Stuck in a non posting boot loop

Nutty_Death · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:22

My MSI Mortar b350 with a 2700x is stuck in a boot loop, where I don't even see it post.

The machine comes on, with fans spinning, the diagnostic CPU led flashes and it then seems to restart. The screen doesn't show on my monitor so presumably nothing has posted.

Changes i've made recently. I updated to the latest bios for the motherboard, it was advertised as beta........... I suspect this might be the issue. I've used the computer for about a week since doing this.

Yesterday I started to get a windows error when booting. It would go straight to an error screen during booting. Doing a restore to a few days ago, seemed to fix this, I suspect something to do with booting was becoming corrupt.

Finally just before this all happened, I was playing around with trying to make a Windows USB image, so that I could try repairing the OS. It turns out I didn't have a large enough USB key to hand, so I set windows to do an upgrade. I figured this might repair whatever was broken and worse case I might lose a few settings. After that the computer hasn't posted since.

Things i've tried to diagnose.
Unplugged all hard drives and tried booting
Unplugged graphics card and tried booting
Removed CMOS battery and shorted jumpers various times
Put a USB key with a bios file in and tried botting
Removed CPU and tried booting

None of the above helped and confirmed that the issue isn't something that Windows did.

My conclusion is the bios is buggered.
What do you think and do you have any suggestions to fix it?

Alex h · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:32

Try removing battery over night try turning on in morning

Nutty_Death · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:38

alex h said:
Try removing battery over night try turning on in morning

At this stage, I think that's my only option left.
In the past the bios clears when I short the pins or remove the cmos battery but this time it just seems the bios is a mess.

Frustrating as I should have just left everything alone but I was interested if they had finally addressed the crap performance of ram and if i'd finally see my rated 3600mhz... I didn't.

Alex h · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:41

Yes its a pain I was tempted to update my bios but decided to leave it as all seems well at moment

Journey · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:42

Have you removed your RAM before booting, and just then used one stick in a random slot to boot?

Alex h · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:43

Did you try installing new Windows

Nutty_Death · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:45

Removed ram and tried booting. It doesn't loop but doesn't post either, I'm not sure if I should expect it to.
Tried ram in various combos and it continues to loop.

Windows isn't the issue as this problem happens with no drives connected.

Journey · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:46

So you can't even boot from a USB drive then? e.g something like Linux Mint

Nutty_Death · 1 Jul 2020 at 20:47

Journey said:
So you can't even boot from a USB drive then? e.g something like Linux Mint

I've not tried that but I highly doubt it, since I don't even see the initial bios screen and the machine restarts after a few seconds.

Journey · 1 Jul 2020 at 21:11

Deaths_Calling said:
I've not tried that but I highly doubt it, since I don't even see the initial bios screen and the machine restarts after a few seconds.

Disconnect everything again k/b, mouse, SSD, everything), just boot with one RAM module, and put the GPU in the bottom slot on the board.

Nutty_Death · 1 Jul 2020 at 21:27

That was fun. Had to remove the PSU to get the graphics card in the bottom slot.
It did the same bootloop.

Journey · 1 Jul 2020 at 21:54

Deaths_Calling said:
That was fun. Had to remove the PSU to get the graphics card in the bottom slot.
It did the same bootloop.

Sounds like the motherboard is going to be the issue, unless the outside chance the CPU is at fault. Contact the gigabyte on here to see if they can flash the board for you.

Nutty_Death · 1 Jul 2020 at 22:01

Journey said:
Sounds like the motherboard is going to be the issue, unless the outside chance the CPU is at fault. Contact the gigabyte on here to see if they can flash the board for you.

Thanks, this is pretty much my conclusion through process of elimination.

@MSIUK Support are you able to help?

Thanks

Journey · 1 Jul 2020 at 22:22

Deaths_Calling said:
Thanks, this is pretty much my conclusion through process of elimination.

@MSIUK Support are you able to help?

Thanks

Oops yes meant MSI.

Nutty_Death · 2 Jul 2020 at 07:03

Still happening this morning with the CMOS battery left out all night and the PSU power cable removed.

Starting to look like next steps are new hardware.

Nutty_Death · 2 Jul 2020 at 12:28

It looks like one option might be to flash the bios by using a spi programmer, which is a rabbit hole I don't really want to go down as there's a lot of information to digest.

Journey · 2 Jul 2020 at 12:33

Deaths_Calling said:
It looks like one option might be to flash the bios by using a spi programmer, which is a rabbit hole I don't really want to go down as there's a lot of information to digest.

That is what I was going to suggest, as I use them almost daily, but very few people as users have them or want to be bothered. I have a really nice Dediprog one with various clips and adapters for it that I have amassed over many years. If you are lucky maybe a local shop will have one, maybe you could call around to see if they do and how much they will charge to flash the chip for you?

Nutty_Death · 2 Jul 2020 at 12:55

Seems like you can pick them up for about £10 but I'm just a bit confused about what type to get. I read something about because the chip is 1.8v then you need a converter.

I'm ok working out how to do it provided I can find the right programmer at a low enough price to make it worthwhile Vs just replacing the motherboard.

Journey · 2 Jul 2020 at 13:17

Deaths_Calling said:
Seems like you can pick them up for about £10 but I'm just a bit confused about what type to get. I read something about because the chip is 1.8v then you need a converter.

I'm ok working out how to do it provided I can find the right programmer at a low enough price to make it worthwhile Vs just replacing the motherboard.

What is the part number of the chip on your motherboard? I know that there is not a JSPI1 header on the board so you'll need to direct clip the the chip (or if it is removable unlikely if not an ASRock board) put it in a chip holder.

As for the voltage, yes you will need to check what the programmer can do, mine does 1v8, 2v5 and 3v5.

Nutty_Death · 2 Jul 2020 at 13:28

MX25U12873F
There is also a JSPI1 header right next to it.