[SOLVED] ASRock X370 Killer SLI/ac BIOS update bricking motherboard

[sarahroseunicorn]

I'm doing a computer build for the first time (specs below). Boots up fine, FPS were lacking so I decided to upgrade the BIOS to version 3.50. Followed the manufacturers instructions and upgraded with Instant Flash using the BIOS tool. The upgrade finished and prompted me to reboot. After reboot, computer wouldn't POST.

Tried a number of things I read here (clearing CMOS, replacing battery, etc) and nothing. The fans would spin up and run for 31.5 seconds, then stop briefly and cycle.

Figured I'd bricked the mobo so RMA'd it. Exact same thing happened on the new one - worked fine until I tried to upgrade the BIOS. I'm following the ASRock instructions for BIOS upgrade exactly, which says to upgrade to 3.50 (bridge BIOS) before going to newest release. The out-of-the-box BIOS is quite out of date so don't want to leave that in place.

New mobo on the way but not sure what to try next! Any recommendations?

Specs:

ASRock X370 Killer SLI/ac Motherboard
Ryzen 5 2400G CPU
WD Blue 500GB SSD
EVGA 80+ White 500W PSU
8GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 RAM

 

[Ralston18]

Wondering:

"FPS were lacking"

How lacking? What FPS do you expect and what FPS are you getting?

What GPU, if any, is installed?

More information and details needed.

 

[sarahroseunicorn]

Wondering:

"FPS were lacking"

How lacking? What FPS do you expect and what FPS are you getting?

What GPU, if any, is installed?

More information and details needed.

There wasn't any GPU installed and it was about 8 FPS on ROBLOX, while my previous pre-built computer's FPS were noticeably higher, although I do not have the exact numbers.

 

[Vic 40]

Before updating the bios,did you update the latest chipset drivers as well? Needs to be done before updating the bios even to that "bridge bios".

Update AMD AGESA to 1.0.0.6.
* Please install "AMD all in 1 with VGA driver ver:18.10.20_NHDA" or a later version before updating to this BIOS.
* If the current BIOS version is older than P3.50, please update BIOS to P3.50(Bridge BIOS) before updating this version.
* If you updated the BIOS before updating the AMD all in one driver, please refer to the Display recovery SOP to recover your system.

Also since Asrock is there probably s small sticker on the bioschip that says with which bios the motherboard is shipped so look at that, Maybe you don't need to update or at least not to use that "bridge bios". Stil need to install the latest chipset drivers first if wanting to update the bios.

 

[sarahroseunicorn]

Thank you for the response. No, I didn't update the chipset drivers. I understood the instructions on their site to mean that I was supposed to upgrade to the 'bridge BIOS' before updating those. I will try doing that first, thanks!

Before updating the bios,did you update the latest chipset drivers as well? Needs to be done before updating the bios even to that "bridge bios".

Update AMD AGESA to 1.0.0.6.
* Please install "AMD all in 1 with VGA driver ver:18.10.20_NHDA" or a later version before updating to this BIOS.
* If the current BIOS version is older than P3.50, please update BIOS to P3.50(Bridge BIOS) before updating this version.
* If you updated the BIOS before updating the AMD all in one driver, please refer to the Display recovery SOP to recover your system.

Also since Asrock is there probably s small sticker on the bioschip that says with which bios the motherboar is shipped to look at that, Maybe you don't need to update or at least not to use that "bridge bios". Stil need to install the latest chipset drivers first if wanting to update the bios.

 

[Vic 40]

Hope that will do the trick.

 

[coops1]

Are you 100% sure that your motherboard was on an earlier bios version than 3.5? Your CPU is only supported from 4.5 on, so if you roll back to 3.5 it would no longer be supported, hence the lack of post...

 

[Abbernathy]

Are you 100% sure that your motherboard was on an earlier bios version than 3.5? Your CPU is only supported from 4.5 on, so if you roll back to 3.5 it would no longer be supported, hence the lack of post...

What are my options if I did this? I assumed I was updating my bios because each time I tried to update, it told me to first use an earlier version and work my way up. I flashed bios 3.0, and now nothing happens when I power on my computer.

The fans spin, but no display ever comes on, no beep, no nothing. I've tried resetting cmos, removing the battery, using onboard video... Nothing works. I'm pretty sure my mobile is bricked now...

Is there any way to get back to the default bios that was loaded out of the box?

 

[TJ Hooker]

You need a CPU supported by whatever BIOS is on there currently in order to update to a new BIOS. Your options are:
-Find a computer shop that would do it for you
-Buy a cheap CPU that is supported by the BIOS you flashed to and use it to update
-Contact AMD about sending you an upgrade kit (includes a CPU, which you then have to send back)
-RMA/return the board and get a new one.