Troubleshooting help: Asus X99-E WS

Dale

Dale

Dale

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Hello all,

Bit of an issue if someone is able to offer some advice please.

I've just finished a refresh / upgrade of my system, the new(ish) compotents are:

Asus X99-E WS motherboard.
GTX 1080 graphics cards (I actually have 3 of them, but for troubleshooting purposes I'm only going with 1 for the time being).
Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 (32gb) brand new.
i7 6950X.

Old components (mobo inc CPU and memory, and GFX) were removed, new stuff added in, etc etc. HDD re-connected, powersuplly connected (the only part the old PSU - an AX1200w Corsair unit - couldn't provide was the 6pin 12v connection in the middle of the mobo - which upon Googling wasn't deemed a requirement unless the CPU is heavily overclocked - might need to check this??)

The PC is watercooled - part of the refresh included new pumps, flush through, new fluid etc.

Once finished, confirmed the WC is working as expected, HDD plugged back in, machine booted to BIOS, with a message to disable the CPU fan.

Bypassed this message, booted to Windows. All good (needed a re-install the OS, but that was all part of the plan).
Rebooted, went into the BIOS, disabled the CPU fan warning, went to exit the BIOS and (annoyingly and mistakenly) some odd update, percentage bar decided to do it's thing... no idea what this was, I'd stupidly taken my eyes off the screen. I let it finish, but it has failed to boot into the BIOS since.

Note: at no point have I connected to my LAN or enabled any internet connectivity.

I'm extremely confused. I've removed memory, HDD, GFX. I've tried different GFX cards. I've tried hitting the onboard clear CMOS button. Nothing I've tried is allowing a screen to load (BIOS, anything).

Also, more annoyingly, the Asus X99-E WS has the Q-Code display on the board, however mine is perma-stuck on 0.0 (disabled). And I can't find a way to get this to help display someting useful.

Any ideas how to really, properly, clear the CMOS on an Asus X99-E? Any idea how to get the Q-code function up and running?

If anyone has any experience to help troubleshoot I'd be grateful, as I've been at this all day and am now quite fed up lol.

And bloody Liverpool FC just got spanked.

Thanks.
 
Thanks Tetras, yes, did try whipping the battery out (and made sure PSU was switched off and disconnected), left it out for about 5 seconds - might try that again and leave out for a longer while.
 
So removed the battery (top right of the motherboard - weirdly, on the mobo it has a label right next to it stating "CHA FAN BATTERY", but on the motherboard manual it clearly states "Lithium Cell CMOS Power", either way, I removed overnight and put back in this morning. Turned on, nothing on the screen again. Hit CLR_CMOS again for good measure, nothing. Changed graphics cards again, nothing.

I've not removed Memory, HDD, anything else I can find just to see if it may turn on a screen and nothing. Fresh out of ideas now.

Anyone got a clue how to achieve something useful from the Q-Code at all? Permanently stating 0.0 (disabled).

As said above, it was working fine, then decided to give up.

Thanks again
 
@Dale I'm thinking that somehow the bios may have been corrupted.

Can you try to follow the instructions (step 2 onwards) in the link below and see if you are able to reflash the bios?

https://deeptalk.lambdalabs.com/t/asus-x99-e-ws-10g-bios-update-tutorial/783

Edit: Scratch that idea. Seems I've got confused and mixed up your board with the 10G version which has the bios flashback function. My apologies and I hope you can find a solution.
 
Last edited:
Quick further question if you don't mind: under the CPU, there is a blue LED lit - This light goes out if the 2x 8pin 12v power are disconnected just north of where the CPU is seated, but equally, I can't seem to find out if this is referencing a CPU issue or if this light is supposed to be on (i.e. Blue = OK, Red = bad).

I have re-seated the CPU just to see if this helps. I've also lifted and re-seated the CPU power cables to the PSU, no difference.

Thanks one again.
 
Dale said:
Quick further question if you don't mind: under the CPU, there is a blue LED lit - This light goes out if the 2x 8pin 12v power are disconnected just north of where the CPU is seated, but equally, I can't seem to find out if this is referencing a CPU issue or if this light is supposed to be on (i.e. Blue = OK, Red = bad).

I have re-seated the CPU just to see if this helps. I've also lifted and re-seated the CPU power cables to the PSU, no difference.

Thanks one again.
Click to expand...

I can't find any mention of colours in the manual, only that they will be lit in the event of a issue. I think the led you are referring to is labelled as DIAG_CPU.

My guess is that the light goes out when the 2x8 pins are disconnected as there is then no power supplied to the cpu. Once you plug them in, the cpu then has power and then registers the issue.

From the manual:

"The Diagnosis LEDs provide the status of these key components during POST (Power-
On-Self Test): CPU, memory modules, VGA card, and hard disk drives. If an error is
found, the critical component’s LED stays lit up until the problem is solved."
 
agreed - and thanks Paul. Using your pointers from above, the board does have a FlashBack utility, but the button is on the back (on the I/O panel).

I've downloaded the latest BIOS and will rename to "X99EU31" as also suggested in the manual - when I can find a flipping USB key to try it with lol.

If that doesn't work, I am fresh out.
 
Cheers Paul.

Sadly I think it is a gonner.

