they find the fix, they never bother to help anyone else that has the same problem.  They won't even reply. 

 

The typical internet search is 

a) find problem person posted for help 

b) find answers from community

c) never hear from op again

 

You know you've typically got a winner when the person never replies to say thanks or anything else. This isn't the case here, but it's close enough. OP probably fixed it. 

 

I will remove part of this comment when I find the fix. I have bookmarked this and hopefully will see you all soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try making your own thread. Including as many specs and everything you've tried so far. More details, the better for everyone.

https://linustechtips.com/forum/46-troubleshooting/?do=add

I'm not actually trying to be as grumpy as it seems.

I will find your mentions of Ikea or Gnome and I will /s post. 

Project Hot Box

CPU 13900k, Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Elite AX, RAM CORSAIR Vengeance 4x16gb 5200 MHZ, GPU Zotac RTX 4090 Trinity OC, Case Fractal Pop Air XL, Storage Sabrent Rocket Q4 2tbCORSAIR Force Series MP510 1920GB NVMe, CORSAIR FORCE Series MP510 960GB NVMe, PSU CORSAIR HX1000i, Cooling Corsair XC8 CPU block, Bykski GPU block, 360mm and 280mm radiator, Displays Odyssey G9, LG 34UC98-W 34-Inch,Keyboard Mountain Everest Max, Mouse Mountain Makalu 67, Sound AT2035, Massdrop 6xx headphones, Go XLR 

Oppbevaring

CPU i9-9900k, Motherboard, ASUS Rog Maximus Code XI, RAM, 48GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB 3200 mhz (2x16)+(2x8) GPUs Asus ROG Strix 2070 8gb, PNY 1080, Nvidia 1080, Case Mining Frame, 2x Storage Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB, PSU Corsair RM1000x and RM850x, Cooling Asus Rog Ryuo 240 with Noctua NF-12 fans

 

Why is the 5800x so hot?

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/5/2021 at 7:19 AM, truepudding said:

Same problem.  Except mine sits on a black screen for about ten minutes.  I have flashed bios, pulled hdd, reset nvram, tried other VGA slots, tried specifying gen3 for pci, etc.  8 hours worth of troubleshooting.  Unfortunately I can't help whoever else is having this problem, yet, but I will update this post when I find the answer.  I have a z170a. 

 

I don't expect to get help here, @Spotty.  It's funny to me that the internet is full of people that go ask others for help, and when they get it, or they find the fix, they never bother to help anyone else that has the same problem.  They won't even reply. 

 

The typical internet search is 

a) find problem person posted for help 

b) find answers from community

c) never hear from op again

 

You know you've typically got a winner when the person never replies to say thanks or anything else. This isn't the case here, but it's close enough. OP probably fixed it. 

 

I will remove part of this comment when I find the fix. I have bookmarked this and hopefully will see you all soon. 

 

Actually, I left it open instead of closed, because I was hoping to resurrect the board, however, no one seems to have the right answer. So I narrowed it down to the motherboard or chipset or the PCIE switch(?).

1. Use a non-UEFI GPU (I happen to have a 8400)
2. Use a UEFI GPU (Use 760)
3. Since the motherboard I have, have 3 x16 slots, I tested each and no, the debug LED keep stuck at GPU.
4. Using the iGPU bypass the GPU error.

I'll wait for one or two replies before closing it.

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On 11/19/2019 at 2:05 AM, AlfaProto said:

This is my full basic spec:

  1. Intel Core i7-6700K
  2. MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon
  3. Corsair LPX DDR4 2400MHz, 2x8GB
  4. 1 TB SSD M.2 SATA
  5. Toshiba 2x3TB HDD
  6. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founder's Edition (dGPU), Intel iGPU is enabled via BIOS, in order to use QS, but all monitors are plugged to GTX 1070.
  7. CM GX II 650W
  8. ASUS VK228H and Acer H226HQL (LED Power : Orange - Not detected, Blue - Detected)

It is like any other day. I decided to start my computer up, and the MSI EZ Debug LED stuck at VGA. My monitor is correctly detecting the signal from the dGPU, since my monitor LED power light is blue. I did the troubleshooting steps:

  1. Since I have two monitors, I plugged each monitor to each GPU, dGPU and iGPU. Resolution: dGPU picks up, LED power is blue, but still black screen (powered).
  2. Take out dGPU and test with iGPU. Resolution: iGPU picks up, LED power is blue, but still black screen (powered).
  3. Already cleared the CMOS and take battery out, I'm still using the iGPU, iGPU picks up, LED power is blue, but still black screen (powered).

I decided to browse my second hand online app for a new Z1/270 board. In about two-three minutes. The screen shows the 'BIOS reset', and I decided to use the OOB (out-of-box) stock settings, and I managed to get into Windows. So I decided to shut down and decided to plug my dGPU back into the motherboard.

 

The same problem occurred, the EZ Debug LED is stuck at VGA, however, the monitor (now dGPU) is correctly detecting signal, but still black screen (powered). I decided to wait about 2-3 minutes, and I managed to get into Windows. I decided to leave iGPU disabled.

 

I decided to do a BIOS update, as I'm on 1.3, so to assume that it is just an older BIOS, I upgrade to the next 1.4 (1.6 has Kaby Lake support). Nope, same thing, after 6 minutes (2 restarts), a slow to boot.

