If your PC won't start properly after you put in a DMA card, it's usually something simple. The card isn't fully in its slot, something else got knocked while the case was open, or the slot shares its lanes with your boot drive. None of that means the card or your PC is dead. Find what you see below and work down that list in order.
If your card isn't flashed yet, only ever go as far as the BIOS while you test. Don't let the PC start Windows with the card in. Why that matters.
Find what you see
| What you see | Where the fix is |
|---|---|
| Fans spin but the screen stays black | No picture |
| A small light on the motherboard stays on | A debug light stays on |
| It goes into the BIOS every time, or says there's no boot device | No boot device |
| It turns on and off over and over | Boot loop |
| Nothing at all, no fans and no lights | Nothing at all |
| A blue screen asking for a BitLocker recovery key | BitLocker recovery key |
| It starts, then freezes or blue screens | Freezes or blue screens |
Give it a few minutes first
The first start after a hardware change can take two or three minutes while the board checks everything. The screen can stay black that whole time. Wait that long before you decide something's wrong.
Fans spin but there's no picture
- Reseat the card.
Switch the power supply off and unplug it. Touch bare metal on the case, take the card out and push it back in until no gold shows above the slot. - Check the graphics card.
It's right next to where you were working, so it's easy to knock. Press it down into its slot and check its power cables are clipped in. - Try it with the card out.
If there's still no picture, it isn't the card. Something else got knocked. Reseat your RAM too, until both clips click. - If it only fails with the card in, try the card in another slot. Which slot to actually pick helps you choose. You can also start with the card out, set that slot's speed one step lower in the BIOS, and put the card back. The PCIe slot speed shows where that setting is.
A debug light stays on
Most boards have four small lights marked CPU, DRAM, VGA and BOOT. ASUS calls them Q-LEDs and MSI calls them EZ Debug LEDs. Each one lights while the board checks that part and goes out when it passes. The one that stays on is where it stopped.
- VGA.
The board can't find the graphics card. Press it back into its slot and check its power cables. - DRAM.
The memory. Push each stick down until both clips click. - CPU.
Check the CPU power cable at the top of the board is fully in. - BOOT.
The board can't find a drive to start from. See the next section.
Some boards show a two-digit code instead. Your board's manual says what each code means.
It goes into the BIOS every time, or says there's no boot device
Going into the BIOS once on its own after a hardware change is normal. If your card isn't flashed yet, staying in the BIOS is exactly what you want anyway. But if it does it every time once the card is flashed, or shows a message like "Reboot and Select proper Boot device", the board can't find the drive Windows is on.
- Look for your drive in the BIOS.
Open the boot tab and check the drive with Windows on it is listed. If it's missing, check the next point. - The slot shares lanes with that drive.
On a lot of boards, a slot and an M.2 socket (where a flat SSD screws in) share the same lanes, and using one switches the other off. If your Windows drive is the one that dropped out, there's nothing to start from. Move the card to another slot. Your files are still on the drive. Why slots share lanes at all explains it, and your board's manual says which slots share with which socket. - A cable got knocked.
If Windows is on a drive with cables, check both are still in.
It turns on and off over and over
Give it the few minutes from the top of this page first. If it keeps going after that:
- Reseat the card, with the power supply switched off and unplugged.
- On a riser, check the card isn't touching metal.
Bare metal under the card can short it. Then try the card straight in a slot without the riser. - Try it with the card out.
If the loop stops, try the card in another slot. If it doesn't, the card isn't the cause.
Nothing happens at all
No fans and no lights usually means no power is getting in. You switched off and unplugged the power supply to fit the card, so check the switch on the back is on and the cable is pushed all the way in at both ends. Then try it with the card out. If it still does nothing, it isn't the card.
It starts, then freezes or blue screens
- On a riser.
Try the card straight in a slot. If that fixes it, the riser is the problem. - The kill switch was flipped with the PC on.
Shut down fully, set the switch, and start again. The kill switch explains why it only gets flipped with the PC off. - DRIVER_VERIFIER_DMA_VIOLATION.
What that blue screen means and what to send us. - Rule the card out.
Shut down, switch the card off with its kill switch or take it out, and use the PC for a while. If the problem stays, it isn't the card.
Clear the CMOS as a last step
If the PC won't start even with the card out, clearing the CMOS puts every BIOS setting back to its default. Your board's manual shows the button or the two pins for it. Afterwards, turn Fast Boot back off (BIOS settings) and have your BitLocker key ready, because the change can make Windows ask for it.
Still stuck
Open a ticket in our Discord with:
Once it starts, DMA card not working covers the card itself, and Main PC Setup has the whole install. Hardware we sold you has three months of warranty, and Firmware warranty and upgrades covers how to claim.
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