SOLVED New Xeon, VGA error on boot

[nojohnny101]

Hey everyone,
So I just installed a Xeon E3-1240 v3 with the stock cooler (left over from a G3258, from what I could tell they use the same stock cooler form intel).

Anyways, I cleared CMOS as per my board's instructions but I think it is having trouble booting. While posting, my board beeps 3 times and shows error codes that indicate a problem with the VGA graphics. The G3258 CPU I took out had integrated graphics but from what I have read, that is not necessary. So from what I know, the fact that the 1240 doesn't have integrated graphics, that shouldn't be a problem.

Unfortunately the motherboard doesn't have IPMI and with no integrated graphics, I can't plug a screen in and see what is going on. I'm not sure if the box is continuing to boot after the audible beeps and displaying of the error code on the board, or if it is not able to continue because it had VGA graphics before, and now it doesn't. It is getting stuck somewhere because I can never reach the GUI or SSH into the box.

Any ideas? Do I have to buy a cheap VGA graphics card so that I can get into the BIOS and disable graphics?

Hardware:
AsRock C226m WS
32GB DDR3 ECC RAM
6 drive radiz2 pool
xeon e3-1240 v3
running 11.0-U4

 

[Chris Moore]

Hey everyone,
So I just installed a Xeon E3-1240 v3 with the stock cooler (left over from a G3258, from what I could tell they use the same stock cooler form intel).

Anyways, I cleared CMOS as per my board's instructions but I think it is having trouble booting. While posting, my board beeps 3 times and shows error codes that indicate a problem with the VGA graphics. The G3258 CPU I took out had integrated graphics but from what I have read, that is not necessary. So from what I know, the fact that the 1240 doesn't have integrated graphics, that shouldn't be a problem.

Unfortunately the motherboard doesn't have IPMI and with no integrated graphics, I can't plug a screen in and see what is going on. I'm not sure if the box is continuing to boot after the audible beeps and displaying of the error code on the board, or if it is not able to continue because it had VGA graphics before, and now it doesn't. It is getting stuck somewhere because I can never reach the GUI or SSH into the box.

Any ideas? Do I have to buy a cheap VGA graphics card so that I can get into the BIOS and disable graphics?

Hardware:
AsRock C226m WS
32GB DDR3 ECC RAM
6 drive radiz2 pool
xeon e3-1240 v3
running 11.0-U4

Best thing would have been to get a new CPU that had integrated graphics, just so you could use the integrated display if you needed it. Most consumer boards will not boot without some kind of graphics solution to connect a monitor to. It is probably stopping at the error and will not continue. There is most likely no way to set the board to boot without a video card either. When the CPU graphics was there, that took the place of a standard video card. Now that it is gone, you will have to put a card in the system or it won't boot. I have seen this kind of thing many times. There is a slim (very slim) chance that the system could be configured to boot with no video card, but sometimes the video cards you put in a system even require that a monitor is connected or they still hang on boot.
This kind of problem is the reason for using a server board with IPMI integrated. This is never an issue with one of those boards.

 

[nojohnny101]

Thanks @Chris Moore
I did some further testing and popped in the G3258 to modify BIOS settings to see if I could disable the VGA requirement somehow. No luck so far. I will email ASRock to confirm there is nothing I can do.

Additionally does anyone have any recommendations for a dirt cheap GPU that would pass the booting process? I know it’s not ideal, but it’s either that, return thr Xeon, or get a new motherboard.

 

[nojohnny101]

SOLVED!
I'm so relieved I didn't make an expensive mistake on trying to upgrade my processor!

All I had to do was go into the ASRock BIOS and enable "Console Redirection". It was defaulted to "COM1". No more errors on boot and everything is good!

 

[Ericloewe]

So I just installed a Xeon E3-1240 v3 with the stock cooler (left over from a G3258, from what I could tell they use the same stock cooler form intel).

Careful! Low-end, lower TDP CPUs have a crappier stock cooler than the full parts, like the Xeons.

 

[nojohnny101]

@Ericloewe thanks for the heads up. I suspected this but couldn't easily find information to confirm the specs of the stock coolers that come with each processor, so I assumed they were the same.

I have a Cooler Master Hyper EVO 212 on the way so I'll report back once that is installed.

 

[Jailer]

Did the CPU cooler have a copper button embedded in the bottom of it where it makes contact with the CPU?

 

[nojohnny101]

Did the CPU cooler have a copper button embedded in the bottom of it where it makes contact with the CPU?

Yes.