SOLVED Black screen - even when booting from install media!

[Noki]

I did an update a week ago and after that Windows 10 will boot to black screen without cursor.

When booting I get sometimes "Automatic repairs", I see the initial logo. After some minutes the screen goes back and that's it.

When I try to boot from an USB the same happens - I cannot get even to re-install Windows. The USB works on another PC just fine.

I booted from Linux and deleted the hiberfil.sys file, checked all the partitions of the disk (in this case SSD) with GParted- no issues.

I really don't know how to get even to the advanced options and try to reset or run command prompt.

 

[Trouble]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
See if you can get into your System Setup Utility (BIOS) and disable "Secure Boot" and change your boot options from UEFI only to UEFI & Legacy.
Then see if it will boot from the USB

 

[Saltgrass]

Your title is a little misleading. It looks like you can't boot from install media.

I do not know what is wrong, but we had someone the other day with the same situation whose keyboard was not working correctly.

What is happening has not yet been discovered, but it may relate back to an Intel video update.

 

[Noki]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
See if you can get into your System Setup Utility (BIOS) and disable "Secure Boot" and change your boot options from UEFI only to UEFI & Legacy.
Then see if it will boot from the USB

It did not help...

 

[Noki]

Your title is a little misleading. It looks like you can't boot from install media.

I do not know what is wrong, but we had someone the other day with the same situation whose keyboard was not working correctly.

What is happening has not yet been discovered, but it may relate back to an Intel video update.

But I can see the blue small window, I see the circle of dots for some time... Same from USB or from the SSD. I can boot any linux on USB...

Is there any log file where the boot logs where it fails?

 

[Trouble]

It did not help

DID you adjust your default boot device in the BIOS to boot first from USB or try to evoke a boot menu (every BIOS has a different Function Key to produce it) and selecting the USB device to boot??

 

[Noki]

DID you adjust your default boot device in the BIOS to boot first from USB or try to evoke a boot menu (every BIOS has a different Function Key to produce it) and selecting the USB device to boot??

Yes, I use <F8> and then select manually the USB. If it has linux all goes well. But if on the USB I have windows 10 or windows 8 boot media it fails. These windows boot USBs work on other PCs....

 

[Saltgrass]

If your system is a laptop, remove the power adapter.

I just watched my desktop boot and the first thing I see is the OEM splash screen with the F key options.

After that the system starts the Windows load so I see another OEM splash screen with the circling dots.

After a second or so, that screen blinks which is where the video resolution changes but the circling dots continue.

Then a blue screen with circling dots.

Then the lock screen appears.

What you may normally see on your system may depend on your type of system and what configuration the bios and how Windows 10 is set up. And whether you are doing a cold or warm boot. But the more precise you can be may help troubleshooting.

There is a small chance the problem originates in the firmware if you cannot actually get to the bios setup. I do not know a way to fix such a situation. If it is something else, you should still be able to get into the bios if you hit the correct key at the correct time(very early) and the boot media is workable with that install with respect to UEFI or Legacy.

For testing you might even disconnect the SSD to see makes any difference.

 

[Noki]

OK, I solved it. I lay it down here for the rest of the internet to see, because this was a tough cookie.

The issue was that some of the other disks (I have totally 5 HDD + the SSD) were probably marked for checkup. The update did not went well and then during the boot there was probably some loop that was bouncing between the update and disk checking.

What I found is that under Linux (parted magic) it took really a long time to discover and mount the partitions of the HDDs. There were also a lot of I/O errors on one of them (might also signal the end of the its life, BTW).

So what I did is:
- Unplugged all HDD (power only, not the SATA cable)
- Booted with Recovery Windows 10 USB that it said I am in the middle of an update and if I want I need to I finish it
- Finished the update by rebooting without the USB. Win 10 popped up OK.
- Rolled back to the recovery point before the failed update (just to be sure)

Then I had no luck with the HDD. When I plugged them in, the booting to the black screen was again in effect.
So I did the following to prevent checking the disks while booting:
- Removed the power of the HDD
- Defined in the BIOS all SATA ports to be "hot swapable"!!!
- Booted to the normal windows
- Connected the power to the disks one by one, running chkdsk /f on each one
- All went OK and it seems now I have a stable system. For now at least...

