Maximus Gene VII Q Code 15 (Pre-memory System Agent initialization is started)

[stpierren90]

So I've gone though just about all the troubleshooting steps I can think of at this point before coming here.

So it all started when I noticed my PC had just shut off on its own. Tried to reboot and started doing the 00 "board will not post" loop. Reset the bios and booted to Windows Error Recovery. So I did a recovery boot and it would hang at "windows starting". My OS (Windows 7 64-bit) is on an SSD so I thought it was a bit odd that it was hanging there for as long as it did. After 30 seconds or so I would get a blue screen flash and it would shut down. The screen flashes so quickly I can't determine what it says. I try a safe mode boot but it hangs on classpnp.sys. Did my research on that and went through those troubleshooting steps. Most common issues were a bad HDD/SSD or the GPU driver was bad. I try putting my SSD in another PC and it'll get to the Windows Recovery, which the non-working PC won't. So I've ruled out a bad SSD. I try to boot again and now I'm stuck at Q Code 15. At this point I start playing musical chairs with all my RAM and video cards (2 GTX 760's in SLI). I tried every configuration. Both GPU's in, one in each PCI, the other in each PCI, 3 different sets of RAM (1866, 2133, and 2400) in every DIMM configuration, did a complete teardown checking all pins and parts for damage, which I didn't notice anything, reassembled it all, double checked to make sure PSU was all connected properly, and STILL Code 15. The last thing I have yet to try is swapping out the CPU from the other system (both are 1150's). Other than swapping out the CPU to determine if that's the cause, is there anything else I'm missing? I have a tendency to miss obvious troubleshooting steps, but at this point I think I've tried everything minus the CPU swap.

Also before I got stuck on Q Code 15 I tried doing a fresh install of windows via USB. When it got to the actual install screen, the mouse and keyboard would stop working preventing me to actually install windows (they were plugged into USB 2.0 ports). Tried a PS/2 keyboard as well and would do the same thing.

System Specs (including all RAM used):

OS: Windows 7 64-bit

CPU: i5 4690k

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

RAM: G.Skill TridentX (2 x 8GB) 2400, Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB (2 x 4GB) 2133, G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866

Mobo: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VII GENE

GPU: EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 760 2GB 2-way SLI

PSU: CORSAIR AX860

SSD: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5" 240GB SATA III

HDD: Seagate Barracuda STBD3000100 3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s

 

[cin19]

The 00 error code= cpu or MB problem, and 15 code = RAM or MB problem, it also may relate to cpu too. So you should try use other cpu too see the PC will boot or not, if you know that cpu works, and the problem may from the MB, because you try use other RAM or in different slot too. Even try the 4690k in other MB, just make sure it is fine.
And may try one more method, Bench it - Troubleshooting http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1753671/bench-troubleshooting.html

 

[stpierren90]

The 00 error code= cpu or MB problem, and 15 code = RAM or MB problem, it also may relate to cpu too. So you should try use other cpu too see the PC will boot or not, if you know that cpu works, and the problem may from the MB, because you try use other RAM or in different slot too. Even try the 4690k in other MB, just make sure it is fine.
And may try one more method, Bench it - Troubleshooting http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1753671/bench-troubleshooting.html

That's pretty much where I'm at. I'll run through those steps though, after determining whether or not the CPU is faulty.

Thanks

 

[stpierren90]

So after a lot of swapping of components it appears that the MB shorted out on a standoff. Bought a new MB and everything works just fine (ram XMP is actually more stable on the new one). Guess I learned a semi-expensive lesson, make sure everything is screwed in/assembled properly.