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EXTEMELY LONG POST TIME

j2b9
Level 7

Hi,
I am aware of the discussion on this last October, but this is a new twist...
The machine is ASUS ROG Strix X670E-F Gaming WIFI6E with latest BIOS: 2604 date: 11/29/2024, CPU AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 128 GB RAM - CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) set to 6000MHz.
When I reboot the machine it used to take about 2 minutes, 15 seconds with the yellow POST light before starting to boot. Now, it has started going through this cycle twice, so it takes over four minutes before it begins to boot. I saw this post:
https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/amd-600-series/rog-crosshair-x670e-hero-boot-and-memory-issues-solved/...
So I changed MEMORY CONTEXT RESTORE in the two places mentioned and rebooted. That did not help. When I went back into BIOS, I found that the instance in the path:
Advanced\AMB CBS\UMC Options\DDR Options\DDR Memory Features\Memory Context Restore\Enabled
had not been changed, even though the other had. Thinking I had been sloppy, I tried again; nope. More research led me here:
https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/intel-700-600-series/rog-strix-x670e-e-not-saving-changed-settings-in-...
so I changed the BIOS entry:
Advanced\APM Configuration > change to S4+S5
And also tried changing the Memory Context Restore again, and rebooted. The S4+S5 change stuck, but again the Memory Context Restore didn't, and the reboot still took over four minutes.
I tried to find a way to get the machine into hibernation so that it would write a BIOS file as (S4+S5) is supposed to make it do, but my operating system is MX Linux, and so it needs to write 128 GB of DRAM data into swap space.
Unfortunately, my swap is set to 12 GB, so it would require increasing the size of the swap partition and re-installing the entire OS and all the apps, and as annoying as this problem is, it isn't worth that to me.
So...
This board seems to have two problems: an insanely long POST time while it verifies memory and an inability to save BIOS in the case of the one entry that could fix it.
Does anyone have any other idea how to fix this?
Thanks,

j2b9

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14 REPLIES 14

BitingChaos
Level 10

Don't use BIOS 2604.

You shouldn't have to change anything to get the system to boot correctly.

 

From my research, this problem with the BIOS not updating has been a complaint long before BIOS 2604.  It is frustrating to me that my BIOS actually DOES update for me except on the one item that is supposed to fix the long POST delay problem.  Is there a known BIOS where both MEMORY CONTEXT RESTORE instances will stick? Why are there two of them, anyway? 

Silent_Scone
Super Moderator

Memory Context restore doesn't disable training either indefinitely or completely. What it does is bypass certain POST stress tests, not all.  

@j2b9 The OP reads like you're combining memory kits, is that correct?

9800X3D / 6400 CAS32 / ROG X870 Crosshair / TUF RTX 4090

I bought two packs of CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) in order to get four sticks that add up to 128 GB.

You need to remove one of the kits. If you're combining kits, there's only so much advice people will be able to give you. Neither the memory or motherboard vendors support mixing or combining memory kits.

You can read more on this here

9800X3D / 6400 CAS32 / ROG X870 Crosshair / TUF RTX 4090

@Silent_Scone: Thanks for the info. Here is some history of the situation, then some questions:
I bought the parts and assembled this machine in April 2024. The memory was purchased at the same time from the same vendor. The POST problem was there from the beginning, but was only 2 minutes 15 seconds at first. I looked up what the yellow POST light meant, and it pointed to DRAM. I verified the DRAM by removing all of it, then booting with one single stick at a time, and verified that all four sticks were OK. I have been running the machine for 9 months, seldom turning it off or rebooting because of the POST delay. There has been no instability of the machine; it runs fine once it boots.
Now some questions:
1) Is putting 4 sticks of exactly the same memory considered "mixing or combing kits"? Because those were the largest sticks I could find. The motherboard is advertised as supporting 128 GB. Why are there 4 slots if you can only use 2 slots?
2) The link you provided advising against "mixing or combing kits" concerns overclocking, which I am not doing. Are there other consequences? Because my only complaint is the POST problem, and there are numerous reports of this from people who are not combining kits:
https://www.overclock.net/threads/extremely-long-boot-time.1803965/
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/yd0xtn/slow_boot_time_on_x670e_asus_strix/
https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/previous-forum/asus-x670e-f-gaming-wifi-stuck-with-yellow-qled/td-p/90...
3) Any idea why the BIOS will not update the item
Advanced > AMD CBS > UMC Common Options > DDR Options > DDR Memory Features > Memory Context Restore
but seems to update other items in BIOS? You seem to have solved the problem for @LeoRubira here:
https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/intel-700-600-series/rog-strix-x670e-e-not-saving-changed-settings-in-...
But like I said, I have no easy way to get my machine into hibernation mode.
4) Finally, the POST problem now cycles through the 2 minute delay twice before booting, and this appeared some time in the last week. Any insight into why?
Thank you for the help.

@Silent_Scone: I forgot to mention one other fact that might be of interest. I usually have to reboot when there is a major Mx Linux update. About half or more of the time when I reboot the reboot is fast; about 30 seconds or so, but on a major upgrade it may do the long POST delay. This leads me to suspect that if the machine thinks it is dealing with software that is not significantly different that memory training has worked, and it behaves as it should, but if the something significant changes it decides to check memory again. I have struggled with the long POST delay for the past couple of weeks since the last upgrade - it has not done a quick boot since then. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the long POST time occurred every single time.

@Silent_Scone:
As I explained last time, I have already tried checking the DRAM by running with each of the four sticks one by one, and it did not help with the problem. These tests obviously eliminated any possibility that the problem was the result of "combining kits". A search of "ASUS ROG Strix X670E LONG POST TIME" shows that this problem has been reported by numerous users. Can you suggest something helpful, or is blaming the customer what you want to go with?

No blame game here, but helping remotely with memory issues can be troublesome enough without the additional layer of doubt when not using a single memory kit.


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9800X3D / 6400 CAS32 / ROG X870 Crosshair / TUF RTX 4090