For reference, and in case it helps anyone else searching, the response from Asus support when enquiring about how to rename the downloaded .CAP file is below (note, the motherboard manual suggests renaming the .CAP file to "X99EU31". This didn't work. Using the information below, I renamed the .CAP file to "X99EWS.CAP" and this was accepted by the BIOS FlashBack utility.

This ultimately didn't work for me, but for someone else it might.

Also, Asus response that 0.0 on the Q-Code points towards the CPU failing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customer Service Feedback

Dear ASUS Customer,
Thank you for contacting ASUS Support.


Should be renamed to X99EWS.CAP , only one .cap do not make it X99EWS.cap.cap just X99EWS.cap

If the board shows 00 there is very high chance to be faulty,this code means "no CPU detected" usually when it shows this the board is faulty as processors do not go faulty just like this without being massively overclocked.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just to say thanks for the help chaps, it was appreciated.
 
Dale said:
Sadly I think it is a gonner.
Click to expand...

Damn, sorry to hear that it didn't work :(

Seeing as you are running out of options, how about some long shot guesses...

How about rechecking the mounting pressure on the cpu block. I wonder if there could be some uneven pressure being applied?

If that doesn't help, would you be able to inspect the cpu socket up really close? I know pulling the loop apart will be a real pain but seeing as it won't boot, perhaps taking it all out of the case and having it on a bench would help with some further tests (if you have a air cooler you can chuck on temporarily)

You mentioned that the parts were not brand new out of the box so I wonder if you might be able to notice anything amiss such as some possible bent pins in the socket.
 
Ah, I've had it all apart completely already - so happy to try those as well - mounting pressure.... interesting one, I don't have an air-cooler, but I guess for the time it takes to turn on, get an image on the screen (which would be massive progress), I should be able to test that also.

I have re-seated the CPU once already to check that, so will dismantle and re-check the socket as best as I can (eyes aren't the best at my age).

Thanks for offering suggestions - super kind.
 
Just one further question for clarity around PSU power for the board. It has the normal 24pin (top right side) and another 16pin (2 x 8 pin) north of where the CPU is mounted - I've got those both plugged in.
There is a further 6-pin just south of CPU, above the PCIe lanes - I've read this is a supplementary power (75w) for when you are running multiple cards, to ease load on the 24pin connection. I had left this alone (although as part of trouble shooting have also tried plugging it in also to no avail) - assume the above is fine?

The PSU I have is a 1200w Corsair (AX1200) unit - I can't see any reason why this is not plenty, especially under such light load as I have it for troubleshooting.
 
Dale said:
Just one further question for clarity around PSU power for the board. It has the normal 24pin (top right side) and another 16pin (2 x 8 pin) north of where the CPU is mounted - I've got those both plugged in.
There is a further 6-pin just south of CPU, above the PCIe lanes - I've read this is a supplementary power (75w) for when you are running multiple cards, to ease load on the 24pin connection. I had left this alone (although as part of trouble shooting have also tried plugging it in also to no avail) - assume the above is fine?

The PSU I have is a 1200w Corsair (AX1200) unit - I can't see any reason why this is not plenty, especially under such light load as I have it for troubleshooting.
Click to expand...

You should be good to go. I also did a bit of searching and you are correct. That extra 6 pin only seems to be supplemental power for multiple pcie devices. I've also seen mention of only needing one of the 2x8pin cpu sockets needing to be plugged in for the system to run, so you should be more than ready to go.

When you carried out the bios update, did you feel confident that it completed successfully, meaning you were able to observe a led that flashed in a sequence for a period of time and then extinguished to show that the process was complete?

I don't own that particular board but I'm wondering if perhaps it may not have worked due to being finicky over the type of flash drive used etc. That seems to be a common thing that you often see on the forums, particularly with the newer boards. Just thinking out loud here :)
 
EsxPaul said:
When you carried out the bios update, did you feel confident that it completed successfully, meaning you were able to observe a led that flashed in a sequence for a period of time and then extinguished to show that the process was complete?
Click to expand...

I can't be 100% certain, as the ****** won't boot, but the first few times I tried it flashed, then went solid blue, which research tells me means it failed. The most recent time (after renaming the file a per above it flashed in s sequence for about 2 minutes (plus the USB had it's own flashing light showing it was being accessed), then it auto-switched on at the end, although no boot sadly. So appreciating it is a big assumption, but for me that shows a measure of success from the BIOS flashback procedure.
 
Dale said:
I can't be 100% certain, as the ****** won't boot, but the first few times I tried it flashed, then went solid blue, which research tells me means it failed. The most recent time (after renaming the file a per above it flashed in s sequence for about 2 minutes (plus the USB had it's own flashing light showing it was being accessed), then it auto-switched on at the end, although no boot sadly. So appreciating it is a big assumption, but for me that shows a measure of success from the BIOS flashback procedure.
Click to expand...

That sounds to me like you've got the bios update done successfully. It's really puzzling that you managed to get into the bios with your cpu before you noticed that progress bar doing it's thing. That would indicate to me that your cpu is good and something else has gone amiss. It's a real head scratcher for sure.
 
Out of interest, if a BIOS has corrupted (for whatever reason may have caused it), can that usually be fixed with an update (or in this case flashback)? Or can sometimes that be considered "it" for the life of the board?

Just wondering if some corruption has occurred.
 
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