[SOLVED] ASUS Z390-I Onboard RGB BIOS Setting Issue

[VABAM]

Need some help with this one. I searched for a solution but couldn't find one.

The ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-I Gaming mini-ITX mobo has an onboard RBG strip on the underside of the mobo. The onboard RGB strip has a BIOS setting that tells it to stay on or off when the pc is shut down but currently on my Z390-I it is reverting to "ON" (default) after a boot cycle. For example, I change the setting to "Off" and then boot into the OS. When I shutdown, the onboard RGB turns off. If I boot the pc back up and then shut it down again the RGB stays on, in rainbow mode. If I go into the bios, the setting has reverted back to "On". It didn't do this when I initially got the mobo. It only started doing this after I updated the BIOS to the latest and greatest (ver. 2306) because I realized my 9700K would not even operate at is designed/default speeds when I went to OC it. For those who are curious, before the BIOS update my 9700K was operating aroud 3.0 GHz and only boosting to 3.2 GHz.

Only the onboard RGB shutdown/stand-by setting seams to be doing this. Haven't found any other BIOS setting reverting to default after a boot cycle.

What I've tried;

• Loaded an older BIOS version. Tried versions 2603, 2417, 2411, 2401. Do not remember which version the board came with. Currently using ver. 2401.
• Cleared the CMOS a few times and with different BIOS vers.
• Deleted and reloaded Asus's Aura software. Edit: Armory Crate not stand alone Aura.

Other info that might be helpful;

• Only the on board RGB goes into rainbow mode once the setting has reverted. No other RGB is affected.
• Does this regardless of what Aura is set to including turning Aura off.
• It does this regardless if anything is plugged into either RGB headers or not.
• Does this with 2 different sets of memory. One set has RGB the other doesn't.
• Does this with 2 different GPUs. One GPU has RGB the other doesn't

Initially this issue didn't bug me much because the mobo was in a case that didn't have any clear panels and was on the floor. Now I have the mobo in a case with clear side panels (both sides) and the case is on my desk. Getting sick of having to go into BIOS so that I don't have a RGB rainbow nightlight.

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Edit: Added current full specs.
CPU: i7-9700K
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z390-I Gaming
Ram: G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-3200MHz 8GBx2
SSD #1: WD_Black SN750 500GB (Boot)
SSD #2: WD_Black SN750 1TB
GPU: Asus ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Super Advanced Edition
PSU: Corsair SF750
Chassis: Singularity Computers Wraith
OS: Windows 10 Pro
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Hope you guys can help. Can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something stupid. Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I'd advise against downgrading the BIOS. Get back to 2603 but after the BIOS update, save and exit with defaults, boot to OS, then power down and disconnect from the wall. Remove CMOS battery for at least 15 minutes then replace.

See if a fresh cell changes the issue.

If the issue began after the update, then it's possible that Asus might be revising a BIOS update. It's been known in the past that some BIOS updates were released to address a minor issue/bug on the platform.

You forgot to include the rest of your specs. Please list them like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

Also, have you tried breadboarding the system with only the bare minimum?

 

[VABAM]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I'd advise against downgrading the BIOS. Get back to 2603 but after the BIOS update, save and exit with defaults, boot to OS, then power down and disconnect from the wall. Remove CMOS battery for at least 15 minutes then replace.

See if a fresh cell changes the issue.

If the issue began after the update, then it's possible that Asus might be revising a BIOS update. It's been known in the past that some BIOS updates were released to address a minor issue/bug on the platform.

You forgot to include the rest of your specs. Please list them like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

Also, have you tried breadboarding the system with only the bare minimum?

Thanks for the welcome!

I wasn't planning on keeping it on 2401 it just happened to be the verision loaded at time of posting and figured it was worth leaving it at 2401 until I got a response.

When I saw you talking about the CMOS battery had a "D'oh" moment. Totally forgot about the battery. Unfortunately the battery is under the I/O shroud which is a heat sink for part of the VRMs and is currently being cooled by an EK mono block. Getting to it will be very invasive at the moment. Now, if this issue was affecting performance I would be in the middle of taking it apart vice writing this response. However, in a few weeks I expect my custom sleeved power cables to arrive and was planning on re-doing all of my cable management. At that point I will be willing to disassemble the monoblock.

I'm already keeping an eye out for Asus to releases an update. Hopefully there is an update that fixes it with out having me to dissemble the monoblock.

I didn't go full breadboard but when I was transitioning the mobo to the Wraith chassis and going from air cooled to water cooled I had it in a testbench config. It was mainly to test my new GPU (Asus 2080S) before putting a water block on it because it didn't fit in my old case (Bitfenix Prodigy). At one point while I was bench testing I did check if the onboard RGB setting was still reverting before testing all the new RGB I was putting in the new build. During that test the mobo was down to the cpu cooler, boot drive, memory (G.Skill Ripjaws DDR4-3200 8GBx2), and my new PSU ( Corsair SF750). If I had remember about the CMOS Battery that would have been a great moment to do it. 🤦‍♂️ 😆

I have updated my original post to include the current specs.

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try the CMOS battery once my new cables are in and provide an update once I have done it.

 

[VABAM]

The issue has been corrected.

In the end it was the Asus Armory Crate software. Up until today I had only been using Aura through the Armory Crate. Today I was streamlining my build by getting rid of software I didn't need/want. I uninstalled Armory Crate because I didn't like it and installed the stand alone Asus Aura software. The BIOS setting was still reverting after the install. Then I noticed a tab on stand alone Aura software called "Sync at shutdown". Under that tab it showed "Rainbow" as the selected setting for the mobo onboard RGB to do when shutdown. Changed the setting to "Off" and now the onboard RGB stays off when shutdown and the BIOS setting does not revert anymore. Just for testing purposes I uninstalled the stand alone Aura software and re-installed Armory Crate. After re-installing Armory Crate the BIOS setting did not start reverting again. Looked through the Aura settings in Armory Crate and couldn't find a shutdown setting like in the stand alone Aura software.

Steps taken to fix issue:
-Uninstalled Armory Crate.
-Installed Aura (stand alone).
-Changed setting under "Sync at shutdown".

For those reading this with this issue that want to use Armory Crate:
-Uninstalled Armory Crate.
-Installed Aura (stand alone).
-Changed setting under "Sync At Shutdown".
-Uninstall Aura (stand alone).
-Re-install Armory Crate.

Like I said in my original post I figured I was missing something stupid. I didn't realized that the Aura software in the Armory Crate was different from the stand alone Aura software. Wish I had know that in the beginning. 🤦‍♂️