Maximus IV Formula Won't POST! [Stuck on Boot LED]... What now!?

[Hyper_Droid]

Hey everyone,

Long time no see.

So, it appears that my PC refuses to POST. Display shows it's stuck on the RoG logo and proceed to the GRUB Bootloader. Furthermore, pressing the "Del" or "F2" key does nothing.

Upon closer inspection, I see that the board is stuck on the "Boot Device LED" yet interestingly I remain on an A2 Q-Code (Indicating all is fine).

When I remove all drives (bootable or not) I get a Q-Code 99 and the motherboard continues to get stuck with "Boot Device LED".


Qcode 99 is "Super IO Initialization" and IO meaning anything connected to the board by any interface is not initializing.

If all devices are removed, includes from the PCI-E lanes, USB ports, SATA connections, etc., then what on Earth could be the issue?

I tried removing RAM modules and reseating them as well as plugging only one in into each one of the 4 slots and the Q-Code 99 persists until I add a bootable device.

I try only plugging in the Bootable drive (or any other disk drive I have (SSD's, HDD's) and I go back to an A2 and the "Boot Device LED" is still on.

I reflashed the latest BIOS yet no luck.


I'm running out of ideas.

Any help?


For a detailed list of my specs, click on the button "Hyper Droid's PC Specs" situated just under my profile picture. There, focus particularly on the components on the left of the "//". Any component mentioned at the right of it is of my new setup. Or just look at my signature...
Otherwise, here's a small list:
- Intel core i7 4770K, currently not OC (BIOS reset).
- 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 RAM
- Maximus VI Formula.
- Seasonic SS-1250XM (1250W)


Thank you!!!

[HiVizMan]

Hello mate


Do this for me please. Remove all hard drive or storage devices from your motherboard. Have only the mouse and keyboard connected.

VGA and memory.

Clear CMOS with the power off (I like to press the power button to drain any residual energy before I clear CMOS)

Then power up.

You should no get to bios ok.

[Hyper_Droid]

That unfortunately did nothing. I tried that yesterday but had yet another try this morning after you asked, HiVizMan.

I held for 20 seconds both the CMOS and the power buttons together whilst having a usb mouse and usb keyboard plugged in.

No GPU on the board this time. The DP cape plugged directly into the board instead. One stick of ram, the CPU pump and CPU of course connected as well. No disks connected.

I get a Q-Code 99 with the motherboard displaying the "Boot Device LED" continuously.



What next?

[HiVizMan]

That sucks - I had hoped for the easy option.

Next = do a bios flashback using the USB stick provided to revert your board to default shipping bios.

If that does not work either then...

Dude I know you have a watercooled system but you are going to have to take everything out. it may be the CPU has shifted somehow and a pin is not aligned with a pad on your CPU. So reseating the CPU and not overtighting the fasteners on the cooler would resolve your issue. (Clear CMOS between removing CPU and putting it back just to make sure).

2nd - makes it easier to remove the board from your case. Don't ask let hope we don't get to that point and it is simply a b

[Hyper_Droid]

Damn. That's what I feared.

Rather than debating whether I should, I just went to for it. Stripped everything, took out the CPU, held the CMOS Button and power button for at least 20 seconds then reinserted the CPU and then put the block back on and fortunately no damage done.

Unfortunately however, I still got Q-Code 99. Or Q-Code A2 if I have a drive plugged in, but still stuck on the RoG Logo and continue to see the "Boot Device LED" indicated on the board.

I then opted to flash an old version of the M6F bios (1302) to see if that could perhaps d anything, and that also didn't work.

Running out of ideas...

Now what do I do?

Any chance at all the board's battery could be the issue? If so then how am I could to get under the armor and replace that? I find it weird how this never occurred to the ASUS team at the time. Rather disappointing...

By the way, thanks HiVizMan for the help. You're the man. :cool:

[HiVizMan]

Power on your system with only monitor and mouse/keyboard connected. CPU fan connect to another fan header.

Lets see if we can get past this.

[Hyper_Droid]

Tried again using in separate occasions the 4-pin and the 8-pin CPU fan headers. No difference, still getting Q-Code 99.

Otherwise, every other fan is controlled by an external controller (Lamptron FC5V3).


Now what?

[HiVizMan]

Last thing to do is simply pull all power cables, CPU, memory the works and clear cmos and leave your board for a couple of hours. I left mine (a z170 board) that did the same thing over nigh.

Then flash back to shipping bios using the flashback method.

Power on.

If that fails RMA time.