 

I'm just wondering, is this board about to die?

Have to ask - You did check and replace the CMOS battery too?

A weak CMOS battery can cause all kinds of weirdness like this.
If the BIOS is doing as you're described earlier there's a reason for it of course and I'm thinking each time it boots (Based on your description of it) it's having to go through a basic start sequence to retrain RAM settings and all else since these settings were never held, it's having to re-establish literally everything, everytime it boots and that's why you're getting the "boot-reboot" thing each time you start the system, that can also make startup be slow in general.
If it has one, be sure you didn't accidentally (Brain fart?) leave the CMOS clear jumper in the "Clear" position.

If the battery is too weak it can also cause BIOS corruption causing anything from mild and annoying crap to an outright "It's screwed" situation.
A battery with less than 2.9v's is in need of replacement, a good battery has at last 3.0v's in it.

Don't give up just yet, would be nice to nail the cause of it down so it can be known to help others later.
 

"If you ever need anything please don't hesitate to ask someone else first"..... Nirvana
"Whadda ya mean I ain't kind? Just not your kind"..... Megadeth
Speaking of things being "All Inclusive", Hell itself is too.

 

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2 minutes ago, Beerzerker said:

Have to ask - You did check and replace the CMOS battery too?

A weak CMOS battery can cause all kinds of weirdness like this.
If the BIOS is doing as you're described earlier there's a reason for it of course and I'm thinking each time it boots (Based on your description of it) it's having to go through a basic start sequence to retrain RAM settings and all else since these settings were never held, it's having to re-establish literally everything, everytime it boots and that's why you're getting the "boot-reboot" thing each time you start the system, that can also make startup be slow in general.
If it has one, be sure you didn't accidentally (Brain fart?) leave the CMOS clear jumper in the "Clear" position.

If the battery is too weak it can also cause BIOS corruption causing anything from mild and annoying crap to an outright "It's screwed" situation.
A battery with less than 2.9v's is in need of replacement, a good battery has at last 3.0v's in it.

Don't give up just yet, would be nice to nail the cause of it down so it can be known to help others later.
 

Yes, I did it a year ago. I swapped the battery for a newer, suspecting it might be a weak battery--result: Nothing.

The clearing the CMOS requires a short-circuit of the two pin--the jumper pins are left open in order to keep the data.

I did try updating the UEFI to the next step up version but this didn't fixed. I really don't wanna update to support Kaby Lake (KL) because there's zero reasons to, I don't own any KL, newer sticks of RAM, nor the incompatible SSD.

I might get a Pentium or i3 Skylake (or whichever Skylake CPU for cheap). I really don't want to take out my 6700K.

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Another possible cause could be the BIOS chip itself is going bad, I've had that happen before and the only way to fix it is to get another one.

You could simply get an identical chip and flash it or order a new one, there is a guy on fleabay that sells new BIOS chips: biosdepot on eBay  and I've used him before.

You must tell him what board you have right down to the exact model and revision/version of the board you have and he'll send one already flashed, ready to go.

EDIT:
I Just remembered MSI is notorious for not having a removable BIOS chip, you may well have a unuseable board on your hands.

"If you ever need anything please don't hesitate to ask someone else first"..... Nirvana
"Whadda ya mean I ain't kind? Just not your kind"..... Megadeth
Speaking of things being "All Inclusive", Hell itself is too.

 

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22 hours ago, Beerzerker said:

Another possible cause could be the BIOS chip itself is going bad, I've had that happen before and the only way to fix it is to get another one.

You could simply get an identical chip and flash it or order a new one, there is a guy on fleabay that sells new BIOS chips: biosdepot on eBay  and I've used him before.

You must tell him what board you have right down to the exact model and revision/version of the board you have and he'll send one already flashed, ready to go.

EDIT:
I Just remembered MSI is notorious for not having a removable BIOS chip, you may well have a unuseable board on your hands.

Alright, I'm not closing this thread yet.

 

I also suspected that the BIOS chip is going bad, because the week before it partially fails, my settings were mysteriously reset, requiring me to F1 for BIOS setup or F2(?) for default settings.

 

Though, thanks for the tip, but it may take several months, because I am considering retiring the Skylake platform and saving up for an i7 10th/11th gen platform (because it's the only x86 with an decent iGPU, by decent means, good support and quality--NOT FPS, I use QS), with an NZXT board (hopefully, I can find some clue to ship to SEA, I'm so not using MSI, despite it lasted 1-2 years after the warranty expired). As for the current system, even with a modest 4.5 on the 6700K (now it's stock), 4x8GB RAM---I've maxed out the system for productivity.

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  • 9 months later...

I had the very exact problem. And i noticed it(in hindsight especially) - when I disconnected and reconnected all my usb devices/keyboards/monitors. 

 

It seems that the usb for my audio devices was causing the issues. Because once I unplugged it from one specific usb port it now seem to boost fast as before. And that usb plug has a lighting symbol for some reason.

 

Before also tried switching off my PSUs saving mode, but that didn't help. (Have it back on atm).

 

I'm using

GPU: RX590

PSU: XTR 650 Gold PSU

MB: MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI 

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