[SOLVED] B350M and Ryzen 7 2700x won't post even after BIOS update

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May 17, 2021
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Replaced my old B350m Bazooka with a Mortar Arctic due to a broken PCI slot and only having dedicated GPU.
Obviously when I first put the CPU in it didn't post, needed to update the BIOS. So I bought an A6-9500 and updated to the latest stable bios (AKM), checked out the speed (abysmally slow), and then shut down to swap CPUs. Didn't post. Swapped again and updated to latest beta (AI), and it still didn't work. So I then took my old Ryzen 3 1800x and tried that with both BIOS versions, didn't post. I went to the MSI website and checked the compatibility section for my mobo and cpu, I needed BIOS AC, flashed that and tried again with both chips, still won't post.

To update the bios I have been:
  1. Flash usb to FAT32
  2. extract the .aio file to the usb
  3. post, bios, m-flash, reboot, select aio file
  4. wait for 100% and reboot
I have taken out the CMOS battery for about an hour and no difference.
I have let the computer sit mid post for an hour and no difference.
I have swapped ram, both speed and slot, and no difference (2x 8GB 2666, 2x 16 GB 3200)
I have tried 1 stick, 2 stick, 4 stick in all combinations
I have swapped PSUs

not too sure what it could be at this point, I can see the different bios versions displayed in bios.
Any help would be appreciated,
Thank you,
Mark
 
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Solution
I think I misunderstood the file naming and extension syntax with these files. The name is always 7A37AMS, but the file extension shows the file version, eg
7A37AMS.ACO
7A37AMS.AIO
7A37AMS.AKS

Currently BIOS is correctly showing version ACO, which is the version the MSI website lists as compatible with the Ryzen 7 2700x. I can still try to update to AIO or AKS, but I doubt it would make a difference at this point...
I think every version should work with an 1800x, all the way back to the very first (except vK0). It's a B350 board, after all. That's what makes no sense: why it works with the A6 but not a Zen1 CPU. And the thing is, you should have been able to make all the updates with the 1800X meaning the A6 wasn't necessary...
May 17, 2021
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But there was an issue to start with. First flashed AKM, was abysmally slow with the A6, then flashed AC on top, and no joy with any cpu. Broke an 'Armored' pcie slot? So far, the A6 is the only thing that works, none of the non-APU are recognised.

Might need to flash by dos prompt from bootable usb instead of mflash.

I provided bad info and confused you, I apologize. The first update I made and tried with both CPUs was AI, the latest stable and for the 2000 series. When that didn't work I tried AKM and then tried AC, now back to AI. It could still create a problem, I am assuming, but I thought it might be worth mentioning I tried a 2000 series first, before I tried the beta / 3000 series BIOS version.

I'll try the dos flash instead of the normal M-Flash. Hopefully that will take care of this once and for all.
 
May 17, 2021
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MSI on the MSI forums has the UEFI utility for doing just that. It's extremely easy to use: just unpack onto a fresh formatted (FAT32) USB stick and set up BIOS to boot to a flash drive. Then rename the BIOS you want to burn to one the script will recognize, put it in the root and re-boot to that flash drive.

It will completely erase every block in the BIOS and repopulate every block with the new BIOS, so it's a complete 100% update. I had to use it to burn my modded BIOS's, and I also used it to revert from a BIOS MSI didn't want us to revert from.

OP: here's the link:


In the first post Svet (the author) cautions won't work for B350 boards but if you read through the thread you'll see (towards the end) one or two people have used it on their Mortar Arctic's. You might need to create user account and login to download it. You'll also need something to un-RAR (7-zip works great).

Thank you drea, I will be trying that immediately.
 
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NVM, the R5 1400 should work from A1 and up, so that probably still isn't an issue.
It seems really strange that a Ryzen launch board (meaning one of the earliest BIOS') wouldn't work with one of the Ryzen launch CPU's. After all, before Zen 1 (1400's, 1600's, 1700's, 1800's) there was nothing to put on an AM4 socket.

Or was there...did Bristol Ridge come out on AM4 boards before Zen was ready?

But whatever...it was a hot mess back then. Things barely worked and boards would cold brick when the processor failed to train memory. BIOS updates were critical just to get basic operation. That may be the base version MSI wanted for halfway decent operation.
 
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It seems really strange that a Ryzen launch board (meaning one of the earliest BIOS') wouldn't work with one of the Ryzen launch CPU's. After all, before Zen 1 (1400's, 1600's, 1700's, 1800's) there was nothing to put on an AM4 socket.

Or was there...did Bristol Ridge come out on AM4 boards before Zen was ready?

But whatever...it was a hot mess back then. Things barely worked and boards would cold brick when the processor failed to train memory. BIOS updates were critical just to get basic operation. That may be the base version MSI wanted for halfway decent operation.


So I tried the DOS tool, and I got some weird error messages. Thankfully nothing happened, but iirc it said N1 and N2 failed, trying to flash backup or something like that. Apparently it did flash the backup, as my computer still works. I also did the memory test first and it zeems like everything came out just fine.

