Majorly Frustrated - AMD 5700XT + Asus TUF Problems

[MaxxuM]

I'll make this as short as possible. I have several certs from CompTIA, Microsoft, Dell, IBM.... bla bla, but I've been out of the loop for a while.

 

Problem: Motherboard registers a VGA error on boot. BIOS screen is skipped but boots fine otherwise. I have tried everything to access BIOS including clearing the CMOS and taking out the battery. Nothing works. It will just restore BIOS from memory and continue into Windows 10. There is NO motherboard boot screen.

 

Hardware: Asus TUF Gaming x570-plus (WiFi), MSI 5700XT Mech OC, Samsung EVO 930-Plus 1GB @ Sobrent 1TB PCIe 4. M.2 SSD drives, Corsair RMx Series RM750x PSU, Logitech Craft Keyboard, Logitech G seriese mouse, G.Skill 32GB DDR4 PC4-28800 3600MHz Ripjaws V memory, and AMD Ryzen 3700X CPU.

 

MSI, G.Skill and Asus list everything as tested (motherboard + VGA + RAM) and certified to work with each other on every vendor site.

 

What I've done: Switched ports/slots with everything that can be moved, RMA Motherboard, RMA video card, switched memory, used different memory.

 

The only thing that allows me to access the BIOS is to use either Nvidia 1060 or AMD 580 - both will allow me to access BIOS (that's how I updated the BIOS to latest 2407 version - which didn't help). However, the VGA error light will STILL come on randomly every 3-4 boots but BIOS remains accessible.

 

I've tested the CPU with various diagnostic software, played games for hours, and generally abused the system but other than error light and no access to BIOS the computer seems to run fine. I'm using it right now in fact. Ryzen Master, CPUID HWMonitor and other software show voltage's and temps all well within tolerances.

 

Tomorrow I'm going to Best Buy and switching out the CPU's just to eliminate that as an issue so I can say that I've tried everything. I only have 5 days left on the return policy as an elite member so it's take it back now or never.

 

Any insight would be GREAT!

 

Tell me I'm stupid for forgetting something basic

[MaxxuM]

12 hours ago, BlueScope819 said:

Try updating GPU drivers? If this is a best buy system perhaps it was shipped with crappy launch day GPU drivers.

Sorry, didn't mention it. Built the system myself. I had a lot of points and got the CPU at Best Buy basically for free. The GPU firmware is current as is the motherboard. And the VGA error happens with three different GPU's - all with current firmware updates and latest stable drivers.

[TetraSky]

1 hour ago, MaxxuM said:

Problem: Motherboard registers a VGA error on boot. BIOS screen is skipped but boots fine otherwise. I have tried everything to access BIOS including clearing the CMOS and taking out the battery. Nothing works. It will just restore BIOS from memory and continue into Windows 10. There is NO motherboard boot screen.

Just to make sure.

 

Does it specifically says "VGA error" during POST on the screen ? Or is this the light on the motherboard that lights up? If it's the light on the motherboard, maybe it's searching for integrated graphics, not finding it on the CPU and thus, light up? If it works, all's fine though and might just need to be disabled in the BIOS... which you can't access.

 

You say no motherboard boot screen, meaning it's just a black screen until Windows boots up?

Are you using Display Port or HDMI ? I find that Display Port often doesn't show anything on screen until Windows is booted. HDMI is more helpful in that way. (Or even DVI/d-sub if need be)

 

Which keyboard are you using? Some USB keyboards may not play well when it comes to interacting with POST for some reason, even in this day and age. If you have a PS/2 keyboard, try with that.

Ah wait, you say you can access the bios with specific graphic cards but not with others and the vga error still shows up.... Could very well be a defective motherboard, too.

[MaxxuM]

3 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Just to make sure.

 

Does it specifically says "VGA error" during POST on the screen ? Or is this the light on the motherboard that lights up? If it's the light on the motherboard, maybe it's searching for integrated graphics, not finding it on the CPU and thus, light up? If it works, all's fine though and might just need to be disabled in the BIOS... which you can't access.

 

You say no motherboard boot screen, meaning it's just a black screen until Windows boots up?

Are you using Display Port or HDMI ? I find that Display Port often doesn't show anything on screen until Windows is booted. HDMI is more helpful in that way.

 

Which keyboard are you using? Some USB keyboards may not play well when it comes to interacting with POST for some reason, even in this day and age. If you have a PS/2 keyboard, try with that.

