initialization loop?

[Jappo]

Hi everybody, I could use some help.

 

My Desktop PC was working fine, until suddenly it wouldn`t respond anymore, to anything.

So I shut it down and started up again, but only to get... nothing.

Well, it still lights up as normal inside, fans starting, just the normal sounds that are always that,

but it just doesn't post to screen.

What I found is that the post codes go in a loop of 5 different ones which, according to the handbook, are all indicators for either "early south bridge initialization" or "early memory initialization".

after that it shortly blinks a red led on the motherboard, which also lights up whenever I press the onboard reset button it has, and starts the post-code loop again.

 

The motherboard is the MSI Z170A XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM EDITION

The memory is a 2x16gb kit of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz

 

Thanks for your time to try and help me!

[piratemonkey]

2 minutes ago, Jappo said:

Hi everybody, I could use some help.

 

My Desktop PC was working fine, until suddenly it wouldn`t respond anymore, to anything.

So I shut it down and started up again, but only to get... nothing.

Well, it still lights up as normal inside, fans starting, just the normal sounds that are always that,

but it just doesn't post to screen.

What I found is that the post codes go in a loop of 5 different ones which, according to the handbook, are all indicators for either "early south bridge initialization" or "early memory initialization".

after that it shortly blinks a red led on the motherboard, which also lights up whenever I press the onboard reset button it has, and starts the post-code loop again.

 

The motherboard is the MSI Z170A XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM EDITION

The memory is a 2x16gb kit of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz

 

Thanks for your time to try and help me!

i would reset bios/cmos first. i could help you with that if you need.

and have you tried reseating ram?

[Jappo]

3 minutes ago, piratemonkey said:

i would reset bios/cmos first. i could help you with that if you need.

and have you tried reseating ram?

Yeah, I checked the RAM, first thing, but that didn't change anything unfortunately.

But I honestly don't know have to reset bios/cmos.

I could use some help with that, yeah.

[piratemonkey]

3 minutes ago, Jappo said:

Yeah, I checked the RAM, first thing, but that didn't change anything unfortunately.

But I honestly don't know have to reset bios/cmos.

I could use some help with that, yeah.

on the back panel, there will be a button. it will be beneath the usb and ps2 ports at the top. hold that for 10 seconds with the computer off. that will clear the bios

[aRych]

If you end up not figuring out the cmos button, just switch off psu and pull the coin battery on mb for a like a minute. Saved me several times because I have an older board with jumpers instead. 

[Jappo]

9 minutes ago, piratemonkey said:

on the back panel, there will be a button. it will be beneath the usb and ps2 ports at the top. hold that for 10 seconds with the computer off. that will clear the bios

huh, never saw that...

so, tried that, but to no effect...

 

7 minutes ago, aRych said:

If you end up not figuring out the cmos button, just switch off psu and pull the coin battery on mb for a like a minute. Saved me several times because I have an older board with jumpers instead. 

thanks for the tip, but I found it.

[piratemonkey]

4 minutes ago, Jappo said:

huh, never saw that...

so, tried that, but to no effect...

 

thanks for the tip, but I found it.

the 2 pins to short would be just above the second bottom pcie slot. you could also of course remove the cmos battery for a few minutes

[Jappo]

16 minutes ago, piratemonkey said:

the 2 pins to short would be just above the second bottom pcie slot. you could also of course remove the cmos battery for a few minutes

tried pulling the battery now, but again everything still looks the same after putting it back in.

[piratemonkey]

1 minute ago, Jappo said:

tried pulling the battery now, but again everything still looks the same after putting it back in.

are you still getting post code errors?

[Jappo]

5 minutes ago, piratemonkey said:

are you still getting post code errors?

exactly the same post codes, yes.

[piratemonkey]

5 minutes ago, Jappo said:

exactly the same post codes, yes.

switch the bios, as there is a switch on your board. itll be bottom right, above some connectors. if that doesnt work then youll need to flash the bios which i can help you with

[Jappo]

6 minutes ago, piratemonkey said:

switch the bios, as there is a switch on your board. itll be bottom right, above some connectors. if that doesnt work then youll need to flash the bios which i can help you with

flipped the switch, still the same post-codes...

but I also never flashed a BIOS before.

thank you so much for your help.

[piratemonkey]

1 minute ago, Jappo said:

flipped the switch, still the same post-codes...

but I also never flashed a BIOS before.

thank you so much for your help.

make sure you flash the default one. i was referencing the manual, and it tells you how to. and happy to help whenever

[Jappo]

39 minutes ago, piratemonkey said:

make sure you flash the default one. i was referencing the manual, and it tells you how to. and happy to help whenever

ok, I followed the instructions exactly and at least visually it seems like everything happened like it was supposed to.

but unfortunately it also didn't change anything. when it tries to boot it still shows the same post-code sequence.

[piratemonkey]

2 minutes ago, Jappo said:

ok, I followed the instructions exactly and at least visually it seems like everything happened like it was supposed to.

but unfortunately it also didn't change anything. when it tries to boot it still shows the same post-code sequence.

if you tried doing ram stuff, i think its a mobo problem. if you havent try booting with one stick, if it works the other stick is broken, if it doesnt try the other. you can try reseating the cpu, but that probably wouldnt help. this looks like a mobo issue, with the southbridge. what pcie devices do you have and how old are they?

[Jappo]

24 minutes ago, piratemonkey said:

if you tried doing ram stuff, i think its a mobo problem. if you havent try booting with one stick, if it works the other stick is broken, if it doesnt try the other. you can try reseating the cpu, but that probably wouldnt help. this looks like a mobo issue, with the southbridge. what pcie devices do you have and how old are they?

would you look at that, seems like one of the memory sticks broke.

pulled one out and suddenly it starts up again.

 

thanks so much for walking me through this!

you have a great day, sir!

[piratemonkey]

1 minute ago, Jappo said:

would you look at that, seems like one of the memory sticks broke.

pulled one out and suddenly it starts up again.

 

thanks so much for walking me through this!

you have a great day, sir!

happy it worked. depending on warranty, you could get the memory RMAed so you have the full 16 gigs