BIOS Issue

[Ritysayo]

Hello everyone,

 

Around a year ago I, regretfully, purchased a custom built computer from a company called CyberPowerPC. I've had several issues over the past few months. Everything seems to go wrong with this machine, and I've been consistently fixing problems. I'm having a horrible time trying to diagnose an issue with my motherboard's BIOS. I'll explain the situation, diagnosis attempts, and list computer specifications down below.

 

Description:

The computer will boot into my Windows 10 OS without a problem. The computer functions perfectly fine for several hours each day. I'm an active gamer, IT student, and a typical geek; so it gets plenty of usage without crashing.

 

While starting the computer, it will not display my motherboard company's logo, with the various options at the bottom allowing you to access different features. I've tried numerous methods of accessing my BIOS, but it refuses to give me access. Whenever I use a method that seems to be successful, it will not bring me into the BIOS. It will bring me to a pitch black screen, and my monitors will have no display connection.

 

Diagnosis Attempts:

• Pressing F2 and/or the Delete keys during the load-up will result in my display going black without accessing the BIOS.
• Windows 10 normally has an option to restart into the UEFI, but mine doesn't have that option.
• ASRock has a restart into UEFI program, which restarts me into the no display/black screen.
• Unplugged all cords except for the display, keyboard, and mouse (Attempted without keyboard and mouse as well).
• Switched to an older monitor, that it had previously worked on.
• Read online about resolution being an issue trying to handshake the BIOS menu, so I changed to a lower resolution setting and restarted.
• Re-seated my RAM and graphic cards.
• Cleared the CMOS.
• Switched from BIOS "A' to "B" which didn't seem to change anything.
• Updated all drivers.
• Attempted to restart in safe mode.

 

All of these attempts failed to resolve the issue, and I'm worried that I'll have to remove the SSD. I think that if I remove the SSD; it might bring me directly into the BIOS without having an OS to boot. I'm worried this would only bring me to a black screen/no display and when I re-connect the SSD that the boot option to reset to bringing me into the BIOS.

 

This would lead to me not having a functioning computer. Right now, there is nothing necessarily wrong with my system. I wanted to enter the BIOS to check my RAM speeds, but it refuses to allow me access. I have left it alone, but I want to fix the problem before it breaks down further.

 

Someone suggested updating my BIOS drivers, but I'm unfamiliar with doing this. After researching it a bit, I have only found solutions for people that can already access their BIOS. I'm not able to access it, so I can't update it.

 

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i7 5960X

Motherboard: ASRock x99x Killer

Memory: TridentZ Series G-Skill - DDR4 3200 - 32GB (4 Sticks)

GPU1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

GPU2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

OS: Windows 10 Pro (64 BIT)

Monitor: Acer Predator X34

BIOS Version: American Megatrends Inc. P1.50, 10/16/2014

SMBIOS Version: 2.8

BIOS Mode: Legacy

 

If anyone can suggest a solution, I would be incredibly grateful.

 

Thank You,

Alexander

[Windows7ge]

You've tried clearing CMOS but have you tried removing the battery from the motherboard for a minute (one minute is probably overkill) then putting it back in?

[Ritysayo]

19 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

You've tried clearing CMOS but have you tried removing the battery from the motherboard for a minute (one minute is probably overkill) then putting it back in?

No, I thought this would be pointless due to already attempting to clear the CMOS. I don't want to mess with the hardware any more than I am required.

 

I'll try doing this if there are no other suggestions. I'm hoping to receive a few suggestions that do not require a risk to the already performing system. (I've never removed the battery before, so I'm not sure how risky this would be.)

[0x1e]

21 minutes ago, Ritysayo said:

No, I thought this would be pointless due to already attempting to clear the CMOS. I don't want to mess with the hardware any more than I am required.

 

I'll try doing this if there are no other suggestions. I'm hoping to receive a few suggestions that do not require a risk to the already performing system. (I've never removed the battery before, so I'm not sure how risky this would be.)

This may sound stupid but have you tried plugging your monitor cable into the other GPU when trying to access the bios?

Or just take out the slave GPU completely.

You could also try a different port (after doing the options above) as some bios' don't like HDMI.