It's a light on the MB. Always on with 5700XT and intermittent with other video cards.

 

I use DP on all cards. BUT that reminds me I did use the HDMI on the 5700XT while debugging. The VGA light won't always go off with HDMI attached. It becomes intermittent but still cannot access BIOS. I can enter BIOS via DP on other cards besides 5700XT.

 

Yes, black screen until Windows kicks in. Screen will actually time out and go to sleep while booting as if it isn't getting a signal. However, with 1060/580 the motherboard boot screen will show up and I can enter BIOS. I didn't see a CPU GPU option in BIOS so I don't know if one exists.

 

I used 3 different keyboards. The Craft keyboard, a USB one and even a PS/2 one I had laying around. The Logitech Craft keyboard works find in BIOS with 1060/580 video cards.

 

[TetraSky]

4 minutes ago, MaxxuM said:

Screen will actually time out and go to sleep while booting as if it isn't getting a signal.

Yeah that one part is an issue with DP. Regardless of the card. Sometimes it's like no signal is being transmitted to the screen. Powering the screen off and on again typically "fixes" it. (unplugging the DP cable and replugging it also works.)

 

You say 

6 minutes ago, MaxxuM said:

The VGA light won't always go off with HDMI attached. It becomes intermittent but still cannot access BIOS

So it works a bit more often with HDMI ? But still can't access the bios?

You could potentially use advanced startup option in Windows to boot into the UEFI firmware settings (bios).

As to whether or not this will work for you, I don't know.

[narrdarr]

have you tried a chipset driver up date?

have you tried a different pcie slot?

 

[MaxxuM]

6 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Yeah that one part is an issue with DP. Regardless of the card. Sometimes it's like no signal is being transmitted to the screen. Powering the screen off and on again typically "fixes" it. (unplugging the DP cable and replugging it also works.)

But, the DP works fine with Nvidia 1060 va DP and AMD 580 via DP. Just not the 5700XT.

 

I've use the Windows boot options. It still goes straight to Windows and skips BIOS.

[MaxxuM]

9 minutes ago, narrdarr said:

have you tried a chipset driver up date?

have you tried a different pcie slot?

 

I've used the latest chipset drivers on Asus' website - 2020/01/20

 

AMD site chipset drivers are 2020/06/03 which are newer, but I didn't really think this was an issue since they are Windows based and this is a hardware issue. It occurs at boot, not OS level. Does the chipset drivers do anything at the hardware level?

[r0flc0pt3r]

I have the same motherboard and a HIS 5700 XT. I had this happen when I was messing around with VFIO GPU pass-through a while back. The motherboard got confused about which gpu to boot from and ended up doing neither even after I removed one, leaving a big black nothing on the screen until Linux booted. I don't know if this will work in your case but for me,I put the GPU in the top slot with 1 display cable attached. I can't remember if HDMI or Displayport made a difference. Then I reset the CMOS by turning off the power supply, removing the battery and shorting the cmos clear pins. That worked for me but I haven no idea if we are looking at the same problem.

 

On a side note BIOS 2407 gave me RAM stability issues so I rolled back to 2204. Just keep an eye out for random crashes.

[MaxxuM]

5 minutes ago, r0flc0pt3r said:

I have the same motherboard and a HIS 5700 XT. I had this happen when I was messing around with VFIO GPU pass-through a while back. The motherboard got confused about which gpu to boot from and ended up doing neither even after I removed one, leaving a big black nothing on the screen until Linux booted. I don't know if this will work in your case but for me,I put the GPU in the top slot with 1 display cable attached. I can't remember if HDMI or Displayport made a difference. Then I reset the CMOS by turning off the power supply, removing the battery and shorting the cmos clear pins. That worked for me but I haven no idea if we are looking at the same problem.

 

On a side note BIOS 2407 gave me RAM stability issues so I rolled back to 2204. Just keep an eye out for random crashes.

I'll certainly store the RAM issue in my head. If I get odd random crashes I'll roll back the drivers too.

 

I did unplug, remove battery and short the CMOS jumpers. All that happened is on the next boot it says it needs to run Setup. I press F1 and instead of going into BIOS it restores the BIOS to default and then boots into Windows. It refuses to let me into BIOS at all with the 5700XT installed.

