MSI P55-GD80 No Post Mobo Code FF

[Routaran]

Hey guys,
I just got all my parts from newegg yesterday and i was set up my system. However I am getting the following error when trying to boot my system.

The onboard mobo Debug led panel display reads FF and does not go past this point. I've connected both speakers and monitor but i dont get any audible beeps or any mesasges on screen.

I've looked up the error and it and some people suggested that this is a common problem and i may have to simply RMA the mobo. But before i do that i would like to try everything i can to get this to work.

This is what i have done so far:
Taken mobo out of computer and placed on a non-conductive surface and tried to boot, nogo still Debug panel reads FF
Tried running with ram in different slots, nogo.
Tried running with no video card, nogo.
tried running with just 1 ram stick nogo.

the only thing i was not able to reseat was the processor, i am unable to get my heat sink off the motherboard. I have a stock i5 750 heatsink/fan combo and the push tabs to install it the mechanism that intel is using appears to be the same as satan uses to lock the gates of hell lol my fingers are sore from tying to remove it.

Also, another thing i read online that many people suggested was that i should "push down on the bios chip" this apprantly solved the problem for a few people. Alas, i have been unable to identify exactly where the bios chip is.

If anyone can tell me where this chip is and an easier way to remove the heatsink or any other tips on trying to resolve the issue at home, i'd really appreciate it.

Thanks,
RouTaran

[EDIT]
Apologies for not including system specs. Here they are
Mobo - MSI P55-GD80 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - BIOS Ver MS7581 Ver:1.1
CPU - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156
Memory - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit
Video Card - SAPPHIRE 100269HDMI Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
Hard Drives - 2x Western Digital 500GB Caviar Blue 7200rpm SATA II w/ 16MB Cache
PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
+3.3v - 25A
+5V - 25A
+12V - 70A
-12V - 0.8A
+5Vsb - 3A

 

[roonj]

Don't the heat sink pins twist in a clockwise direction to remove?
As a last resort what does MSI say FF means, if the tech tells you he doesn't know he's not a tech ask for someone else. Eventually you'll get someone who isn't a salesman.

 

[Routaran]

I was able to remove the heat sink and reseat the processor and the system posted without errors. fingers died removing the pushpins but it was a fair trade IMO lol

i've got windows installed and everything seems good

 

[Guest]

how did you reset the processor once you removed the heatsink? please help, having the exact same problemasyou but not as tech savvy.

 

[Routaran]

I just pulled the processor out of the socket and placed it back in. i guess there must have been a loose connection or something.

Another thing u want to make sure you have set correctly is your RAM with this motherboard. The way the architecture works is that you MUST HAVE DIMM#1 populated no matter what for the system to boot.

What a lot of people do is just place the ram in the closest slot to the CPU. this i NOT DIMM#1, it is infact #2

the placement works like this

CPU #2 #1 #4 #3

So if u want dual channel, you want ram in #1 and #3 and then 2,4
but no matter what u need to have #1 populated