i5-13500T Graphics -- No Boot

[Pip]

Hi.

M/Board = ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi (BIOS v6.10, updated today)

CPU = i5-13500T

DDR5 Corsair 32gb

OS = Debian

Problem: System will not boot without an external graphics card.

Yet the Intel data suggests that the 13500T has onboard graphics (UHD770), and that no external graphics card is required (which is why I specifically bought this CPU).

Monitor is connected via HDMI port, but no signal is sent to monitor at all.

Without external graphics card, POST LEDS cycle, but hang on the final 'boot' . I can't even enter BIOS configuration.

With a 20-yr old Matrox card and an old monitor, everything works fine (though the graphics are, not surprisingly, inadequate).

If CPU has UHD770 graphics, how do I enable it?

Is it possible that the main CPU could be working, but the graphics within the CPU are faulty? How could I check?

[LeonWaksman]

Follow the explanation in this video clip.

Leon

[Pip]

Thanks for the reply.

Done as video explains -- however, very little changes.

Still no video output via HDMI (although all the POST LEDs now extinguish, although I'm not actually sure that the OS is actually booting. I'll check ...)

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

Thank you for posting in Intel Communities.

It must be confounding to you that the processor’s graphics chip is not allowing you too boot the machine when you are using it, since it works with another video card plugged in. We will work with you to answer your inquiry.

Please allow us to ask the following questions:

1. Sometimes installing Debian OS means that you need to tweak some settings in BIOS in order to successfully put it in the system. Did you change the following settings:

a. UEFI changed Legacy

b. UEFI with CSM activated

c. Disabled Secure boot

d. If you have other settings change, please let us know

2. Just to confirm, the HDMI cable is connected to built-in HDMI port of the board, correct?

3. There is a small possibility that the monitor is not working with the Intel graphics chip outside OS environments like in POST. Do you have access to another monitor for testing.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

Thank you for posting in Intel Communities.

It must be confounding to you that the processor’s graphics chip is not allowing you too boot the machine when you are using it, since it works with another video card plugged in. We will work with you to answer your inquiry.

Please allow us to ask the following questions:

1. Sometimes installing Debian OS means that you need to tweak some settings in BIOS in order to successfully put it in the system. Did you change the following settings:

a. UEFI changed Legacy

b. UEFI with CSM activated

c. Disabled Secure boot

d. If you have other settings change, please let us know

2. Just to confirm, the HDMI cable is connected to built-in HDMI port of the board, correct?

3. There is a small possibility that the monitor is not working with the Intel graphics chip outside OS environments like in POST. Do you have access to another monitor for testing.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

I wanted to check if you had the chance to review the questions I posted. Please let me know at your earliest convenience so that we can determine the best course of action to resolve this matter.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Pip]

Hi Alfred,

Thank you for the reply -- and apologies for the delay. I am limited in time, and I didn't want to come back until I had done some more testing.

BIOS settings are almost unchanged from default factory settings. UEFI settings are unchanged, I am booting with a UEFI-capable kernel. Secure Boot is definitely unchanged from default (although I plan to enable it, if not enabled already, once I have learned the necessary steps to secure the entire boot process from start to finish).

Initial boot failed to give any output at all on the HDMI port. Therefore, my first approach to solve this was to install an old Matrox graphics card. Since this did produce video output, my next step was to update the BIOS. Alas -- this has not solved the issue.

The suggestion by LeonWaksman was tried, but this also did not help. Foolishly, I left this setting changed -- which caused me considerable frustration since I could gain access to BIOS, boot into a simple linux console, but the system *appeared* to hang from that point on. Days later, in a sudden flash of thought, I postulated that whilst a video signal was not actually getting to the main HDMI device, the framebuffer was still being activated on boot -- so the initial text was going to the second (Matrox) monitor, but the XWindows display was being rendered to the main (onboard) video. Reverting the BIOS settings to default 'fixed' this issue, and (with the Matrox card) I am able to use Linux without problem except for it being on the wrong display. But, the long-term aim is not to have this second card installed -- it really is old, and useful only for testing.

ALL testing of HDMI output is done with *NO* graphics card installed (ie. Matrox card removed).

HDMI cable is plugged in to the *on board* HDMI port.

I have, today, tried a different monitor. This also failed to show any output. I am trying to find means to plug in a monitor to the DisplayPort -- but at this time I do not have access to this. I will persist...

Currently, my logic is that this is NOT a problem with the Operating System (I now have 4 'flavours' installed, and all run with the Matrox card as expected). Therefore, the choice of OS only becomes relevant if there is any tool or diagnostic I need in order to ascertain what the problem (or fix) is.

