M2A ACEMAGIC - No video signal after BIOS change

[Maggot901]

Hi everyone,
I have a Mini PC Ace Magician M2A with an Intel i7, RTX 3060, 32GB of RAM, and an Aptio BIOS. Recently, I changed a setting in the BIOS, setting the PEG slot (dedicated GPU) as the primary display. Since then, the PC no longer outputs any video signal, neither via HDMI nor DisplayPort.
What I’ve tried so far:

1- Connecting the PC to different monitors and TVs using both HDMI and DisplayPort.
2- Performing a "soft" CMOS reset by disconnecting the power and holding the power button for more than 2 minutes.
3- Attempting a "blind" BIOS reset using key combinations like F9 + Enter or F10 + Enter.

Additional problem:

I can’t open the mini PC to manually reset the BIOS (via jumper or CMOS battery) because the case is difficult to disassemble.

Question:
Is there a way to reset the BIOS without opening the case? Or is there an alternative key combination or procedure to force a reset?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Gabe]

I don't have an M2A, but maybe someone who does will be able to walk you through the steps to boot into the BIOS, then reset everything to default, then save an exit, without actually being able to see anything on the screen.

The steps would be repeatedly pressing or pressing and holding Del on Startup, then waiting a few seconds so it's in the BIOS, then pressing an F-key to restore the default settings, then probably F4 to Save and Exit, then Enter, then it should restart. However, I don't know what the default F-key is in the M2A to restore all of the BIOS settings to default.

[dragonpoo]

I don't have that system either, but I'll agree to Gabe's suggestion.

It looks like that system has a single Display Port connection, two HDMI, and a single USB-C (thunderbolt) connection, any of which should be able to output to a screen. Make sure a single monitor is plugged in before turning it on, as BIOS is pretty ancient about dealing with hardware changes, and start tapping the DEL key right after hitting the power button, to get into the BIOS.

It's hard to configure things blind. I tested this on one of my other MiniPCs. Assuming you got back into the BIOS, try waiting a few seconds, then hitting F3 (set to defaults) and Enter, then F4 (save and exit) and Enter again, which should reboot the system.

Taking it apart to get to the CMOS battery would be possible, but as you said, difficult.

[Maggot901]

Thank you so much! I managed to solve the issue (after a couple of attempts). The correct method is: DEL -> F3 -> Enter -> F4 -> Enter. The mistake I was making was holding down the DEL key, whereas to enter the BIOS, you need to press it repeatedly .

Anyway, it’s working now! I just had to reset the correct boot order for the peripherals (Windows wasn’t starting at first), but now everything is perfect.

However, I still have this question: why can’t I use the RTX 3060 as the primary display, and instead have to use the integrated Intel GPU?

[Gabe]

It's great to hear that you got it back to working.

Regarding the video card issue, it's possible it has something to do with the driver for it. There are a few discussions about drivers for the add on video cards in the M2A section.

That's just a guess though.

You may want to start a new topic about this in that section so others who have the M2A might be able to give some advice.