Question Can't access BIOS on Asus B-550 F

[Scip]

Problem: I can’t enter the BIOS on my newly build PC, am stuck at BIOS splash screen. I can cycle boot process by pressing Ctrl Alt Del but pressing F2 or Del doesn't do anything. Upon booting motherboard Q-Led indicators cycle and Boot led turns green indicating no or a faulty boot device but there isn’t any yet.

I was able to enter the BIOS at first and make some changes in the BIOS. Turned on XMP/D.O.C.P, Secure Boot and TPM to be able to install Windows 11 from an external HDD. Somehow this seemed to have caused an issue because afterwards I couldn’t get into the BIOS anymore. Figured I update the BIOS with the BIOS Flashback(despite the box saying the Mobo was AMD 5000 ready) function to the latest version but this didn’t help, updated it to the before the previous version still nothing.

Then I did a CMOS clear which kind of helped. I was able to get into the BIOS two times but often had to reboot for it to respond. This time Secure Boot and TPM were turned on by default which was due to the BIOS update. Turned on XMP as well and selected the external HDD with Windows 11 as the bootable device, and then nothing. Stuck at the BIOS splash screen again. Not even CMOS clear helped afterwards, even removed the CMOS battery, tried updating it to older BIOS versions (tried 2803, 2604 and 2423). Tried running it with 1 RAM stick and switching them. Nothing.

As a sidenote, I also installed my older SSD at the start (Samsung 840 Evo) with Windows 10 which I was able to boot from after turning on Legacy Boot in the BIOS. It ran really poorly, was highly unstable. Small changes in settings or even plugging in USB devices caused it to crash. This all made me decide to do a clean Windows 11 install. But now I can’t get into the BIOS at all. Strangely enough games ran really smoothly with zero issues at all.

I’m kind of at a loss what’s causing the issue and unsure what I should do next.


Components:

Amd Ryzen 5 5600x

Asus ROG Strix B550 F Gaming

G Skill Trident Z F4 3600C17D-32GTZSW

Be Quiet Dark Rock Slim

Samsung 970 Evo SSD 2 TB

Corsair RM750X

 

[Darkbreeze]

Where did you buy the components and were they new, used, refurbished?

My first gut reaction would be to pull the CPU and make sure there are no bent pins, and reseat the SSD, memory and graphics card. Double check that your EPS CPU power cables and 24 pin ATX power cable are FULLY seated in the motherboard.

Then, if nothing washes out there, bench test the board with minimal hardware. Maybe something got caught behind the board or a standoff is in the wrong place.

How To - Motherboard bench testing

Finding the problem through bench testing If you are here then it’s likely you have encountered a serious hardware issue and have been unable to resolve it using the standard no-POST troubleshooting procedures. If you have not yet attempted to resolve your issues using the no-POST...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Scip]

Alternate.nl, it's one of the larger companies in NL selling pc components online along with Azerty. It's all completely new, aside from the case and GPU which I already replaced a while ago and didn't need to update.

Thanks for your suggestion. I have checked cables a couple of times in between my attempts but didn't go as far as removing CPU and Mobo to check standoffs. I'll do a final check. If I were to return components, would you advice to just send an individual component back or send Mobo+CPU+RAM back together?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Did you assemble this yourself or hire a builder to do it?

If you bought and built this yourself, my first step after bench testing would be to RMA the motherboard, as it's the most likely culprit and if nothing else turns out to be the problem not much else it can be. I mean, can always be anything and we've seen weird things over the years, but motherboard faulty in cases like this are usually not bad assumptions especially if you've busted it down to practically nothing attached except PSU, CPU, one stick of memory and graphics card.

What is the model of your graphics card and how old is it?

 

[Scip]

Did you assemble this yourself or hire a builder to do it?

If you bought and built this yourself, my first step after bench testing would be to RMA the motherboard, as it's the most likely culprit and if nothing else turns out to be the problem not much else it can be. I mean, can always be anything and we've seen weird things over the years, but motherboard faulty in cases like this are usually not bad assumptions especially if you've busted it down to practically nothing attached except PSU, CPU, one stick of memory and graphics card.

What is the model of your graphics card and how old is it?

I assembled it myself. The GPU is a ASUS ROG STRIX 1070 O8G Gaming, I think about 6 years old now. I really doubt it's a GPU issue, the CPU doesn't have an integrated GPU, but I still see the Bios splash screen, not to mention I was literally able to play games on it a couple of days ago. Only when I started messing in the BIOS to prep everything for a clean Windows 11 install is when it stopped working.

