[SOLVED] Maximus XI Hero "A2" error on boot; still boots after enter/exit BIOS

[arz]

I built a new computer last week and have recently took it on a small car trip. The computer was working absolutely fine before I left with no problems, but when I hooked up the computer at the new location I received this error on boot:

So far pressing F1 to go into BIOS set-up and immediately exiting solves the issue and the computer boots normally afterward. But it still goes to the American Megatrends screen upon first starting up or waking the computer up from sleep.

Any way to permanently solve this? It's a minor annoyance that I would like to avoid. Should I reset the BIOS and update it again?

I didn't attempt to set up any drives in RAID configuration that I'm aware of.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Your problem is with a connected drive. Power off, unplug all drives except the boot drive that contains the operating system. Then reset the bios to default settings as follows and then power on, go into the bios, select the optimal default or default settings option, save settings are restart. If everything is good, then power off and connect any other drives one by one repeating the process until you are sure the problem is gone OR one of the drives brings back the problem.

If it is still not alright, try a different SATA data cable or a different SATA power cable from the PSU. Also, double check that the existing cables are fully seated, perhaps also just reseat them to be sure.


Hard rest 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. During that five minutes, press the power button on the case 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.

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 profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

If the system will not POST after resetting the CMOS, then there is a hardware problem of some kind.

 

[arz]

Thanks for the answer. If it were a drive issue, wouldn't the computer not POST at all? Like I said, going into the BIOS and immediately exiting solves the issue until the next time I try to boot.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Not if the problem isn't with the primary boot drive OR if the problem is something the bios is able to work around. It could even be a glitch that it saw one time and now keeps repeating because the hardware tables have not been reset. Try the procedure. If it doesn't fix the problem, and it might NOT, at least you'll know where you stand.

A2 Qcode on an ASUS board IS a drive related error. There is no question about that.

 

[bbop676]

I had the a2 code as well. Hard reset the motherboard. Power down unit. DO NOT disconnect power cord ( leave plugged in ). Press and HOLD power button ( I used the one on Mobo ) for 45 seconds, and reboot unit. That should clear the A2 boot code.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, you DO want to disconnect the power otherwise you will not dissipate the residual charge in the BIOS ROM by pressing the power button for 30+ seconds. So long as there is power connected to the system, there will remain a residual charge in the BIOS ROM. Always disconnect power when dissipating that charge to ensure a complete reset.

 

[bbop676]

When u have the button held down you break connection of power there by still allowing resids to dissapate

 

[bbop676]

I don't think I disconnected.. I'm not 100% surethough

 

[arz]

I (think) I fixed my issue. I turned off the computer, disconnected the power supply and pushed on one of the SATA cables connected to one of the drives. Let the computer sit without power for about 5 minutes. I just booted now with no problems. Hopefully this doesn't happen again. If the issue comes up again I will do what others have mentioned in this thread.

Thanks

 

[Darkbreeze]

When u have the button held down you break connection of power there by still allowing resids to dissapate

You don't break anything, all you do is ground the CMOS reset circuit temporarily which triggers a return to default settings. It does not wipe out any existing hardware table configurations nor does it force the CMOS to completely reconfigure all the connected hardware, at least not in all cases. In a perfect world just using the jumper or clear CMOS button should be all that is needed but it rarely works the way it's supposed to which is way a hard reset is recommended usually as the better option.