Question Black screen after BIOS update on Asrock A320M Pro 4

[elderMat7]

Hi. A friend bought some new parts to upgrade and I went over to help him build the machine:

Motherboard - Asrock A320M Pro4
(Old) CPU Ryzen 5 1500x --> Ryzen 7 5800x
(Old) PSU Fortron 500W --> Seasonic 750W 80+ Gold
Ram - 2x8 Adata sticks, which are 2400 and 2666 MHz and in the old configuration were clocked to run at 2666 both. (I guess this could be an issue?)

I read on the documentation page of the motherboard that for it to support the new 5800x, the BIOS has to be updated to 7.40, which requires an update to 7.00 before that.
So, I put the 7.00 update file on a FAT32 USB Flash Drive, go to instant flash, it detected the file, clicked proceed. It went fine, reached 62% and directly said "Flash Successful, press enter to restart." Since then there has been no video signal from the machine, tried every single thing that is on the internet. After the last bios screen with that message the computer started bootlooping. Eventually it started to beep 4 times on boot (this time not bootlooping). Obviously I thought "Oh it reset the BIOS config, it's probably confused with the RAM sticks. So I took one of them out. Tried the other one in every slot. Tried every possible RAM combination. First stick, second stick, Slot A1, Slot A2... Etc. Nothing.
Yes I cleared CMOS, removed battery, that didn't work, reset the BIOS through the motherboard jumper - that didn't work. Disconnected all peripherals, hard drives, GPU.

The USB stick I used had windows installation files on it. I figured that wouldn't be an issue when the BIOS can detect the update file. I thought that wouldn't matter but I have no clue so I thought I'd better mention that. + It said that the update was successful.

Since I don't have a spare CPU, Motherboard or RAM to test - the PC will be sent to a repair shop soon. Any help is appreciated. If not for this current PC (because it will be going to a repair shop soon) for somebody who will be reading this in the future with the same issue.


Thanks in advance. Appreciate your time.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Try putting only ONE stick of memory, and it probably doesn't matter which one you use, in the A2 slot and then do the following. Do not skip ANY steps, even if you think they are not necessary or that you "know better". Also, make sure your display cable is plugged into one of the outputs on the graphics card and not the motherboard since that CPU has no integrated graphics.

BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for about three to five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes while the CMOS battery is out of the motherboard, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 15-30 seconds, in order to deplete any residual charge that might be present in the CMOS circuit. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP, A-XMP or D.O.C.P profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, IF the problem is related to a lack of video signal, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.

Trying a different monitor as well, if possible, is also a good idea if there is a lack of display. It happens.

 

[elderMat7]

Try putting only ONE stick of memory, and it probably doesn't matter which one you use, in the A2 slot and then do the following. Do not skip ANY steps, even if you think they are not necessary or that you "know better". Also, make sure your display cable is plugged into one of the outputs on the graphics card and not the motherboard since that CPU has no integrated graphics.

BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for about three to five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.
...

Tried exactly those steps. With the old power supply and with the new one. With the hdmi cable and with the display port to hdmi cable. Same result. Different monitor haven't tried.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well then, taking it to a repair shop is probably going to be a waste of your time. I'd say you'd likely be better off returning it as faulty for a replacement or contacting ASRock if it's been too long for a retail vendor replacement. Any repair shop is just going to do the same things we've already discussed here and that you've tried. They don't have any magical way to reprogram the BIOS and they'll likely still try to charge you for their time.