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Problem description: I have a Win 7 HTPC box that recently developed a starting up issue which seems hardware related - the last time I rebooted it a few months ago it took 15-20 tries for it to 'catch' and start up again. It's sort of like the system begins the bootup process and then the processor fan isn't spinning fast enough and it restarts because the fan isn't spinning (this is my theory only, and this is a 2 second process, no loading screens are ever seen), and it acts like an old car taking a few attempts to turn the engine over and begin running. It never gets as far as hitting the BIOS or to loading Windows... until it does, and usually once it does that, it makes it all the way to fully booted. However, at the moment this balky bootup routine might be a contributing factor rather than the main issue I'm trying to solve today; The current primary issue: After a struggle to get it back up after doing a Windows update, it is now showing a black screen/no video via both the HDMI or DVI output on the motherboard built-in video. 1) The system is rock stable/solid and never crashes or struggles or has any issue at all aside from the startup hesitancy (which I've been aware of for about 2 months now, and has happened twice - this system is almost always on) which I'm sort of attributing to possibly a bad power supply, but it's odd the box is always-on for months at a time without a single other problem and only has trouble on a restart/fresh startup. 2) No previous indication of any software issues and virus protection/scans are up to date and have always been clean. 3) The system is about 3.5 years old, is always on, and has not had any other problems at all. Attempted fixes: I have opened the case up and cleaned dust out of the processor fan/heatsink in an attempt to eliminate any possible issues that may have been part of a slow-to-start situation (which didn't make much difference), and I've tried a) connecting to a different HDMI cable/connected to a different monitor/different plug in location/different power cord/letting it cool down completely b) using the DVI connection with that different monitor c) plugging a different laptop into the existing HDMI hookup the HTPC was on to verify it's still working/connected to the TV d) I can see the HTPC on my router's list of clients and e) I can ping the HTPC and f) I can make the HTPC send noise through the digital optical-out for audio (by pressing a bunch of buttons on the keyboard at once), verifying it's actually booted g) I'm not sure if the HDMI ever sent audio to the TV (Vaguely have a recollection of having to turn HDMI audio off to enable the digital optical but I'm not 100% on that by any stretch), but I can't make it make noise that way currently I'm wishing I'd set up some sort of remote access option on the box so I could see what is going on. I don't have a spare PSU, but can probably track one down or order a replacement for this if that sounds like the likely culprit to people here. It seems really weird that there might be any critical problem with the motherboard (like two video outputs simultaneously stopping working) and yet have the system be so superstable all the rest of the time. Any suggestions would be helpful! Recent changes: I ran a windows update that had 3 security-type fixes and 3 'optional' updates but I don't recall specifically what they were, the restart for that is when this issue became problematic. -- Operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate, updated to current System specs: ASRock DDR3 1333 Intel - LGA 1155 Motherboards (B75M-ITX) Intel Core i3-3220 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 Ghz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637i33220 Kingston Technology HyperX 8 GB (2x4 GB Modules) 1600 MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (PC3 12800) 240-Pin SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX Intel 520 Series Solid-State Drive 60 GB SATA 6 Gb/s 2.5-Inch - SSDSC2CW060A3K5 (Reseller Kit) Silverstone Tek SG05BB-450-USB3.0 ALL Black Plastic/SECC Mini-ITX Computer Case with SFX 450W 80+ Bronze Certified PSU with 2X USB3.0 Front Ports Case Location: USA I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes Thanks in advance!
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Jan 10, 2017 01:25
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 03:36 |
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Update: Tried it with a new power supply, it seemed to improve the speed of startup on the first 4 or 5 tries and then began acting just like it had on the old power supply (chugging to start up). Still no video via HDMI or DVI.
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Jan 10, 2017 23:54
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Do you have a cheap video card around to try? If not, I'd try taking one stick of RAM out (swapping them if it doesn't work the first time). What's the new PSU?
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Jan 12, 2017 00:06
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I actually do have a video card around that I think I can use to try that/ if not, I'll try the RAM removal idea. Been waiting to do anything to see if anyone else had any troubleshooting suggestions, so thanks for the idea. The spare PSU I used was this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008VQ2Y4K SilverStone Technology 450W SFX Form Factor 80 PLUS GOLD Full Modular Power Supply with +12V single rail, Active PFC (ST45SF-G)
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Jan 13, 2017 23:55
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Zogo posted:Do you have a cheap video card around to try? If not, I'd try taking one stick of RAM out (swapping them if it doesn't work the first time). So on the videocard/RAM suggestion I jammed an ATI 4800 (4850 maybe) in there, it fit with about 1mm spare - http://i.imgur.com/3xMPrekl.jpg - after I bent the card's mounting plate lip up to clear the case, PC didn't do the starting/slow issue but I didn't get any boot/display via the card's DVI on my first try, so I took a stick of RAM out and Hey! it loaded the BIOS, but had lost the time/date. - http://i.imgur.com/DAj2IHBl.jpg - I looked through the BIOS options to make sure nothing looked obviously screwy, and fired it into loading the OS. Then it loaded Windows immediately. So I restarted it a few times, everything seemed good, I figured I'd definitively conclude the stick of RAM had been the issue, put it back in, and - Er... everything still works. So I tried pretty much every combination of each stick (2 sticks, each 4 gigs of Kingston) in/out, to make sure there wasn't a faulty slot on the board. Thing rebooted and displayed flawlessly but only via DVI from the ATI card, I rebooted it many times in a row and it restarts in like 35 seconds (SSD's are worth it), tried shutting it down, powering down via the front panel switch, and never had a problem immediately restarting it. Never got any video from either the on-board HDMI or DVI however, but the ATI card's output was fine without even needing to install specific drivers. Went to look at what updates had been recently