DGX won't boot. Tried all documented methods from public documentation and this forum

Accelerated Computing DGX Spark / GB10 User Forum DGX Spark / GB10
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1

I rebooted my device after some routine updates and it became unresponsive. I checked my network to see if it fully booted and something was simply wrong with the monitor but it wasn’t showing up on network. It won’t boot.

Spark is always connected to wired keyboard and monitor

Things I’ve tried repeatedly

  • hold the power botton to shut off, and press+hold ESC to power it on
  • hold power button to shut off, hold ESC or DEL to power on
  • hold power button to shut off, repeatedly tap ESC or DEL to power on
  • unplug, then replug, press + hold ESC or DEL to power on
  • unplug, then replug, repeated tap ESC or DEL to power on
  • unplug everything, drain power 1/3/5/10 minutes or hours or overnight, try all of the above
  • Tried many different keyboards. Bought a couple diff common peripheral brands just in case

Nothing shows up on display, monitor powers on but reports no signal then goes back to sleep. Fan seems to be running.

Documentation referred to: System Recovery — DGX Spark User Guide

I’m posting this because I went to live chat support first and they insisted I need to post on the forum before the RMA process could be started. I’ve never heard of this practice before but here we are.

2

This may be a long shot but I had something similar happen to me on my FE Spark. It turns out that one of the firmware updates was not completing and I was not waiting long enough with the power on to let it finish and during this particular firmware update there is nothing displayed on the screen. When I let it sit there with power on and running for about 10 minutes it magically rebooted itself and was fine. The other firmware updates were not like this but on this occasion that is what happened to me. Maybe it can help you.

3

I faced this problem for several days and now it’s resolved. The culprit is the monitor, since it’s ‘Display port’ based and old model, it is unable to display the BIOS/UEFI screens. I bought a new monitor based on HDMI and restarted DGX Spark and pressed ‘del’, I immediately saw the BIOS and clicked on booth with USB and the problem solved. It is important to remember the password, because with this approach, the data will be lost. Take a backup of the data always. Good luck to you and let me know in the comments if the problem is solved.

4

Thanks for the response. This is something that I also tried but alas, this did not mitigate my issue.

5

Thanks for the response. My monitor has always been connected via HDMI and not display port. I haven’t tried a DP cable but that would require a second purchase.

6

Any other suggestions from folks? I feel like I’ve exhausted all options that have already been mentioned throughout the forums.

7

@mh123 Which DGX model (and from which manufacturer) do you have? Does it have any visible LED inside, and does that LED turn on? Are you using the original NVMe drive or have you changed that out? If you unplug the HDMI cable and plug it into another computer, does the monitor work?

8

@jcagle thanks for the response. My DGX is from Nvidia. I don’t see a visible LED turn on when the box powers on. The box is stock–nothing has changed.

Confirm my monitor and HDMI cable work with other laptops

9

The only thing you didn’t mention already is about networking. If you have it plugged into a switch (with the RJ-45 connector), does your Ethernet switch detect link (link LED lit)? If so, have you tried to capture anything from it when it boots (e.g. with tcpdump or wireshark/tshark)?

It’s possibly a firmware corruption issue, Nvidia should immediately RMA this for you…

10

Hi @mh123, you said the fans are running, which indicates the device is booting. Are you connected to internet via ethernet? Can you try logging in remotely through SSH?

11

@mh123 Can you let me know your status and if you were able to access your system?