MSI Z390-A Pro motherboard locked to cpu

[toasty99]

I've got a MSI z390-a pro that is in a cyberpowerpc prebuilt with a 9700f.

Somehow, the motherboard is locked so it only works with that CPU. I've tried a 8700, 9400f, and 8600k that are known working. Only the 9700f that came in it will work.

I immediately started troubleshooting by downloading the latest bios (it was on a 2019 bios) and updating. After the bios update, I still couldn't get any other CPUs to work.

I tried CMOS resetting multiple times before and after bios update. I went into the bios and disabled FPTM, secure boot, anything I could think of that would somehow be doing this. 

I don't want to use the 9700f in this motherboard because the case the board is in is crap and there's a stripped screw that is holding the board in I spent an hour trying to get out that won't budge without drilling into it which has a good shot of breaking the board entirely. 

 

So yeah, I'm beyond frustrated. If anyone has ideas as to how in the heck you get a motherboard that's somehow hardware tied to the CPU to un-tie that's got nothing to do with bios, I'm all ears!

 

There's no way there's a jumper you have to short to remove a CPU lock is there? That sounds really dumb but it's legitimately the only thing left I can think of being a possibility.

[Blazepoint5]

42 minutes ago, toasty99 said:

I've got a MSI z390-a pro that is in a cyberpowerpc prebuilt with a 9700f.

Somehow, the motherboard is locked so it only works with that CPU. I've tried a 8700, 9400f, and 8600k that are known working. Only the 9700f that came in it will work.

I immediately started troubleshooting by downloading the latest bios (it was on a 2019 bios) and updating. After the bios update, I still couldn't get any other CPUs to work.

I tried CMOS resetting multiple times before and after bios update. I went into the bios and disabled FPTM, secure boot, anything I could think of that would somehow be doing this. 

I don't want to use the 9700f in this motherboard because the case the board is in is crap and there's a stripped screw that is holding the board in I spent an hour trying to get out that won't budge without drilling into it which has a good shot of breaking the board entirely. 

 

So yeah, I'm beyond frustrated. If anyone has ideas as to how in the heck you get a motherboard that's somehow hardware tied to the CPU to un-tie that's got nothing to do with bios, I'm all ears!

 

There's no way there's a jumper you have to short to remove a CPU lock is there? That sounds really dumb but it's legitimately the only thing left I can think of being a possibility.

Since this is a prebuilt system, it's possible that the motherboard has some custom settings or restrictions in place. They might have more insight into this issue and could provide a solution or guidance.

 

Check for BIOS mods It's possible that someone has encountered a similar issue and created a modified BIOS version that could unlock the CPU compatibility.

[toasty99]

1 minute ago, Blazepoint5 said:

Since this is a prebuilt system, it's possible that the motherboard has some custom settings or restrictions in place. They might have more insight into this issue and could provide a solution or guidance.

 

Check for BIOS mods It's possible that someone has encountered a similar issue and created a modified BIOS version that could unlock the CPU compatibility.

Yeah, so it's running the latest bios directly off MSI's website for the consumer z390-a Pro. Flashed it today troubleshooting this issue. So it's absolutely not due to a custom prebuilt vendor bios.

[DoctorNick]

37 minutes ago, toasty99 said:

Yeah, so it's running the latest bios directly off MSI's website for the consumer z390-a Pro. Flashed it today troubleshooting this issue. So it's absolutely not due to a custom prebuilt vendor bios.

I guess you run the latest BIOS right? Have you tried downgrading to this?

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

oh well just pissy board with an unexplainable issue

 

had something similar with some foxconn g41 board where itd only run stable with the e8600 it came with, any other cpu would cause it to lock up on its own even if stability tests showed no errors, even crossflashing it to a biostar t41 bios didnt fix it (though it could run 360fsb stable now, nowhere near the ocability of a g31 though), so id probably just resell the board with the cpu included

[toasty99]

5 hours ago, DoctorNick said:

I guess you run the latest BIOS right? Have you tried downgrading to this?

 

I already went from the stock bios the prebuilt had installed which was from all the way back in 2019 to the latest bios on MSI's website. Considering the 9700f is newer than the 8600k and 8700, I am thinking that upgrading/downgrading the bios is going to do nothing.

 

And the 9400f/9700f are the same generation so if it was a bios locking out older Gen issues the 9400f at least would work and it doesn't.

 

[toasty99]

3 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

oh well just pissy board with an unexplainable issue

 

had something similar with some foxconn g41 board where itd only run stable with the e8600 it came with, any other cpu would cause it to lock up on its own even if stability tests showed no errors, even crossflashing it to a biostar t41 bios didnt fix it (though it could run 360fsb stable now, nowhere near the ocability of a g31 though), so id probably just resell the board with the cpu included

I'd do that if there wasn't a stripped screw holding the motherboard in place to this crappy Cyberpowerpc case. It's a flat top screw that's rounded on the top now, I spent an hour trying to get under it with pliers/scissors to try and rotate the standoff up out of the case and had no luck. 

 

So, I'm at the point that would require a drill and I'm thinking the chances of drilling into a screw on a motherboard and not killing the board are pretty low.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

3 hours ago, toasty99 said:

I'd do that if there wasn't a stripped screw holding the motherboard in place to this crappy Cyberpowerpc case. It's a flat top screw that's rounded on the top now, I spent an hour trying to get under it with pliers/scissors to try and rotate the standoff up out of the case and had no luck. 

 

So, I'm at the point that would require a drill and I'm thinking the chances of drilling into a screw on a motherboard and not killing the board are pretty low.

i mean you could try cutting the the standoff which would take awhile but should let you take the board out

[toasty99]

5 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

i mean you could try cutting the the standoff which would take awhile but should let you take the board out

Yeah that's what I ended up doing basically.

 

Still curious what causes this thing, but oh well no longer a problem 

[DoctorNick]

On 3/15/2024 at 5:58 PM, toasty99 said:

I already went from the stock bios the prebuilt had installed which was from all the way back in 2019 to the latest bios on MSI's website. Considering the 9700f is newer than the 8600k and 8700, I am thinking that upgrading/downgrading the bios is going to do nothing.

 

And the 9400f/9700f are the same generation so if it was a bios locking out older Gen issues the 9400f at least would work and it doesn't.

 

Alright. Still worth a try IMO. If the standoff protrude through the MB tray, you can put a M3 nut