[SOLVED] EZdebug LED / DRAM / CPU / NO display msi z270 Krait/ tomahawk

[furikusan]

[Moderator edit to break up wall of text.]

I bought all my hardware new, except CPU i7 7700k it was pre owned Tray CPU, however I did test it on another board some asus b250 and it did boot - since it did post i believe its a working cpu at this point. After this test I bought the msi z270 Krait Gaming board. Once I got that msi board I installed all the components - they did get detected and were shown in BIOS. At that time in BIOS I used the intel XMP profile for RAM so it would run at its optimal speed. All seemed to work fine so I wanted to install a clean win10 on the ssd i had.

The installation did not start i had some problems trying to install a clean win10 system from a thumbdrive it did not even show the installation menu.(I did use uefi made boot dirve, normal drive, one created with the official windows creator and even the win7 installation tool from MSI nothing worked)

I thought that maybe the Bios is somewhat to old, I decided to flash the Bios maybe that would help - maybe the thumbdrive was not read correctly. I did follow the instuctions step by step, the flashing went through as it should and after reaching 100% the system did reboot. Now the problems start - after that reboot board lit up as it should but there was no signal to the screen - ( I did use the CPU output and the onboard HDMI/ DVI ports,the same ports on a dedicated GPU on two different cards) there was no image on the screen.

After this troubleshooting my first thought was I used the wrong BIOS and bricked the board, did check it and it was the right bios for the board, I did clear CMOS/ removed the battery nothing seemed to help - the board would powerup, all the fans would spin, no errors on the EZdebug LED lights.

I tried different slots of RAM 1-2 combinations, with dedicated gpu and without - nothing black screen.

I though maybe i actually did brick the board. I ordered another one this time Tomahawk though pre owned, could not find a new one in decent price but still has warranty. I did install all the components on the new board but the scenario is the same - no screen on boot no power to keyboard/mouse, the seller described the board as one that has the latest BIOS.

I do not have another CPU to use and see if its Cpu case - there are no Lights on the EzDebug LEDs to indicate that theres a CPU problem so I hope its still ok, all the components except cpu/mobo are pre owned

On the Tomahawk board when i power it up, the EZdebug LED light makes a really short blink on CPU - i guess it checks if its there, a bit longer bling on the DRAM, and the they all go dark

If i remove the ram stick or cpu the respective LED light are constantly ON.

the questions i have could that flash of motherbord brick the cpu ram or board ? Could it be that my tray CPU is not compatible with a bios version? could there be some other stuff I did miss, any ideas and help is greatly appreciated.

 

[anotherdrew]

Tray CPUs are the same as boxed CPUs ... they just don't come in a box.

I have never seen a BIOS update brick a CPU ... I googled it for fun ... it doesn't happen. If anything is bricked, it is the motherboard. But then 2 bad motherboards ... seems hard to believe.

With all the plugging and unplugging, could you have damaged the video card? That is possible. On the EZDebug LEDs ... does the VGA or BOOT LED ever light up? I assume you have tried the Tomahawk without a video card. Did you also reset the BIOS on the Tomahawk?

I agree this sounds like a dead CPU, but there is one other thing that it could be ... a bad PSU. It sounds like you got a new one. If you had access to a spare or knew of a place with a very generous return policy, it would be worth testing before giving up.

 

[furikusan]

The EZdebug LED for VGA and BOOT do not light up, Neither when i use the CPU GPU and when a dedicated GPU is installed in the PCIEx16 or x8 slot,(DVI&HDMI) I will try today the second GPU just to be sure.

I did prepare a win10 installation boot thumbdrive with Rufus, did plug it in a USB port at the board and the BOOT LED does not lit up.

I did remove the battery from tomahawk, and did the clear CMOS procedure. I also did use a different PSU from another PC still there is no post/boot.

I really hope that the CPU is not at fault, cause its not on warranty and mainly cause the problem started one the Krait board just after the bios update. I did not drop the CPU or anything.

I did build the config around the CPU cause i got it at a good price, I don't even want to think of it beeing dead casue theres no way i can afford another one

 

[anotherdrew]

If the EZdebug LEDs fro VGA and BOOT are not lighting, then the board is not POSTing. The fact that the CPU light is not staying on is an indication that the CPU is passing POST, but clearly something is wrong somewhere.

You mention the ASUS B250 board that you first tested the CPU on ... still have access to it?

I'm 80% sure the Krait board is a brick due to corrupt BIOS. I would RMA that one. If the replacement won't boot with that CPU, then the CPU might be dead. The alternative would be taking the CPU to a local shop and asking them to test it. I would expect them to charge $25 or less to do it.

