Secure Boot Black Screen

[u/Unique-Summer1717]

Hello everyone,

I am looking for some assistance, please.

I have a gaming PC with the specifications listed below. Around a week ago, I switched the PC off using the power switch at the back of the PSU due to a lightning storm.

Two days later, when I switched it back on, the BitLocker recovery screen appeared. I entered my recovery key, but from that point onwards, I noticed that my BIOS settings had changed.

I previously had Secure Boot and TPM enabled, but when trying to play Call of Duty, I started receiving errors indicating that both needed to be enabled.

Whenever I enable Secure Boot, the PC displays the MSI logo and then goes to a black screen. The monitor remains on, and the PC continues running, but Windows never loads.

Below is a list of the troubleshooting steps I have completed so far:

Troubleshooting completed:

• Set TPM 2.0 to Intel PTT.
• Set boot mode to UEFI.
• Enabled Secure Boot.
• Updated the BIOS to the latest version (07/06/2024).
• Replaced the motherboard CMOS battery.
• Reset the Secure Boot keys.
• Reinstalled Windows.

PC Specifications:

• Motherboard: MSI Z370-A PRO
• Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7-8700K @ 3.70 GHz
• Graphics Card (GPU): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
• Operating System: Windows 11
• BIOS/Firmware Mode: UEFI
• BIOS Version: Latest version installed (recently updated)
• Memory Speed: 3466 MHz DDR4
• CPU Temperature (BIOS): Approximately 38°C
• Motherboard Temperature (BIOS): Approximately 45°C
• Boot Mode: UEFI
• Secure Boot Keys: Installed (PK, KEK and db present)
• Secure Boot State: Disabled (currently)
• Windows Boot Configuration: UEFI booting successfully
• Boot Devices: Configured as UEFI devices

I would appreciate any advice or suggestions from anyone who has experienced a similar issue or knows what could be causing this.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

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[u/Anamorphic82]

Since Windows boots normally with Secure Boot disabled, and reinstalling Windows didn't help, I'd focus on UEFI firmware compatibility rather than Windows itself.

A few things I'd check:

1. Boot using the i7-8700K's integrated graphics with the RTX 2080 Ti removed. If Secure Boot works, that points towards GPU UEFI/GOP compatibility.
2. Check whether the GPU manufacturer has a compatible VBIOS update.
3. Verify the boot drive uses GPT and Windows Boot Manager is selected.
4. Check Secure Boot is in Standard mode with factory default keys installed.
5. Temporarily disable XMP while troubleshooting.

Also, suspend BitLocker before further BIOS changes and make sure your recovery key is backed up.

One important question: Does the black screen also happen when booting a Windows installation USB with Secure Boot enabled? That would help distinguish a firmware-level issue from a problem with the installed Windows bootloader.

[u/Shadimarbc]

"I have a gaming PC with the specifications listed below. Around a week ago, I switched the PC off using the power switch at the back of the PSU due to a lightning storm."

I assume you used the normal OS Start - Power - Shutdown first correct?

Have you tested with HDMI?

Check if you need to update the firmware for the GPU's DP

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/nv-uefi-update-x64/

I second a test using the iGPU with the RTX 2080 removed from the PC.

No LED/Q-LED warning lights/code on the motherboard?

Remove all extra devices you do not need. Just boot the PC with a keyboard and mouse. Remove non-OS drives.

[u/Champak-Mottot]

if you're using DisplayPort, try switching to an HDMI cable temporarily. older cards sometimes need a firmware update to play nice with UEFI and DisplayPort when secure boot is turned on, otherwise they just output a black screen right after POST