Question Flashing Bios - Continuously blinking (MSI B550 Gaming Plus)

[JamesAtari]

I've tried to flash the bios with a correctly formatted USB.

All seemed okay until the bios LED stayed blinking far past the usual 5-7 minutes, I know I likely need to try a different USB but I'm wondering how I go about cancelling the current attempt?

The LED is still flashing, am I okay to just switch off the PSU and try again with a different USB or could switching off the PSU cause any damage to the board?

 

[Lutfij]

I would leave it alone, be patient with the BIOS flashing process, let it go on for a few more minutes. There are threads here where user thought it was getting too long in the jaw only to end up with a bricked board(and subsequently an RMA process).

MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Did you follow through with steps akin to this guide;

View: https://youtu.be/adrBU9dqcyo

?

 

[JamesAtari]

I would leave it alone, be patient with the BIOS flashing process, let it go on for a few more minutes. There are threads here where user thought it was getting too long in the jaw only to end up with a bricked board(and subsequently an RMA process).

MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Did you follow through with steps akin to this guide;

View: https://youtu.be/adrBU9dqcyo

?

Yeah I followed the steps in that video.

Everything was going smoothly until I realised its been 30 minutes and the bios LED was still flashing.

It's been closed to an hour at this point. I'm not sure how to "cancel" this attempt as I cant see it stopping naturally.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

Did you rename the bios file? It’s in the manual, MSI.rom


I was confused when I got my x670e board and it wouldn’t flash.. then I saw the file name info.

https://www.msi.com/support/technical_details/MB_Flash_BIOS_Button#txt01

The instructions from MSI website

 

[JamesAtari]

Did you rename the bios file? It’s in the manual, MSI.rom


I was confused when I got my x670e board and it wouldn’t flash.. then I saw the file name info.

https://www.msi.com/support/technical_details/MB_Flash_BIOS_Button#txt01

The instructions from MSI website

Yeah I renamed the bios file, formatted the USB correctly.

I ended up powering off the PSU and trying a few different USBs but I have the same problem- flash bios LED just flashes red continuously.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

Are you near a pc shop that might help? Mom and pop stores are often only too willing to assist if there is the chance of a sale..


Also, stupid question but worth asking, are you plugging the stick into the correct usb port?

 

[stuff and nonesense]

What is the motherboard model?

What bios are you trying to put on it?

Have you access to a cpu that is compatible with the existing bios in the motherboard?

 

[JamesAtari]

Are you near a pc shop that might help? Mom and pop stores are often only too willing to assist if there is the chance of a sale..


Also, stupid question but worth asking, are you plugging the stick into the correct usb port?

Yeah I'm plugging into the correct port - there's also not a ton of pc shops nearby but I'll be looking into it as a last resort for sure

What is the motherboard model?

What bios are you trying to put on it?

Have you access to a cpu that is compatible with the existing bios in the motherboard?

It's an MSI b550 Gaming Plus- I was trying to flash bios 7C56v1I but I have tried an older bios (7C56v19) to see if that was the issue.
I don't have access to a 3000 cpu unfortunately.
I just cant work out what the issue is, the only thing I can think about is the potential of the board just being picky with the USB's I'm using- though they're different brands and all sub 16gb.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

I’m assuming you are wanting to use an x3d cpu as the bios you have chosen adds support for x3d chips.

I can only tell you the thumb drive I use/used to flash bios, formatted as described in the web page in my earlier reply. I can only tell you what worked for me. I didn’t deviate from the MSI instruction when I found it.

As I was building the PC I had no extra components in the board, CPU, GPU, storage drives (M.2 and SATA) and sound card were not installed. I did have memory installed I don’t know if this made a difference or not.
The CPU power connector and the main PSU connector were plugged in, these were the only external (to the motherboard) connections that were made.

So, the drive:
Sandisk Cruzer Blade 32GB. It’s is formatted as FAT32. Looking at the link, their screen shot example is 32GB. I picked that drive as it is in the pictures in the MSI instruction. I had tried a 32GB ADATA drive, it failed. I put that down to dumb luck at the time.

My question about having a compatible cpu was to enable bios updating through the bios setup (not flashback).

 

[JamesAtari]

I've just tried a Cruzer blade 32gb and still no luck.

When the flash LED blinks endlessly I've seen that it may be due to the board not reading the USB or file, but the file is pulled off the MSI product page and I've tried a range of USBs at this point.

Not sure what else I can try.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

MSI support is a good place, local bricks and mortar store and see if they will install the bios? Borrow a 3000 series ryzen and flash booting into bios? (Or an ancient 2000 series maybe.)

Have you tried removing all peripheral parts, GPU, CPU etc. only apply power to the board, nothing else plugged in. The ATX power connector and a CPU power connector need to be made.

There is a different cadence to the flashing when it’s working. Having seen it not go you will know when it’s loading.

