Black screen and windows won't boot.

minnnt

minnnt

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Anyone have any experience of this?

Recently made a fresh install of Windows 8.1 but ever since i have been getting intermittent issues with booting. On start up the hard drive seems to start and the fans spin but the screen displays 'No Signal' and then goes into standby mode. This has progressively been getting worse to the point where it now no longer boots at all. I've done no end of googling and suspicion is that the graphics/video card drivers are messed up. I think i would be able to sort it if i could get the damn thing to start!! Google says go into safe mode etc but i don't even get a loading screen to be able to do that.

Any ideas?

Computer is a HP 140 something or other i think running a AMD A8 processor iirc.
 
I had the same issue a while back. I had to uninstall the AMD catalyst centre software and just install the specific drivers and since then it has been fine.
I would get random black screen boots with no logic to them. I had to keep rebooting until it would let me in before I could sort the issue. I couldn't find another way to do it without being in windows
 
Thanks Stu. I've read it's something to do with windows installing drivers and AMD doing the same blah blah blah. So basically what you've said. This morning it booted after about 10 minutes and then this afternoon it booted after a minute or so but i can't get the bloody thing to do it now. :LOL: I've given up for tonight and have left it all unplugged so will try again in the morning.

Thanks again mate, much appreciated.
 
Had something similar (I think) years age, found that the Memory sticks needed reseating, take them out and put them back!!

Would also do the same with the Graphics card while you got the side off.

worth a try!!
 
I would make sure that all the leads to the HDD or SSD are secure - simply take them out then replace them - I've had that kind of trouble before.

Or do you have anything plugged into the USB2 slot like a flash card or external HDD?

If your boot sequence doesn't go straight to the HDD or SSD than that can cause the PC to hang.

And make sure there's nothing in the DVD re-writer just in case.
.
 
I've had the whole thing to bits. Well, RAM and graphics card. Nothing in the DVD drive, no memory cards or external drives plugged in etc. I haven't tried the HDD drive though so will undo them if i have no look in the morning and try again.

Thanks everyone.
 
When it does start do you hear the POST beep or is it series of beeps? If a series can you make note of the number and length of the tones and sequence.

On the surmise you get the usual single beep each time no matter how long the actual boot to OS takes then I would suspect the power supply ........so when you check everything is seated by disconnecting and reconnecting do the same for the power connectors at the PSU end. Connectors at the PSU will only be there is the PSU is modular......many are hardwired.

If after all that you do still get the single beep but varied/protracted boot times I think you might have a failing PSU???

Edit - depending on your feedback I suspect the reinstall of 8.1 was coincidental.
 
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Can you pull the graphics card and plug the monitor into a mobo graphics port?
 
Yes, did that too. Made no difference. Does that rule out the graphics card?

Tried the above stuff too, made no difference. Hard drive plugs out and reseated, checked the power supply and i do believe it is hard wired in. Well, i don't seem to be able to remove it from the MB. Maybe i could but it seemed to withstand a bit of force and didn't want to make it worse.

No beeps on start up as i thought.

The hard drive light flashes (like a double flash) all the time.
 
I have a similar problem and I have to give the computer case a thump near the power switch, which may tie into what Box Brownie has said above for the power supply??? .......It then starts normally. The computer is about 5 years old and low spec and I will update shortly.
 
Looks like you're doing the correct things,
Remove the variables one by one to see what sticks.. \
An intermittent error like that can take a lot of time to fix and could be anything from corrupt OS, BIOS, Motherboard HW , PSU, RAM etc etc. Good luck!
 
Diddly squat for the CMOS battery.

These beeps, are they really quiet? It's making a really quiet erm, beep i guess. Lasts about 2 seconds then starts again. It does this constantly.
 
Well hearing beeps presupposes the maker wired in the beep speaker! Here is a link to the BIOS makers and the beep codes. http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

As for the PSU plug to the motherboard it has a latch designed to stop I coming loose so that needs pressing to disconnect it.

I still think at this stage it is the PSU . boot sequence is post > load OS > load drivers > launch background startup programs.

If the boot does not even get to post that is what tells me it most likely the PSU.