Yeah sending back the motherboard was my first plan as well. Due to return policies I'm might be better off just to return everything so it falls within the 30 days trial period. Intel i5 12600k looks pretty sweet as well 😉 Anyways food for thought. Thanks again!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Whether or not the graphics card has a display output that's working or not isn't the question. There are myriad ways a graphics card or motherboard can have problems, and they range from a minor glitch here and there to fully not working, and anything in between. I've seen plenty of graphics card with some kind of problem that still "worked" and put a display signal out, but they caused OTHER problems because they are plugged into the motherboard and any problem that some device has that is connected to the motherboard is also shaking hands with the CPU and other parts of the motherboard, and therefore, nothing is off the table, ever, if something is wrong even if it doesn't seem related.

A power supply for example, can mimic ANY problem that a PC might have.

 

[Dragos Manea]

Some motherboards does not power some USB ports during bios initialization, you must test which USB function and which not, also there is a option super fast boot or something similar which disables bios access option, you must use advanced startup from Windows 11. Your situation is #2 from this link https://www.minitool.com/news/windows-11-bios-settings.html . After you enter in recovery mode follow the steps from #1 i mean not the one with the shift key, the one in which you navigate on the blue screen to this Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Firmware Settings and press Restart.
Hope it helped!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Some motherboards does not power some USB ports during bios initialization, you must test which USB function and which not, also there is a option super fast boot or something similar which disables bios access option, you must use advanced startup from Windows 11. Your situation is #2 from this link https://www.minitool.com/news/windows-11-bios-settings.html . After you enter in recovery mode follow the steps from #1 i mean not the one with the shift key, the one in which you navigate on the blue screen to this Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Firmware Settings and press Restart.
Hope it helped!

Kind of hard for them to do any of that when they can't even GET into the BIOS, which is the whole problem.

And further, when you reset the CMOS the default configuration should include full USB initialization by default. Partial initialization usually only happens if you set it purposely to that, besides which, it's generally USB mass storage devices which are excluded during POST and boot initialization, not mouse and keyboard. Mouse and keyboard are 100% what DOES work when partial initialization is enabled.

As to the return of parts, obviously that's up to you but I'd definitely disassemble everything, check for bent pins etc., before claiming "faulty".

 

[Darkbreeze]

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.

 

[Dragos Manea]

Kind of hard for them to do any of that when they can't even GET into the BIOS, which is the whole problem.

And further, when you reset the CMOS the default configuration should include full USB initialization by default. Partial initialization usually only happens if you set it purposely to that, besides which, it's generally USB mass storage devices which are excluded during POST and boot initialization, not mouse and keyboard. Mouse and keyboard are 100% what DOES work when partial initialization is enabled.

As to the return of parts, obviously that's up to you but I'd definitely disassemble everything, check for bent pins etc., before claiming "faulty".

You have no ideea what settings he made, how i said he might enabled super fastboot which disables bios access from splash screen and can be accessed only from inside OS. I have no ideea what he did, i posted that in the event that it might help him, i think any ideea is welcomed as long as it might fix the problem, what he can screw up? I also understood from the posts that he can access OS, am i right? so i provided a modality to enter bios now he can try and see if the keyboard or mouse is working.

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, you are not right. He clearly states that he can longer get to the BIOS at all. Which I will assume means he also can't get into Windows either but it would be good to get some clarification on that.

Enabling super fast boot would have literally nothing to do with accessing the BIOS after resetting it or removing the CMOS battery, so no, I don't think that is relevant either.

 

[iMacPC]

Kind of hard for them to do any of that when they can't even GET into the BIOS, which is the whole problem.

And further, when you reset the CMOS the default configuration should include full USB initialization by default. Partial initialization usually only happens if you set it purposely to that, besides which, it's generally USB mass storage devices which are excluded during POST and boot initialization, not mouse and keyboard. Mouse and keyboard are 100% what DOES work when partial initialization is enabled.

As to the return of parts, obviously that's up to you but I'd definitely disassemble everything, check for bent pins etc., before claiming "faulty".

HELLO just READ this THREAD >>> ima TECH <<< no ones THOUGHT OF HEAT choking freezing the system ,? hes got the best gaming cpu and hes never mentioned his thermals i see that he can get into the PC at first then gets locked out even with a diff o/s its runs bad he stated > thermals seems like the CULPRET here what s ur temps on ur CPU Core ?
id check my thermals ASAP
my 2 cents !

 

[Dragos Manea]

Enabling super fast boot would have literally nothing to do with accessing the BIOS after resetting it or removing the CMOS battery, so no, I don't think that is relevant either.

I agree with this, it should be toggle back to disabled after a bios reset. Anyway it seems that OP is no longer interested in this thread so he can add some more information needed.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yep. The next move is on them.