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1st boot attempt fails - no bootable devices

Ibus
Level 8

Hey,

I have the weirdest phenomenon. This is not my first build and I never saw anything like this before.

 

When I power on my computer on it never boots to OS (Windows 11) on the 1st attempt. Instead it stops on the "Press DEL to enter BIOS" screen for like 10 seconds before it automatically enters the BIOS. I cannot enter the BIOS myself by pressing any button.

When I exit BIOS, it reboots right back into the screen and enters the BIOS almost instantly. This will keep happening again and again unless I hit the power button and shut the system down. When I power it back on, the system boots normally.

So when it first enters the BIOS automatically, my two storage devices are showing up properly. The 2TB Kingston NVMe on M.2_2 is the one with the OS on it:

20230730_201732.jpg

 

However, it's not showing any bootable devices right next to it and when I press F8 to arrange the boot order it replies with "The system cannot find any bootable devices":

20230730_202022.jpg20230730_202035.jpg

On the next reboot (and any further one that happens without me turning the system off and on) the SSD on Slot 2_2 is missing:20230730_202148.jpg

 

 

I tried disabling fast and secure boot, XMP Profile, enabled CSM support and disabled hibernation in Windows 11 - no change. Once the system booted into Windows, I can reboot without a problem all day long. When I turn the system of for a while and power it back on, the whole thing starts again from the beginning.

I have a ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-F GAMING WIFI. I built the system 4 days ago. I updated the BIOS to 1202 and ME to 16.1.27.2176. I double-checked all the cables and both SSDs, all good. The Q-LEDs cycle just fine during POST, when the system halts no LED is on.

20230730_201757.jpg20230730_201950.jpg20230730_201904.jpg20230730_201926.jpg

 

Any ideas on how to isolate the issue?

Cheers

Ibus

17,104 Views
35 REPLIES 35

Ibus
Level 8

@Retired I swapped it from M.2_2 to M.2_1 but no effect, the issue persists.

@Saltgrass this is the result for bcdedit:

C:\Windows\System32>bcdedit

Windows-Start-Manager
---------------------
Bezeichner {bootmgr}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume3
path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
description Windows Boot Manager
locale de-DE
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {96d5fdb9-2b8c-11ee-9644-b494f64b5383}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows-Startladeprogramm
-------------------------
Bezeichner {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.efi
description Windows 11
locale de-DE
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {96d5fdbb-2b8c-11ee-9644-b494f64b5383}
displaymessageoverride Recovery
recoveryenabled Yes
isolatedcontext Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {96d5fdb9-2b8c-11ee-9644-b494f64b5383}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard

My motherboard is an ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-F GAMING WIFI.

Retired
Not applicable

I see in one of the images your ram speed is set to 6000mhz...  Set it to auto, natively it supports up to 5600, over clocking the ram can cause drives not to be seen... or completely reset the bios... and see what it does...

Ibus
Level 8

@Retired That was also one of my first thoughts, that maybe the XMP Profile messes something up. But unfortunately even with it disabled and the RAM running at its default speed of 4.800Mhz, the boot isssue happens.

Arclyte1850
Level 7

My guess, sorry to say is that ASUS has a lot of instability in their BIOS or there is an unreported design flaw.  I see a lot of issues like this reported over different forums and I don't see it referencing other manufacturer's boards.

I am having the same issue with my boot not showing up after a system crash.  And I know its not my components - they are all new and have been tested and re-tested or are currently working flawlessly in another system.  There seem to be a conflict accessing the M.2 slots - unknown if its a design flaw or software flaw as the crashes and missing boot drives can't be replicated on a consistent basis.  Though it happened a lot while loading games or other large files.  My guess is that there is something not quite sound on how the bandwidth is being shared between the PCIe for the GPU and NVMEs. 

What I do know is that my system is stable and running faster off of a SSD on the same board rather than the NVME drives.  I can even get XMP to work now. 

It's really frustrating given how expensive these boards are.

I am still waiting on ASUS to address my issues ...

For me the only solution seems to be to use a different brand motherboard, if I want to use my NVMEs.

Ibus
Level 8

@Arclyte1850 Well, what I did not like was that by default all the CPU overclocking things are enabled. I prefer it the other way around.

@Saltgrass I made two videos showing the boot processes. Please ignore the background sound, my youngest one was watching her evening kids show.

What I noticed while watching the video, is that on the 1st (bad) boot, the top chassis fans are not starting to spin right away. They are connected to a nexus fan hub pre-installed on my Fractal Design Define 7 case. But this should not affect the boot in any way in my opionion. As far as I know, the only fan that gets checked during POST is the CPU fan and this one started spinning right away. However, I will disconnect the hub tomorrow to test this.

Bad boot: https://youtube.com/shorts/GG4V9Gyh-x4

Good boot: https://youtube.com/shorts/4pLzorVrXis

Beside the fans, I also notice the DRAM light is illuminated longer on the bad boot.

Perhaps the Fan Hub will make a difference.

Maximus Z890 Hero,
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

Retired
Not applicable

I have had a failing  psu cause all kindsa weird bugs... Including known good drives from other systems not being seen...  Also Ive had boards not show or work correctly until the bios were cleared via battery removal and jumper being shorted...  Does it boot with just the one os drive installed?

Ibus
Level 8

@Saltgrass I disconnected the fan hub but nope, no change. 1st boot still bad.

@Retired No, unfortunately not, this was one of the first things I tried.

Retired
Not applicable

I know this sucks, but may wanna try building outside the case... Troubleshooting etc... If was me Id pull it all apart, set everything to stock, reseat all components 

I have a Very Similar problem. I get an error when I install windows 11 but it Sees the drives on install but they disappear after the initial installation of files. Before I had Constant BSODs so I installed fresh windows 11 and dead ever since. Even tried installing Linux Mint same issues so this must be a BIOS issue but I've also tried going back to the previous bios but get the same issue. I have a 980 Pro 2Tb and a Sabrent 1 Tb which Both disappear from the boot list but Are seen in the bios. I'm now at windows 11 install BSOD, reboot and no bootable drives

ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 BIOS 2602

I think I'm DONE with Asus at this point and will likely just order an MSI board and never again Asus. Hope that's what you want Asus because this is the 2nd board failure! Dark hero died and of course they blamed ME for its failure!