Crosshair X670e Extreme - Q Code 81

[Qwinn]

Hello,

For the first few days after I built this PC with Crosshair X670e Extreme and a 7950x, during normal operation the Q-Code LEDs would read AA, as expected. But now it only briefly displays AA at the end of POST and then displays 81 permanently. Operation otherwise appears normal. Thing is, I can't find any entry in the manual for 81, and when I try to search for it on the internet, all I can find is "HDD ROM Error" that usually prevents booting. Now I do not currently have any HDDs in this box, only a single M.2, but I actually may well add some in the future and I would like to confirm that this is not an indicator that I would have issues if I tried.

Also, while I'm here - is there a way to disable C-States in the BIOS? I would normally expect to find such under CPU Configuration, but in this BIOS I am not seeing it. The manual doesn't seem to have a detailed BIOS section like I'm normally used to with high end Asus board.

[Qwinn]

Little bit of additional info:

I found one similar report in my searching online, guy claimed he resolved it by clearing CMOS. I tried that but it didn't get rid of the 81.

I note that the 81 overwrites the AA at the precise moment that the Windows 10 "circle of dots" starts circling.

Oh, and I am on the latest bios 0705, so I do have the BIOS setting to have those LEDs show "POST codes only", otherwise it would be showing me the temperature.

My BIOS is otherwise set to all defaults except for WiFi and Bluetooth being disabled, but I had those disabled from day one and I had "AA" showing up normally with those settings in place for a while.

[Ryan_hubbard]

Same board and cpu I'm having the same issue, have not been able to figure it out

[Qwinn]

And a quick correction - previously I said: "I note that the 81 overwrites the AA at the precise moment that the Windows 10 "circle of dots" starts circling." This is not quite correct. I get a brief period of the spinning windows circle while it loads, and during that I get the AA. But then there's a moment where the screen blinks off for just a second then comes back and the spinning circle resumes. THAT is the moment the led goes to 81.

[planetbeing]

You don't think it's a problem with your Windows install? Whatever's happening is happening when Windows has control. Q-Code AA means the BIOS is done. Perhaps a previous crash corrupted your Windows installation. Try reinstalling Windows?

[Qwinn]

Maybe I'd buy that as a possibility, if Ryan.hubbard didn't have the same issue. But random corruption wouldn't do the same thing twice. I do agree it's Windows related, but I don't think it's meaningless. I think that 81 code means something and is being sent by Windows deliberately (or by the motherboard in response to something Windows is trying to do), I just want to know what it means.

[Qwinn]

Additional info: Booting off an Ubuntu USB stick, the Q-Code remains as "AA". So it's definitely something Windows is doing that's switching it to 81. I can't find any Q-Code listing that shows anything for 81, so I'm baffled as to what it could be.

[jrrog1975]

Qwinn wrote:
Additional info: Booting off an Ubuntu USB stick, the Q-Code remains as "AA". So it's definitely something Windows is doing that's switching it to 81. I can't find any Q-Code listing that shows anything for 81, so I'm baffled as to what it could be.

Same thing here...code 81 when Windows loads. It started with the latest BIOS update. The older version worked as expected. The BIOS Q code options allow for either temp display or normal post costs...in which case you just end up with 81. Would have thought someone from Asus would have clarified what it means by now.

[planetbeing]

Just for you guys, I rebooted my machine with the Q-Code displaying temperature option off. Guess what, it ended up on Q-Code 81 on a fully working stable machine booted into Windows. Whatever problem you guys have, it doesn't have anything to do with Q-Code 81. Q-Code 81 appears normal.

[Qwinn]

planetbeing wrote:
Just for you guys, I rebooted my machine with the Q-Code displaying temperature option off. Guess what, it ended up on Q-Code 81 on a fully working stable machine booted into Windows. Whatever problem you guys have, it doesn't have anything to do with Q-Code 81. Q-Code 81 appears normal.

Oh indeed. There doesn't and never did seem to be anything actually wrong. Just slightly annoying not to have the comforting "AA" post code I've become accustomed to on all previous builds. But it does appear now that *everyone* has this issue, so I guess nothing to do but wait for it to (hopefully, if anyone at Asus noticed this thread) be fixed in the next BIOS release.