PC sends no display signal. Keeps restarting

[meetdenis]

Hi,

I have the below config:
Ryzen 5 2400G , Asus Prime B350M-A , Corsair 16gb 3200 MHz, Zotac 1050 Ti 4GB, Corsair CX550, Antec GX200

On boot-up the system beeps, the bios screen flashes, the message 'No display signal' shows and then it restarts and the whole sequence is repeated. It does this on a loop continuously until the mains are switched off. Meanwhile, the monitor goes in standby mode after the first boot. Windows never loads on boot.

To troubleshoot, I used a different HDMI cable. When that did not work, I removed the GPU from the mobo and used the onboard HDMI port; still the same result.
I disconnected the monitor altogether to check and that also resulted in the same issue. Just keeps on restarting.

The GPU fan turns on normally, though. So can it be a power related issue? what else can be tried?

p.s. I have windows loaded on WD Blue SN570 NVMe SSD

 

[khalil1210]

Hi

You can unplug the GPU and keep it aside.

Without GPU when you turn on pc,
Does the mother board give any beep or error light?

You can check the manual for error codes.

Do you have 1x16GB ram or 2x8GB
If you have 2 sticks try with only one stick (one at a time and try to turn on the pc)

Remove all other usb items like camera / microphone / external hdd / usb hubs except keyboard and mouse

 

[Gollum]

If your pc is rebooting constantly without display, disconnect your storage and then alternate the ram/ram slots like Khalil said.

Without storage, your pc is supposed to get stuck at a "no boot device found" message.

However, if your pc still keeps restarting, is more likely bad RAM.

So now, remove all Ram and check if your motherboard gives a post error code for Ram. Check the motherboard manual to see how your motherboard is supposed to indicate Ram issue. Sometimes it's a series of beeps and sometimes LED flashes.

 

[Desmond]

Check what the beeps mean in the motherboard manual first. That should point to a more specific issue.

But like others have pointed out, the issue looks very close to being bad RAM (either the sticks, slot or connection to the CPU).

I once faced a similar issue a long time back, the PC refused to boot when the RAM sticks were in certain slots but booted normally in other slots. Turned out that a pin on the CPU socket was slightly bent and thus did not make contact with the CPU, that pin perhaps connected to one of the RAM slots.

So check with different combinations of RAM and see if that works. However, bad storage could also be the culprit as @Gollum says.

 

[meetdenis]

Tried alternating the RAM slots with a single and both sticks. Still the same issue. no signal, a beep with restart on loop.
Tried with unplugging all storage devices HDD and SDD. No beeps but no signal on the monitor either.
Also, tried with no ram sticks and no storage devices plugged. Still no signal and no beeps.

Check what the beeps mean in the motherboard manual first. That should point to a more specific issue.

It's a single beep, but it's the same that sounds each time I boot the pc, even before this issue started occurring. So, by itself the beep isn't indicating anything different.
The Mobo manual doesn't say anything about it.

It's strange there was no signal even when ram and storage were unplugged. Could it indicate the HDMI port on the mobo is faulty?

 

[Gollum]

Tried alternating the RAM slots with a single and both sticks. Still the same issue. no signal, a beep with restart on loop.
Tried with unplugging all storage devices HDD and SDD. No beeps but no signal on the monitor either.
Also, tried with no ram sticks and no storage devices plugged. Still no signal and no beeps.


It's a single beep, but it's the same that sounds each time I boot the pc, even before this issue started occurring. So, by itself the beep isn't indicating anything different.
The Mobo manual doesn't say anything about it.

It's strange there was no signal even when ram and storage were unplugged. Could it indicate the HDMI port on the mobo is faulty?

Without Ram, your pc should definitely give a post error code.

Try this, disconnect all RAM and start the pc. It should power on and stay On. In this state, of you press the power button it should immediately power off. If this works, go to step 2.

Step 2:
Disconnect the hdmi cable, CMOS battery and power cable of the PSU. Leave 1 stick of Ram connected.
Press and hold down the power button for 15 seconds.
After 15 seconds, connect only the power cable and press the power button. If your pc still just beeps and restarts, is a faulty motherboard.

 

[Desmond]

Could be dying motherboard as well.

 

[sudhir_3193]

I also faced similar issue few months back. I removed the 2×8 gb ram and cleaned the golden contacts of ram sticks with iso propyl alcohol and my pc started nicely. Clean any other dirt inside the pc case with soft cloth or air blower and you will be fine.

 

[meetdenis]

I also faced similar issue few months back. I removed the 2×8 gb ram and cleaned the golden contacts of ram sticks with iso propyl alcohol and my pc started nicely. Clean any other dirt inside the pc case with soft cloth or air blower and you will be fine.

Cleaned the cabinet and also cleaned the ram sticks with iso propyl alcohol. Nothing really changed.

