Troubleshooting: Have i borked my cpu/mobo

[pacee21]

Hi All,
Hope you can assist. I have a Ryzen 3600 on an MSI X470 Gaming Pro Max. I updated the my bios just now to version 7B79vM9, Release Date, 2021-03-08

Description
- Updated AMD AGESA ComboAm4v2PI 1.2.0.0
- Optimized and support AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors.
- Optimized Resizable BAR (Re-Size BAR) function with NVidia Graphics cards.
- Improved AM4 processor compatibility

Never had an issue prior when updating bios but after the flash went through it now does not show a signal on screen or any peripherals and on the mobo itself there is a constant LED on next on the diagnostics led area next to CPU

I've tried resetting CMOS to no avail. and I believe the mobo itself doesn't have the capability to flash without getting into the BIOS.

Am I SOL and i need to get a 5000 series CPU so that the mobo recognises it or a new mobo that has the compatibility still intact for a Ryzen 3000 series CPU?

Has anyone known this to occur with builds where updating bios to latest revision can lose compatibility with older CPUs? I'm pretty sure i saw a Bitwit video where this happened but for the life of me i cant find it again or find anyone else who has had a similar problem online.

So throwing it out there. Have I:
Cocked a bios update that ruined my mobo
Bios update went fine but lost compatibility.
All of the above
None of the Above

Please help!

 

[pacee21]

LED light definitely is the one with CPU on it

https://ibb.co/7gQWVn0

Hopefully you guys can see that

 

[pacee21]

Thanks for the assist. Micky's response is the one that worried me but yours seems to align with what i kinda remember happening on BitWits video but it would be a real relief if ican get someone to corroborate

 

[pacee21]

I've cleared CMOS with the quick clear button. power cycles same issue. Removed battery for a few mins while power disconnected. Power cycle, same issue.

The only thing I didn't try is jbat jumper (?) as I'm not exactly sure what that is.

 

[pacee21]

Off to buy a 5600x i go...

And didn't realise AMD had made that statement. For the life of me I cant seen to find any other people in this situation, Which I would expect to be fairly common?

 

[pacee21]

No I checked on my mobo it needs to get into the bios to use the flash utility. You can't flash externally. I could on my on my old board. I thought all MSI boards had that function but looks like i was wrong.

 

[pacee21]

will try a few more CMOS./battery clears and cycles tonight. Thanks for the help but its looking increasingly likely to be a new cpu. One way to force an upgrade i suppose

 

[pacee21]

Ahh ok, will unplug PSU connectors as well I didn't think of that. Thanks!

 

[pacee21]

Well a new day and i decided to ask MSI live chat for help. turns out I probably was correct. The webchat is below:

I have to ask our tech support to make sure, but I believe the BIOS that enables compatibility with Ryzen 5000 on B450/X470 motherboards might remove compatibility for all older CPUs
That was the case for B350/X370 when Ryzen 3000 came out and I think the same restrictions might apply here

I did look but there was no warning on the Bios page about lost compatibility

You're right that here is no warning on the website, unfortunately There used to be, but it was probably removed when one of the more recent BIOSes came out

So i will have to change to a 5000 series cpu for this to work? i am now in the predicament that i have a bricked pc because of this

Probably, or you could ask your retailer to RMA it, I think our repair center can deal with this. although depending on the retailer, they might not be willing to accept this

So. if the retailer cannot assist. i am for want of a better phrase. out of luck because the website was not properly updated with warnings

I'm afraid so

This is exceptionally poor service. do you not agree?

I have not the words. So word of warning guys bios updates that don't give warning may indeed break your computer

 

[pacee21]

I'm rather bemused with the whole thing to be honest. The agent on the webchat asked me to contact the MSI support desk and send through the weblog. He's already briefed them on the situation to see if they can help further. So will see where that goes and will mention on social media when/if I get a response first.

The 5600x will be arriving later this evening now will be able to prove beyond a shadow of doubt if the issue was lost compatibility. Maybe they will be so distraught they will send me a 3080 as a good will gesture

 

[pacee21]

I just want this to be a word of warning when people are updating the BIOS as there seems to be very little information out there on the internets where you can lose compatibility with what you think is a recent CPU when updating. Also that MSI and maybe other OEMs may not be providing the exact information when you are going through this process.

BE CAREFUL