 

[Hook135]

OK, I solved it. I lay it down here for the rest of the internet to see, because this was a tough cookie.

The issue was that some of the other disks (I have totally 5 HDD + the SSD) were probably marked for checkup. The update did not went well and then during the boot there was probably some loop that was bouncing between the update and disk checking.

What I found is that under Linux (parted magic) it took really a long time to discover and mount the partitions of the HDDs. There were also a lot of I/O errors on one of them (might also signal the end of the its life, BTW).

So what I did is:
- Unplugged all HDD (power only, not the SATA cable)
- Booted with Recovery Windows 10 USB that it said I am in the middle of an update and if I want I need to I finish it
- Finished the update by rebooting without the USB. Win 10 popped up OK.
- Rolled back to the recovery point before the failed update (just to be sure)

Then I had no luck with the HDD. When I plugged them in, the booting to the black screen was again in effect.
So I did the following to prevent checking the disks while booting:
- Removed the power of the HDD
- Defined in the BIOS all SATA ports to be "hot swapable"!!!
- Booted to the normal windows
- Connected the power to the disks one by one, running chkdsk /f on each one
- All went OK and it seems now I have a stable system. For now at least...

Ha your system remained stable? Having the same issue you are (6 HDD, 2 SSD), can’t get past the black screen until I unplug all my SATA HDD. Just curious if your solution has held up?

 

[Nixxy13]

Hi,
I hope this helps someone having the dreaded automatic repair loop/black screen hang up. The steps I took were.

Created a bootable USB with Windows OS ISO on it.

Disabled Fast Boot & Secure Boot in BIOS

Enabled launch CSM in BIOS (to detect my USB, you wont need to do this if your USB is already detected in Boot order)

Removed (disabled)Windows HDD from the Boot order and set USB to number 1 in the Boot order in BIOS.

Changed SATA from AHCI to IDE in the BIOS.
(This was the big one that got me over the hump and the hell of the bootable USB constantly going to black screen)

My laptop then booted the Windows USB which gave me access to the Repair features.

You then will have the ability to try any of these fixes.

7 Easy Fixes For The Automatic Repair Windows 10 Loop - Technology Org

If you are looking at how to stop automatic repair for a Windows 10 computer, here are 7 easy fixes that can help you disable automatic repair.

www.technology.org

Note I still haven't solved the issue but I now have access to repair tools and command prompt.

 

[Nixxy13]

Hi,
I hope this helps someone having the dreaded automatic repair loop/black screen hang up. The steps I took were.

Created a bootable USB with Windows OS ISO on it.

Disabled Fast Boot & Secure Boot in BIOS

Enabled launch CSM in BIOS (to detect my USB, you wont need to do this if your USB is already detected in Boot order)

Removed (disabled)Windows HDD from the Boot order and set USB to number 1 in the Boot order in BIOS.

Changed SATA from AHCI to IDE in the BIOS.
(This was the big one that got me over the hump and the hell of the bootable USB constantly going to black screen)

My laptop then booted the Windows USB which gave me access to the Repair features.

You then will have the ability to try any of these fixes.

7 Easy Fixes For The Automatic Repair Windows 10 Loop - Technology Org

If you are looking at how to stop automatic repair for a Windows 10 computer, here are 7 easy fixes that can help you disable automatic repair.

www.technology.org

Note I still haven't solved the issue but I now have access to repair tools and command prompt.

Update /

Ran the auto repair from the USB boot and after it ran it's course I went back to BIOS and enabled Windows HDD and selected it as the first boot option. This time windows blue screened then put me in to auto repair but instead of the auto repair loop it put me back into repair menus. From there I ran chkdsk /f /r C: from the Command Prompt.(overnight). Success! I'm now back into system and out of purgatory ( although Windows is a form of hell its self haha).