Try this, disconnect all RAM and start the pc. It should power on and stay On. In this state, of you press the power button it should immediately power off. If this works, go to step 2.

Step 2:
Disconnect the hdmi cable, CMOS battery and power cable of the PSU. Leave 1 stick of Ram connected.
Press and hold down the power button for 15 seconds.
After 15 seconds, connect only the power cable and press the power button. If your pc still just beeps and restarts, is a faulty motherboard.

Step 1 worked but the power off didn't happen.
Tried step 2 and did not get any beeps nor did it restart.


Cleaned the CMOS battery with iso propyl alcohol and retried.
This time something different happened - The bios screen came up and then again it restarted.

View attachment IMG_20240616_124835421.jpg

Went inside Bios and checked the boot settings.
The default selected was 'windows boot manager..'

View attachment IMG_20240616_130751748~2.jpg

But the m.2 slot was showing n/a instead of my NVMe SSD, from where Windows loads.

So I removed the SSD, cleaned it with alcohol, and retried. Still the same happens. Bios screen comes up and then restarts.

 

[meetdenis]

Any suggestions guys?
@Gollum
@sudhir_3193
@Desmond
@khalil1210

 

[khalil1210]

Since bios is coming up i think the mother board is fine.

Do you have any pendrive. You can make a Bootable disk and try to boot it with it.


Is this SSD of yours working earlier. [before this issue]

 

[invisiblebond]

Can you explain in simple non-tech version please meetdenis

But the m.2 slot was showing n/a instead of my NVMe SSD, from where Windows loads.

 

[patkim]

If somehow you can access Firmware (UEFI/BIOS) (It seems so that you can get into it), then check if there's any option to enable Boot Menu. If you can, there could be a key for that (may be F8 or F11 or so). Then upon reboot see if you can access Boot Menu. Try booting thru some external live USB disk like Hiren Boot DVD or so and see if it's booting or not. At this stage disconnect all internal storage drives.

If here also it restarts or resets or goes into boot loop, most likely you could have a HW issue. Replacing the failing component might be the solution. To nail it down see if you can take it to a nearby repair center.

A risky option is to check if there's a way to update BIOS from within the Firmware settings, if so, try updating BIOS but this could brick the board.
Your motherboards' manual can be viewed here -> *www.asus.com/supportonly/prime b350m-a/helpdesk_manual/

 

[meetdenis]

Is this SSD of yours working earlier. [before this issue]

Yes. It was working just fine. I got it last September.

Can you explain in simple non-tech version please meetdenis

My SSD (from where Windows boots), is of type NVMe and not SATA. It is installed in the M.2 slot on the motherboard.
This SSD is not showing in BIOS. See the second screenshot in my above post. It just says "N/A" All other storage are showing

 

[Desmond]

Seems likely that either the drive or the slot is borked. Could you test by connecting the drive to a friend's motherboard? Or perhaps some NVMe to USB adapter (if such a thing exists) to see if the drive is okay.

 

[meetdenis]

UPDATE! I was finally able to boot up Windows today. Still, I am not completely sure I have resolved the root cause or even identified it correctly.

Here's what happened:

1. I removed the SSD, inserted the USB bootable drive
2. In Bios, set the boot priority to USB. Windows installation wizard came up
3. Cleaned the SSD and the M.2 connector pins on the motherboard with iso propyl alcohol
4. Inserted the SSD, in BIOS set the boot priority to first SSD, and second the USB
5. Windows booted. Restarted and switched the first and second boot priority. First SSD second USD. Windows booted.
6. Shut it down. Removed USB. Turned on. Windows booted.

I am not sure if the root cause was indeed the unclean SSD and its M.2 port, or something else. I had cleaned it before too, but that time it didn't work.
But the bottom line is the PC is up and running. And that's a big relief. Even though I am still nervous the issue may happen again.

What are some other precautionary things you guys recommend to prevent a recurrence?

@Gollum
@Desmond
@patkim
@khalil1210

 

[Desmond]

You might want to check your drive health. Just in case.

 

[Gollum]

Could just be a dirty slot. In sata drives case, of the drive is faulty it may result in the pic getting stuck at the BIOS logo or the motherboard manufacturer logo which is displayed at POST.

Anyway if your m.2 slot dies, your pc will still be usable with sata and pcie x1 slot can be used for m.2 with an adapter.

 

[patkim]

Due to repeated heating and cooling, socketed parts exhibit what is called as Chip Creep. This might just be the case.
However I am yet to come across a board that goes into restart loop because boot device is not found. If boot device is not found, it should simply land at BIOS and pause or may be display a message that No boot device or something like that.

 

[meetdenis]

Hi Guys, reviving this thread for an update

The issue kept coming up intermittently and my hardware guy diagnosed this as a GPU related issue. He recommends upgrading it and the Mobo, preferably both.

Added a post in the PC Components section.