Issue with PC startup: black display and silence – need assistance finding a solution
Issue with PC startup: black display and silence – need assistance finding a solution
Hello everyone,
I'm facing a problem with an older PC that sometimes stops functioning. To be clear: when I turn on the power, the screen stays entirely black, showing no text, which makes it hard to determine what's wrong.
So far, I've checked:
Graphics card: I thought it might be related, so I connected the cable to the motherboard's video output. At first it worked, but the issue came back immediately.
PC not visible on the network: The system doesn't boot properly during this incident. It doesn’t show up on the network, and I can’t access it remotely as usual because it appears completely inactive.
Diagnostic speaker: Since the motherboard doesn’t have any LEDs, I bought a speaker to connect to the board, expecting diagnostic beeps, but no sound came out.
RAM and other parts: I haven’t removed or replaced the RAM yet, but if there’s an issue with the RAM or the hard drive/SSD, some error messages should appear on the screen—something that doesn’t happen here.
Based on these observations, my main ideas are:
Power supply
Motherboard
Processor
The motherboard is an ASRock H97 Anniversary with an Intel Core i5-4460 (socket 1150). When I press the power button, the fans start up, but it’s unclear how a faulty power supply would affect booting. If this is the case, could it be that it supplies only partial power without allowing the system to start?
Before buying any replacement parts, I want to prevent mistakes and avoid extra costs. Do anyone have advice on how to more accurately pinpoint the problem?
Thank you in advance for your support!
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.
Just as a check, did you get the polarity for the speaker on correctly? The red sire on the speaker is meant to go on the +ve terminal on the motherboard's front panel header. The pinout for the speaker header can be found on page 20 in your motherboard manual;
https://download.asrock.com/Manual/H97 Anniversary.pdf
If it's the power supply, is it possible that it provides partial power without being able to boot the system?
If you have a discrete GPU and you're yet getting a black screen it case be due to:
a| the GPU is dead
b| the PSU is incapable of delivering power to the GPU
or
c| the motherboard's BIOS is corrupt
Hi, thank you for your response. Here’s the updated version:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460
CPU cooler: i5-4460 stock
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary
Memory: DIMM DDR3 Crucial 1600Mhz Ballistix Sport 4x4GB CL9
Storage: Samsung SSD 870 EVO 500GB
GPU: nVidia Gigabyte GTX950 WF2 2GB OC
Power supply: 500W Evga 500B (80+Bronze) | Age: 9 years
Chassis: Thermaltake Versa H23
Operating system: Windows 10
Display: a 21' VGA Philip
Regarding the speaker, I believe I installed it correctly; for security reasons, I also attempted to invert the poles, but the issue persists.
Concerning your hypothesis:
a) The GPU appears dead – I transferred the video to the motherboard, yet the problem remains, even without the GPU.
b) The PSU can’t provide enough power to the GPU – same as before.
c) The motherboard’s BIOS is corrupt – I’m unsure what to do, and I’m trying to update it.