installed, and - http://i.imgur.com/x0kXsKgl.jpg - stood out... I kind of suspect that software isn't part of this situation since it won't show video for the BIOS/during bootup before Windows even loads... but it's a bit of a weird coincidence. Jan 8th is the day this all became a huge problem, and then the 10th was probably the day I succeeded in getting it alive enough to ping it/see it on the network when it finished whatever update that had needed a restart. So I tried to do a windows update to see if I could make it install that Intel graphics update, and got a "Windows Could Not Search For Updates" error, fixed that. Never got offered that Intel HD Graphics adapter update again, but I did a couple more security updates and then ran a full scan using Microsoft Security Essentials or whatever it's called now, zero problems found. So then I disconnected everything from the new power supply and connected it all to the case/original power supply, including adding the ATI card which wasn't ever part of the build before, and rebooted it another 10 times to make sure nothing changed - still successful every time. Unfortunately my TV area doesn't have any ability to connect through DVI and that's all that's available with the ATI card, but I installed Chrome Remote Desktop to be able to connect to it now that everything seems functional except for the onboard video, and it's now over there/connected to the HDMI and digital optical audio (confirmed working) and I've successfully remotely rebooted it 20 times in a row now with zero start up problems. Still no sign of onboard video. Today I'm going to pull the ATI card out and make sure it still works on the Chrome Remote Desktop in that state. Contemplated trying to do a ClearCMOS procedure as suggested in this thread: http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/294410-onboard-video-not-working-after-trying-new-video-card.html But it would seem like that probably happened on the events when the BIOS time/date needed to be reset. Very puzzling trying to isolate this problem. I guess if I cannot fix this issue that now seems to be limited to "The onboard DVI and HDMI outputs simultaneously ceased to function at exactly the same time I had a really weird startup problem that now seems to be fixed/unrelated and exactly the same time an onboard graphics update failed, yet everything else about this rig seems 100% super-stable" perhaps my best option is to buy a new HDMI capable video card that doesn't make a lot of noise and is relatively small so as to fit in this Mini-ITX case. I'm currently contemplating this: https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-DisplayPort-128-bit-ZT-P10500A-10L/dp/B01M4MIU94 as it doesn't need additional power/shouldn't be too loud/won't draw a ton of power while this thing sits in always-on status. Also I think it will future-proof me for h265 and other upcoming encoding protocols, so maybe this was a "planned upgrade" and not "buy something to fix it out of desperation". Right? 
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Jan 15, 2017 19:59
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Make sure you're using the latest motherboard BIOS: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/B75M-ITX/?cat=Download&os=BIOS Ether Frenzy posted:So I tried to do a windows update to see if I could make it install that Intel graphics update, and got a "Windows Could Not Search For Updates" error, fixed that. Never got offered that Intel HD Graphics adapter update again, but I did a couple more security updates and then ran a full scan using Microsoft Security Essentials or whatever it's called now, zero problems found. Windows 7, Vista and XP are all having major update issues. Ether Frenzy posted:...perhaps my best option is to buy a new HDMI capable video card that doesn't make a lot of noise and is relatively small so as to fit in this Mini-ITX case. That might work. I'd probably try that only after moving to Windows 10 but it's up to you.
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Jan 17, 2017 00:56
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I'm running a GTX 1060 (which as I understand it is the same architecture as that card) on my desktop with Win 7, not sure if that indicates any compatability success or if it's just lucky nothing's wrong with that setup - or do you mean there'll be functionality I won't get without Win 10? Perhaps it's time to bravely take the plunge, I really wasn't a fan of 8's changes and I've got a phobia against major OS updates after growing up using Macs in the OS 5-6-7 days but there's no fighting progress. As for the windows updates having major issues - I assume you meant with regard to the failed Windows update state I had to fix, not that it's contributory to this no-video issue? I fired the thing up again this morning, it booted immediately/straight to desktop, so there's really very little observably wrong with this PC aside from suddenly going from perfectly fine video to zero video at all. I have to figure it's a coincidence because I just can't imagine a failed update causing it to brick the onboard video but do nothing else to the system. But who knows. I'll check the BIOS version when I get home.
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Jan 17, 2017 01:42
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Ether Frenzy posted:I'm running a GTX 1060 (which as I understand it is the same architecture as that card) on my desktop with Win 7, not sure if that indicates any compatability success or if it's just lucky nothing's wrong with that setup - or do you mean there'll be functionality I won't get without Win 10? I meant, in general, support for Vista, XP and 7 has worsened and even updating it has become an issue. Ether Frenzy posted:Perhaps it's time to bravely take the plunge, I really wasn't a fan of 8's changes and I've got a phobia against major OS updates after growing up using Macs in the OS 5-6-7 days but there's no fighting progress. OS 5-6-7 is now ancient history. Kind of both. I've seen all kind of odd issues on older OSs after doing updates (within the last year). Windows update on 7 and older machines has become very unreliable and has caused issues not unlike this. Ether Frenzy posted:...I just can't imagine a failed update causing it to brick the onboard video but do nothing else to the system. But who knows. It wouldn't have bricked it. If you're not getting any video at all it's probably that the motherboard video died. Zogo fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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Jan 17, 2017 02:05
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 03:36 |
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Updated the bios, still exactly the same problem, said to hell with it and ordered an EVGA GTX 1050. 90 seconds of installation later, everything's working perfectly, so it must have just been the onboard video taking that moment to die and confuse everything. Thanks a lot for helping me bounce ideas off you/suggesting troubleshooting tips - much appreciated! 
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Jan 21, 2017 19:46
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