Question Aorus B550I Pro AX- No POST after BIOS update

[Xman31]

Hey y'all, real lost on this one.

I did a BIOS update this morning on my PC to bring it from BIOS version F13i to F20a. I downloaded the update file from the Gigabyte official page for the Aorus B550I Pro AX motherboard, and plugged in an NTFS USB drive to flash through the BIOS. I loaded up into the BIOS no problem, started the update with no issues, then let it restart to finish installing. And then.... nothing. Motherboard backlights come on, CPU and GPU fans start spinning, but no DP signal. I notice though I'm in Windows still (spammed the keys and heard windows noises through headphones). Tragically I didn't backup the current BIOS setting before updating, so I don't have a copy to rollback to. Though I knew I had to rollback somehow. I've tried flashing through the Q-Flash button on the back (with versions F13, 14, 16, 17, 18 & 19 on a FAT32 USB) to no avail. I reset the CMOS battery (by shorting the pins, and removing the battery, multiple times), and then reflashing F13i, but it doesn't work.

Then I realised that maybe I downloaded the wrong BIOS update for this revision of the motherboard. I've got Rev 1.0, and I might've installed F20a for Rev 1.1. I can't be sure as, well, the PC isn't displaying anything. Now, after having flashed or supposedly flashed every available BIOS version, I don't even think I'm reaching Windows anymore. So maybe the first update bricked the board? Seems weird that even a CMOS reset wouldn't fix it. When resetting the CMOS too, I had to flash it to F12 at a minimum, as the factory version doesn't support Ryzen 5000 series (I have a 5600X), but I'm not even sure where I'm at anymore. I don't even know if its flashing correctly- I plug in the USB (while powered off), press Q-flash, it lights up and flashes... After about 2 minutes, the PC turns on (Q-Flash light still flashing) then after about 6-7 minutes it stops blinking, and the PC remains on, with no signal still. I restart it, nothing. No windows sounds, nothing, I've even tried "navigating" to my boot drive (holding F11 to reach boot settings) blind, to no avail.

To be honest, I'm at a complete loss. To summarise, I've:

• Reseated GPU Riser
• Reseated RAM
• Tried different DP cables
• Tried using onboard video
• Tested on 2 monitors
• USB flashed to all available BIOS versions
• Reset CMOS using pins without reflashing
• Reset CMOS using pins & removing battery for 10 minutes without reflashing
• Reset CMOS using pins & removing battery for 10 minutes then shutting down, and reflashing to F13, F13i and F19.

Everything was working fine this morning before the update, I really didn't want to tear into my PC this morning but I had too. I cannot easily access the GPU (tiny, tiny SFFPC case) though so I've avoided anything other than reseating the GPU riser in the one PCIe slot on the mobo. Would really appreciate any suggestions. Did I brick my motherboard by possibly flashing the wrong BIOS version? Any chance I can get it running again without tearing apart the PC?

Here are the specs:

• Ryzen 5 5600X
• 16x2gb 3200mhz Corsair Vengeance LPX
• Gigabyte EAGLE OC RTX 3070
• Gigabyte AORUS B550I PRO AX Rev 1.0
• 2TB Samsung 980EVO M.2
• 2TB Adata SX8200 M.2

Again, appreciate any help. Lord knows I could use it.

 

[Xman31]

Hold on! Literally took one look at my profile after I posted this and realised I came across the same issue in 2021.

Likely that the BIOS update reset the PCIe settings I had and forced the lane back into PCIe 4.0, while my riser cable is only PCIe 3.0. Will unplug the riser tomorrow (ugh... so done with ITX) and get the GPU in the full slot again, and hopefully change it back to 3.0.

Will update this thread if it turns out I'm just an idiot

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

• Reset CMOS using pins without reflashing
• Reset CMOS using pins & removing battery for 10 minutes without reflashing
• Reset CMOS using pins & removing battery for 10 minutes then shutting down, and reflashing to F13, F13i and F19.

If done correctly, you should have been presented with a different screen than usual. Prompting you to go into the bios and reconfigure. Did this happen?

 

[Xman31]

If done correctly, you should have been presented with a different screen than usual. Prompting you to go into the bios and reconfigure. Did this happen?

Nothing at all. Black screen, no signal detected.

Fault was the PCIe slot defaulting to Gen 4. Riser only supports up to Gen 3. Tore apart the thing, put the GPU directly in the slot and viola, problem solved. Forced the slots into Gen 3, works like a charm. Sorry for the trouble! (Bah, of course I wouldn't remember dealing with the same exact issue 3 years ago...)