ASRock 890fx Deluxe4; W10 suddenly hangs with BIOS 1.7

[DBugger]

Back in February, I upgraded the BIOS of my ASRock 890fx Deluxe 4 motherboard (AMD Phenom 1090T, 8Gb, 1 SSD, 1 HD) to the latest version. That's what the download page suggests, see http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/890FX%20Deluxe4/?cat=Download&os=BIOS

Everything ok, nice green flash screen, brilliant.

That is, until last Monday. Booting up the system, it suddenly stopped. I did log in into W10, but that's about it. Frozen screens, no mouse, nothing. Rebooting didn't help: blue Windows logo, no animated balls underneath.

At first, I blamed the SSD disk. I tried to start a bootable Linux DVD: Windows started. Memtest hangs, everything suddenly stops. I had no explanation. So then I blamed the controller. I installed an older IDE disk: same problem, same result. Was my system ready to be scrapped?

At wits end, I downgraded to BIOS 1.6. Works!

Now, could someone explain what could have happened, that, almost 6 months after the upgrade to BIOS V1.7, it no longer works? Is there one of those pesky W10 upgrades that got installed recently that somehow conflicts with this BIOS? I don't understand.

So, please, beware of the V1.7 BIOS on a ASRock 890fx Deluxe 4 motherboard.

JeffB

PS I hope someone @ASRock reads this...

 

[DBugger]

Another BSOD... Down to V1.5 now.

 

[DBugger]

Hmmm... More and more questions. It's unlikely the BIOS is to blame. I tested every memory module separately, they all seem to be ok. With 8Gb there are sudden hangs, crashes, etc. With 6Gb I experience less problems, but with 4Gb the problems are over. Most errors were related to the upper bit that was always returned as 0. In other cases the block move test (#7) proved to be conclusive and generated lots of errors.

Now, if I swap the remaining modules for the two I removed earlier, it also continues to run. So with 4Gb there are no errors.

Does anyone have an explanation? Or some idea?


FYI the PSU is a Thermaltake Toughpower XT 675W, I don't expect any issues there, with 1SSD, 1 disk and 8Gb memory to feed.

 

[DBugger]

Solved, that is to say, for the time being. Many more tests followed:
- slots B1 and B2 proved to be unreliable, with any memory module in them
- I intended to buy 2 x 4Gb instead of the 4 x 2Gb I have, or even a new motherboard,
- until I found a page where the suggestion was made that it could also be the processor (usually a bent connector)
- that seemed hard to believe, after 5 years, but nevertheless
- I loosened the cooling tower on top of the processor (without removing it)
- I pushed firmly all the corners of the tower (and therefore the processor)
- and tightened the lever
- 8 Go !!

Somewhere a faulty connection therefore, between the processor and the socket, or the processor itself, or the motherboard. Anyway, I have a temporary solution, but I'm sure Murphy will kick in some day.