It *appears* that this is either a problem of the CPU, or the M/Board, or the BIOS. I have contacted ASRock support, but at this time have received no response. Therefore, I come back to my original questions. Is it possible that the CPU could be faulty, in that the processing core could work, but the graphics core does not? CPU is i5-13500T Processor ID: B06F2, Microcode Revision: 2E.

If this is not likely, another option is that I *need* an external (modern) video card (eg. ARC A380). I *understood* that this was not necessary, since the 13500T comes with in-built graphics (which is why I paid the price premium). Please advise if I am mistaken.

Failing that, either the M/Board is faulty, or the BIOS is not recognising the on-board graphics. However, at this point I am 'clutching straws', and really know nothing about the intricacies of modern computer design. A diagnostic tool would be very helpful here -- but I am not really sure of next steps to distinguish between the possibilities.

Or, of course, I am missing something else!

Thank you for your time and help.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

We appreciate the time that you took out of your busy schedule to provide the information that we asked.

To answer your question, there is a possibility that the built-in graphics is faulty; however, to fully determine this, please reach out to your place of purchase to check whether they can try another CPU on your motherboard with built-in graphics or try your processor on another system board to see if it will behave the same way.  If the other CPU works or the suspected CPU is still not outputting any video, then the CPU’s internal graphics card is faulty and you may want to contact your place of purchase for assistance.

Just to confirm, since you have tried the recommendation of the community user who posted on your thread, have you already changed the Primary Graphics Adapter to “Onboard”? If you have not, please check with Asrock if you have a way to reset the BIOS to defaults after you made this change, in case there will be no display.  

We hope for your consideration and understanding regarding our recommendations above.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Pip]

Hi Alfred,

At this time, I am unable to test the board with another CPU. The allocated budget was spent on this one -- and I'm not lucky enough to have extra LGA1700 CPU's 'going spare' (and neither do I have a spare M/Board). Additionally, CPU and M/Board purchased from different sources, so I'd really like to get a better diagnosis before going back to either. I'm hoping that Intel can provide some info to actually test the CPU 'in situ'. Failing this, can a customer in the UK send a part back to Intel for testing?

Coming to your other question -- Yes, I have returned the BIOS settings back to the original default settings. I have also updated the BIOS (again) with the update released 7th June. Still no success.

What I have determined -- although it is probably irrelevant -- is that I now think one of my earlier conclusions may have been incorrect. On 6th June I said that the system *appeared* to boot. I'm not so certain now (I will test when I have time). What I *do* know is that if I enable both On-Board AND external graphics at the same time, then I get a kernel panic (whereas all is fine with on-board graphics turned off). Whilst I've been using various flavours of Unix for the past 30 years, I'm afraid low-level kernel hacking is way beyond my skill-set. You might spot something relevant though...

Apologies for the delay in replying. As mentioned before, time is difficult...

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

We are just following up.

It looks like you need more time to check with the board manufacturer since we have not heard from you. 

Should we not hear from you, our system may automatically close the thread.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

We appreciate your prompt reply.

To answer your question, we do not have the service where you send the CPU to us and we will do the testing; all of our diagnosis is done over our support channels, and if CPU is proven to be faulty, we will ask you to send the faulty one to us and we will send you the replacement item.

Due to that answer, we will revisit one of the information that you shared on an earlier post, wherein you contacted your board manufacturer. If your board manufacturer declares that the processor is faulty and the board is functioning normally, we can also proceed with an RMA. May we know if you have any developments regarding this?

At this point, we deduce that the problem is already in the hardware level: a faulty HDMI port, faulty board video bus, or a faulty CPU graphics chip.

We will wait for your answer.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Pip]

Hi Alfred,

Many thanks. ASRock support have now been in touch (and we would have been conversing sooner if I had checked my spam folder!)

Whilst we are still exploring options, the most recent comment was "I agree with the Intel technician that this appears to be a hardware problem with either the motherboard (faulty HDMI port or other circuitry) or CPU (faulty iGPU)."

Now, this raises a problem. My 'worst case scenario' is to request a RMA for one item, only to receive a response that the item is 100% OK, and therefore that the other item must be at fault! Would the kernel wizards at Intel have any C code which I could compile, and actually confirm if the GPU is working? Are there any utilities, or existing calls, which I could use to deduce the root cause?

Happy to try any suggestions if this is productive.

Thanks

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

Thank you providing those information.

Please allow us some time to check if there are commands that can check the functionality of the graphics chip.

