R4E - Dual MSI 7970 Lightnings won't boot

[Malachor]

Hi All,

I thought I'd start a new thread in the appropriate area given that i've resolved the issues as per the following thread, however a new one has arisen as a result:

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?27860-Power-cycle-on-and-off-after-BIOS-update&country=&sta...

I'm running from BIOS 2 - confirmed as 0604 (because BIOS 1 makes the machine power cycle on and off continuously as per the above thread). I can boot into the BIOS if I enable the first card in lane 1 and disable the second card in lane 3 (black PCI-E x 8 slot). The machine won't boot if I enable both cards at the same time. I can confirm they are both powered on successfully, have 4 x 8 PIN power and the EZ PLUG has power too. The VGA LED and BOOT DEVICE LED lights on the right hand side of the mobo are solid red when attempting to boot. Here's what I've tried so far:

1) Disconnecting all unneeded peripherals and leaving just 1 stick of RAM, CPU, MOBO and card(s) on
2) DIsconnecting power from card 1 and trying to boot direct from card 2
3) Removing the crossfire bridge
4) Swapping power cables from card 1 to card 2 to rule out incorrect cable fitting/direction

I haven't tried swapping the cards between slots because they're currently connected via an EK Plexi bridge and full of water. I'd like to leave rearranging to an absolute last resort if possible.

I made sure to power off for 30s and clear CMOS between each attempt.

I haven't updated the 2nd BIOS because of the saga I had when updating the 1st, so I've left it as my only working bootable BIOS (0604) until such a time as I can flash the 1st to a working state. I don't want to update this BIOS as I am cursed and things always go wrong for me. Note: I followed the USB FLASHBACK guide when attempting to flash the first BIOS but it's now dead. I was thinking of maybe using the tool in the BIOS to copy BIOS 2 to BIOS 1? Not sure if it'll work.

Does anyone have any advice on how to get the system booting with both cards powered on? I've spent the better part of a week trying to fix niggling issues like this since it's been built and I'm literally dying to get some installations going.

Thanks very much for your time all 🙂

Regards

Mal.

[Chino]

For optimal performance when doing Crossfire, you should be using Lane 1 and Lane 4.

Copying BIOS1 to BIOS2 should work flawlessly. I've done it before on the MVE.

[Malachor]

Chino wrote:
For optimal performance when doing Crossfire, you should be using Lane 1 and Lane 4.

Copying BIOS1 to BIOS2 should work flawlessly. I've done it before on the MVE.

I agree wholeheartedly however the problem I have is the cards are dual slot and I have a Titanium HD to fit in too. I was unsure if I went down the lane1/4 route if the sound card would fit between the plexi bridge link. :confused:

[Chino]

Oh, you're worried about the Titanium HD? lol It doesn't have to go in a x1 slot. You can use any of the other PCIe lanes.