Asrock Z270 Extreme 4 doesn't POST after BIOS update, PLZ HELP!

[Maverick4407]

I made the very grave mistake of trying to update my BIOS when everything is still working fine

However, i want to ask for a possible solution anyway. My mobo is the Asrock Z270 Extreme 4, and the story is this: While in Windows, i downloaded and installed the Asmedia SATA and USB controller drivers for the mobo, as well as the 1.31 BIOS from the support page (the new BIOS is to be flashed in Instant Flash), and copied the BIOS file to a USB which i just formatted to FAT32 at the same time as all of the above. After installing the Asmedia drivers, i restarted the PC and entered the BIOS immediately, Instant Flash-ed the BIOS from the USB, waited and there was a "BIOS update successful" message, prompting a reboot. When i rebooted, however, nothing happened (i waited 5 minutes, thinking the mobo is still POST-ing), the monitor was on but showed no splash screens, the keyboard and mouse weren't lit up, while the CPU fans were spinning normally and the system ran on without ever rebooting.

I tried everything: removing the GPU, removing all case plugs (except for the power button-power led plugs), removing 1 stick of RAM, used the jumper to reset the CMOS, removing the CMOS battery for 10 minutes, and the problem still persists. I wonder: Did i corrupt the BIOS? Or is there something i can do to fix it myself?

If nothing works, i'll just return the mobo and get a replacement. But i'd prefer to know why this happens in the 1st place 

 

Note: The board has 2 BIOS chips, i backed up the older, working version into the backup chip, but swapping BIOS chips would void my mobo's warranty, so at least there's one thing i haven't tried yet...

[Jay_JWLH]

It shouldn't happen, but maybe you did find a way to brick the BIOS even though you did everything right. I myself have a similar motherboard, the ASRock Z170 Extreme4. I would do the same thing, because aside from fixing stuff, sometimes it can be good to prevent future problems and perhaps get some improvements (depending on the release notes).

 

I have noticed that from the specifications page of your motherboard that it comes with a regular BIOS, as well as a backup BIOS. Have you read your manual on how to activate the backup one?

 

Edit: After looking at the manual for this motherboard, they don't even mention how to switch over. And I haven't seen any information on how to online. You'd have to contact the manufacturer. I also read that the chip may be user removable, so worst case I think you can pay them to send a replacement one which you can just do yourself.

[Maverick4407]

9 minutes ago, Jay_JWLH said:

It shouldn't happen, but maybe you did find a way to brick the BIOS even though you did everything right. I myself have a similar motherboard, the ASRock Z170 Extreme4. I would do the same thing, because aside from fixing stuff, sometimes it can be good to prevent future problems and perhaps get some improvements (depending on the release notes).

 

I have noticed that from the specifications page of your motherboard that it comes with a regular BIOS, as well as a backup BIOS. Have you read your manual on how to activate the backup one?

There isn't any mention of that in the mobo manual, i just assumed if one BIOS is corrupt, the other will be used automatically. How do you change to using the backup BIOS chip?

[Jay_JWLH]

As edited above:  After looking at the manual for this motherboard, they don't even mention how to switch over. And I haven't seen any information on how to online. You'd have to contact the manufacturer. I also read that the chip may be user removable, so worst case I think you can pay them to send a replacement one which you can just do yourself.

 

Also: They will probably tell you to short two certain pins, making the backup BIOS take over. Then to use Secure Backup UEFI back over to the main BIOS to ensure normal operation. I wouldn't panic until you contact ASRock and they give you the right answers.

[Maverick4407]

15 minutes ago, Jay_JWLH said:

As edited above:  After looking at the manual for this motherboard, they don't even mention how to switch over. And I haven't seen any information on how to online. You'd have to contact the manufacturer. I also read that the chip may be user removable, so worst case I think you can pay them to send a replacement one which you can just do yourself.

 

Also: They will probably tell you to short two certain pins, making the backup BIOS take over. Then to use Secure Backup UEFI back over to the main BIOS to ensure normal operation. I wouldn't panic until you contact ASRock and they give you the right answers.

FOUND IT! i simply moved the CMOS jumper cap and moved it to a 2-pin jumper right next to the B  (Backup BIOS). Secure UEFI Backup has restored the BIOS to ver.1.20 for the main BIOS, and i shall return the cap to its normal place.

[Jay_JWLH]

1 minute ago, Maverick4407 said:

FOUND IT! i simply moved the CMOS jumper cap and moved it to a 2-pin jumper right next to the B  (Backup BIOS). Secure UEFI Backup has restored the BIOS to ver.1.20 for the main BIOS, and i shall return the cap to its normal place.

Haha you cheat. I guess you found it anyway. Glad you got it working again though.

 

And I was right about the chips being removable aren't I? Isn't that nice of them.

