Anti-Surge Error and Infinite Bios Looping

[AlexTaldren]

Hey all,

My current issue: My PC received the "Anti-Surge" warning and now only boots into the bios and refuses to boot into Windows 10.

My PC Specs (Purchased and assembled in March 2016, with no issues at all until now.)
Windows 10 64-bit
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO ALPHA ATX DDR4 3000 LGA 1151
Intel Core i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz (PC4-24000) C15 Memory Kit - Black (CMK32GX4M4B3000C15)
Corsair CX Series, CX750M, 750 Watt (750W) , Semi Modular Power Supply, 80+ Bronze Certified
Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heatpipes RR-T4-18PK-R1
Asus ROG Swift PG278Q 27-Inch WQHD G-SYNC LED Gaming Monitor
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E500B/AM)
CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD Intelligent LCD UPS 1500VA 900W AVR Mini-Tower


What Happened
1. Tuesday night, I was using my PC without issue and playing games. There were no signs of problems. I logged off around 2 a.m. EST.
2. Wednesday evening, I get home around 8:30 p.m. EST and find that my PC looks like it's in sleep mode, but it won't wake up.
3. I force shutdown the PC and start it up again.
4. I get to a screen listing specs and giving me the "Anti-Surge Protection" warning.
5. I restart the PC and now it doesn't even show me anti-surge message. Instead, it goes straight to the Bios.
6. Sometimes, after trying one of the below solutions, I received the screen I attached to this post, which doesn't say anything about anti-surge, but says "When RAID configuration was built, ensure to set SATA configuration to RAID mode." (*I should say that I've NEVER used RAID mode, nor do I have my PC configured for it, nor have I ever seen that screen prior to now.

Solutions Tried
1. I opened the case and resecured the power cables leading everywhere.
2. I tried clearing the CMOS.
3. I tried flashing back the Bios to 1901 from 2202.
4. I tried updating the Bios to the latest 3101.
5. I've ordered a new PSU and will try that when it arrives today.
6. I tried disabling the "Anti-Surge Protection" and "Require F1 on Error" Bios options.

After 5 hours, none of the above got me to the Windows 10 log in screen. I've attached an image showing the screen I'm seeing now in the rare case I'm not sent directly into the Bios.

Aside from trying a new PSU, does anyone have any ideas what might be up? It's possible that there was a power surge in my apartment within the 18 hours before I tried using the PC again. However, I noticed there weren't any clocks or other electronic devices in my apartment that were reset. Also, my PC is behind a CyberPower back-up and surge protector, so it seems unlikely.

Anyone have any ideas? What in the hell happened to this thing?

[Chino]

Enter the BIOS and go to the Boot tab. There is a list of devices to boot from. try selecting the SSD/HDD that has the OS on it.

[AlexTaldren]

Chino wrote:
Enter the BIOS and go to the Boot tab. There is a list of devices to boot from. try selecting the SSD/HDD that has the OS on it.

It didn't work. I selected the Samsung 250 GB, which is where my OS is installed and it just goes to a black screen for a few seconds and then puts me back at the Bios.

[AlexTaldren]

To update everyone. I just swapped out the existing PSU with a new EVGA 850GC PSU and it booted right into Windows on the first try. I'm going to monitor the PC for the next few days, but it would seem that the other PSU got damaged and was causing surges upon each attempted startup.

Does that seem to jive with what a lot of you guys have seen in similar cases?

[AlexTaldren]

Okay, new update.

After posting last night, I used the PC without issue until 1:30 a.m. EST. I was playing games, using Chrome--the OS worked and all the hard drives were recognized and fine.

Here's what happened this morning:

1. I woke up this morning and checked my PC around 10 a.m. before heading into the office.
2. I noticed it looked like it was in sleep mode, and the ASUS code was 01.
3. I tried to turn on and off the monitor, and even plugged it into a different display port, but there was no signal.
3. I tried clicking the reset button on my case, and it looked like it did something, but it just cycled between code 01 and 03.
4. I did a hard reboot by holding in the power button.
5. The system booted and went to the Megatronics screen and mentioned that it appeared there was a force shutdown, and that I needed to press F1 to enter setup.
6. I entered the Bios and checked some things. I then did the exit and reset.
7. The PC restarted and went straight into the BIos, which was exactly what was happening before! Another Bios loop!
8. This time I went to the Bios and loaded the optimized defaults, which changed my DRAM frequency from 3000mhz to "Auto" and adjusted my OS from "Windows UEFI" to "Other OS." I saved those changes and restarted.
9. The PC restarted straight into the Bios in spite of the optimized default Bios settings.

So, that's it. I'm stuck with the looping Bios and can't get into Windows 10 again. At this point, I see two possible reasons:

1. I experienced another power surge with a brand new PSU that sits behind a CyberPower back-up/surge protector (unlikely).
2. This ASUS motherboard is damaged or faulty.

I don't know how this community feels, but these ASUS ROG products seem to be lacking quality. Is a 10-month lifespan typical for ASUS products nowadays? My ASUS ROG 144hz monitor has the notorious flickering screen issue as well, which seems like the only solution is replacing the monitor.

So, do you guys recommend a new motherboard to solve this issue or is there something I'm missing? More importantly, if I need a new motherboard, should I just get a new version of my Maximus VIII Hero Alpha, or is there a better non-ASUS brand equivalent from MSI for example?

[Chino]

Backup up your information. Clear your CMOS and reinstall Windows in UEFI mode. See if the issue still persists.

[AlexTaldren]

Chino wrote:
Backup up your information. Clear your CMOS and reinstall Windows in UEFI mode. See if the issue still persists.

Sorry, but how do I backup my data if I can't get to Windows?

[Chino]

There are a few Live CDs on the internet that you can use. They also work from a USB pendrive.

Also are you still getting the Anti-Surge messages with the new PSU?

[AlexTaldren]

Chino wrote:
There are a few Live CDs on the internet that you can use. They also work from a USB pendrive.

Also are you still getting the Anti-Surge messages with the new PSU?

When I tested it this morning, I never received an anti-surge protection message. I just received the one about the forced shutdown. Sorry for my ignorance, but what are "Live CDs on the internet?" I've NEVER backed up a hard drive from the Bios before...

[Chino]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_CD

A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs in a computer's memory, rather than loading from a hard disk drive; the CD itself is read-only. It allows users to run an operating system for any purpose without installing it or making any changes to the computer's configuration. Live CDs can run on a computer without secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive, or with a corrupted hard disk drive or file system, allowing data recovery.

When you're reinstalling Windows, make sure only the SSD/HDD that you're planning to install it on is the only drive connected to the system.