[Windows7ge]

It may not help but if you cannot get into the BIOS on a X99 motherboard is a serious bug that I'd imagine has something to do with the motherboard being defective. If a regular clear CMOS doesn't work then full power loss might. Removing the battery itself isn't hard so long as you're careful and take it slow. I've done it before. I wonder how that company assembled the system without using the BIOS at all. If they're a shady company it might explain your issues right there. They might have sold you an RMA board to score some extra cash. You should have built the system yourself. With little assistance I've seen children build computers. I built my first computer at 14. single core AMD processor, 2GB DDR2 memory, 160GB hard drive, no GPU just integrated graphics, all inside an absolute crap case running Windows XP. You have no idea how excited I was. You're much better off building it yourself and if you really find no other solution buy a new motherboard and replace it yourself. There's literally 1,000's of tutorials on how to build computers particularly X99 so you can do it yourself if you have to.

[Ritysayo]

On 5/8/2016 at 0:05 AM, 0x1e said:

This may sound stupid but have you tried plugging your monitor cable into the other GPU when trying to access the bios?

Or just take out the slave GPU completely.

You could also try a different port (after doing the options above) as some bios' don't like HDMI.

This was an interesting perspective! My problem was the DO cord being plugged into the second graphics card.If I plug in my second monitor's DVI cable into the other graphics card, then put the DVI cord into the same card; my BIOS will appear on the DVI connector's screen even with the DO control being the primary display.

 

It is a glitched out situation. I'm now able to access my BIOS, but my computer is glitching out 50% of the times I turn it on. When I'm lucky, it will display the BIOS on one screen then swap over to my primary display and load Windows. The other 50% of the time, it will just load me up into a black screen.

 

Any ideas on fixing that new issues?

 

P.S.

I've updated my BIOS drivers.

[0x1e]

16 hours ago, Ritysayo said:

This was an interesting perspective! My problem was the DO cord being plugged into the second graphics card.If I plug in my second monitor's DVI cable into the other graphics card, then put the DVI cord into the same card; my BIOS will appear on the DVI connector's screen even with the DO control being the primary display.

 

It is a glitched out situation. I'm now able to access my BIOS, but my computer is glitching out 50% of the times I turn it on. When I'm lucky, it will display the BIOS on one screen then swap over to my primary display and load Windows. The other 50% of the time, it will just load me up into a black screen.

 

Any ideas on fixing that new issues?

 

P.S.

I've updated my BIOS drivers.

The bios will always use the first GPU it detects unless you specify which one. However with SLI machines (or crossfire) you can't do that as the slave card will always be ignored.

You then have a primary and secondary port on each GPU.

 

So, on my computer I use the iGPU and my dedicated GPU. If I don't tell my bios what to do then the bios will display the bios on the iGPU as it will be detected long before the PCI-e bus has been initialized. So I must tell the bios that even though the iGPU is active it should be ignored by forcing the PCI-e to be the primary output. Windows will then take over and allow the iGPU to display.

On the GPU itself you then have a primary port. Your manual should tell you what one it is, it's normally DVI. This will be checked first. If there's a monitor connected then the GPU will not check other ports for a display. So if you instead want HDMI to be your primary then you must not plug anything into the DVI. However this does not always work as the manufacture has control over that. So it may work for EVGA but not ASUS.

 

You also have a primary PCI-e slot. This will be checked first, if no GPU is found then it will move to PCI-e 2, then 3 then 4 and so on until one is. So if your master GPU is in port 2 and slave in port 1 then you'll receive no display from the bios. The drivers will later fix it but at this point there are no drivers involved. This happens as the bios is not concerned if you can see the bios or not. Its only focus is to POST and initialize hardware so it can be passed onto the OS. 

 

Once Windows has loaded and the drivers have loaded then they take over and will apply your settings. So HDMI becomes primary and DVI becomes secondary (if that's how you want it) but that will only be applied once the drivers have loaded.

 

So if you want to fix your problem then disable the iGPU (if you have one) , find what pci-e slot is number 1 and plug the master GPU into it, find what your primary port is on the GPU (DVI, HDMI, DP, Mini DP) and plug your main display into it. You can use a converter to accomplish that if needed.

 

I hope that helps some what.