Does anyone know how to make an Asus P5QL/EPU motherboard boot without a graphics card in it?!?!? I've updated the BIOS to the latest revision. I've disabled the "Wait for F1 on error" option in the BIOS. There are no other relevant options I can find! If it's at all relevant I'm booting FreeNAS from a USB stick which works fine when a graphics card is present but it just sits at the POST screen when there is no GPU. Obviously I can't see it sat at the POST screen but I'm assuming it must be because when I press the power button it turns off immediately... Any ideas?
From a quick search of the web, that board doesn't have on board graphics so like jeff said, it ain't happening. Use a cheap graphics card, even an old PCI one would be enough to allow it to boot headless. I used to run an old ATI X300 in my FreeNAS rig before I changed the m/b.
That's pretty much what I was afraid of Now the decision is, do I buy a new motherboard with integrated GPU or do I buy a super cheap graphics card (and probably a dummy plug so it thinks it has a monitor plugged in)? How much additional power would a graphics card use if it isn't plugged into a monitor? Presumably it won't be doing anything so it would only use nominal power? This is for a FreeNAS server which is always on so power consumption is a big consideration... Thanks for the replies!
Look in the for sale section for a cheap PCIE powered model, that won't make any real difference power wise. Don't worry about putting a plug in, as long as the GPU is installed it'll all be fine.
The marketplace here has a few graphics cards for a tenner or less, one of those would be the cheapest option.
Have a look here might just be what you're looking for http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=201690
I'm not sure 100% sure it'll solve the issue, but try putting a graphics card into the system, then enter BIOS. If memory serves correctly there should be a setting, "Halt on" somewhere, probably on the first tab. Try fiddling with that.
exactly, i had to set mine to halt on no errors when i was running freenas, since there was no headless operation option in the bios. no errors should allow it to run without a gfx card or keyboard plugged.
That's where trial and error comes in. If doggeh can get the system to boot without a display connected he's halfway there. Then removing the graphics card and see if the thing starts shouldn't be too difficult or timeconsuming. However, it is entirely possible that the motherboard truly will not POST without a graphics card. If that's the case he'll looking at either another motherboard (I'm thinking of something with onboard graphics) or at a very cheap and extremely low-end "alibi" graphics card.
i haven't come across a board yet that wouldn't boot without a gfx card once you either set up headless (if its has the option) or halt on no errors. i've set up lots of freenas / openfiler /monowall installs on dozens of different boards and i've never had a problem where a gfx card was 100% required. then again i don't think i've ever used that exact model of motherboard. used an asus p5 pro board though, so not sure why it would be that different.
Unfortunately this particular motherboard doesn't have this option anywhere in the BIOS. It only has the "Wait for F1 or error" option which I have disabled but which hasn't helped at all
i just had a peek at the manual for your board, and according to it it supposedly has an initiate graphic adapter option, in which it supposedly has some option called igd/pcg. while i'm not clear on what pcg might be, my guess is that igd would be integrated device. if that dosen't solve it, you could email asus and ask if there are any bios revisions that would allow that board to operate as desired, without a vga card. if they aren't helpful, then that leaves you back to either running some low end vga card or a different board.
I guess you're referring to the "Initiate Graphics Adapter" setting. That lets you choose which graphics adapter to initialise first, the one in the PEG (PCIe Graphics) slot or a card in a PCI slot, should you have one. The card initialised first becomes the primary graphics adapter. If you only have a PCIe graphics card this option does nothing. On boards with integrated graphics you might also encounter IGP (integrated graphics processor) as an option.
you can get some very cheap used graphics card for less than a tenner on the bay, may be cheaper than a mobo replacement. Although I'm talking about AGP cards, PCI-E may be minimum £30.
I payed £7 for a PCI-E geforce 700 something or other on the marketplace the other day. (including postage) That sort of thing should do you nicely bud.
Guys, there's no point looking for BIOS options to let the PC boot on errors, or updating the BIOS. If it has no on-board graphics and no graphics card plugged in, then it probably won't even power up properly! I have never seen a mainstream board that will function without any kind of graphics hardware. If you want truly headless operation and no graphics hardware, your only choice will be a specialised piece of kit like an ALIX board (link: http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=180&pp=176,180). These are very specialist boards and if it doesn't have a VGA socket (which some ALIX boards do), you will have to connect via serial terminal to get any kind of output from it.
Lots of mobo's will run 'headless' (without a gfx card or integrated gfx). This is a popular solution to keep costs down on Seti/Folding/etc farms. Unfortunately, it seems like the OP's mobo isn't one of them.
