AM5 Build with boot problems, BSODs, different Debug LEDs, etc.

[mxmlnsch]

Hello everyone,

 

So I was building a new pc for a friend and although I’ve never had any issues with the last few builds I’ve done, this one is cursed somehow.

 

The build:

 

• Ryzen 5 7500F
• MSI B650 Gaming Plus Wifi
• Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB 6000 MT
• Montech Air 1000 Premium White
• Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
• be quiet Pure Power 12 M 750W
• 1080 Ti from the old system

Problem(s):

 

So other friends built the PC at first, had a few issues but in the end the system ran for 1-2 days, after one shutdown it wouldn’t start anymore at all. In the end the CPU was faulty somehow, we swapped out everything except for the cooler and the SSD and got a new CPU.

 

We built the system again, same SSD still with Win11 on it. Then it wouldn’t boot first, we took out one RAM stick (slots 2&4 at first, then just one on slot 2). It booted, had the CPU and DRAM LEDs on, those went away then it was stuck on the DRAM and VGA LED. Then we somehow got into the BIOS. Eventually we got into Windows, we reset the PIN and then I immediately downloaded the latest BIOS, updated it, couldn’t get past a black screen without and Debug LEDs. Somehow we got the system to boot again, got a BSOD, restarted it, ended up getting 3 different BSODs, then somehow we ended up having both RAM sticks installed and got into windows just fine. We shut down the PC to move it back into his room, didn’t change anything at all and it just wouldn’t get past either the red + yellow debug LED, sometimes it was just the yellow one, then the white one, sometimes no LED at all without any video signal. We tried every single RAM variation, nothing worked. I couldn't even get into the BIOS anymore, the PC didnt get past the point where peripherals are connected, so the keyboard wasn't lit up/getting power.

 

After updating the BIOS I enabled XMP instead of EXPO and put the RAM Speed at the 6000 MT/s it should be capable of and enabled Memory Context Restore. So yes, I noticed after it wouldn't properly turn on, that XMP was the wrong thing to use, since we're not on an Intel platform, but after enabling XMP, the PC was able to boot a few times anyways.

 

Yes, the HDMI Cable was connected to the GPU, not to the MoBo, the CPU doesn't have integrated graphics and I always plug the display cable into the GPU when building a PC.

 

Yes, Front IO headers are connected according to the MoBo's manual.

 

Yes, RAM slots 2 & 4 are supposed to be used, we tried 1 & 3 eventually and those didn't work at all, so we went back to using 2 & 4 (it mostly worked that day while only using 1 RAM stick in slot 2)

 

We had about 50 restarts yesterday so I can’t give you every single detail of our trial and error. Also I'm sorry if this post seems a bit non-coherent, with the amount of restarts and diffrerent stuff we tried, I'm a bit lost now.

 

Any ideas?

 

 

[Bjoolz]

2 hours ago, mxmlnsch said:

After updating the BIOS I enabled XMP instead of EXPO and put the RAM Speed at the 6000 MT/s it should be capable of and enabled Memory Context Restore. So yes, I noticed after it wouldn't properly turn on, that XMP was the wrong thing to use, since we're not on an Intel platform, but after enabling XMP, the PC was able to boot a few times anyways.

XMP is not the wrong thing to use. XMP and EXPO are just spreadsheets with all the RAM values filled in so that the motherboard can load them in. They are for all intents and purposes exactly the same, the manufacturer just has to pay Intel money to use XMP. ASUS calls it DOCP and made their own loader just to not have to pay Intel. If the motherboard can see the XMP profile, it supports it.

 

Do you remember any of the BSOD errors? If you are able to get into Windows, grab the dump files instead. They are log files from the BSODs. Go to C:\Windows\Minidump and check if you have any minidump files. If you do, go back to the Windows folder and copy the Minidump folder itself to the Downloads folder (You can use the desktop if you don't have OneDrive syncing files). Zip the copied folder and attach it to a post. Please follow the instructions to the letter as Windows doesn't like you messing with files in this location.

