MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI - BIOS Flash / CPU EZ Debug LED issues

Hypezz · 28 Jan 2021 at 11:52

Good Morning All,

I recently purchased a X570 Tomahawk motherboard and Ryzen 5600X CPU (+ some new RAM) as upgrades but haven't managed to get my system working.

As I'm upgrading from an Intel CPU I started by flashing the c14 BIOS (renamed MSI.ROM, file extension checked to be .ROM) onto the motherboard via a 16GB (FAT32 formatted) USB 2.0 thumbdrive with just the 24pin and 8pin power supplies connected. The USB and BIOS Flash LED flashed for about 5mins before the motherboard seemingly restarted. I left it for another couple of minutes, then switch the power off and got to work assembling the rest of the components. After everything was assembled (with monitors connected to the GPU) I tried booting it up but was unable to reach post and the CPU EZ Debug LED was permanently on.

Thinking there was an issue with the BIOS update I repeated the process but was unable to get the update to work (BIOS Flash LED blinks twice then stays solid - no activity from the thumbdrive). I've since tried every variation of the steps I can find online (reset CMOS via JBAT1 short, try with only 1 stick of RAM in, try with all components in, try with none, format the USB using Rufus, etc, etc) but nothing is working.

Unfortunately I only have access to the one thumbdrive at the moment so my next step was going to be buy another off amazon and try my luck - but am slightly concerned that there is a bigger issue since the BIOS update seemingly worked the first time but the system still wouldn't post. Just wanted to see if anyone else has had similar problems and been able to resolve it? Or if there is anything obvious I might have missed?

System Specs:
MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk WIFI
AMD Ryzen 5600X
GTX1080
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8) 3600MHz
Samsung 950 Pro 256GB SSD
Corsair Hydro H100i v2 AIO CPU Cooler
Corsair RM650X Gold PSU

Thanks in advance

Edit: added some missing details

mickyflinn · 28 Jan 2021 at 12:05

Did you rename the bios file MSI.ROM ?

Hypezz · 28 Jan 2021 at 12:10

Yes, sorry, forgot to mention that. Renamed the BIOS file MSI.ROM and checked that the file extension was .ROM

mickyflinn · 28 Jan 2021 at 12:41

Hypezz said:
Yes, sorry, forgot to mention that. Renamed the BIOS file MSI.ROM and checked that the file extension was .ROM

Reading threw again you've tried most things and waiting on another usb drive uo try.

Check the cpu for bent pins.

Could try flashing beta bios.

Hypezz · 28 Jan 2021 at 18:43

Have just gone through 4 different USBs (all USB 2.0, FAT32 formatted, MBR partition) as well as 3 different version of BIOS (v13, v14, v153(beta)) but each time the BIOS flash led will blink twice and then stay on indefinitely. This is with nothing installed on the motherboard except the 8pin and 24pin power cables.

Any other suggestions before I give up and submit an RMA?

Destination · 28 Jan 2021 at 19:01

Hypezz said:
Have just gone through 4 different USBs (all USB 2.0, FAT32 formatted, MBR partition) as well as 3 different version of BIOS (v13, v14, v153(beta)) but each time the BIOS flash led will blink twice and then stay on indefinitely. This is with nothing installed on the motherboard except the 8pin and 24pin power cables.

Any other suggestions before I give up and submit an RMA?

What version is your BIOS currently?

Hypezz · 28 Jan 2021 at 19:28

I only got the motherboard 2 days ago so I think its v13 (it says VER: 1.3 on the board - in between the battery and 2nd PCI-E X16 slot). I've read conflicting information about whether this BIOS supports 5000 series GPUs but tried booting the system with all components installed after resetting the BIOS by shorting JBAT1 and it won't post (CPU EZ Debug LED stays on).

Destination · 28 Jan 2021 at 21:39

You have the aux motherboard power connected, and the cpu power connected?

To be more specific, there is the 8 pin but also a 4 pin.
You have both connected?

I'd take the closer battery out.
Reseat cpu,connect all, try again

Hypezz · 19 Feb 2021 at 16:16

An update in-case anyone else is stuck in a similar situation. After a bit of back and forth with Overclockers tech support they agreed to RMA it. They ended up sending me a new board which they had updated the BIOS to the latest version so I presume the first board was faulty. New board works perfectly!

Lalaland · 26 Feb 2021 at 15:42

Not sure if I should post a new one or continue posting here but, I kinda tried the same things you have. My only difference is my usb connection on the mb side does flash white on and off for just under 2.5min than it stops. Cpu lights stays on forever and fans keeps spinning. I then force power of on the psu and power up normal but no post and cpu light stays on. Really feel lost here on what to do. I tried another USB but the only thing that happens with that one is there is a solid white light but nothing powers when pressing the flash button. Trying to find more USB sticks but hard to find. (same cpu and motherboard and psu as thread starter)

The last 15-30 seconds or so the white flashing from USB mb side speeds up.

Edit: So my 7th USB stick worked. This time I did no formating or anything left all other files there. So as long as it is fat 32 and has the folder for the mb file that should be enough if the USB is accepted. For me it was a sandisk USB 2.0 16gb that worked. I had tried a identical version but with 8gb earlier that did not work. Also my pc did not restart when it was finished.