[SOLVED] MSI B450 Tomahawk Max + Ryzen 5 3600 - Red CPU Debug Light, Not Booting

[okawan321]

Hi everyone. Just picked up a Tomahawk B450 Max to pair with a Ryzen R5 3600. Installed everything and hooked it up, but when I power the computer on the monitor stays blank and the red CPU debug light is on.

I've ensured the CPU is seated correctly including having tried to reseat it, using the stock cooler which spins up no problem. My PSU has two 2x2s that connect to the CPU power socket for 8 total pins. I'm using 2x8GB 3200 CL 16 OLOy RAM installed in sockets 2 and 4. Tried booting with only 1 stick installed in socket 2 as well, no luck.

What are next steps in troubleshooting? Is it a dead board or CPU? As far as I can tell there are no bent pins on the CPU nor thermal paste in the socket or pins...

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

What PSU?

 

[RustyOak]

Have you had any luck with your problem?

I have been trying to help a friend that is in a very similar situation to you. He purchased a B450 Tomahawk, Ryzen 5 3600, and Corsair Vengeance 2x16gb 3200mhz RAM.

We've been having a hell of a time trying to get the PC to post with dual channel RAM. Removing 1 stick allows it to post fine, with both sticks in it gets stuck on red LED for CPU debug.

I have tried updating BIOS with flashdrive after getting to the BIOS with 1 RAM stick installed, as well as using the FLASHBACK feature on the mobo, neither of which seem to work.

After doing some research today, my next thoughts are to:

1. Check MSI B450 Tomahawk RAM compatibility to see if there may some issue with the RAM he picked up.

2. Try to uninstall all components, just leaving the CPU Power and 24-pin power cables plugged in to the motherboard and flashing back to an older version, then back to a newer version.

From what I've seen, people seem to be getting by without any issues by either:

A. Updating to a newer version of the BIOS before installing a 3000 series Ryzen chip by using an older chip (i.e. 1000 or 2000 series)
OR
B. Flashing the BIOS without anything installed to a version that supports the 3000 series... (Although I have seen people say the flash worked fine for them with components installed)

Hope this helps and good luck to you! Please update this thread if you figure it out.

 

[Calvin7]

System has no graphics solution listed by OP.

 

[norcalsc]

Have you had any luck with your problem?

I have been trying to help a friend that is in a very similar situation to you. He purchased a B450 Tomahawk, Ryzen 5 3600, and Corsair Vengeance 2x16gb 3200mhz RAM.

We've been having a hell of a time trying to get the PC to post with dual channel RAM. Removing 1 stick allows it to post fine, with both sticks in it gets stuck on red LED for CPU debug.

I have tried updating BIOS with flashdrive after getting to the BIOS with 1 RAM stick installed, as well as using the FLASHBACK feature on the mobo, neither of which seem to work.

After doing some research today, my next thoughts are to:

1. Check MSI B450 Tomahawk RAM compatibility to see if there may some issue with the RAM he picked up.

2. Try to uninstall all components, just leaving the CPU Power and 24-pin power cables plugged in to the motherboard and flashing back to an older version, then back to a newer version.

From what I've seen, people seem to be getting by without any issues by either:

A. Updating to a newer version of the BIOS before installing a 3000 series Ryzen chip by using an older chip (i.e. 1000 or 2000 series)
OR
B. Flashing the BIOS without anything installed to a version that supports the 3000 series... (Although I have seen people say the flash worked fine for them with components installed)

Hope this helps and good luck to you! Please update this thread if you figure it out.

You will likely need the bios update.