[TatamiMatt]

Can also try turning mem context restore off as it doesnt always work and causes constant crashes and BSODs for me

[mxmlnsch]

13 minutes ago, Bjoolz said:

XMP is not the wrong thing to use. XMP and EXPO are just spreadsheets with all the RAM values filled in so that the motherboard can load them in. They are for all intents and purposes exactly the same, the manufacturer just has to pay Intel money to use XMP. ASUS calls it DOCP and made their own loader just to not have to pay Intel. If the motherboard can see the XMP profile, it supports it.

 

Do you remember any of the BSOD errors? If you are able to get into Windows, grab the dump files instead. They are log files from the BSODs. Go to C:\Windows\Minidump and check if you have any minidump files. If you do, go back to the Windows folder and copy the Minidump folder itself to the Downloads folder (You can use the desktop if you don't have OneDrive syncing files). Zip the copied folder and attach it to a post. Please follow the instructions to the letter as Windows doesn't like you messing with files in this location.

Hey,

 

thank you for the reply. I will try to get into Windows later today to get those files, at least I hope I can at least get into the BIOS somehow. The whole situation is so weird to me since I've never had any issues when building a PC.

 

Not sure about the BSOD errors, I'll just quote some stuff from my search history:

 

- system thread exception not handled

- kernel mode heap corruption

- system service exception

- 0xC0000221

- ntoskrnl

 

Do you think it's worth trying to boot with a different RAM kit? Then I'll just get the RAM sticks from my own PC.

[mxmlnsch]

6 minutes ago, TatamiMatt said:

Can also try turning mem context restore off as it doesnt always work and causes constant crashes and BSODs for me

Thank you, I'll turn it off if I can somehow get into the BIOS again.

[PDifolco]

Start with resetting CMOS and try to boot with only 1 RAM stick

 

[mxmlnsch]

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

Start with resetting CMOS and try to boot with only 1 RAM stick

 

Problem is, that I somehow cant pop out the CMOS battery, the little metal latch to pull back is "blocked" by a plastic piece. According to a Reddit thread I just found, you have to take out said plastice piece with tweezers. Interesting design by MSI right there

[Bjoolz]

4 hours ago, mxmlnsch said:

Hey,

 

thank you for the reply. I will try to get into Windows later today to get those files, at least I hope I can at least get into the BIOS somehow. The whole situation is so weird to me since I've never had any issues when building a PC.

 

Not sure about the BSOD errors, I'll just quote some stuff from my search history:

 

- system thread exception not handled

- kernel mode heap corruption

- system service exception

- 0xC0000221

- ntoskrnl

 

Do you think it's worth trying to boot with a different RAM kit? Then I'll just get the RAM sticks from my own PC.

The mix of errors is what you usually see with a memory issue. Memory doesn't have to mean RAM, but it's usually the main suspect. 

[mxmlnsch]

Okay I found something that made a difference!:

 

I swapped out the 1080 Ti with my own 3070 and now I finally got a video signal and got into the BIOS and also flashed the board to an earlier BIOS version before doing this. I enabled EXPO at 6000 MTs but I think this makes the system unstable.
 

Now to my question: the 1080 Ti worked at one point, why does it not work anymore with the second latest BIOS version? I believe it used to work with the BIOS that was on the board from the factory.   
 

edit:

 

still getting Bluescreens for some reason, one relating to hypervisor (turned of SMV in BIOS), and two „kernel“ errors (something with „heap“ and something with „security“)

 

maybe a clean windows install might help then?

[Bjoolz]

7 hours ago, mxmlnsch said:

Now to my question: the 1080 Ti worked at one point, why does it not work anymore with the second latest BIOS version? I believe it used to work with the BIOS that was on the board from the factory.   

Did you remember if you used Secure Boot before the BIOS update? Some motherboards have this nasty bug, where when enabling secure boot it can lock out the current GPU. If you swap the GPU and disable secure boot (Or use integrated graphics on CPUs that have one), the previous GPU would work again if it's that same bug. Updating the BIOS will on many boards change Secure Boot to be enabled by default, triggering the bug.

 

If that's the bug, you can try enabling it again after putting the original GPU back in. 

 

This bug is quite rare, I've only seen it around 10 times. And most of those happened right when Valorant's anticheat started requiring Secure Boot on Windows 11 so tons of people enabled it.