Did MSI Live Updater brick my MOBO?

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OhNoItsTommyGun

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Jan 10, 2016
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As the title says, I figured the MSI software wouldn't harm my PC, but I ran the Live Updater software, chose auto for all, and let it run. Said it would restart PC at that point. After it shutdown, it would just show 55 on the post display, and doesn't POST. No video display or anything. 55 has to do with RAM I believe. Tried putting a number of combos of RAM configurations; DIMM 1,2, 1 and 2....ETC. After I took hardware out, cleaned and reapplied thermal paste, and set it up again, now shows 00 on the display. Im lost. Cleared CMOS, popped out the battery as well.

CPU is i5 6600k MOBO is MSI Z170A RAM is G SKILL Ripsaw 2x4 DDR4 2133 8gb. Windows 10

I hadn't updated the BIOS since building this PC, if that matters.

Also, I was messing with the RAM clocks before doing the update.

Spent all last night and today googling and reading forums, but nothing similar enough.
 
Solution
Tradesman1
Might have bricked it for sure, I'm not a fan of the auto update software of any of the mobo manufacturers and especially when it comes to BIOS updates via Win - there can be too many things going on. Especially right now and with Z170 rigs, we have new chipset, new CPU, new DRAM and new OS, best to do BIOS updates through the BIOS. Also not a fan of MSI, primarily because of their poor physical QC, but also I don't feel enought testing goes into things like their software and BIOS programming
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OhNoItsTommyGun

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Thanks for the response. I'll try following that and see what happens. I tried plugging into the MOBO DVI port when I wasnt getting anything to display when the problem first occurred. GPU is 750 GTX by the way. When the problem first occurred, it was showing 55 on the display, which is a memory related error. First thing I did for trouble shooting was swapping around my RAM. Then clearing CMOS. When still getting 55, I then took all components except CPU, with fan, out and tried that, but with no RAM and various configurations of RAM. Again still error 55. Then went ahead and pulled the CPU, cleaned the paste and reinstalled. This time it's just showing 00. Not even sure what is going on at this point.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Might have bricked it for sure, I'm not a fan of the auto update software of any of the mobo manufacturers and especially when it comes to BIOS updates via Win - there can be too many things going on. Especially right now and with Z170 rigs, we have new chipset, new CPU, new DRAM and new OS, best to do BIOS updates through the BIOS. Also not a fan of MSI, primarily because of their poor physical QC, but also I don't feel enought testing goes into things like their software and BIOS programming
 
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OhNoItsTommyGun

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Jan 10, 2016
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Yeah I learned that the hard way unfortunately. It was late and figured I do some updating before my new 980 and another 8gb RAM got here next week. Hopefully RMA is possible if I can't figure it out. Never went through that process, hopefully it's not too much a headache.
 
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OhNoItsTommyGun

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Jan 10, 2016
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So I followed your advice and benched it after work today. Tore it all down, opened up the socket, made sure no dust and what not. reseated the CPU, reapplied paste.....etc etc. One thing I noticed when setting it back up was the Cooler Master bracket on the back was a bit loose. so 8 tightened that up. hooked the power up with just the CPU and my Cooler Master fan. No more 00 on the POST. It was showing the no memory found code. So popped a 4 gb stick of the G Skill Ripsaw pair I have. Back to error 55. So silver lining, my CPU isn't fried, and the socket is good (I think). So I'm guessing it is straight up BIOS is bonked due to my horrendous decision to blindly let MSI Live Updater do its thing. Or maybe I fired my RAM. Or both.

I have 8 more Gbs of the same stuff on its way. I'm gonna swap those in and see what happens. If those don't get the error 55 then I may be in business. If still error 55 I'm going to try and RMA to MSI.

So some follow up questions. I ordered the MOBO and CPU through Tiger Direct. Should I try RMA through them? Or go straight to the manufacturer?

Obviously I need to do much much more reading up on BIOS. A hard lesson well learned. Question about the BIOS then....where exactly does this magic BIOS exist, where is it written or stored? Did it do anything that could of changed my RAMS internal clock speeds at all?


Since I'm on my phone monitoring this thread I'll end it here. It's a pain to review and self edit.

Thanks a million times again! You may have just saved me a good bit of money, and you are a tremendous person and human being for taking a small part of your time to guide me towards that link! Thank you!
 
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OhNoItsTommyGun

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Just Frankensteined another PC together out of some old components i had on hand, much easier to post now! Im thinking I may run to the Micro Center and just eat the cost of a new MOBO. Im at wits end with this MSI one. My 2 more sticks of 4gm RAM (G Skill RIpjaw 2133) didn't do anything to fix the 55 debug code. Tried a few different variations of resetting the CMOS, still getting 55 code. Flipped the SLOW switch and tried that, still 55. Tried all sorts of configurations of RAM on the DIMM slots. So not sure if it is bad DIMM or what. Or if it truly is just bricked from the bad BIOS update via MSI Live Updater.

At this point I just need to decide if Im going to go with the same MSI z170a M5 MOBO, or try another brand. I am pretty familiar with MSI now, so not sure.

All in all this was a tough lesson in not messing with BIOS with out any good reason or good understanding of what I'm doing.
 
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OhNoItsTommyGun

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Thanks for your suggestions. Im fairly new with building my own rigs. Shopping for MOBOs always seems like the most nerve wracking for me. The ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING seems like a good choice. I did love some of the MSI software, Command Center specifically. Seems ASUS offers similar features.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Yes, and it's pretty good, but I still suggest people do things like OCing direct through the BIOS. These software programs are generally pretty generic and might be used on various mobo models - which isn't always good when mobos go through changes via BIOS updates
 
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