Headless mode in Biostar A760G M2+

[Kansur]

I noticed in the bios that there is an option for running in "headless" mode.  Does this do anything special?  Or does it just not give error message when booting without a keyboard and monitor?  What I am hoping is that it if I set the video memory to auto and set it in headless mode it will not steal any of my ram for video memory, I currently have it set to steal the minimum of 32MB, but I would like to reclaim that if possible.

 

[Rajahal]

Hmm, not sure, I've never tried it.  The manual doesn't say much:

 

Headless mode

This is a server-specific feature. A headless server is one that operates without a keyboard, monitor or mouse. To run in headless mode, both BIOS and operating system (e.g. Windows Server 2003) must support headless operation.

Options: Disabled (Default) / Enabled

 

Just try it and see what happens.  You can compare your syslogs before and after turning on headless mode to see if the RAM available to unRAID changes.

[chanders]

This is crap. I set this setting in the MB, removed the video card and unRAID refuses to boot. I know the system has booted properly because I get no warning beeps about a missing video card.

 

really disappointed because now I have to go shell out more money for a videocard when I thought unRAID would actually run headless. Heck, you cant see much when it boots without the web interface anyway!

 

 

[BRiT]

unRAID the software itself will run headless perfectly fine, I've done so on my old server.

 

If you have an issue, it's something to do with your particular hardware, likely having to do with additional BIOS settings.

 

[chanders]

hmmm... let me try again....

[BRiT]

Make sure you disable any "Stop on errors" or "Force F1 on errors" in BIOS.

[chanders]

The thing is, this ami bios is really crap. Those of you who use it, i am sure can attest to that. Not even close to award. It does not have that setting or even power button control!

 

Would anyone who has a  biostar mb that doesn't have onboard video be willing to see if they can get it to boot without a videocard? Finding a PCI video card in Trinidad is nearly impossible and I don't relish the fact of paying $50 for one (cost to get it here). I can find tons of pcie cards but it will use up the only available slot ;(

[chanders]

So I got around to emailing Biostar tech support to get some answers.

 

I am trying to boot my computer "Headless" ie. without a video card but it does not boot. Can this motherboard boot without a video card?

 

The answer I got was

 

No, this motherboard requires a video card to complete POST.

 

Ok so no problem. But this still did not describe what headless mode was so I needed clarification. This board did not have a video card (A770E3).

 

I returned it and got another board with onboard videocard (TA785G3HD). My message to Biostar was

 

I have recently decided to build a Server and am interested in the bios option called "Headless Mode". The bios manual does not explain it properly and only says it needs an OS that supports it. Can you please explain how this works? I tried booting my PC with no keyboard mouse and monitor with headless mode both disabled and enabled but didnt notice any difference. The PC booted just fine. Please explain how this works. Thank You

 

Their response was

 

Headless mode allows you to turn on the system without a video card.

Since this motherboard has onboard video, Headless mode does not apply to this motherboard.

However, The options are included in the AMI BIOS for headless mode.

If you remove the display (monitor), the system will continue to boot.

 

This directly contradicts with the first message from tech support! Anyways I thought I would share my experiences..

 

 

[Rajahal]

Yeah, that's sad.  There have been several times when I've had to explain a term or function of a device to that company's tech support representative...they often know less about the problem and solution than you do.

[Paak]

The rep's definition of "headless" was probably with a video card but without a monitor?

[chanders]

Then it shouldn't even be in the bios, as it makes no difference if you have a monitor plugged in or not.

[Rajahal]

Then it shouldn't even be in the bios, as it makes no difference if you have a monitor plugged in or not.

 

Actually, I have run into one or two older motherboards that won't boot if they don't have a monitor attached.  They will just start beeping, similar to bad RAM beeps.