What make and model is the PC? This will have a bearing on the replacement potential for the PSU e.g. if a Dell they have bespoke PSU and can if I recall be difficult to buy. If standard ATX conforming type that is easy peasy.
 
HP Pavilion 500-141EA i believe.

Ok, pulled the PS cable from the MB and reseated it. No change.

The father in law is bringing another monitor down to try. Maybe that is knackered? It was working fine though. If not then I'll let him take it away and kick it several times to see if he can sort it.

b****r.
 
minnnt said:
HP Pavilion 500-141EA i believe.

Ok, pulled the PS cable from the MB and reseated it. No change.

The father in law is bringing another monitor down to try. Maybe that is knackered? It was working fine though. If not then I'll let him take it away and kick it several times to see if he can sort it.

b****r.
Click to expand...

I would doubt it is the monitor because a PC will still boot without a monitor turned on or connected.
 
neil_g said:
How would you know its booted or not with no screen?

Worth a shot as the easiest thing to check.
Click to expand...
The OP mentions the lack of fans and hard drive runup & activity......at the very least without a screen there would be these activity indicators showing boot cycle is happening.
 
minnnt said:
Thanks. I understand very little about computers. Do you think the PSU is just knackered then? Why would this be?
Click to expand...

If the model you mention is the one I looked at it says it only has a 300W and IMO manufacturers are tardy in the rating of the PSU especially if the user has added anything such as a video card with higher power demands, extra HDD etc all will stress the low powered PSU.

If over stressed or simply aging due to running for years at the top end of their limits components can degrade and fail.....so yes possible the PSU is knackered!
 
Well we've tried a new PSU and still exactly the same. Tried to reset the bios with the jumper pins and it's still a no go.

I would try the above link but i have no screen to see any menus as it recieves no signal.

All 4 fans spin on power up.
 
Have you tried removing the graphics card from the slot and plugging the monitor into the onboard card, also go into the monitor on screen display menu (button on the side of the monitor) and check where the monitor is looking for a signal, eg hdmi dvi, try dabbing F10 as it is powering up,
 
PeterTheJet said:
Have you tried removing the graphics card from the slot and plugging the monitor into the onboard card, also go into the monitor on screen display menu (button on the side of the monitor) and check where the monitor is looking for a signal, eg hdmi dvi, try dabbing F10 as it is powering up,
Click to expand...

Hi @PeterTheJet

Yes, made no difference.
Pressed the menu button on the monitor and it has no effect. Still proceeds to show 'No Signal' for around 2-3 seconds and then the blue light turns orange and it goes into sleep mode.
I have pressed F10 repeatedly on start up with no effect. Also tried F8 and Shift+F8. All with the same out come.

Pretty sure I've eliminated everything so I'm leaning towards it being the motherboard perhaps?
 
Odd, the menu button on the monitor gives you the OSD for the monitor only, try reseating both ends of the monitor data lead or turning it around, if you have another lead try it or if you are on a DVI lead try a HDMI, clutching at straws but need to confirm a good data lead, before you go for a MB it may be an idea to put POST test card in, poss in a repair shop, just for a laugh try reversing the RAM in the slots, RAM from slot 0 into slot 1 and slot 1 into slot 0.
 
I will switch the cable around. The monitor doesn't have a HDMI slot so it's running on DVI. It's been in and out of the sockets a lot. The ram is in slots 1 and 3 but i have tried it in 2 and 4 already. I've also tried different ram, different monitor, no graphics card, different PSU etc.

Taken the CMOS battery out, cleaned it, left it oit for 30 minutes, reseated all connectors to DVD drive, hard drive, fans etc. Moved the jumper pin to clear BIOS and back again. Cleaned slots with rocket blower, cleaned fans with brush and refitted...

If it was anything else other than the MB wouldn't i still get a BIOS screen? I.E ''No HDD detected' or 'No OS detected' etc?
 
The idea with the RAM swap is to put another DIMM in the first slot so it wrtes to another memory address, it may be the mother board but it is a costly way to find out if it is not.
 
Sure I've had this in the past - turned out to be a dead MoBo (twice, both Foxconn). The continuous beep is not right, and you should get some kind of posting otherwise.
 
Have you tried to boot from the CD that came with the system?

