Member Avatar for kiasaki

Hello folks,

I just built my self a quite good computer, after 4 days I finally made it start! All fans are working, graphics are OK, 4 CPU leds showing it work proprely are on, no problems on hardware side. But when it starts I first see a moboo splash screen image and after it skips two line and show's the white pointer bar flashing like if it was ready to write something but does not ...

Specs: MSI 770-G45 (moboo)
cooler master GX 650W (PSU)
ASUS EAH 5450 Silent (videocard)
AMD Athlon II X4 640 (CPU)
cooler master hyper 212 plus (CPU cooler)
OCZ 4GB DDR3 (2x2 gb) DualChanel (RAM)

No BIOS beep code
No error message (simply no message XD)

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Edited by kiasaki because: n/a
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Dani AI

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Good catch by — clearing the CMOS is a very common, low-risk fix for the "stops at the splash / blinking cursor" symptom on new builds. The flashing underscore usually means the firmware handed control to a boot device but either found no valid bootloader or the BIOS/boot-order settings are unexpected; corrupted or non-default CMOS settings (bad timings, disabled devices, quiet-boot hiding POST messages) are a frequent cause.

A safe, repeatable reset and follow-up checklist:

  • Power off, switch PSU to OFF and unplug the machine. Press and hold the front power button for 5–10 seconds to discharge residual power.
  • Use the motherboard's CMOS-clear jumper per the manual (short the jumper for ~5–10 seconds), or remove the CR2032 battery for 1–5 minutes. Reinstall the jumper/battery.
  • Power on, enter BIOS setup immediately, set date/time, restore desired boot order (CD/DVD or USB first if troubleshooting), and disable "Quiet Boot" so POST messages are visible. Save and exit.
  • If the machine still fails to boot to an OS, try a minimal-boot: CPU + single RAM stick (try each slot), onboard graphics or known-good video card, and no drives — this isolates bad RAM, seating, or PSU issues.

Additional points: attach a small PC speaker for beep codes if your board supports one (beeps are fast diagnostics), reseat components and power connectors, and only update the BIOS if the motherboard vendor recommends it and you follow their exact procedure. Replacing an old CMOS battery is cheap and sensible if problems recur.

This approach explains why saw the Ubuntu CD boot (hardware was fine) and why a CMOS reset cleared the hidden BIOS state so the system could proceed.

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Member Avatar for CimmerianX

My 2 cents:
On the splash screen, you should be able to hit ESC or TAB and get the BIOS startup info. Do you get this? The splash screen is usually a "Quiet Boot" enabled or Verbose boot disabled setting in Bios.

Check for the BIOS startup info and that should give you a clue to your next step.

Also, there is usually a CMOS reset jumper on the mainboard. since it's a new setup, you can safely clear CMOS using the jumper. Check your MOBO manual for details.

Member Avatar for kiasaki

Hello CimmerianX,

Thanks for youre reply but yesterday around midnight I finnaly fixed my problem by reseting CMOS as you said, then when it started it asked me to press F1 to setup ou F2 to go on. So set setting, restarted, still two spaces and a line... restarted but with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS version CD and it booted up.

I guess I was too much used with slow boot computer and did not know that the splash screen was the POST .

Thx Anyway for your help.

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