We will get back to you as soon as we have updates.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Pip]

Hello Alfred.

Triggered by a prompt from the ASRock engineer (and I am kicking myself for not thinking about this earlier), I have run a few diagnostics.

OS = a CLEAN download of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, put on a bootable USB drive.

I've run several diagnostics:

1. dmesg
2. lspci
3. lshw
4. dmidecode
5. hwinfo
   1. BIOS
   2. CPU
   3. Framebuffer
   4. GFXcard
   5. Monitor
   6. VBE
6. inxi
7. hardinfo

ALL of the output are attached. Hopefully you'll spot something aberrant..., but each section is separated by a line of '=' chars.

hwinfo.txt is quite large

Thank you.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

Thank you for providing that information.

We will continue checking this and the information that provided is invaluable to us.

Please allow us some time to check on this. We hope for your understanding regarding this

We will get back to you no later than 3 business days from now.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Pip]

Hi Alfred,

Thank you for your continued support. 

Late last night, going through the files after uploading, I noticed something interesting.

The output of 'hwinfo --monitor' is showing the details of the monitor attached to the HDMI port.
Disconnecting the monitor, and running the command again produces no info -- and on re-connecting the monitor and turning it on, the monitor information is present.
Therefore, the Operating System is correctly identifying that a monitor has been plugged into the HDMI port. (Having no monitor listed when the HDMI port is not occupied, but the Matrox monitor is still working fine, is probably not surprising, since the PCIe card is very old, is not using the Matrox driver, and the monitor is decades old also.) That said, inxi is correctly stating that the active monitor is being driven at a resolution of 800x600, and lshw states that the active graphics is via /dev/fb0 (simpledrmdrmfb) at 800x600

The last line of hwinfo --monitor states "Attached to: #16 (Display controller)". Doing a grep, the only other references to '#14' are hwinfo --bios and hwinfo --vbe. Sadly, the output there means nothing to me -- so I'm not certain what this is actually telling me.

We know from lspci that the correct drivers are being loaded (i915 & xe), therefore it appears that the OS is also recognising the presence of the iGPU -- which, in turn, might suggest that the BIOS is also aware of the presence of the iGPU and monitor (but I could be wrong here).

However, we also can see from dmesg that the i915 driver is complaining heavily.

> [drm] *ERROR* timeout waiting for CDCLK PLL lock
> [drm] *ERROR* Writing dc state to 0x8 failed, now 0x0
> [drm] *ERROR* DC state mismatch (0x8 -> 0x0)
> [drm] *ERROR* Writing dc state to 0x2 failed, now 0x0

This, I find rather suspicious.

What remains (to me) unexplained -- but may not be relevant to the actual issue at hand:

• /dev/fb0 and /dev/fb1 are being reported by lshw as "belonging to" the iGPU. This is probably incorrect (the matrox card is, by default, dual-head)
• No idea why the Matrox card is listed by lshw as 'Unclaimed'. It's working fine!

That's it for now. I have a query to send to ASrock...

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Pip,

Much obliged for waiting for our update and for the new information that you shared.

Here are our team’s findings:

To address the issue with your ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi motherboard and the i5-13500T CPU, here are some steps and considerations:

·      Enabling Onboard Graphics: To enable the onboard graphics (UHD770) on your ASRock motherboard, you'll need to access the BIOS settings. Since you cannot enter the BIOS without an external graphics card, install the external card first.

·      Checking CPU Integrated Graphics Functionality: If the UHD770 is not functioning, it could be a hardware issue with the CPU. To check if the integrated graphics are operational, you could try the CPU in a different compatible motherboard or use a diagnostic tool provided by Intel if available.

·      POST LED Cycle Hanging: If the POST LEDs hang on the final 'boot' without an external graphics card, it could indicate a problem with the integrated graphics or another system component. Ensure that all components are properly seated, including the RAM and CPU. Clearing the CMOS might also help reset any misconfigured BIOS settings that could be causing the issue.

·      BIOS Update and Configuration: Since you've updated the BIOS, double-check that the update was successful and no settings were reverted that could disable the integrated graphics. Also, ensure that the monitor is connected to the motherboard's HDMI port and not one on the external graphics card when trying to use the integrated graphics.

·      Hardware Fault: It's rare, but possible, for a CPU to have a functioning main processor while the integrated graphics are faulty.

Given these points, it's clear that there are several layers to the issue. The i915 driver errors are particularly concerning and could be the root cause of some of the problems you're experiencing. It might be beneficial to look into updating the BIOS, checking for driver updates, or even considering (CPU) hardware replacements.

We look forward to your reply.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician