My DIY 2016 puter boots up I think but monitor window say no connection.

[papasloane]

Now I’ve gone and done it. I removed half of the RAM, leaving 1 in the A2 slot and got an A9 code, switched the RAM modules and still A9, put both back in, still A9, switched places and A9 in A2B2 slots. They are well seated, locked in but no change. So either bad RAM, Bad CPU, corrupted Bios or? On the bright side the mouse and KB still work and the bios shows up and I can deal with that to change or reset etc. Thanks

[papasloane]

and the boot LED stays on with the A9

[phillpower2]

You have been busy

Never seen a PS/2 keyboard with a detachable cable tbh but the fact that you have made progress pursuing a Kb error does go some way to proving that there is a fault there somewhere.

Now that you can get into the BIOS I suggest a couple of things;

Make sure that the USB ports are enabled.

Restore the MBs default factory settings in the BIOS, they are sometimes listed as one of the following " factory defaults" “most stable” or on newer boards “optimized” please note that if you have both the “most stable” and the “optimized” options in the BIOS you should choose the most stable" option as in this instance the “optimized” settings are a form of overclocking that can cause instability.

Make sure that the USB ports are still enabled, save the new settings, exit the BIOS, restart the computer, post back with an update for us once you have done this.

[papasloane]

could only load ‘optimized settings’, I am guessing that is the default. I had already done this after clearing the cmos, but searched and could find no other reset for bios so I did it again. Nada, ie. no change. ASUS bios uses “bios setup utility” either EZ mode or advanced mode and I looked at both in detail and no other way to enter bios that I could find. Kind of nice though that I can use the mouse and Kb in the bios. Was hoping something would show up before all the black Friday/cyber Monday deals are gone if I need to upgrade or replace parts if I still can get them, doubtful though. Appreciate you stickin’ with me through this.

[phillpower2]

Did you see in the BIOS anywhere Enable/Disable the USB ports.

What does the boot sequence say as in is the drive that has Windows on it the first drive in the boot sequence.

Do you have a spare USB flashdrive and access to a computer that has an internet connection.

[papasloane]

yes the Windows is the first in the boot sequence and it is on the samsung 960 EVO M.2 NVMe drive. I do have a USB drive or can get one but all other computers in the house are Macs. I don’t recall seeing a USB port enabler/disabler in the bios, but will look again.

[phillpower2]

You need to have a good look around the BIOS because if the USB ports are disabled you have zero chance of fixing this without re enabling them.

Second thing that you need to do is find someone with a Windows computer so that you can download a Linux distro to your flash drive, the idea is to see if we can boot from that and access the Windows boot drive to see if it is bad, USB ports have to be first in the boot sequence to do this.

[papasloane]

Enabled all the USB ports, reset the optimized settings again, only option, exited and restarted. No change. Looking for someone with a Windows PC and enuf knowledge to make a Linux distro flash drive. Thanks again

[phillpower2]

Have a look at Easily Make Bootable USB Drives

[Bruce]

@papasloane - any news?

[papasloane]

I now have a Linux Mint DW6 or WD6, whatever is the latest LM, and I made it the boot and it worked. Now what do I do with it? ;>)

[phillpower2]

I now have a Linux Mint DW6 or WD6, whatever is the latest LM, and I made it the boot and it worked.

You should be happy for a start, you were looking at having a computer for a paperweight but with the help of PCHF you have saved it from the scrapheap

[papasloane]

So So Sorry, I meant that the LM boot thing worked and I can see the Linux Mint that booted up. Unfortunately we still haven’t got the Win10 to boot up yet and not sure how we proceed from here. Yes I am happy any and every time we have made progress.(y)

Kind of afraid to mess around to much in LM as I know zip about Linux and don’t want to screw it upo_O

[phillpower2]

The fact that the computer works with Linux means that most if not all of your hardware looks to be ok.

Potential causes of the initial problem include Windows being corrupt and a failed boot drive.

Windows is the first in the boot sequence and it is on the samsung 960 EVO M.2 NVMe drive.

Because the boot drive is detected the problem looks to be with Windows itself.

Have you tried removing and reseating the drive.

Do you get any on screen message such as restart and select proper boot device.

Is there any personal data on the drive.

[papasloane]

Hello Phillpower2, I removed and reseated the M.2 drive again, no change. Screen message upon booting up with the USB drive: GNU GRUB version 2.06-13 then in a boxed window: *start LMDE 6 64-bit, and subsequent lines are similar. If I press enter it goes on to LM. No restart and select proper boot drive. Yes I believe that the M.2 has not only Win10 but some personal data on it. Should I just buy a newer Samsung 990 NVMe M.2 or? Is there anyway to recover the data on the M.2? It may all be on 1 of the HDs anyway? Thanks again.