New build, first boot. Red dram light, can't get to bios

[Rebel836]

So I just built this pc and for reference, here are my specs

 

Mobo: Gigabyte b650 aorus elite ax

CPU: Ryzen 7 7800x3d

Memory: Gskill flare x5 ddr5 2x16gb 6000 MT/s CL 30-38-38-96

PSU: MSI MPG A850G PCIe 5.0

GPU is not installed yet but it's a 7900xtx

 

Anyways, I powered it on for the first time and the first thing I notice was a solid red DRAM light and no post. I waited for a bit to see if anything changed and I got to this screen 

Cool, now I can press delete to get to the bios to update it and maybe with a newer version it will maybe help cuz my noob brain figures that fixing some potential compatibility issues with the RAM might fix the red light. But pressing delete does nothing and I didn't want to press Y or N without knowing what they did. 

 

I'm pretty sure the USB port works, as my mouse lit up, and my keyboard worked fine on my other pc so I don't think it's that, but I'm not sure what else could be the problem. Any ideas? 

[Sawa Takahashi]

Since this is a new build, press 'Y' and you'll be good to go. The TPM module and bitlocker are intended to protect your drives from thieves. They won't be able to read your data on their computer unless they have the encryption key.

 

As for solving your RAM issue. I recommend you remove the CPU, RAM and drives from your motherboard. Then follow your manual to flash the latest BIOS version (follow your manual for BIOS flashback feature). That should help with compatibility with newer processor and RAM.

Good luck !

 

[Rebel836]

3 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

Since this is a new build, press 'Y' and you'll be good to go. The TPM module and bitlocker are intended to protect your drives from thieves. They won't be able to read your data on their computer unless they have the encryption key.

 

As for solving your RAM issue. I recommend you remove the CPU, RAM and drives from your motherboard. Then follow your manual to flash the latest BIOS version (follow your manual for BIOS flashback feature). That should help with compatibility with newer processor and RAM.

Good luck !

 

Is this better than just going to the bios, putting in a flash drive and updating the bios that way? Why do I need to remove all those components to do this? I'm not trying to be difficult, this is just the first time I've actually had to update a bios and the thought of taking everything apart again gives me anxiety lol 

[Sawa Takahashi]

Just now, Rebel836 said:

Is this better than just going to the bios, putting in a flash drive and updating the bios that way? Why do I need to remove all those components to do this? I'm not trying to be difficult, this is just the first time I've actually had to update a bios and the thought of taking everything apart again gives me anxiety lol 

Well, if your processor isn't supported by your actual BIOS version, it is better to flash the BIOS without it just in case it will interfere with the process. You motherboard even has a dedicated button on the i/o shield to perform that action. But in the end, you are the one building that computer and if you want to try the BIOS way, go for it.

I forgot to mention that clearing the CMOS after a BIOS update may be a good idea. Again, follow the procedure in your user manual, but it is a fairly simple task to accomplish.

 

[Rebel836]

4 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

Well, if your processor isn't supported by your actual BIOS version, it is better to flash the BIOS without it just in case it will interfere with the process. You motherboard even has a dedicated button on the i/o shield to perform that action. But in the end, you are the one building that computer and if you want to try the BIOS way, go for it.

I forgot to mention that clearing the CMOS after a BIOS update may be a good idea. Again, follow the procedure in your user manual, but it is a fairly simple task to accomplish.

 

Pressing Y did successfully get me to the bios so...so far so good. I'll look into the cmos next

[Sawa Takahashi]

2 minutes ago, Rebel836 said:

Pressing Y did successfully get me to the bios so...so far so good. I'll look into the cmos next

You should not see that message again unless you change for another CPU. 

[Rebel836]

8 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

You should not see that message again unless you change for another CPU. 

I got a bios id check error so I'm going back to the other pc to make sure I downloaded the update for the right board. I was pretty sure I did but I wouldn't put it past me to mess that up too

 

Edit: I may have downloaded the wrong revision. Mine is 1.2 and I may have downloaded from the 1.0/1.1 page

[Sawa Takahashi]

5 minutes ago, Rebel836 said:

I got a bios id check error so I'm going back to the other pc to make sure I downloaded the update for the right board. I was pretty sure I did but I wouldn't put it past me to mess that up too

Should be that webpage. Please select the BIOS section.

