Asus Maximus Hero POST Problems: Heaps of different Q Codes

[Moejoe]

So after some time now i wanted to build a new system but the problem just keep coming....

Hardware used at this point.

Intel Core i7 4770k
Asus Maximus VI Hero
G.Skill Trident 2400/Cl 10-12-12-31
AMD Radeon 290
Samsung SSD 840
Be Quiet! Power Zone 650W

Coolers: Kraken X40 for the GPU and a Coolermaster Seidon 240m for the CPU.

USB Devices: Keyboard, Mouse, Transcend 16gb Flash Drive

The Problem:

After putting everthing together, no matter what i do, i cannot get a stable POST procedure. Sometimes i can get into UEFI, but most of the time it freezes in one seemingly random Q Code. I believe chances are higher when no storage devices are connected, but i'm not really sure, since sometimes it posts even with them. Even though i think i never had a successfull POST when both the SSD and the Flash Drive were connected/dectected.

Q-Codes i had up till now: 99, 94, d4, 34, A2(with black screen), AE (with black screen), b4 and probably even some more i cannot remember...

Even without any USB Devices the POST isn't stable... so i am kinda at my wits end as to what is the problem. Any Help would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Also the Board sometimes cycles through 15 to 99 for 5 times.

[HiVizMan]

Are you getting anything on your screen?

Do you have a OS installed?

[Moejoe]

I can get into the UEFI semireliably when i disconnect the SSD. Else i wont get anything on the Screen.

As soon as i plug in the SSD (or a USB drive for that matter) i will get some Q code and the screen will stay black.

For that reason i cannot even begin to install an OS.

The board actually bricked one of my USB flash drives, which worked perfectly fine two hours ago...

[HiVizMan]

That is pretty hard for a motherboard to do, but it can happen of course.

Please confirm that you have the 12v EPS connector fitted to the motherboard.

Which SATA port do you have the SSD connected to?

Please remove the SSD and all SATA devices for now and using a fat formatted USB stick update your bios via EZflash. Let the entire process happen do not power down during the process even if your system seems to be not responding it may just be updating the firmware. This can take quite some time.

[Moejoe]

Yes the 12v Connector is fitted. Voltages in UEFI look fine.

I have already tried several of the SATA ports but right now its in port one i think (upper row, at the top).

I already flashed the UEFI, using EZFlash, to a concurrent version a few hours ago (1102).

By the way the one Q-Code which keeps cropping up the most isn't b4 its 64, which according to the handbook has something to do with CPU DXE initialization.

Also even in UEFI the Q-Code still shows 99 as a value. Is that normal? I thought it should be AE.

Edit: I changed the SATA Controller back from Raid to AHCI, which seems to POST without issues, even with the SSD attached. But this is no real solution since i want to use a raid one for a few of my hard drives which will come later in the build.

[HiVizMan]

99 is fine. AE is when the UEFI has handed over control of the board to ACHI (operating system)

Please use the user manual and ensure you do have the SSD connected to the 6G sata port.

All you need to do for your first install is Clear CMOS and then in bios F5 to ensure defaults. Set SATA mode to RAID.
F10 and enter.

Do not have any other drives connected - create your OS install medium using Microsoft USB tool.

As you SSD is new there is nothing further you need to do, the system will just install OS from the USB device.

I stress you do not need to make any other adjustments in bios at all.

[Moejoe]

HiVizMan wrote:
99 is fine. AE is when the UEFI has handed over control of the board to ACHI (operating system)

Please use the user manual and ensure you do have the SSD connected to the 6G sata port.

All you need to do for your first install is Clear CMOS and then in bios F5 to ensure defaults. Set SATA mode to RAID.
F10 and enter.

Do not have any other drives connected - create your OS install medium using Microsoft USB tool.

As you SSD is new there is nothing further you need to do, the system will just install OS from the USB device.

I stress you do not need to make any other adjustments in bios at all.

Summery of the last half an hour:

CMOS Clear does nothing if the board refuses to POST it will continue to refuse. (always with b4 oder 64 still not sure about that)

After a Bios Flashback it will ALWAYS boot without a problem. (with reset aswell as on/off)

When i change the board to raid (with freshly clear CMOS and F5 Defaults) it works as long as i don't power down the pc. (reset, restart)

But if i power down completely and do a cold boot it will once again not POST.

This is getting stranger by the minute.

Could this have something to do with my very low RPM radiator fans? Seems like they are under the threshold of the measurement, since i will always get a cpu fan error at the beginning and the Hardwaremonitor shows N/A (they are two Noctua NF-F12's).

I will be going to the cinema soon, so my next answer will probably be quite delayed.

[HiVizMan]

No worries.

Clear CMOS has nothing to do with being able to post or not. It is something that can be done with the board powered down and actually that is the best way to do a clear CMOS I wonder if you are confusing clear CMOS with setting defaults in bios?

When i change the board to raid (with freshly clear CMOS and F5 Defaults) it works as long as i don't power down the pc. (reset, restart)

This worries me big time. Please see if you can swap out your PSU.

When next you are in bios simply disable the fan monitoring for your CPU fan.

Enjoy the movie.

[Moejoe]

I did it exactly the way you mentioned. Powered down the Board, switched the jumper to the clear CMOS position and started the system by switching it back to its original position. The thing with defaulting by pressing F5, i did additionally as soon as i entered the BIOS.

Problem with the PSU switching is that i don't own a second PSU with a dual 4 pin 12v connector for the board.

But i could add that the PSU sometimes shuts down during POST, interrupting the procedure. The system will restart by itself 2-3 times (with power being cut, forcing the restart) and after that it freezes in more or less random Q-Code.

Is there any point in trying my other PSU, which has only a single 4 pin, and only a single 6 ping (+6 with molex, 6+8 are needed) for the VGA Card?

[Moejoe]

/push and update to the situation:

After getting frustrated i pulled out the graphics card entirely and tried it with the on chip VGA, which worked perfectly fine. So i installed Windows and Stuff and tested a bit. Everything is perfectly stable.

So i thought that i should test the card whether she is the problem. So i tried it in a computer of a friend of mine.
His board (Asus Z87m Plus) had no trouble at all booting with her. Cold Boots as well as resets worked fine.

I tried it again in my Machine just to be sure. After a few failed posts (like always) i managed to get into Windows, so i tried a bit of stress testing Furmark/3d Mark to see if the PSU had trouble supplying the power needed. But everything is running perfectly smooth there, as long as i dont reboot...

But the POST problem is still there... and i can't figure out the reason...

Do you still think it's the PSU's fault?

Most commen things i get trying to post are: No freeze up till A0 but no display OR freeze at 94.