Anyways I redid the DOS update and took a video, it's on the drive link. I'll put it here too so you don't have to swap pages to find it.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=17ZtBv7oapmS0xDJVxyYYRdeQz_vl3tfK
 
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So I tried the DOS tool, and I got some weird error messages. Thankfully nothing happened, but iirc it said N1 and M2 failed, trying to flash backup or something like that. Apparently it did flash the backup, as my computer still works. I also did the memory test first and it zeems like everything came out just fine.

Anyways I redid the DOS update and took a video, it's on the drive link. I'll put it here too so you don't have to swap pages to find it.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=17ZtBv7oapmS0xDJVxyYYRdeQz_vl3tfK

I'm not sure what N1 and M1 refers to. But the error message looks like it couldn't read the BIOS file. Did you put the follow the instructions for preparing the USB stick? including renaming the BIOS file to the name it wants?

That's about all I can think of, sorry.
 
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I'm not sure what N1 and M1 refers to. But the error message looks like it couldn't read the BIOS file. Did you put the follow the instructions for preparing the USB stick? including renaming the BIOS file to the name it wants?

That's about all I can think of, sorry.
Well I never saw anything about renaming the BIOS file? I read through the tool page and linked instruction guide twice, then used CTRL + F "rename" and found nothing. If you know I need to rename the file could you help me out? Or point to where it is said that I need to rename the file?
The tool I downloaded from the link you provided was pretty much automated. It got my board name, I pointed it to the file "E7A37AMS.AIO", the program confirmed it was the correct file, and then it kind of did it's thing for a while, including downloading MemTest+. I saw nothing about renaming the AIO file, or really anything requiring extra user input other than the occasional "Y" or "ENTER" key.
 
Well I never saw anything about renaming the BIOS file? I read through the tool page and linked instruction guide twice, then used CTRL + F "rename" and found nothing. If you know I need to rename the file could you help me out? Or point to where it is said that I need to rename the file?
The tool I downloaded from the link you provided was pretty much automated. It got my board name, I pointed it to the file "E7A37AMS.AIO", the program confirmed it was the correct file, and then it kind of did it's thing for a while, including downloading MemTest+. I saw nothing about renaming the AIO file, or really anything requiring extra user input other than the occasional "Y" or "ENTER" key.
OK...wow...i think he's updated it a lot since I used it last. And it was only last week I DL'd and used it to revert BIOS on my B450m Mortar! I had to rename the BIOS for the tool then!

I'm going to go check out the new version.

EDIT: ok...i reviewed the instructions post...this is V1.16 you're using, right? Then I'm confusing myself now too, it does not need renaming of the BIOS. So sadly, that's not a possible point of departure that could be corrected.

I'm not sure what's wrong.

So how did you create the USB flash? I just formatted it in FAT32 and extracted the distribution over it. That created an EFI folder on the drive, then I copied the BIOS file to the root of the drive. Finally, I rebooted to the flash drive and followed the prompts. But I do not recall anything about MemTest+.
 
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May 17, 2021
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So how did you create the USB flash? I just formatted it in FAT32 and extracted the distribution over it. That created an EFI folder on the drive, then I copied the BIOS file to the root of the drive. Finally, I rebooted to the flash drive and followed the prompts. But I do not recall anything about MemTest+.

I used Rufus to format to DOS (whatever format it is, i know that's not the name), but then decided to just use the executable tool instead. So I selected option 3, fix USB which I figured should format the drive to exactly what was needed. Could be fat, could be DOS, I'm not at the computer to check right this moment.

I then restarted the program and selected option 2, use file, and I was then asked for the file directory of the BIOS file. I pointed to it, and it checked the version before continuing, saying it succeeded. I didn't, however, put the file into the USB root directory as I thought the program would have put it in itself, seeing as it asked for the file. I'll try that when I get back to the house. That could be it.

It seems that you used the source files, while I downloaded the executable?
 
May 17, 2021
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Well I think whoever replied earlier about it being related to the GPU could have been right. Earlier today I got some screen tearing quickly followed by random patterns. The screen then split in half and went blank. Upon rebooting the PC the VGA debug light stayed lit, and physically manipulating the GPU as well as switching PCI slots has produced no difference. Weird thing is the A6 is an APU, so should have integrated graphics, but even removing the GPU doesn't seem to make the integrated graphics work. This could possibly be due to me deactivating the integrated GPU in BIOS, so I suppose I will have to clear the CMOS and hope that works. To be honest I still don't really know how the GPU could have produced what I've been experiencing with this PC, but it's become more probable to me at this point. But I can't afford a new GPU in today's market, so I will have to go without a PC until I can afford something. At least this frees up my time to work on my car and the property instead of pointlessly trying to get a broken PC to work....

Thank you everyone for your help, hopefully I'll be able to replace the GPU soon and everything will go smoothly, if not I guess you'll see this thread back at the top.
 
May 17, 2021
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So the problem ended up being the motherboard. I swapped the new one for my old one, just out of frustration, and everything booted up just fine. I've been using the computer for a week + now with no issues. The old GPU is dead, but I got a new (used) one that has about the same specs. Now hopefully these RTX GPUs will get back into stock so I can grab a new one near MSRP. Thank you so much for your help.