Caught in a boot loop. All parts have been replaced

[Luke Trewern]

Hi all, I'm really hoping someone may have the answer for me, as I'm pulling my hair out here. 

A while ago I was using my PC and it crashed. Then when I tried to restart it, it the fans would start to spin up, but only at a very low RPM (not as fast as usual), the rgb would come one, but I do not get any video output. It's not booting.

 

I tried an alternate PSU and that didn't do it, same problem.

I then tied other Ram, but it was ddr3 that was not compatible with my board. I didn't know this at the time.

 

This led me to believe it was either the CPU or MOBO. So I then replaced the CPU to see if it was that, but still same issue.

Then I replaced the Mobo and was confident this would be it. Nope same issue.

 

Now I was really pulling my hair out, did some more research and found out that I the DDR3 I tried would not have been compatible with my board. So bought new DDR4. Replaced it, and couldn't believe my eyes when I still had the same issue.

 

I essentially have a new PC with these 3 components, and somehow the issue has carried over to it.

 

I'm really stuck with what to do, I've been fixing and building computers for the last 10 years so it's not like I don't know what I'm doing, but this has stumped me. Please send help.

 

Ryzen 3700x & 5600x

2x Aorus pro wifi x570 mitx

2 x Corsair vengeance RGB pro 16gb 3600

750w gold PSU. Can't remember what make.

 

I do have a 5700xt but this is not the issue as it's not in when I've been trying the new parts. I have also tried with it in as well at all stages of new parts.

[Bombastinator]

Just looking at the title either that is not actually true, or (more likely) it is a software problem.

 

Looking at the description, a PSU, memory, and a cpu do not a new machine make.  Very conspicuously the motherboard (which has over a dozen components on it) is absent from that list.  It is imho the second most likely hardware component after the PSU to be a potential problem.  My real first suspect here is software.  In particular the bios.  The machine as described would want a PSU of probably around 650w to work well.  I don’t know if you’ve got that or not.

 

Things to try:

 

make sure your PSU is actually up to snuff

reset the CMOS. 
try it
reflash the bios with whatever is current from a NEW DOWNLOAD It might be the exact same thing as what you already have on there.  That’s ok.  Do it anyway.

reset the cmos

try it

IF THAT doesn’t work we can start worrying about the motherboard for which the make and model will be needed.

 

It is possible I suppose that you can’t reflash the firmware because you can’t get the thing to post in the first place.  Your motherboard may have an off board bios flash system involving a USB key.  Your manual will know.  I personally consider that feature de rigueur  for any ryzen system, as they need a lot of bios flashing.  There are a lot of boards made without it though.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2022 by Bombastinator

[Luke Trewern]

On 10/1/2022 at 5:52 AM, Bombastinator said:

Just looking at the title either that is not actually true, or (more likely) it is a software problem.

 

Looking at the description, a PSU, memory, and a cpu do not a new machine make.  Very conspicuously the motherboard (which has over a dozen components on it) is absent from that list.  It is imho the second most likely hardware component after the PSU to be a potential problem.  My real first suspect here is software.  In particular the bios.  The machine as described would want a PSU of probably around 650w to work well.  I don’t know if you’ve got that or not.

 

Things to try:

 

make sure your PSU is actually up to snuff

reset the CMOS. 
try it
reflash the bios with whatever is current from a NEW DOWNLOAD It might be the exact same thing as what you already have on there.  That’s ok.  Do it anyway.

reset the cmos

try it

IF THAT doesn’t work we can start worrying about the motherboard for which the make and model will be needed.

 

It is possible I suppose that you can’t reflash the firmware because you can’t get the thing to post in the first place.  Your motherboard may have an off board bios flash system involving a USB key.  Your manual will know.  I personally consider that feature de rigueur  for any ryzen system, as they need a lot of bios flashing.  There are a lot of boards made without it though.

 

 

So, I have just tried a known working PSU and still nothing. I have also tested my PSU on another system and it works.

I have tried to flash my bios over the weekend, but I'm not getting any feedback from the board. There should be a les that flashes if bios is being flashed successfully, but doesn't come one.

When powered on fans start to spin but absolutely zero video output. Video cable is known good as well as monitor. 

I have replaced CPU, MOBO and RAM. Not at the same time, but in that order. Is it possible that because all parts weren't replaced at the same time, the issue has carried over to one of the parts? Seems unheard of to me.

Or is it possible that something was DOA.

I have absolutely no idea how to fix this, without actually taking it to someone with spare parts to try everything out. 

If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated.

 

CPU - R7 3700X & R5 5600X

MOBO- AORUS PRO WIFI X570 MITX

RAM- CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB PRO 3600

PSU - EVGA 750 GOLD PLUS MODULAR 

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, Luke Trewern said:

So, I have just tried a known working PSU and still nothing. I have also tested my PSU on another system and it works.

I have tried to flash my bios over the weekend, but I'm not getting any feedback from the board. There should be a les that flashes if bios is being flashed successfully, but doesn't come one.

When powered on fans start to spin but absolutely zero video output. Video cable is known good as well as monitor. 

I have replaced CPU, MOBO and RAM. Not at the same time, but in that order. Is it possible that because all parts weren't replaced at the same time, the issue has carried over to one of the parts? Seems unheard of to me.

