RaspberryPi3 powering up but no visual HDMI - VGA

When a Raspberry pi boots, the GPU will start and load "bootcode.bin" from the SD card. That contains code to do the things that config.txt tells it to and then load "kernel.img" and start the CPU.

All that already causes some flashes of the green led. If you see no flashes, no communication with the SD card is happening. Card not inserted? No "bootcode.bin" on the SD card? stuff like that.

So for both of you, I'd simplify things by just getting a raspbian image and put that on your SD card according to the instructions you can find online. Then you CAN see config.txt and edit if necessary.

My Pi 2 turned on without SD card had a solid green light. When replaced if works.

If the green light is not flashing then the software is not running. It is most likely a bad Raspberry pi or a bad SD card/software. Here is how I would troubleshoot.

SD card.

     Not all SD cards are compatible with all devices. Try another SD card. Make sure it is  a Class 10 card. Get an oversize card.

     Download a new NOOBS.

     Can you see the files if you open the SD card on your PC? This is not proof of a good SD card.

     Try burning the NOOBS image using a different app.

     Try creating a new SD card using a different computer.

Raspberry Pi

     I have added a "run" switch to my RPi. On my RPi I would remove that. This is unlikely your situation.

     Is something grounding the run line on the RPi?  Again, this is unlikely your situation.

     Is the power supply not providing enough current?  I can imagine a power supply could provide enough current to turn on the red Led but not boot the RPi.

     The only way to prove it is a bad RPi is to try another one.

I burned a new NOOBS to a used SD card to observed exactly how it reacted. It was different than I had recalled in some ways.

      When I powered the RPi on for the first time. The red LED came on, the green LED flashed for a few seconds, then the green LED flashed quickly every few seconds.

     The green LED  and the Network lights did not come on when there was no SD card.

     The network lights came on when the green LED light started flashing.

     I was not able to SSH from my PC as I had thought I had done before.

     I hope this helps.

Here is how I installed Raspbian on the SD card with a linux Ubuntu Mate computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ2MV1h6Z0s&t=4s

Yours OS should be very close to this.

The slide at 2:13 shows the config.txt in the boot folder. This is before you even install it on the RPi. If the files look like what is in the slides then you should be good to go --- until you remove your SD card without unmounting it. The OS does housekeeping which include moving files around when you least expect it. This is to improve the the operation of the SD card.

If you pop the card out at the wrong time the files could get corrupted.

I hope this helps.

On my RPi 3 the red light comes on and nothing else. Someone else commented on their RPi 2 (?) the green light came on steady which doesn't sound right.  I made a video slide show of the steps I took to install NOOBS on the SD card. See my other comment in this thread.

Have you tried plugging the Raspi into a television HDMI socket? Just to see if you get a display. There is no point in making any adjustments such as changing borders as you want to go with a VGA monitor.

Also, you may have problems with the SD card socket or the SD card, itself. I cannot find one interesting thread that noted that the (micro)SD card had distorted with the heat from the Pi and was not making a reliable connection. Here is a similar thread.

sd card - Raspberry Pi fails to turn on - Raspberry Pi Stack Exchange

I have managed to stop my Pis booting by leaving the card out, altogether, or by not fully inserting the card. A visual check to ensure the card is fully seated would be good. The cards are not robust and can be cracked or bent, so take care.

Check again. Mine flashes so quickly after it first booted up that I would not have seen it if the lights were low and I had not waited long enough.

That video looks more like a Raspbian OS image restore than a NOOBS install.

The first three slides shows the web links to the NOOBS download, but then after that the video appears to be demonstrating a image restore from the Raspbian OS image download.

The difference between a 'Install Raspbian with NOOBS' installation and a 'Download and image Raspbian directly' installation is outlined here:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/software-guide/quickstart/

I have replaced the video which was not a NOOBS installation but a Raspbian installation.

Hi..

Vendor replaced the micro SD card with new one containing Noobs...!!!

Problem completely solved... started working perfectly...

Thanks every body who put their valuable thoughts & sugections...

with regards,

Pradeep Kumar P ChristyZrewadmintech_contentharnRaspberryPi3 powering up but no visual HDMI - VGA