[SOLVED] MotherBoard BIOS question

[jspalding]

Some background:
I had an El Capitan Hackintosh build for several years (upgraded from a Maverick build). Last week I decided it's time to upgrade. I switched out the CPU, the MOBO and the memory from 2nd gen to 8th gen. I also planned to do a fresh install of high sierra since my el capitan was a little buggy. I used my mac laptop to make a bootloader with unibeast for High Sierra. went off without a hitch, ready to go!

What Happened:
So as far as i'm concerned, it's a brand new build. No OS, the CPU, MOBO and memory are fresh out of the box, brand new. I turned on the unit (without plugging in the bootloader USB) and up came the GIGABYTE BIOS startup window. Excellent. Then it brings up the clover boot menu (probably saved on the SSD from El Capitan). So I press restart because I want to go through the BIOS settings and dial it in.

It never restarts. Black screen. the mobo is on (it has indicator lights) the cpu cooler fans are running. but blank screen. I didn't touch anything, i just hit restart. Ok maybe the restart button doesn't work. I power it off, and turn it back on. Haven't changed anything. black screen.

So I start troubleshooting:

• I have a bunch of extra internal drives (like 5) and I figured to simplify things I'll unplug them leaving only the corsair Neutron as my main one. No change.
• The monitor is plugged into the graphics card (GTX 780) so I figure without El Capitan it might not be talking to the graphics card anymore. I plug the monitor directly into the motherboard (HDMI). no change.
• The MOBO comes with an installation disc(!?) so I plug in my disc drive and put in the installer disc. turn it back on. no change.

I suspect the monitor isn't recognizing the base BIOS. I have a backup monitor that is more... basic, usually I setup the system on that and then get the other monitor working through the graphics card. But the base monitor is DVI only and the MOBO is HDMI...

suggestions?

EDIT:

• got an adapter so I go from DVI to HDMI. tried both types of monitors (confirmed both worked on my laptop) nothing.
• Unplugged all the sata-drives. Pulled out one of the ram cards (only one 16gb ram card). Nothing.
• Unplugged Ethernet, Keyboard, CD drive. Nothing is plugged in. Just a motherboard (with a CPU, PSU, GFX, one ram card and wifi card) and a single monitor. That's it. Motherboard still lights up but no BIOS startup...
• possible faulty motherboard?

intel core i7-8700K
Noctua NH-D14 65.0CFM
Gigabyte z370p D3
Ballistix Sport LT 32gb kit DDR4 16gb*2 288pin
corsair Neutron series 256gb 2.5" SSD
EVGA GTX 780
EVGA 650GQ 650W 80+ Gold

 

[trs96]

Have you tried a CMOS reset ? Some newer boards have a button to push. The old school way is to switch off PSU and then remove the button battery on the motherboard for about a minute and then replace it. Then try booting to BIOS again by tapping on the DEL key right after pressing the power button. Graphics card should be removed, use the onboard HDMI connection.

 

[jspalding]

Hey that worked! I pulled the power button, unplugged the CMOS and let it sit for several hours. Then I pulled out the graphics card and the wifi card, pulled the mobo out of the case and powered it up, success! The bios is up and running, now to install the OS before anything else goes wrong!

 

[trs96]

Nice work. Hope the install goes well !