From HP support (the link I posted above)

This document applies to HP desktop computers that shipped with Windows 8 installed.
HP computers that come with Windows 8 installed use an AMI BIOS version 8 that is compatible with UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). This version of the BIOS includes and automatically enables Secure Boot, which can prevent your computer from starting after you install a video card other than the card that shipped with the computer.
How Secure Boot works
Secure Boot Configuration is a new feature in BIOS 8 that allows your computer to validate the authenticity of components like hardware and firmware. When your computer was manufactured, UEFI created a list of keys that identify trusted hardware, firmware, and OS loader code. It also created a list of keys to identify known malware. When Secure Boot is enabled, the computer checks that everything being loaded and used even before Windows opens is safe and recognized. Secure Boot also checks the validity of critical hardware, including the motherboard and video card. Any malware or other firmware code that is not recognized is blocked. For example, Secure Boot can prevent your computer from starting from illegally copied CDs or DVDs that could harm the computer. Secure Boot does not lock out valid recovery discs or Windows discs.
If an older model video card is installed in the computer, Secure Boot might not recognize it as valid hardware. If the card is not recognized, Windows does not use the card when it boots up, and you may experience problems starting the computer, or there might be no video output at all.
To resolve the issue, you can use a video card that Secure Boot recognizes, or you can disable Secure Boot and enable Legacy Boot in the BIOS. This document explains how to disable Secure Boot and enable Legacy Boot.

Pete
 
That's all well and good but it's exactly as it came from the factory (with regards to hardware) and i can't get into the BIOS to change how it boots.

It never came with a disc for windows.
 
OK,a thought.....in all the testing, plugging etc there are some connectors that may have become dislodged.

These are the wiring to/for the front panel buttons and the likes of the HDD activity lights I.e. start button, reset button, HDD light, beep speaker plus (??) a couple I cannot think of right now. The terminals are like jumpers and are in group all together and some must be attached with the correct polarity. If reversed they will not work.

The cases and motherboards I have built each needs to be attached separately but it is possible that HP combined them in to a block plug........IMO checking just in case if dislodged and plugged in again are they attached 100% correctly both in placement and where appropriate polarity.
 
Apologies if you have checked this but are both connectors from the PSU installed? There's the main 12x2 connector (which may be 10x2 + 2x2) and a separate 2x2 or 4x2 that goes to a different part of the mobo. I can't remember if it just doesn't boot up if the second one isn't there or shouts for attention.
 
PeterTheJet said:
Did it come with any disks?
Click to expand...

Hello mate. No. It didn't come with any disks. It had the recovery partition on the hard drive and HP's recovery jobby built into the bios. (which is how i formatted it and reinstalled Windows.)

Box Brownie said:
OK,a thought.....in all the testing, plugging etc there are some connectors that may have become dislodged.

These are the wiring to/for the front panel buttons and the likes of the HDD activity lights I.e. start button, reset button, HDD light, beep speaker plus (??) a couple I cannot think of right now. The terminals are like jumpers and are in group all together and some must be attached with the correct polarity. If reversed they will not work.

The cases and motherboards I have built each needs to be attached separately but it is possible that HP combined them in to a block plug........IMO checking just in case if dislodged and plugged in again are they attached 100% correctly both in placement and where appropriate polarity.
Click to expand...

I have gone through each plug one at a time and made sure it was plugged back in the same way that i removed it. It worked yesterday afternoon at around 2pm. Edited a couple of pics, shut it down. Come to use it around 7pm and was met with this. It has been doing it on and off for a week i think but this time it's proper kaput. Will try and source a new MB tomorrow and go from there i think. Meh.
 
Snapsh0t said:
Apologies if you have checked this but are both connectors from the PSU installed? There's the main 12x2 connector (which may be 10x2 + 2x2) and a separate 2x2 or 4x2 that goes to a different part of the mobo. I can't remember if it just doesn't boot up if the second one isn't there or shouts for attention.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is a 10x2 + 2x2 that clips together and goes into a big white socket and then a smaller 2x2 that connects to the other side of the CPU marked 'ATX CPU'.
 
is there a 4 pin conector on the graphics card? if yes try reseating it.
 
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