ASUS ROG STRIX X870E-E BIOS Version 1804

[RahRah95]

After upgrading to BIOS version 1804 my pc will not boot into windows? Normally I’ll get the Republic of gaming screen where you can press DEL or F2 to boot into BIOS. Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Sadly you’re unable to rollback to 1715 from 1804. Looking for assistance please and thank you. Lastly my MB error code is 00 and the DRAM Q-LED is yellow.

Steps I tried:

Reflash BIOS - Cleared CMOS button - Removed CMOS battery for 10 minutes still nothing. I’m afraid this BIOS update bricked my MB.

[Moriendor]

This may sound like a stupid question but you did wait the ~2 minutes it takes until RAM (re-)training is finished, right? 

The RAM needs to be retrained after a BIOS update so it is normal that the system will be stuck with a black screen and fans "screaming" for approximately 90 - 180 seconds after updating the BIOS.

You didn't say what is happening exactly: Are you just getting a black screen instead of the ROG image?

If you have waited at least two minutes for the RAM to retrain then the next step would be to open your chassis and check which Q-LED codes the board is showing you. That should give you a clue as to what is going on here...

Edit: Oops, sorry, you did state it is giving you error code "00". Well, that points at a CPU issue which is definitely not good at all. If all else fails, you could try reseating the CPU. In fact, I would suggest to uninstall the CPU and then boot up the system with no CPU in it once. Shut down. Reinstall CPU and boot again... see what happens. If you still get "00" then, yeah, the update probably bricked "something" related to the CPU (like the new AGESA microcode did not manage to update correctly or something like that).

[RahRah95]

Hey so i tried what you said. Result of removing the CPU and trying to turn my PC on. It did not power up, so I tried it with the CPU in socket without AIO pump header it started but turned off shortly. Now I fully put my PC back together, Im back in the same boat. Pretty sure its bricked, perfect timing right? BF6 & BO7 no longer. Do you think my CPU is still good or I need a new MB plus CPU? All was well until 1804.

[gmlew]

oh i see you resolved it in your reddit post. oops wrong reply box but it is reportedly a bad 9800x3d 

[Moriendor]

I'm admittedly not a real expert (like an ASUS engineer) in this regard but I believe that your CPU should still be fine. It seems obvious that the BIOS update broke your mainboard.

AFAIK, the "microcode" (AGESA) is physically stored on the mobo so if the microcode/AGESA got corrupted then the CPU should still be fine, UNLESS the corrupted AGESA somehow resulted in the board to cause electric damage to the CPU but I would not speculate about that as long as there is no reason to assume such a catastrophic chain reaction.

Let's keep it simple for now: Your board is now non-functional after you installed a BIOS file provided by ASUS Corp. for your mainboard. Conclusion: RMA the board.

And if you can, while waiting for your board to return from RMA, then maybe take the CPU to a PC repair shop and ask them kindly to test your CPU (for a hopefully small fee) just to be sure that the CPU is fine.

[RahRah95]

Ok, thank you for your guidance I really appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful evening. 

[Moriendor]

Thanks, hopefully the same to you, in spite of this very annoying setback 🙂 .

I would add as a P.S. that you should probably do some extensive system testing once your rig is back up and running. 

A faulty BIOS update is rather rare and the issue might lie deeper. Assuming some form of data corruption during the update, I would especially focus on RAM. You should first test the RAM at stock(!) settings with MemTest86. It needs to pass all individual tests and all four passes with zero errors.

Then, when you have reactivated any OC like an EXPO profile, I would advise to thoroughly test the stability of your system with the good old Prime 95.
I would recommend an overnight test (8 hours+). If just one worker quits then your system is not 100% stable.
Prime is 100% reliable in this regard. It just does maths and expects certain predetermined results. A mismatch between the expected result and the calculated result will lead to an error. Simple as that.

Some people swear by RAM-specific tools like Karhu but my personal experience is that I've had Karhu show zero errors after several hours while at least one worker in Prime still failed (also took a couple of hours but still... an error is an error and an error is not 100% stability).

Wish you the best and that you get a fresh new functioning board back from RMA ASAP! 😀

[mamoel]

There are a few more tests you should perform before returning the motherboard:

• Start with only one RAM module
• BIOS flashback from a USB stick
• Wait longer after starting the PC

I find it hard to believe that the motherboard has been irreparably damaged.

[RahRah95]

Thank you for your advice. These steps did not work. 

[ROGn8270r0qrccl]

Have you tried reflashing the 1804-BIOS? I'd try the Flashback-method: Wthout CPU, only one RAM-module and as little other hardware as possible (remove SSD's and other non-essential internal or external hardware). Rename the BIOS-file as-per the Asus instructions, put that on a usb-stick and connect it through the dedicated "Flashback"-port on the back of the motherboard.

If that doesn't work, I'd say the motherboard itself is definitely broken. But if it was just a faulty update, this method might just revive it as well.

Can you get into the BIOS at all?