Maximus X Hero WiFi and QCode 00

[AMoo-Miki]

I assembled a rig which has been working almost without a hiccup for the past 3 months. About a month ago, out the blue, the system didn't enter boot and simply displayed QCode 00. I searched around and did everything, including stripping down the components and resetting BIOS. Finally hitting the Mem OK button made the system return to life.

For the second time, yesterday, I got the QCode 00. Pressed Mem OK which did its dance of multiple power cycles which then displayed memory is okay, and the system was alive again. I was wondering if anyone knew why this happened. I hate unreliability and this is bugging me. Any thought would be greatly appreciated.

Both times, the BIOS was the defaults + XMP for the RAM (just selected 3200-14... and nothing else).

The config:
Maximus X Hero WiFi
8700K cooled by Corsair H115i
32GB (4 x 8GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB 3200C14D
EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid
Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850W Titanium

[Raja]

There are numerous reasons why Code 00 will appear. In your situation, it seems to be related to memory instability (weird, but sometimes, if memory is very unstable, this can happen). The other cause can be PSU related (if the rails aren't pulling up in time). Firmware corruption can also trigger a code 00 halt, although as your board recovers it would be a facet of something triggering corruption that results in a non-POST (instability).

Outside that, reasons for Code 00 can come down to things like CPU degradation/dead CPU. Obviously, your CPU isn't dead, so you'd need to debug the other known possibilities.

[AMoo-Miki]

Thanks for the replies Raja and Arne.

@Raja:
What all does hitting Mem OK do that can make the system boot again normally? I have seen https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1012266/ but Is there a log somewhere to see what specifically changed to make things work?

From what you said (trying to logically debug):

• Corrupted BIOS (is there a way to ascertain this? Arne's proposal of a new battery must be because he suspects loss of BIOS data. Would a loss result in 00 or is it only corruption?)
  
• Memory instability (though the first time I tried the sticks one by one as well as two by two, yet it couldn't recover, so I doubt RAM is a problem because it is improbable that all 4 sticks are faulty. Also wouldn't the system's almost-continuous functioning mean they are not at fault? Is my logic sound here?)
  
• PSU being bad (but wouldn't this cause frequent and continuous problems? Can I exclude this since it doesn't?)
  

Thanks again for helping out.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Maybe try a new BIOS battery?

[Menthol]

AMoo-Miki,
As Raja stated code 00 sometimes indicates a dead CPU or motherboard, corrupted bios, since you can get past this Qcode with the push of the mem OK button it's likely memory stability
Do you have this issue with the bios set to all defaults, no XMP? If it only happens with XMP set in the bios then I would say some minor voltage tweaks will cure this. Try VCCIO and VCCSA voltages manually set to 1.2 to 1.25 volts to see if this makes your system stable again

[AMoo-Miki]

When I restarted to do what you proposed, I got CC/55. I narrowed down the problem to one stick.
I am sad that there is a problem, but happy that at least I have something to blame.

Thanks for helping out and I hope this is the end of my story.

[AMoo-Miki]

Nah 😞 With 2 sticks in, I got 00 again today. Got it back to life with the Mem OK button.

Per Menthol's suggestion, I turned off the XMP by making it Auto. Hit F10 and saved. Got stuck on 00. How can this be? How can I save the BIOS settings and be shown 00?

[Feklar]

What voltage do you have set for the memory? Try manually setting the dram voltage to 1.35v. That's what I use for both the 3200 and 3600 sets of GSkill I have. It solved any memory issues I have had.

[Raja]

If the memory isn't faulty, and this happens after a cmos clear, I'd try a different psu. See if you can borrow one.

[AMoo-Miki]

Thanks Raja. While it rarely happened before, nowadays it is happening multiple times a day. I will find a way to test the PSU.