Tried installing additional RAM and now DRAM LED is on and PC wont POST

SpiritAnimul · May 31, 2022

System Configuration:

CPU: i5-4690k
GPU: MSI GTX 970

MoBo: Asus Z97-a

PSU: EVGA 650

Wanted to add more RAM to my desktop. Originally had 2x4GB of G.skill Ripjaws and ordered another 2x8GB kit of Patriot Viper.

I know it's generally frowned upon to mix-and-match RAM, but these were considerably more affordable, and this specific kit was on the Mobo's QVL plus I made sure every spec of the new kit matched up with my old one. Lastly, I figured I'd give it a shot to see if they were compatible, and if not just use the new RAM since it's already twice as much capacity as my previous kit.

Originally with all of the RAM the PC was power cycling and after trying various troubleshooting for that (much of which were the same as below), the pc will turn on but not post, and the DRAM LED is on, even when just using my old kit.

Some troubleshooting I've already tried but to no avail:

- Clearing the CMOS (both by removing the battery and using the jumper). Even checked the voltage of the CMOS too and that's not a problem

- Used my Mobo's MemOK! button.

- Tried using every combination of RAM stick in every slot, even with just one at a time.

- Reseated my CPU, all of the pins were fine.

- Attempted with one stick after removing all PCIe cards and drives and making sure the cables were plugged in.

- Did not see any burns/signs of a short on the board.

Every time I would try a fix I made sure to turn off the PSU and disconnect it from power, as well as discharge the capacitors. I'm not sure what else to do as I can't even flash a bios without a post on this mobo. Any help would really be appreciated, thank you.

Somerandomtechyboi · May 31, 2022

14 minutes ago, SpiritAnimul said:

I'm not sure what else to do as I can't even flash a bios without a post on this mobo.

Yes you can actually, theres a socketed bios chip near the cmos battery but it may be covered with a warranty sticker

You can reprogram using a 4$ usb bios programmer like ch341a, also might aswell upgrade the bios to z97 deluxe for better oc capabilities, also no more worries of bricking cause that is straight up impossible with a bios programmer that will reprogram your bios ic

If bios flash doesnt work try dunking the cpu socket and ram slots with 99% IPA and clean the cpu and ram pads also with said IPA

An0maly_76 · May 31, 2022

If this works, I would also recommend doubling up on the newcomer kit and sell off the original, just to keep everything copacetic.

Edited May 31, 2022 by An0maly_76

SpiritAnimul · May 31, 2022

13 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Yes you can actually, theres a socketed bios chip near the cmos battery but it may be covered with a warranty sticker

You can reprogram using a 4$ usb bios programmer like ch341a, also might aswell upgrade the bios to z97 deluxe for better oc capabilities, also no more worries of bricking cause that is straight up impossible with a bios programmer that will reprogram your bios ic

If bios flash doesnt work try dunking the cpu socket and ram slots with 99% IPA and clean the cpu and ram pads also with said IPA

Thanks for the suggestion. Just ordered the programmer, fingers crossed that it's all she needs.

SpiritAnimul · June 18, 2022

Just wanted to post an update for the solution:

I ordered a CH341a programmer off of amazon. One important note is that the programmers available on amazon (black PCB) only output at 5v, and some may come with a 1.8v adapter, but my chip was 3.3v which wasn't ideal for either option. There are voltage configurable CH341a v1.6 programmers available on Aliexpress, but shipping would've taken too long for me, and I don't have soldering experience to perform a voltage fix (found online) myself so I took the risk using the standard 5v and everything worked out fine. That being said, I would highly recommend you either perform the fix, or purchase a configurable program.

Now for actually removing and programming the BIOS chip, this video does a great job describing the approach, but my process had a few extra steps that I wanted to share. I was very lucky in that my chip was socketed, so I was able to avoid the soldering and just had to be careful not to snap the IC's feet while removing it. The video's description provides links to the programmer's driver, as well as the ASProgrammer software I used to do the chip's reading/writing.

Next up, you want to make sure that the software has support for your specific chip (info found on the chip itself). I was concerned that I didn't see support for my exact IC, but a quick entry into https://datasheet4u.com/ revealed it had a matched datasheet for a chip that was actually supported. If ASProgrammer doesn't support yours, maybe try NeoProgrammer (mine was on one but not the other), and if it's on neither, you may be SOL but I'm not too sure. I did however see several ebay listings for various pre-programmed BIOS chips, so you may want to give that a shot at your own risk.

Now you'll need a copy of your BIOS, found on your mobo's website. You'll need your bios as a .bin file to program your chip, and unfortunately ASUS only provides them as .cap. There may be other solutions for this, but the one I landed on was found in this video where you basically just have to remove the first 800 bytes from the .cap file and save to .bin.

Lastly, just reprogram the chip with your new bios as shown in the video, making sure you verify the read/write processes worked as expected, and then finally pop the newly flashed chip back on your mobo and hopefully everything works. Your BIOS settings will of course be reset so you'll probably have to make a few changes. Hope this may help someone else who's ever in this predicament as even a PC repairman had told me my mobo was completely bricked and trying this fix saved me a lot of money. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.