Or is it possible that something was DOA.

I have absolutely no idea how to fix this, without actually taking it to someone with spare parts to try everything out. 

If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated.

 

CPU - R7 3700X & R5 5600X

MOBO- AORUS PRO WIFI X570 MITX

RAM- CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB PRO 3600

PSU - EVGA 750 GOLD PLUS MODULAR 

Or you didn’t replace the part that is broken to include software/firmware

 

you apparently have access to another machine. There is the Linux liveCD trick where you pull all the drives so the machine can’t even tell they exist and then try to boot off a Linux bootable thumb drive. If it’s the bios though that won’t work, but does work would tell you it’s probably not (but still could be because versions) the bios firmware, likewise if it doesn’t the bios firmware come under heavy scrutiny.

the PSU is taken out of the equation though which simplifies things.  
Is there anything up with your thumb drive you were attempting to flash with btw?  Probably not, but may be worth checking. 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Bombastinator

[IkeaGnome]

1 hour ago, Luke Trewern said:

I have tried to flash my bios over the weekend, but I'm not getting any feedback from the board. There should be a les that flashes if bios is being flashed successfully, but doesn't come one.

Was your CPU installed? What port did you put the USB in? And what was the BIOS file named?

[Bombastinator]

3 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Was your CPU installed? What port did you put the USB in? And what was the BIOS file named?

@IkeaGnome seems to be looking at your flash process.  I don’t know enough about it to be able to even comment.  That gnome has a long beard though and his hat is very pointy.

[IkeaGnome]

Just now, Bombastinator said:

@IkeaGnome seems to be looking at your flash process.  I don’t know enough about it to be able to even comment.  That gnome has a long beard though and his hat is very pointy.

Here ya go.

[Bombastinator]

9 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Here ya go.

Cool.  I’m also wondering about thumbdrive formatting.  Big thumdrives are formatted exFAT but can be reformatted to almost anything else. So it could be something else.  It’s also possible the board can only read FAT though it seems unlikely in this day and age.  Stuff  that can read exFAT can also read FAT as a rule, but they shave those boards down as thin as they can.  Might require a specific format.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Bombastinator

[IkeaGnome]

9 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

 It’s also possible the board can only read FAT though it seems unlikely in this day and age.

It's highly likely.

I didn't realize I cut the first set of steps off above.

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

It's highly likely.

I didn't realize I cut the first set of steps off above.

Ugh.  FAT has a really low max address.  It’s 32bit.  There probably aren’t any thumbdrives formatted in it anymore that aren’t yellowed with age.  Windows will still format something in FAT for you if you demand it.  If you paid money for the drive though (or even if you didn’t) expect it to shrink in size a lot.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Bombastinator

[Luke Trewern]

14 hours ago, IkeaGnome said:

Was your CPU installed? What port did you put the USB in? And what was the BIOS file named?

CPU - 5600x

Thumb drive went into the bios flash port.

File named gigabyte.bin 

[Luke Trewern]

14 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

Ugh.  FAT has a really low max address.  It’s 32bit.  There probably aren’t any thumbdrives formatted in it anymore that aren’t yellowed with age.  Windows will still format something in FAT for you if you demand it.  If you paid money for the drive though (or even if you didn’t) expect it to shrink in size a lot.

I made sure to format it in FAT32 as well.

[IkeaGnome]

1 hour ago, Luke Trewern said:

CPU - 5600x

Thumb drive went into the bios flash port.

File named gigabyte.bin 

And was your cpu installed in the motherboard when you tried to flash bios?

gigabyte.bin or GIGABYTE.bin?

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, Luke Trewern said:

I made sure to format it in FAT32 as well.

First or second time?  If it was first the formatting isn’t the problem.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Bombastinator

[Luke Trewern]

4 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

First or second time?  If it was first the formatting isn’t the problem.

First time.

[Luke Trewern]

4 hours ago, IkeaGnome said:

And was your cpu installed in the motherboard when you tried to flash bios?

gigabyte.bin or GIGABYTE.bin?

CPU was installed.

gigabyte.bin

[IkeaGnome]

3 minutes ago, Luke Trewern said:

CPU was installed.

gigabyte.bin

Try again following the directions from Gigabyte. They want the file name to be GIGABYTE.bin and no CPU installed.

Notice how it wants your motherboard completely bare except for the 8 pin CPU power and 24pin motherboard power connectors. Nothing installed, nothing plugged in besides those and your USB drive. "Q-Flash Plus will update the main BIOS only if run without the CPU installed. The system will shut down upon completion." 

[Luke Trewern]

15 hours ago, IkeaGnome said:

Try again following the directions from Gigabyte. They want the file name to be GIGABYTE.bin and no CPU installed.

Notice how it wants your motherboard completely bare except for the 8 pin CPU power and 24pin motherboard power connectors. Nothing installed, nothing plugged in besides those and your USB drive. "Q-Flash Plus will update the main BIOS only if run without the CPU installed. The system will shut down upon completion." 

I renames the file, and removed CPU. 

Still no feedback from the LED. 

Tries with RAM installed and not installed. Still nothing