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"NVRAM Initialization" What is it and why does it sometimes cause my PC to not boot?

Manchu
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So over the past two days I've been troubleshooting my system of two months featuring a 6800k, ASUS ROG STRIX X99 motherboard (worth noting that I'm not running the latest BIOS), 16GB Vengeance 2666 and GTX 970. It all started with my mouse and keyboard not working (but they still work in the BIOS?? I got them to work in Windows by disabling xHCI). Then it progressed to the inability to boot, with the motherboard showing code 61, or NVRAM Initialization. Originally I thought this was a RAM issue or some sort of OS issue, but recently I learned that NVRAM and DRAM are not related to each other. What's also interesting is that the PC seems to boot fine whenever it wants to. For example, this afternoon I booted the PC successfully 6 times in a row before getting the error and not booting 3 times. After that it worked again and I've yet to shut it off. So basically my question is: What is the function of NVRAM and why is it sometimes preventing my PC from booting?

CPU i7 6800k @ 4GHz, 1.255v

Cooler Scythe FUMA 2

Motherboard ASUS X99 ROG

RAM 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4

GPU EVGA GTX 1070 FTW (+100MHz core, +200MHz memory)

Storage Samsung 970 EVO 1TB, 500GB WD Blue SSD, 1TB WD Blue HDD 

PSU EVGA 650G2

Case Phanteks P400S TG + 3x NZXT Aer 2 RGB Fans + NZXT Hue 2

Monitors Acer CB271HU, Dell S2440L

OS Windows 10

PCPartPicker Link https://pcpartpicker.com/user/MiniManchu/saved/cHnWZL

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I don't think NVRAM should be used anywhere in your pc, which makes this even more strange. Do you have XMP enabled? If so, you might want to try to disable it.

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Posted
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31 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

I don't think NVRAM should be used anywhere in your pc, which makes this even more strange. Do you have XMP enabled? If so, you might want to try to disable it.

Yeah, XMP is disabled. The motherboard has a Q-Code indicator on it, which shows a code of 61, which the manual tells me is something to do with NVRAM Initialization. I think I read somewhere that the BIOS uses NVRAM to store its settings.

CPU i7 6800k @ 4GHz, 1.255v

Cooler Scythe FUMA 2

Motherboard ASUS X99 ROG

RAM 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4

GPU EVGA GTX 1070 FTW (+100MHz core, +200MHz memory)

Storage Samsung 970 EVO 1TB, 500GB WD Blue SSD, 1TB WD Blue HDD 

PSU EVGA 650G2

Case Phanteks P400S TG + 3x NZXT Aer 2 RGB Fans + NZXT Hue 2

Monitors Acer CB271HU, Dell S2440L

OS Windows 10

PCPartPicker Link https://pcpartpicker.com/user/MiniManchu/saved/cHnWZL

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11 minutes ago, Manchu said:

Yeah, XMP is disabled. The motherboard has a Q-Code indicator on it, which shows a code of 61, which the manual tells me is something to do with NVRAM Initialization. I think I read somewhere that the BIOS uses NVRAM to store its settings.

Technically the bios doesn't use nvram, hence why it's called clearing the cmos, but sometimes I think it's referred to as nvram. I'm not too sure what could be causing this; you might want to look at this thread, but you might just have a faulty mobo :/

 

Make sure to quote me or tag me when responding to me, or I might not know you replied! Examples:

 

Do this:

Quote

And make sure you do it by hitting the quote button at the bottom left of my post, and not the one inside the editor!

Or this:

@DocSwag

 

Buy whatever product is best for you, not what product is "best" for the market.

 

Interested in computer architecture? Still in middle or high school? P.M. me!

 

I love computer hardware and feel free to ask me anything about that (or phones). I especially like SSDs. But please do not ask me anything about Networking, programming, command line stuff, or any relatively hard software stuff. I know next to nothing about that.

 

Compooters:

Spoiler

Desktop:

Spoiler

CPU: i7 6700k, CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, Motherboard: MSI Z170a KRAIT GAMING, RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 4x4gb DDR4-2666 MHz, Storage: SanDisk SSD Plus 240gb + OCZ Vertex 180 480 GB + Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 7200 RPM, Video Card: EVGA GTX 970 SSC, Case: Fractal Design Define S, Power Supply: Seasonic Focus+ Gold 650w Yay, Keyboard: Logitech G710+, Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum, Headphones: B&O H9i, Monitor: LG 29um67 (2560x1080 75hz freesync)

Home Server:

Spoiler

CPU: Pentium G4400, CPU Cooler: Stock, Motherboard: MSI h110l Pro Mini AC, RAM: Hyper X Fury DDR4 1x8gb 2133 MHz, Storage: PNY CS1311 120gb SSD + two Segate 4tb HDDs in RAID 1, Video Card: Does Intel Integrated Graphics count?, Case: Fractal Design Node 304, Power Supply: Seasonic 360w 80+ Gold, Keyboard+Mouse+Monitor: Does it matter?

Laptop (I use it for school):

Spoiler

Surface book 2 13" with an i7 8650u, 8gb RAM, 256 GB storage, and a GTX 1050

And if you're curious (or a stalker) I have a Just Black Pixel 2 XL 64gb

 

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1 hour ago, DocSwag said:

Technically the bios doesn't use nvram, hence why it's called clearing the cmos, but sometimes I think it's referred to as nvram. I'm not too sure what could be causing this; you might want to look at this thread, but you might just have a faulty mobo :/

 

I'm not sure what's causing it either D:

Alright I'll look at the thread, maybe a BIOS update will help it. I'll also check all the power connections the next chance I get. I really hope I don't have to RMA my mobo, but I don't know why it would suddenly start doing this...

CPU i7 6800k @ 4GHz, 1.255v

Cooler Scythe FUMA 2

Motherboard ASUS X99 ROG

RAM 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4

GPU EVGA GTX 1070 FTW (+100MHz core, +200MHz memory)

Storage Samsung 970 EVO 1TB, 500GB WD Blue SSD, 1TB WD Blue HDD 

PSU EVGA 650G2

Case Phanteks P400S TG + 3x NZXT Aer 2 RGB Fans + NZXT Hue 2

Monitors Acer CB271HU, Dell S2440L

OS Windows 10

PCPartPicker Link https://pcpartpicker.com/user/MiniManchu/saved/cHnWZL

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  • 2 years later...
  • 8 months later...
Posted

Same here, having it since a couple weeks now, no idea how to fix it.

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