Intel NUC – Troubleshooting NUC5i7RYH Boot Issues

bootdisplaydisplayportintel-nucpower

I'm looking at an Intel NUC, model NUC5i7RYH. It was working fine until yesterday, running Windows 10. After being left alone for the night – it has entered a state in which:

  • nothing is sent to the display;
  • the fan speed is high;
  • the chassis is cold to the touch;
  • pressing the power button does nothing, even a long press which usually forces power-off;
  • the power led is lit stably, not blinking.

If I disconnect the power connector, wsit, re-insert it and press the power button, the NUC gets back into this non-responsive state. Switching the display cable from (DisplayPort M -> DisplayPort M), to (Mini-HDMI M -> HDMI M -> HDMI F -> DisplayPort M) has no effect (the relevant monitor has no HDMI input, only DP).

Why could this be happening, and what, if anything, can I do to get the NUC to boot again?

Note: I've tried disconnecting the SATA connector from the on-board SATA header, in case this has something to do with the SSD; this had no effect.

Best Answer

I'm getting the same problem with an NUC5I5RYK purchased in 2015.

Symptoms:

  • When clicking the power button it lights up (solid stable blue)
  • The fan runs at maximum speed.
  • No signal output to monitor (Mini DisplayPort).
  • Clicking or holding down the power button again has no effect (e.g. it does not turn off).
  • Only way to stop it (and the noisy fan) is to unplug the power supply.

When it starts normally (as it should) the fan will start directly in slow and silent mode with no significant speed/noise at any moments.

Solution #1

Let it run for a little while (e.g. 5 minutes). Then unplug power supply, don't wait, and reconnect the power supply and click the power button again. This often worked for me.

Solution #2

But today solution #1 didn't work – even after many attempts. I finally decided to unplug it and put it on a heater! A hair dryer could probably also work fine but be carful with any excessive heating. Heat the underside gently for 10 minutes (no need to open the casing). This solved the problem for me – this time. When I plugged it back in and clicked the power button it immediately started ok. The reason for this working is probably because the heating will positively affect a fault component (e.g. a capacitor) or a bad soldering coming lose on the PCB.

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