Your processor should be compatible since BIOS F1 but many versions added some improvements for 7000x3d processors. Also, RAM compatibility should be better.

Once your system is up and running, don't forget that you need to install all windows update before installing the AMD GPU drivers. If you get an error 'no compatible hardware found' or something similar, it is because windows is not running the latest updates.

 

[Rebel836]

26 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

Should be that webpage. Please select the BIOS section.

Your processor should be compatible since BIOS F1 but many versions added some improvements for 7000x3d processors. Also, RAM compatibility should be better.

Once your system is up and running, don't forget that you need to install all windows update before installing the AMD GPU drivers. If you get an error 'no compatible hardware found' or something similar, it is because windows is not running the latest updates.

 

I definitely had the wrong page. My new question is, is an update labeled "FCd" going to be unstable? My current version is FB. There are only 2 versions on the list. The FCd has improvements for my specific processor and ddr5 performance, which sounds like something I want, but I was told to try to avoid versions that weren't "fully released" or something like that. 

 

Edit: Just kidding, still getting bios id check error

[Rebel836]

New update

 

I finally got the correct bios page and was in the process of updating the bios when one of the restarts brought me to this page. 

 

Neither escape nor any other button does anything other than type in the shell line and I don't want to turn the pc off because I was told that's the LAST thing you ever want to do while updating your bios. Any idea what happened? Did the update fail? Do I need to flash my bios? 

[Sawa Takahashi]

10 hours ago, Rebel836 said:

Neither escape nor any other button does anything other than type in the shell line and I don't want to turn the pc off because I was told that's the LAST thing you ever want to do while updating your bios. Any idea what happened? Did the update fail? Do I need to flash my bios? 

At this point, the BIOS flash is complete. This shell is like a mini OS because you had no boot drive with Windows (or Linux, or whatever) installed on it. If you want more info on the UEFI shell, follow this link : https://linuxhint.com/use-uefi-interactive-shell-and-its-common-commands/

 

11 hours ago, Rebel836 said:

My current version is FB. There are only 2 versions on the list. The FCd has improvements for my specific processor and ddr5 performance, which sounds like something I want, but I was told to try to avoid versions that weren't "fully released" or something like that. 

Unless the BIOS version is specifically marked as beta, it is a stable release version. The FCd seems to be a release version as well 9I just checked on the support page). But if you flashed the FCa and all is working well, you can go with it too.

 

In the end, what is important is that you fixed your memory compatibility issue. Did it ?

 

Next step is to boot from a USB drive and install Windows.

[Rebel836]

51 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

At this point, the BIOS flash is complete. This shell is like a mini OS because you had no boot drive with Windows (or Linux, or whatever) installed on it. If you want more info on the UEFI shell, follow this link : https://linuxhint.com/use-uefi-interactive-shell-and-its-common-commands/

 

Unless the BIOS version is specifically marked as beta, it is a stable release version. The FCd seems to be a release version as well 9I just checked on the support page). But if you flashed the FCa and all is working well, you can go with it too.

 

In the end, what is important is that you fixed your memory compatibility issue. Did it ?

 

Next step is to boot from a USB drive and install Windows.

Yes, the light disappeared, I successfully booted windows and I'm getting software installed so I can check my temps to make sure my cooler was installed properly. Expo is running fine too as best I can tell, but I'm by no means good at this

[Sawa Takahashi]

23 hours ago, Rebel836 said:

Yes, the light disappeared, I successfully booted windows and I'm getting software installed so I can check my temps to make sure my cooler was installed properly. Expo is running fine too as best I can tell, but I'm by no means good at this

Unless your computer crashes or something, it means that all components are running up to spec, Ram included. You can check with CPU-z and GPU-z if the components are running at rated speed.

Enjoy your new computer then