SOLVED! --- Help! No BIOS, no Boot (Motherboard Error -- A2 Code)

captaingraviton · 31 Aug 2021 at 18:38

Hey Friends,

I've had my Overclockers PC for nearly five years now, it's been fantastic. Today though, I went to boot it up and it "sounded" normal, it still sounds like it's running fine, except there was no BIOS or splash screen and the screen is black. The monitor notified me it was going into Power Saving Mode and nothing has happened. The power is whirring away as normal but the motherboard currently shows the error code A2.

The only thing I have done is remove the CMOS battery, checked it, replaced it, no help at all.

What should I do?

CG

---------------------------------------
Specs
---------------------------------------

Asus X99-A/USB3.1 Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
Intel i7-5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit
Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e Gen3 8Gbps x 4 AHCI Solid State Drive
Super Flower Leadex GOLD 1000W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
PNY Nvidia Quadro K2200 Graphics Card - 4GB GDDR5 - 640 CUDA Core
Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD
Dell P2715Q 27" 3840x2160 IPS 4k Widescreen LED Monitor

captaingraviton · 1 Sep 2021 at 16:02

I'm still in a pickle, but, here's an update:

I've removed all the drives, SSD, HDD and even the DVD drive. I pulled out the CMOS battery and waited an hour before putting it back. I've removed three sticks of DDR4 RAM and just left one in (in slot D1). I removed the Nvidia Quadro K2200 Graphics Card and gave it a little blow and magic wave and then put it straight back in the original slot (I don't know why I did this part, but I did it). Now when I boot it up my Q-Code Error is "b6", and the little BOOT LED light is shining a kind of orange. There was no POST beeps and the monitor remains black with no signal whatsoever.

I'm just off for a little cry...

VersionMonkey · 1 Sep 2021 at 16:34

When you removed the CMOS battery, did you also move the clear CMOS jumper?

According to the manual for that board, the full CMOS clearing proceedure is:

Remove the power cable
Remove the battery
Move the jumper for 5-10 seconds, then move it back
Re-install the battery
Plug back in and power up.

The B6 code is "NVRAM cleanup", so it's possible the CMOS didn't clear correctly.

Dwarfy · 1 Sep 2021 at 17:06

For reference
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/787870/Asus-X99-A.html?page=41#manual

https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1043948/

A2 seemed to be related to boot device so check all cables
B6 is as said above

Try clearing the CMOS properly with the button or jumper, Battery removal is viable but unreliable due to capacitors holding charge.

Disconnect everything except 1 RAM and the GPU/CPU you should get display and complaint about lack of boot device.
If you have another GPU to test then try that too.

captaingraviton · 1 Sep 2021 at 17:36

Thanks, I'll try the CMOS jumper thing first.

The GPU is the only one I've got and I don't see the Motherboard as having anywhere to plug the monitor, so I'll leave it in for now (*)

The CPU is hidden under a massive heatsink and fan and I'm really nervous about pulling all that off too (and are you supposed to clean it with alcohol and re-apply heat paste afterwards -- I've no paste and the alcohol is for the weekends), so I'll skip that too (*)

* I'll report back after the CMOS trick if there's anything different happening, if not, I'll take the CPU and GPU off and try and get a POST beep at least.

Thanks, brb

captaingraviton · 1 Sep 2021 at 19:24

Update:

I had difficulty finding the CMOS jumper pins (I was referring to the wrong manual -- duh!) but I sussed it and shorted them. With the GPU in, and obviously the CPU, I powered up. I still have a bright orange Boot LED light error, a Q-Code now of 99 (which the manual tells me is "Super IO Initialization") and also, a new one, a red LED over "PWR_LED / PWR_SW" the switch next to it is green.

So, what does this tell you? (If anything?) and what should I do next? Buy a new GPU and/or CPU?

Dwarfy · 1 Sep 2021 at 20:11

The differing codes is making me lean towards faulty motherboard.

captaingraviton · 1 Sep 2021 at 20:22

Flippin' 'eck

captaingraviton · 1 Sep 2021 at 20:57

I've just pulled out the GPU, just to see if it made a difference and now the Q-Code reads "d6" -- ("No Console Output Devices are found" -- makes sense). The only other notable thing is that in addition to the bright orange boot device LED, there's a bright white VGA LED as well.

It's not looking good is it?

VersionMonkey · 1 Sep 2021 at 22:02

Code 99 apparently means a plugged in device isn't working. There's some reports that it could just be looking for a keyboard, or you've got the monitor plugged into the wrong port on the GPU.

captaingraviton · 2 Sep 2021 at 08:41

I've just unplugged the keyboard, mouse, speakers, Network cable as well as the GPU/Monitor and its "d6" -- ("No Console Output Devices are found").

VersionMonkey · 2 Sep 2021 at 10:34

captaingraviton said:
I've just unplugged the keyboard, mouse, speakers, Network cable as well as the GPU/Monitor and its "d6" -- ("No Console Output Devices are found").

That makes sense, no GPU means no console.

Try powering on with the CPU, one stick of RAM (in slot D1), the GPU and a keyboard connected (plus the motherboard (24 and 8 pin) & GPU power plus the CPU fan). If you have one, a PS/2 keyboard into the combo connector. If you only have a USB keyboard, put it into one of the USB2 (black) sockets on the back.

captaingraviton · 2 Sep 2021 at 10:50

I'll do that right now, I just have one question about the Motherboard 24 and 8 pin thing. Do you mean the power connector? I ask because there is only an 8 pin power plugged in (with an empty 4 pin close by). It's been like that since the day I bought it with no problems.

captaingraviton · 2 Sep 2021 at 10:58

Oh, sorry, scrub that, I just checked the Motherboard manual and saw that I'm an idiot. Yes, 24 pin and 8 pin plugged in. I'll be right back...

Quartz · 2 Sep 2021 at 11:07

Have you tried a new CMOS battery? Have you checked for popped capacitors?

Another thing to check is removing the motherboard from the case to inspect for a dead insect causing a short.

captaingraviton · 2 Sep 2021 at 11:09

Okay, I did as you said, (I also plugged the monitor into the GPU, right?) and now we're back to Q-Code 99 with orange "BOOT_DEVICE_LED" and red "PWR_LED / PWR_SW" switch.

captaingraviton · 2 Sep 2021 at 11:12

Hey Quartz, I haven't tried a new CMOS battery, but I did remove it and check it with a multimeter (3.2 Volts) -- it seemed okay to me? I haven't removed the Motherboard as that idea gives me the willies, but I have vacuumed/cleaned/blown away all the dust as best I can. I'll check for popped capacitors properly, now...

VersionMonkey · 2 Sep 2021 at 11:14

captaingraviton said:
Okay, I did as you said, (I also plugged the monitor into the GPU, right?) and now we're back to Q-Code 99 with orange "BOOT_DEVICE_LED" and red "PWR_LED / PWR_SW" switch.

Yes to connecting the monitor.

Next try putting the M2 drive back in - hopefully that should make the boot device led go out.

captaingraviton · 2 Sep 2021 at 11:27

This time, it very quickly settled to a b6 error (Clean-up of NVRAM), but the "BOOT_DEVICE_LED" and red "PWR_LED / PWR_SW" switch are still orange and red respectively.

captaingraviton · 2 Sep 2021 at 11:47

Here's a pic: https://ibb.co/bbb5N6k