 

[furikusan]

that asus board I bought to check if the pre owned CPU is dead or not, since it got deteceted the board posted i could enter BIOS i believed that the CPU is not dead. Then i ordered the Krait, same scenario: CPU did post other stuff got deteceted in bios but I had win10 instaltion problems, for some reason while booting the booting frezed up before the Menu could show( win logo shows and those dots spinning in circle for ever) - so I made the BIOS update on Krait to latest version and since then no singal and i returned the board, now I got the Tomahawk apparently with the latest bios and still no signal. Im starting to think that there is some curse on me or maybe latest BIOS issue, cause with 2 board on stock BIOS it seemd to work.

 

[anotherdrew]

Yes, the Krait board, I think there was something hinkey with the USB on that board and data that was read from USB would get corrupted. This is why your Windows installs would fail. I'm not 100% sure of this, but based on what you have said it seems to make sense. So, when you did the BIOS update (from USB I assume) that data that was read got corrupted and thus the BIOS got corrupted and the board got bricked. Moving to the tomahawk. It seems to pass the CPU POST, but then stops trying to POST for some reason. I don't know why.

So, is this all due to a bad CPU? Maybe, but you were able to get into BIOS on the Krait and change settings and save them. You can't do that if your CPU is dead. Is there something up with the Tomahawk? It seems so. It could be something little like a bent pin on the CPU socket or major issue like a blown capacitor or something. I don't think this an issue with BIOS ... maybe just a bit of bad luck.

 

[furikusan]

Yes, the BIOS update was done from USB thumbdrive and from within the BIOS menu, EZflash or something option in the BIOS.
Yes, I was able to get into BIOS on asus b250 board and on msi Krait when those boards were factory new and their BIOS was stock. The CPU was detected on both boards with all the RAM sticks etc.

At this point I left the mobo+cpu+coller+psu+ram+case at a local shop, they should have more parts to swap around and maybe will be able to diagnose it. I just hope that the CPU is not dead cause it was the most expensive part and the only one without warranty. The fact that it passes the POST sequence on the motherboard is my last bit of hope.

Just wondering - some "conspiracy-theory", could somehow the RAM sticks/CPU get damaged or dunno suddenly be bricked - due the bad BIOS update and after that failed update on Krait that broken BIOS would sent a to high voltage to them? Are there some safe-mechanics within the motherboard itself to prevent that? I never had a bricked CPU or RAM Stick so i cant be sure how those EZdebug LEDs would light up if such component is installed. But if that possibly corrupted BIOS did send a higher voltage and would brick those parts would those EZDEBUG LEDs catch that? Do they flash differently if you install a non compatible or dead CPU in the socket? Cause i know they are constantly ON if a part is missing on its respective slot.

Im just wondering cause on that CPU the LED flashes really shortly and in case of the DRAM its longer I would guess at least 3x longer.

 

[anotherdrew]

Your conspiracy theory is far fetched. There are plenty of stories of people putting CPUs into boards with incompatible BIOS and I don't know one where the CPU got fried.

EZdebug on MSI boards ... the light comes on while that component is being tested. The light goes out when the component passes the test. If the light stays on, then that component failed the test.

Let us know what the shop says.

 

[furikusan]

update:

The guys at the shop said, that when they replaced my CPU with another CPU the board did boot/post UP that would indicate a CPU problem, however when they installed mine i7700k in another board that board also did boot/post.
They asked MSI about this. Also i did ask for some testing regarding system installation etc if the CPU is stable or something. I should get some update on Tuesday.

I dont know if for some reason my CPU does not like certain BIOS versions or something? I wonder what theory you might have.

 

[anotherdrew]

I put $10 on a pin being slightly bent on the Tomahawk or a bit of thermal paste on the underside of the CPU. Something so that the CPU and motherboard didn't make good contact.

 

[furikusan]

CPU is for sure clean, i did clean it with alcohol, also if there were bent pins on the Tomahawk then the 2nd CPU from shop would also have problems.
Im worried that maybe the CPU is faulty.

 

[anotherdrew]

Let see what the shop says, but a pin that was just slightly bent could make poor contact one time and then good contact when you reseat (or replace) the CPU. I'm not there, so it's just a guess based on my experience.

 

[furikusan]

Just wondering what tools could there be used to check the condition of the CPU in case the tools used by the shop will be insufficient- any suggestions

 

[anotherdrew]

If the CPU is throwing out errors, then the computer crashes, so it is a dead give away. The other issue is heat. Some CPUs will run fine until stressed. The heat build up will cause error and the system crashes. Stress tests will work the CPU harder than it would under normal conditions. While this should not hurt the CPU, improper cooling or a CPU that already has issues might be damaged. Then again, I assume the shop will run some stress tests. With a new systems people will do a 24 hour burn in. It's kind of a "if this doesn't kill it, then nothing will" test. Since you have a used CPU and no warranty, I wouldn't do that.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/stress-test-cpu-pc-guide,5461.html

 

[furikusan]

CPU KAPUTT

 

[anotherdrew]

That sucks.