I saw the difference because I hadn’t done the file rename. When I renamed the bios file the difference was immediately apparent.

 

[OwiHH]

flashing bios i recommend flashing all version above yours.
Example:

Your Bios version 1.15
Newest - 1.20

available are 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19, 1.2

so you start with 1.16, > 1.17 > 1.18 - flash each version.

Skipping a few versions can work but it also can giv you bootfailures i had myself such issue,

If your pc dont boot up after it you can clear cmos battery to load up factory default bios.

 

[JamesAtari]

flashing bios i recommend flashing all version above yours.
Example:

Your Bios version 1.15
Newest - 1.20

available are 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19, 1.2

so you start with 1.16, > 1.17 > 1.18 - flash each version.

Skipping a few versions can work but it also can giv you bootfailures i had myself such issue,

If your pc dont boot up after it you can clear cmos battery to load up factory default bios.

MSI support is a good place, local bricks and mortar store and see if they will install the bios? Borrow a 3000 series ryzen and flash booting into bios? (Or an ancient 2000 series maybe.)

Have you tried removing all peripheral parts, GPU, CPU etc. only apply power to the board, nothing else plugged in. The ATX power connector and a CPU power connector need to be made.

There is a different cadence to the flashing when it’s working. Having seen it not go you will know when it’s loading.

I saw the difference because I hadn’t done the file rename. When I renamed the bios file the difference was immediately apparent.

I will be using the board with a r5 5600- I have tried the bios listed by the 5600 as per the below , as well as a few different versions from 1 and 2 years ago.

https://uk.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-B550-GAMING-PLUS/support#cpu

I'm not sure what is meant by the bios version being 1.15 as that is different to what is displayed on the msi support page?

 

[JamesAtari]

MSI support is a good place, local bricks and mortar store and see if they will install the bios? Borrow a 3000 series ryzen and flash booting into bios? (Or an ancient 2000 series maybe.)

Have you tried removing all peripheral parts, GPU, CPU etc. only apply power to the board, nothing else plugged in. The ATX power connector and a CPU power connector need to be made.

There is a different cadence to the flashing when it’s working. Having seen it not go you will know when it’s loading.

I saw the difference because I hadn’t done the file rename. When I renamed the bios file the difference was immediately apparent.

Yes I have tried with just 24 pin and 8 pin connectors and nothing else. I have also tried to post to try my luck but it didnt display.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

Do you know what bios version is on your motherboard currently?

 

[stuff and nonesense]

The suggestion made by OwiHH is to incrementally update the bios from your current installed version to the one you wish to use.
7c56v10, 11, 12, 13……1H, 1I

 

[JamesAtari]

The suggestion made by OwiHH is to incrementally update the bios from your current installed version to the one you wish to use.
7c56v10, 11, 12, 13……1H, 1I

Unfortunately the board is second-hand so I'm not sure what the current version is, I did ask the seller but I dont think they had much knowledge on the subject.

I didn't think it would be a problem because of the ability to flash bios, I guess I've just been unlucky.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

Assuming the motherboard is good, cex has used 3600 processors for sale at £62 (sell it after you have flashed the bios using the bios setup screen update facility)

CEX guarantees goods bought from them so there is little risk (unlike eBay).
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail...&title=amd-ryzen-5-3600-(6c-12t-@-3.6ghz)-am4

Note that the bios would need its original name.
Download it afresh, extract the bios from the package and put it on your cruzer. Put the cruzer in the correct USB port.
Boot the pc into bios, press the delete key while booting to enter bios, reset to defaults, save, reboot into bios and follow the MSI website instructions for flashing the new bios.

There is always the possibility that the motherboard is bad.

 

[JamesAtari]

I was thinking about picking up a 3100 as it's cheaper, and just selling it after.

Atleast that way I would know if the board was bad.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

I was thinking about picking up a 3100 as it's cheaper, and just selling it after.

Atleast that way I would know if the board was bad.

Fair,

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail...D=8899826DADB70E4EC9E2BFCC5E677576&position=1

£30

 

[steveb1976]

i know you said you formated the drives correctly and re-named it correctly.. if you did not do this correctly it would not be "flashing" if you watch mikes unboxing video fully. he says that it can "sometimes " take a while for the bios to fully install..

try 1 more time.. wait upto 40 minutes. .. if it still blinking the red light it could be its still checking.. on some boards the blinking speed will slow as its nearly finishing.. (not on all boards).. . if its not done after the 40+ minutes. power of.. take out usb stick,, add cpu and ram, and power ok.. it should start to boot cycle. (training ram and going through the bios boot sequence. ) if may re-start 1-6 times (more than 10 and means flahs did not take). .

just check 1 thing if you can .. go into the usb stick on anther computer and see if the "file" extension option is enabled. this is important. because some people have it off. and they change the file name to say "msi.rom". but it does not always change the file extention.. so that file could really be called "msi.rom.v10" (v.10 is example of what the original file extention was)