[SOLVED] Can't get into BIOS

RearMisser

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May 16, 2020
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I have an Asrock B450 Pro4 paired with a Ryzen 3 2400x and an RX 570 4gb. When I try getting into the BIOS either by spamming F2 or from Windows it goes to a black screen. I can only boot into Windows and that's it. My memory speed defaulted to 1200 even though the base is 2400. Any help?
 
Solution
That's all Windows crap though. None of those drivers etc. has anything to do with a lack of basic display PRIOR to the system beginning to load those drivers into memory so that it can boot into Windows. For the pre-Windows environment, none of that is even relevant. You should be able to COMPLETELY REMOVE ALL DRIVES, which is where those drivers would be stored anyhow, and still POST and get into the BIOS and be able to see what you are doing, so anything on any drive should be a non-factor for basic hardware operations like an on screen display for BIOS access.

Sounds to me like it IS going into the BIOS, and is just not not being displayed.

Try power off the system, unplug everything from the graphics card (Are you 300% certain...
1200 IS 2400.

It's DDR, double data rate, so 1200 is 2400. For DDR4 there CAN'T be any "1200mhz" memory, because there isn't anything supported at that speed for DDR4, and if there was, it would show up as 600mhz when reading the actual frequency.

Double data rate memory runs at a specific frequency, in this case it's 1200mhz, but it reads and writes on both the rising and falling edge of the clock frequency, which doubles the data rate to 2400mhz.

That still doesn't explain why you can't access the BIOS though.

I'd try resetting the BIOS as follows to see if you can gain access. If you can't, I'd RMA the motherboard. There is NO reason why you shouldn't be able to access the BIOS unless there is a problem with the BIOS ROM, or some other malfunction.

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 five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 30 seconds. 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.




Do you even see the normal POST screen when the system powers on, prior to when it begins to boot Windows?
 

RearMisser

Prominent
May 16, 2020
17
0
510
1200 IS 2400.

It's DDR, double data rate, so 1200 is 2400. For DDR4 there CAN'T be any "1200mhz" memory, because there isn't anything supported at that speed for DDR4, and if there was, it would show up as 600mhz when reading the actual frequency.

Double data rate memory runs at a specific frequency, in this case it's 1200mhz, but it reads and writes on both the rising and falling edge of the clock frequency, which doubles the data rate to 2400mhz.

That still doesn't explain why you can't access the BIOS though.

I'd try resetting the BIOS as follows to see if you can gain access. If you can't, I'd RMA the motherboard. There is NO reason why you shouldn't be able to access the BIOS unless there is a problem with the BIOS ROM, or some other malfunction.

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 five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 30 seconds. 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.





Do you even see the normal POST screen when the system powers on, prior to when it begins to boot Windows?
No I don't.

However I just found out something. If I use my TV instead of my monitor it gets into the BIOS. Its kind of inconvenient. Any fixes?
 
How many displays are connected to your system? You DO have the display connected to the graphics card, and not the motherboard, right?

What TYPE of display output are you using?

Have you TRIED the hard reset of the BIOS with it connected to the correct monitor?

When it doesn't go into the BIOS, does it boot to Windows instead, or does it just stay black until you restart the system?
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
What connection are you using and how is bios timings set. Both DP and Hdmi require a 'handshake' from the pc, it's not a direct signal like vga. So with some monitors it can take more than a few seconds for the monitor to accomplish the handshake and if bios is set to give a 3 second wait for F2, you missed it.

Try a different connection to the monitor. You should be spamming F2 right after you turn on the pc, as soon as the keyboard is recognised, regardless of whatever the screen says. The screen will catch up eventually and show where you are.
 

RearMisser

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May 16, 2020
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510
I only have one monitor

I spammed F2 as soon as I pressed the power button and it beeped which is what it does when I go into the BIOS.

I waited for about a minute, even longer sometimes. Nothing. The monitor doesn't even detect an output.

It also does not show the post screen. The monitor only goes out of sleep when it gets into Windows.

I am using HDMI which is the only cable I have.

I have reset the BIOS countless times, but like I said it only gets into the BIOS if I hook it up to my TV through HDMI.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Sounding more like you have an hdmi handshake issue, like there's no native hdmi drivers to wake up the monitor until windows loads them.

I'd go to your motherboard support website, download and install All the factory chipset drivers, audio Lan USB pcie hdmi etc. Some will have self executing exes and some you may have to install manually through Device Manager update driver.

Then check LG website and see if there's any drivers/firmware updates for that monitor.
 
That's all Windows crap though. None of those drivers etc. has anything to do with a lack of basic display PRIOR to the system beginning to load those drivers into memory so that it can boot into Windows. For the pre-Windows environment, none of that is even relevant. You should be able to COMPLETELY REMOVE ALL DRIVES, which is where those drivers would be stored anyhow, and still POST and get into the BIOS and be able to see what you are doing, so anything on any drive should be a non-factor for basic hardware operations like an on screen display for BIOS access.

Sounds to me like it IS going into the BIOS, and is just not not being displayed.

Try power off the system, unplug everything from the graphics card (Are you 300% certain you are plugging the HDMI cable into the graphics card and NOT the motherboard video output?), unplug the PSU from the wall, remove the graphics card and check both the PCIe slot (You ARE using the primary x16 slot, which is the longest slot located closest to the CPU, right, and not another x16 slot further down the motherboard?) and the gold teeth on the graphics card for anything unusual. Also, unplug both ends of the HDMI cable and check for any irregularities or bent pins. If possible, get another HDMI cable or a DP cable, or whatever else your display supports, and try that as well.

And make sure you have the MOST recent non-BETA motherboard BIOS version installed. If you don't, then update.
 
Solution