[Maverick4407]

33 minutes ago, Jay_JWLH said:

Haha you cheat. I guess you found it anyway. Glad you got it working again though.

 

And I was right about the chips being removable aren't I? Isn't that nice of them.

Welp, out of the fire, into the frying pan. The B (backup) BIOS restores the A BIOS normally, and it gets stuck in a bootloop doing so (my guess is the jumper needs to move back to the default place). So, i force shut down the PC (avoiding shutting down while the process is still ongoing, only when the screen is black), and i placed the jumper back to the default place. Still, when i use the A BIOS to turn on, the problem is still the same! Just a blank screen, fans spinning normally, but nothing else!

I'm exploring uncharted territory here (no where is this recovery method mentioned in the guides), so i tried rebooting without the jumper, and with the jumper in the clear CMOS position, the latter resulted in the mobo refusing to turn on. 

My hands are now tied. So close, yet so far...

[Jay_JWLH]

 

Quote

This motherboard has two BIOS onboard, a main BIOS (BIOS_A) and a backup BIOS (BIOS_B), which enhances protection for the safety and stability of your system. Normally, the system works on the main BIOS. However, if the main BIOS is corrupted or damaged, please use a jumper cap to short pin2 and pin3, then the backup BIOS will take over on the next system boot. Ater that, use “Secure Backup UEFI“ in BIOS setup utility to copy the BIOS file to the main BIOS to ensure normal system operation. For the sake of system safety, users cannot update the backup BIOS manually. Users may refer to the BIOS LED (BIOS_A_ LED or BIOS_B_LED) to identify which BIOS is activated currently.

Got this from something on another manual, so the information should still be similar.

 

Looks like you will just have to repeat the process and use the backup jumper setting again, and attempt to have it place the data back into the main BIOS chip. It is of course possible that the main chip is faulty, but with not much of a solid way to tell. Since they are removable, I'm sure ASRock can send you a replacement chip if it comes down to that.

[Maverick4407]

7 hours ago, Jay_JWLH said:

 

Got this from something on another manual, so the information should still be similar.

 

Looks like you will just have to repeat the process and use the backup jumper setting again, and attempt to have it place the data back into the main BIOS chip. It is of course possible that the main chip is faulty, but with not much of a solid way to tell. Since they are removable, I'm sure ASRock can send you a replacement chip if it comes down to that.

indeed i did, but the mobo gets stuck in a restart-Secure Flash UEFI Update (B-->A)-Restart loop. From other forums and guides, there should have been a prompt saying the BIOS has been reset after the (B-->A) process is completed.

[MatejM]

On Sunday, January 08, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Maverick4407 said:

I made the very grave mistake of trying to update my BIOS when everything is still working fine

However, i want to ask for a possible solution anyway. My mobo is the Asrock Z270 Extreme 4, and the story is this: While in Windows, i downloaded and installed the Asmedia SATA and USB controller drivers for the mobo, as well as the 1.31 BIOS from the support page (the new BIOS is to be flashed in Instant Flash), and copied the BIOS file to a USB which i just formatted to FAT32 at the same time as all of the above. After installing the Asmedia drivers, i restarted the PC and entered the BIOS immediately, Instant Flash-ed the BIOS from the USB, waited and there was a "BIOS update successful" message, prompting a reboot. When i rebooted, however, nothing happened (i waited 5 minutes, thinking the mobo is still POST-ing), the monitor was on but showed no splash screens, the keyboard and mouse weren't lit up, while the CPU fans were spinning normally and the system ran on without ever rebooting.

I tried everything: removing the GPU, removing all case plugs (except for the power button-power led plugs), removing 1 stick of RAM, used the jumper to reset the CMOS, removing the CMOS battery for 10 minutes, and the problem still persists. I wonder: Did i corrupt the BIOS? Or is there something i can do to fix it myself?

If nothing works, i'll just return the mobo and get a replacement. But i'd prefer to know why this happens in the 1st place 

 

Note: The board has 2 BIOS chips, i backed up the older, working version into the backup chip, but swapping BIOS chips would void my mobo's warranty, so at least there's one thing i haven't tried yet...

The same thing happen to me. Runing asrock z270 extreme 4 i run to a bios problem i dont know what im going to do. Ps i paid for my pc over 2 000 dollars.

[Maverick4407]

On 5/18/2017 at 3:39 PM, MatejM said:

The same thing happen to me. Runing asrock z270 extreme 4 i run to a bios problem i dont know what im going to do. Ps i paid for my pc over 2 000 dollars.

I ended up taking it back to the shop i bought it from and got a replacement. I feel you, man, but there's just no way other than RMA-ing the board. Turns out the USB i loaded my BIOS into was seriously corrupted and had a lot of bad sectors. Next time we should just update the BIOS via Windows, and not through a USB