Question ASRock Fatal1ty X399 Pro - Blinking Red LEDs, no POST

[andrewjhead1]

Greetings!

I'm looking for any suggestions on troubleshooting this beast of a mobo/proc/RAM I inherited from a friend that doesn't want to POST. It was taken out of service working and I saw it post, but it's been in my closet for about two years and I finally decided to do something with it.

Asrock Fatal1ty X399 Pro
Threadripper 1950x
Corsair 128GB (8x16) DDR4-3000
Corsair RM750e PSU
GeForce GT710, 2GB

At this point, all I've been able to get it to do is blink red from the full set of LEDs under the shroud. The second the power switch on the PSU is on, the LEDs start blinking. Pressing the power only gets a short "tick" from the PSU that I can more feel than hear.

No Dr Diag, no post, no beep from the pc speaker. The closest thing I've had to a symptom change is that when the GPU is in the first PCIe slot the LED at the back of that slot blinks also. I HAVE been able to successfully flash the bios to the current non-beta using the BIOS Flashback Switch and a USB drive. Which makes me think that the board still has life in it.

I'm having trouble finding anything that indicates what this flashing red could mean other than a potential power problem. The PSU is brand new, but just in case I went ahead and did a paperclip test and check the voltage across every pin. Everything is perfect there.

At this point, I've stripped the board down to laying on the bench, no CPU, no RAM, just the 24 pin (no 4/8 pin CPU power) and as soon as I turn on the PSU I get the same flashing red before even attempting to push the power button. Not confident that should do anything, just trying to get a symptom change.

I've also re-seated the cpu several times, as I've read that these TR4s are troublesome that way. Pads and pins look perfect also.

When it was all assembled, I did try cycling random single RAM sticks through different slots (including A2), re-seating the CPU a couple of times, resetting the BIOS, pulling the battery for a short period. Everything I could think of.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm willing to try every non-destructive idea that's thrown my way. lol

Am I SOL? Thanks!

Andrew.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Asrock Fatal1ty X399 Pro
+
HAVE been able to successfully flash the bios to the current non-beta using the BIOS Flashback Switch and a USB drive.
Following steps listed in page 30 of the motherboard manual? If so, might want to try and work with two sticks of ram in slots A2 and B2.

As for your processor, if you're working with the platform breadboarded, inpsect the CPU's socket for any bent or broken pins.

 

[andrewjhead1]

Thanks for taking the time to offer up suggestions. It's really appreciated.

Yes, I followed those instructions from the manual. I experienced failure many times before finally remaking the flash drive on a linux system (a tip I found from searching around) and then it was obvious that it worked by how long it flashed, the change in flashing speed, and finally the green LED going off. The process has been repeatable and consistent so I'm confident that it is working as described.

I have gone back and tried RAM in A2 and B2 together with no symptom change. I have also used my camera to take pictures of both the pins on the socket and the honeycomb pads on the bottom of the CPU (so that I could zoom in close for a good view and everything looks pristine. I also went over the bottom of the board in a similar manner looking for any bent through-hole legs that could be causing a short or damaged components and everything looks clean under there as well.

I'm grateful for any other suggestions!

Andrew.

 

[andrewjhead1]

Stopping back by to say that I got it working. Turns out that the blinking is just the default state for this board. Who knew?! I eventually figured out that it doesn't seem to like the extra 4-pin cpu plug. No idea why. But I've gotten it to post and I'm in the bios now. So I've DEFINITELY turned off the LED controller to stop the infernal blinking!

Thanks for your suggestions earlier!