[SOLVED] 7-year old PC does not boot anymore after crash, different q-codes ?

[Delhu]

Hey guys,

I built my PC in 2015:
Asus Maximus Hero VIII
i7-6700k
2*8gb Gskill Ripjaws 2133
850 evo (with os)
970 evo plus (bought 1-2y ago)
Seagate Barracuda
5700xt (bought 2y ago after my 980ti "blew up" while gaming)
Asus AC-88 WiFi Card
Superflower Platinum (850w I think)

No recent hardware or driver change. Never OCed any component.

Now, onto my issues. Was playing ACC (not sure it matters) for 2 hours yesterday and while browsing a youtube video on my 2nd screen, my PC crashed. I powered it off and then on a few times but I was met with black screens and different qcodes (01, 00, even 55). I shut it off and turned it on again and I think it started looping between qcodes 01 and 03. I cleared cmos and managed to load the bios. All components infos were properly displayed. Upon exiting bios, PC froze again. Rebooted, qcode 09, black screen. Clearing cmos again did not change anything.

After some googling I tried flashing the bios with an usb stick. It went ok, booted and I think I was able to access the bios again, though it froze while I was in it. Aftwerward only black screens and either 01-03, or 04, or 09.

This morning, I tried again. Stuck between 01-03. I tried each stick of RAM alone but got 09 each time (also got 04-02-99-98). Reinstalled both sticks and got 62 with vga led. Removed the GPU and got 02. I tried again without the GPU before writing this post and got a 62.

Apologies for the wall of text. I don't really know in which direction to head given the lack of consistency in qcodes. I should also have written down yesterday the tests and qcodes I got each time so it would be that messy in a forum post. Tbh, I was not expecting that hassle...

If you need some more info, feel free to ask. Thanks for the help.

Delhu

 

[egda23]

Take out the GPU, and take out / disconnect the SSDs and HDD.
Take out the WiFi card.
Leave only one RAM stick. Connect the monitor to the a motherboard connector.
Use another power cord to the wall (if you have one).
How old is the PSU ?
Try to boot

 

[Satan-IR]

With a 7-year old PC and those issues (seems like BIOS can't retain config?) one of the things I'd try is change the motherboard CMOS battery. The CR2032.

When you flash BIOS with USB it's better to leave it for 10-15 minutes after it BIOS update button stops flashing to let it finish actually updating the BIOS. When you entered BIOS after flashing and it froze it might mean that the BIOS or it's chip might be faulty. Might be it didn't flash and update completely.

Also do you have USB devices (mouse keyboard) connected to ports that are not controlled by Intel chipset? If so connect them to Intel controlled ports. Manual here. Some ports on boards are conntected to and controlled by AsMedia or other controllers. Although somtimes AsMedia chips on these boards are SATA controllers. Check in the manual.

The 980Ti blew up while plugged in same motherboard?

I would suggest trying what egda23 said too. See if minimums get it to work.

Are RAM stick in slots A2 and B2 (2nd and 4th from CPU)? When you want to check with single RAM module it should be in slot A2.

 

[Delhu]

Take out the GPU, and take out / disconnect the SSDs and HDD.
Take out the WiFi card.
Leave only one RAM stick. Connect the monitor to the a motherboard connector.
Use another power cord to the wall (if you have one).
How old is the PSU ?
Try to boot

Thank you for the support.
Did everything apart from changing the power cord (I did not find a spare one).
PSU was bought new in 2015.
I left one stick in A2 and initially got a 55. Shut off and put the other stick in A2 -> 09. I tried again with the first stick to be sure: 09 too. I guess I did not install the stick properly the first time ...
Nothing on screen and peripherals (keyboard, mouse) not powered.

 

[egda23]

Thank you for the support.
Did everything apart from changing the power cord (I did not find a spare one).
PSU was bought new in 2015.
I left one stick in A2 and initially got a 55. Shut off and put the other stick in A2 -> 09. I tried again with the first stick to be sure: 09 too. I guess I did not install the stick properly the first time ...
Nothing on screen and peripherals (keyboard, mouse) not powered.

Disconnect the keyboard and mouse (or dongle), and switch on again
Did you take the GPU and WiFi out, not just disconnecting a power cord ?

 

[Delhu]

Disconnect the keyboard and mouse (or dongle), and switch on again
Did you take the GPU and WiFi out, not just disconnecting a power cord ?

code 99. Boot device led on.
On screen, I see the ROG logo and the prompt to enter the bios.
Both are out.

 

[egda23]

code 99. Boot device led on.
On screen, I see the ROG logo and the prompt to enter the bios.
Both are out.

Try another usb connector for the keyboard

 

[Delhu]

Try another usb connector for the keyboard

Tried all 7 on the back panel but keyboard is not powered. Also tried pressing F2 or DEL to enter the bios.

 

[egda23]

This is not good...
You don't have access to another PSU ?

 

[Delhu]

This is not good...
You don't have access to another PSU ?

Not at the moment no.
I could ask a friend to come over with his to test it. Do you think it is the culprit?

 

[egda23]

Not at the moment no.
I could ask a friend to come over with his to test it. Do you think it is the culprit?

It's a toss-up between the PSU and the motherboard.
The Superflower Platinum 850w from this time period were very high quality units. But even good hardware can have a bad day.
I wonder if your mobo took a wack when the previous GPU died

 

[Delhu]

It's a toss-up between the PSU and the motherboard.
The Superflower Platinum 850w from this time period were very high quality units. But even good hardware can have a bad day.
I wonder if your mobo took a wack when the previous GPU died

Bad news indeed..
Could the mobo start malfunctionning 2 years after my GPU died? There was no visible marks (burn for instance) on the mobo and I used the PC as usual in the last 2 years.
I also tried removing the battery (following the procedure in the stickied post). PC initially did not power up but when it finally did, I got a 78 and when I tried a second boot, got a 04. Tried again 1h30 later and got an A2 but still could not use my keyboard.

 

[Delhu]

I managed to get my hands on the same mobo (old one from a friend). I plan on rebuilding my pc with it. Is there any reason I should not do it (ie to avoid toasting this newish mobo)?

 

[Delhu]

I managed to get my hands on the same mobo (old one from a friend). I plan on rebuilding my pc with it. Is there any reason I should not do it (ie to avoid toasting this newish mobo)?

Ok, so I rebuild my PC with my friend's mobo but got similar results: first boot post rebuild, I got a qcode 35, second one a 04 and third one after a clear cmos, a 04 again. I guess I can rule out the mobo.
My friend also gave me his old cpu (which is a 6700k, as mine) and his ram. What should I try next?

 

[Delhu]

Quick update to close the topic. I ended up rebuilding my PC (again), using my components and my friend's CPU. PC booted just fine and everything is working as before.

TLDR: CPU was the culprit