Trying to install new SSD and windows, but when I get into my BIOS, My monitor is black

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Sour_cB

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I've had a beep code on my motherboard for about a year now, but it hasn't been anything serious. 4 short beeps at post with about 30 seconds inbetween each. When I spam DEL to get into my bios, windows doesn't load, the splash screen passes, and the screen is just black. I think the BIOS is running in the background? But the screen is just a backlit black.

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4

I've read about the beep codes and it appears to be a real time clock malfunction. I have looked into the solutions for this, but I can't get into my BIOS, so there's no way I can perform them. The obvious answer seems to be just buy a new motherboard, but then I will need to buy a new CPU and new RAM. How do I fix a motherboard issue withought being able to access the bios?

My last and final question: Is there any way I can install windows and my new SSD without using the BIOS?
 
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Sour_cB

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I think this may be my best bet. My manual says to disconnect my power cord when I do this. Should I also turn off my power supply? Or is that the reason this works? If not, does it work via a stored charge in the motherboard?

Update: I had unplugged my computer, and turned off my power supply and touched the 2 pins together with a screwdriver. Nothing happend. Should this be done with the computer unplugged and powersupply on? My manual doesn't state.
 
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larkspur

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You can also flip the switch on the PSU to off, that's fine. There is a coin-shaped battery on the motherboard that provides power to the clock and CMOS values when the computer is unplugged or the power supply switch is off. If the battery is removed then the BIOS "forgets" its settings and all settings return to factory default. The two pins called CLR_CMOS described in your manual are a way to clear the settings without having to physically remove the battery. Anyway, just follow those instructions. I hope clearing your CMOS values helps your situation :) Good luck!
 
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larkspur

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NEVER touch those pins with the power on. Just unplug the computer, turn off the power supply switch and then touch those two pins at the same time for a few seconds with a metal object like a screwdriver. Nothing visible will happen. Then plug in your computer turn the PSU on and then boot it up and press delete to enter BIOS.
 
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Sour_cB

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Sadly, I still post 4 times and my BIOS returns a black screen. It was worth a shot however, and I am very grateful for your input!
 
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larkspur

larkspur

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Hmmmm, so this has been a problem for about a year, but during that time it still normally loads windows (your older version of windows)? But during that entire time you couldn't get into the BIOS because you get a black screen when trying to enter BIOS? And now you want to install a newer version of windows but obviously that's a problem because you need to get into BIOS? So the computer still boots your older version of windows? Do I understand all that correctly?
 
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Sour_cB

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Yes, basically. Let me clarify. This beep code has been occurring for about a year, but it has been harmless and my PC has been booting and running fine. While I've been getting the beep code, i've been unable to access the bios(But I havent had the need to so it hasnt bothered me). A few nights ago, I noticed my C:// drive slowing down, So I used the Win10 feature to reset my drive. In doing so, I lost win10 in the process(Contacted microsoft about this issue and they gave me a free copy of win10) Now, I have a raw copy of Win10, and a new SSD I havent used for anything. The c:// drive in my pc is empty after the reset, and I cannot enter my bios. So, instead of buying a new mobo, cpu, and ram, I thought I would tackle the obvious problem of the motherboard beep code and inability to access bios.
 
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larkspur

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Well, let's just hypothetically assume that the BIOS issue cannot be fixed and you really really don't want to buy a new mobo and all the other things. Assuming you want Win 10 on the SSD, you could unplug the HDD completely, then plug in the SSD. Then insert your Win 10 install media and try booting up from the install media and install Win 10 on the SSD. It's true you can't get into the BIOS to change the boot order, but most BIOS will have your optical drive, HDD/SSD and USB boot in the default list of boot devices. The order of those boot devices might not be ideal, but as long as they are listed as a potential boot device, you should still be able to install windows. You could give that a try and maybe still have a functional computer (albeit one without the ability to access BIOS)... but it's up to you.

You could also try replacing the coin-cell battery on your board, they are pretty easy to find, but its very doubtful that would help.

One other thing you can try. This would be an absolute last resort and could potentially "brick" your motherboard making it worthless. I normally wouldn't do this on a board behaving like yours, but if you are prepared to buy a new motherboard, then it's worth a last-resort try. When you boot up, you can press the "end" button to enter the Q-Flash utility. That utility will flash your BIOS. You'll need to download the newest BIOS from Gigabyte's support page for your mobo and put it on a USB stick. Then you follow the instructions in the manual to flash the BIOS to the new BIOS that you downloaded. This is located on page 57 section 4-1-1 in your mobo manual. It would be worth a try but only if you are already prepared to get a new mobo.
 
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Sour_cB

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I have thought about this before, but I am unsure of a few things. Right now in my "broken PC" I have an optical drive, a wiped SSD that I used for games, and my wiped hardrive that had my OS on it. Say I remove all 3 of these sata connections, and just connect my new ssd and plug in my install media, and then boot my PC, there would only be a slim chance that It would boot off of the install media and not the blank SSD? Say it wouldn't boot off of the install media, My best bet would to just be buy a new motherboard and start over. Which, I am just about at peace with.
 
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larkspur

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The computer will only boot from a bootable volume. If the SSD doesn't have an OS on it, then it will try and boot from the optical drive or a bootable USB drive. So it is likely that you can install windows on your SSD using the Win 10 install disk (or Win 10 install USB). If it is a USB stick make sure the stick is plugged into one of the USB 2.0 ports and not the USB 3.0 ports. If you choose this route, it is best to leave the HDD disconnected while you install Windows on the SSD. After Win 10 is installed and happy, then you can plug the HDD back in and use it for additional storage.

If you decide that you're done with that mobo and are going to trash it - try flashing the BIOS like I mentioned above. There is a possibility that it will work and might give you a fully functional PC again.

The other thing I thought of - Do you have a different graphics card you can try? Slight chance that a newer graphics card might not be working with your older BIOS...
 
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Sour_cB

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I do have extra graphics cards. At the moment I am using a 970 but I have 2 spare 7870's I haven't used for a little over a year. The 7870 is about the same year as the motherboard so that is worth a shot for sure. Once again, I am extremely grateful for all of your input and help today. When I return home tonight I will try switching cards and see if it makes a difference. If not, ill most likely just order the new parts later this week. This conversation has been a great learning experience and I am very thankful for your help.
 
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