[narrdarr]

try disabling windows fast startup

Disable "Fast Startup" if you're running Windows 10:
Go to 'Control Panel >> 'Power Options'
From the left hand column select 'What the Power Buttons Do'
At the top of the page select 'Change Settings that are currently unavailable'
Scroll all of the way to the bottom and untick 'Turn on Fast Startup'
Then click 'Save Changes'.

Next time you reboot you should see key-press options for BIOS Setup etc.

[narrdarr]

if that doesn't work use another card and disable fast boot in the bios

[Dravinian]

5 hours ago, MaxxuM said:

I'll certainly store the RAM issue in my head. If I get odd random crashes I'll roll back the drivers too.

 

I did unplug, remove battery and short the CMOS jumpers. All that happened is on the next boot it says it needs to run Setup. I press F1 and instead of going into BIOS it restores the BIOS to default and then boots into Windows. It refuses to let me into BIOS at all with the 5700XT installed.

In the bios, under the Boot screen, near Monitor on the top ribbon.

There is an option called CSM (Compatibility Support Module).

 

The bios manual says:

 

This item allows you to confiure the CSM (...) items to fully support the various VGA, bootable devices and add-on devices for better compatibility.

 

Lanch CSM

 [Enabled] For better compatbility, enable CSM to fully support the non-UEFI driver add-on devices or the Windows UEFI Mode

 [Disabled] Disable the CSM to fully support the non-UEFI driver add-on devices or the Windows UEFI Mode.

 

Might be worth turning the entries on or off, depending on what your presets default as?

 

Manual for the bios is here:

 

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_X570-P/E15829_PRIME_PRO_TUF_GAMING_X570_Series_BIOS_EM_WEB.pdf

 

It is the only reference to VGA in the bios manual I could find.

[MaxxuM]

16 hours ago, narrdarr said:

try disabling windows fast startup

Disable "Fast Startup" if you're running Windows 10:
Go to 'Control Panel >> 'Power Options'
From the left hand column select 'What the Power Buttons Do'
At the top of the page select 'Change Settings that are currently unavailable'
Scroll all of the way to the bottom and untick 'Turn on Fast Startup'
Then click 'Save Changes'.

Next time you reboot you should see key-press options for BIOS Setup etc.

Fast Startup was one of the first things I tried. No luck. I also told Windows 10 to boot into bios on next restart... nope. Didn't allow it. Just booted right into Windows. Funny thing though is the error light does go away for 1 boot cycle but comes right back.

[MaxxuM]

12 hours ago, Dravinian said:

In the bios, under the Boot screen, near Monitor on the top ribbon.

There is an option called CSM (Compatibility Support Module).

 

The bios manual says:

 

This item allows you to confiure the CSM (...) items to fully support the various VGA, bootable devices and add-on devices for better compatibility.

 

Lanch CSM

 [Enabled] For better compatbility, enable CSM to fully support the non-UEFI driver add-on devices or the Windows UEFI Mode

 [Disabled] Disable the CSM to fully support the non-UEFI driver add-on devices or the Windows UEFI Mode.

 

Might be worth turning the entries on or off, depending on what your presets default as?

 

Manual for the bios is here:

 

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_X570-P/E15829_PRIME_PRO_TUF_GAMING_X570_Series_BIOS_EM_WEB.pdf

 

It is the only reference to VGA in the bios manual I could find.

I tried it and no luck. CSM is more about legacy equipment and the 5700XT is just as new or newer than the motherboard hardware wise. This is beginning to look like an Asus issue.

[MaxxuM]

Update: I replaced the CPU. No luck. Same issue.

 

CPU, motherboard, RAM, and GPU have now all been replaced. The PSU was switched out with another one and same issue. GPU was used in another PC and a Mac and it worked flawlessly. This HAS to be an Asus issue.

[MaxxuM]

I figured it out. It's the monitor. I have an LG 38UC99-W 38-Inch 21:9 Curved UltraWide screen. Once I use another screen the issues all go away. If I connect a different monitor to the HDMI and the LG to the DP the issues go away. There are several other people reporting the same issue and so far I haven't seen anyone with a cure.  I tried flashing the monitor firmware but it already has the newest one installed and there are no other older options that I can find.  Will be contacting LG.

 

I cannot have two monitors on my desk. The damn thing is already 38" wide. If LG cannot fix I basically have a $1,000 monitor that doesn't work.