Nightmarish troubleshooting session.

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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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I really think I've just had one of the worst experiences trying to figure out just what is wrong.

I updated my MOBO bios - it's a P868something-M (ASUS).
After it was done - the nightmare began. I would get a black screen...literally black, on startup. No BIOS screen no nothing. Suspected the GFX card...but thank God that seems to be OK.I remove the CMOS battery in an attempt to just go back to normal. It works and I get a bios screen eventually - but the keyboard won't respond. It doesn't get detected DESPITE using PS/2. I place the ram on different channels. Boot up, bios screen shows up - it only detects HALF the ram! I remove one stick and boot up with one only - keyboard is detected (why now???) I keep going - I get the BIOS screen, keyboard works - the digits are all on red - crazy temperature readings (which I took a picture of). I'm totally puzzled and 'doubt' the temperatures really are that high. I keep going regardless. At one point I get a power surge detection warning. Still wasn't able to boot properly.
Another time, I get voltage warnings that I can't even remember now.

Keyboard sometimes gets detected, other times it doesn't. Bios screen sometimes shows up, sometimes its just black. There's just no consistency and I couldn't find a pattern.

After all that - I think it could be the PSU or the MOBO - but if somethings broken, it should STAY broken...I'm just confused and frustrated. I've had my computer outside of a case.......I dunno exactly how to place the MOBO..but I put stuff underneath it so it doesn't directly touch my desk....like boxes and stuff to kinda keep it afloat. Could that also be causing issues?

It's taken hours to test all this...help is appreciated.

P.S I used the same parts for many months prior to updating the BIOS. So it can't be that my PSU is underpowered. Also, the temp warning only happened that one time. Other times I went to BIOS, temp readings were OK. I was able to boot into windows ONCE - but I knew upon restart I may not get it back..and I was right. Same random issues came back. THOSE FREAKING BIOS THAT I SHOULDA NEVER UPDATED>
 
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aldan

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Apr 15, 2013
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well it looks like the bios update has caused at least some of the problems.what was the original issue that caused you to update your bios?dont know if you can roll back the bios update on this one but if you post your specs we can find out.
 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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I mostly already did this....I even used different GPUs to make sure the black screen isn't coming from a faulty GPU. I had nothing else connected except the HDMI.

For specs, I'm on GTX 970, cpu I7 2600, PSU is 580 W - motherboard is ASUS P8P67-M. DD3 RAM.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
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Is the PSU original to the mobo and CPU? I ask as the 2600 is Sandy bridge and a few years old, if the PSU is a few years old also, it may not be up to snuff to run the 970, I look to at least a 500 w/ 28 AMPs for a 970 based rig - what model PSU and how old?
 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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It's about 3 years old. The make isn't really known..and I don't recall - 580 W - not sure about the AMPs. Point is, this all started happening after the BIOS update.

Perhaps if I can get into the BIOS settings - I can tweak some things and make the settings similar to how they were by the default. Problem is - I hardly remember the older settings but I do recall one thing. With the previous BIOS, the RAM speed would read at 600 MHZ on the BIOS screen - even though it's DDR3 1600MHZ. The new BIOS stated 1600MhZ and this info was highlighted in yellow.

I'm really just guessing here - but is the BIOS update making it so the RAM is used to its full capacity and is the PSU struggling? The Corsair ram I bought 2/3 years ago was on the manual list of appropriate RAM to use. However, I did upgrade to 2x 8GB sticks with similar DDR3 stats and was able to use those for a while. But when I'd turn on the PC, the memoryOK light would turn on..and I'd need to hit that almost every time for the computer to finally boot up properly. So I thought updating the BIOS might fix things...which is what I read somewhere. And then things got worse as stated in the OP.
 
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aldan

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Apr 15, 2013
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if you can get into the bios try setting your ram back to 600mhz and see if this does anything.its just a hunch so far and i have to do some research,but if this helps i think i may figure it all out.

 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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I'll try that when I get home later tonight. Thanks.

So does 600Mhz mean the RAM isn't being used properly by the MOBO? I'm willing to replace the MOBO if I know for sure that's where the fault lies.
 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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Well - I tried tweaking the BIOS settings. Even lowered CPU to 1 core, ram to its minimum - nothing.

I had one last idea just now. I downloaded BIOS from 2011, which is what my MOBO had previously. I thought maybe I could "update" again and revert to the old BIOS. Finally got to the BIOS screen, went to tools, and it just froze. Kept trying - and I think my PSU's finally fried. It won't turn on at all now. I had to turn it on/off many times just to get to the BIOS - it's really just random between BIOS/black screen/No keyboard detected/.

Anyway, I'm sort of glad the PSUs gone. Now I can stop trying to fix it. I searched around a bit and saw other people who got similar issues with this MOBO after updating the BIOS. I may have to purchase a new board as well as PSU.......man. It's not even my fault. ASUS and its BIOS update - will never trust that again.

Solution: DON'T UPDATE BIOS
 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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PSU did start woriking again after a while. I tried various ways to downgrade...it wouldn't let me. I tried in DOS mod via flash. Tried on windows with AFUwin - got an error. The MOBO just won't accept any BIOS that are older.

I'm gonna send this for repairs. I really feel it's the corrupt BIOS. Perhaps they have a way to wipe the MOBO clean and use flash tech to install previous BIOS.
 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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I've actually tried both methods - and in both, as soon as I execute the update, the BIOS file gets rejected. Using the AFUWINgui, I get a1- ME error (that's all I can remember, but it's a long error code).
The win98boot method also rejects the BIOS.

 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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Will do if fixed.

This is the error I got using AFUWingui : A1 Error: BIOS does not support ME Entire Firmware update

I was able to boot to windows (cos you have to for this method), but the keyboard was laggy and responded only sometimes. I dunno if that hints at anything
 
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af0

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Dec 8, 2014
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The repairs guy said he couldn't do anything. The MOBO is pretty much bricked, but at least the other equipment works. Ended up buying another motherboard.
 
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