Issues with VGA light on MSI Z390 Gaming OC (No Boot/BIOS)

[That_Nerd_Eric]

Good Morning, 
 

Recently I ran into an issue with my desktop PC of where the VGA light is on and is (now) preventing boot.

2 weeks ago I noticed a VGA light and about a 4-5 minute boot time. I figured, "Oh, it must be drivers" so I updated my drivers and still the same issue. I ignored it and lived with the 5 minute boot for about a week. I went out of town a few days later and when I returned the VGA light is always on, prevents boot and no screen output with NO ability to get to BIOS.
 

I ventured on my own troubleshooting steps.
- Drivers
- Updates
- BIOS Update
- Removal of GPU, Cleaning, and Re-Installation
- CMOS Reset
- NVME Removal
- Verified GPU works in another rig
- Used a different known good boot drive
 

When I removed my NVME drive I was able to enter BIOS with the GPU installed. I moved the NVME drive into another slot and was able to see a message saying "SAMSUNG 970EVO500GB NOT_FOUND" or similar, I put it back into its original slot and ran back into the issues.

I got a Windows Error of "0x00000e" then it would enter a boot loop with the NVME installed in Slot 1 instead of Slot 0
 

I bought a new NVME SSD (970 EVO+ 1TB) that I verified works with an image of Win 10. Still nothing, I'm truly at a loss and looking for any help.

EDIT: 
Rig Spec:
GPU: EVGA RTX 2070 OC
M/B: MSI Z390 Gaming OC Black
CPU: Intel i7 9700k
RAM: 32GB G.Skill Trident-Z 3200Mhz
STORAGE;
2x 970EVO+ (500GB and 1TB)
2x WD Black 2TB 7200RPM

[emosun]

board could be a dud. if it stopped working with zero adjustments to the firmware or hardware that would definitely be possible.

pci-e controller could be dead in some form if using an ssd and gpu at the same time yields a no post situation. without more hardware to crosscheck in the machine it'll be hard to determine if thats the case. If it were in front of me i'd try another gpu to see if it magically makes the pci-e controller discover the ssd and boot again.

[That_Nerd_Eric]

4 minutes ago, emosun said:

board could be a dud. if it stopped working with zero adjustments to the firmware or hardware that would definitely be possible.

pci-e controller could be dead in some form if using an ssd and gpu at the same time yields a no post situation. without more hardware to crosscheck in the machine it'll be hard to determine if thats the case. If it were in front of me i'd try another gpu to see if it magically makes the pci-e controller discover the ssd and boot again.

I was beginning to think it might be my MB. It's unfortunate.

I find it so bizarre though. I come back home one day and it takes forever to boot. 3 weeks later I come back from out of state, turn it one once after several minutes, a few hours later.. nothing. I've had it for about 3-4 years though. Things die eventually.

Thank you.

[leclod]

You don't have an igpu ?

You didn't try another gpu in that rig ?

 

I doubt your MB is dead, if you didn't step on it. I think there's something else.

[That_Nerd_Eric]

52 minutes ago, leclod said:

You don't have an igpu ?

You didn't try another gpu in that rig ?

 

I doubt your MB is dead, if you didn't step on it. I think there's something else.

I have an i-gpu in the i7-9700k 
With no PCIE devices I got to BIOS but I haven't verified if that was a fluke or not.
I dont have another GPU to verify but I have confirmed that my GPU does work in another rig.
 

[leclod]

3 hours ago, That_Nerd_Eric said:

With no PCIE devices I got to BIOS but I haven't verified if that was a fluke or not.
 

to BIOS and no further ?

[That_Nerd_Eric]

3 hours ago, leclod said:

to BIOS and no further ?

Correct because my boot drive is a NVME drive

[leclod]

11 hours ago, That_Nerd_Eric said:

Correct because my boot drive is a NVME drive

I don't see the link

[That_Nerd_Eric]

4 hours ago, leclod said:

I don't see the link

The link in what? 
I'm sorry, if I'm the one being OOTL in my own thread.

[leclod]

2 hours ago, That_Nerd_Eric said:

The link in what? 
I'm sorry, if I'm the one being OOTL in my own thread.

No problem, I might be the OOTL

I don't see the link  between to BIOS and no further ?  and Correct because my boot drive is a NVME drive .

Why would an NVME drive prevent from going further than Bios

[That_Nerd_Eric]

26 minutes ago, leclod said:

No problem, I might be the OOTL

I don't see the link  between to BIOS and no further ?  and Correct because my boot drive is a NVME drive .

Why would an NVME drive prevent from going further than Bios

I can only get to BIOS of all PCIE devices are disconnected, my boot drive being one of the PCIE devices

[leclod]

Also, along the way I'd replug everything maybe on psu side too.

Did you change anything for the trouble to start ?

So, with igpu, no gpu, minimal Ram (one stick maybe different slot), nothing unnecessary, you can't boot ?

Edited April 1, 2023 by leclod

[That_Nerd_Eric]

1 hour ago, leclod said:

Also, along the way I'd replug everything maybe on psu side too.

Did you change anything for the trouble to start ?

So, with igpu, no gpu, minimal Ram (one stick maybe different slot), nothing unnecessary, you can't boot ?

Correct. I'll try what you suggested. 
And no, I didn't change anything. It just happened for no apparent reason.

[That_Nerd_Eric]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:41 PM, leclod said:

Also, along the way I'd replug everything maybe on psu side too.

Did you change anything for the trouble to start ?

So, with igpu, no gpu, minimal Ram (one stick maybe different slot), nothing unnecessary, you can't boot ?

I tried the RAM thing as well as no un-necessary devices again. Still nothing.

[leclod]

1 hour ago, That_Nerd_Eric said:

I tried the RAM thing as well as no un-necessary devices again. Still nothing.

Say you use an empty ssd, will you be able to install Windows from a USB stick ?

[That_Nerd_Eric]

49 minutes ago, leclod said:

Say you use an empty ssd, will you be able to install Windows from a USB stick ?

I can't do anything with my PC currently. It's just VGA light. No bios, no boot priority cycling. The board seems to Int. but after that it will just sit on the VGA light until I turn the machine off.

My USB devices get power, my monitor turns on but has no display. Fans spin, AIO is pumping, RAM is lighting. I'm certain my GPU works because I still see the same behavior when it's not installed.

EDIT: Adding to what you said, at first I tried an empty drive before it dawned on me to put an OS on it. I did not have any luck doing that either.