[SOLVED] MSI B550 BIOS flash button USB compatibility?

[wr3zzz]

My MSI B550 Gaming Edge WiFi won't POST with 5900X. MSI customer service said I need to flash my BIOS but it still won't POST after I tried to flash it using the button. They said it's because I am using USB 3.0 drive instead of USB 2.0 drive. I have to place an order for USB 2.0 thumb drive just to see if that were the case.

Is there any truth in that USB3.0 and USB2.0 makes a difference in flashing BIOS directly on the MB?

 

[Lutfij]

According to your motherboard manual, here, page 48 states using the pen drive with the BIOS rom file saved in the root directory. As for the USB 2.0 claim, I think that doesn't hold true not in 2021. What file format is the pen drive at? FAT32 or NTFS? Try with FAT32, store BISO file on root directory and rename it as stated in the manual.

 

[wr3zzz]

According to your motherboard manual, here, page 48 states using the pen drive with the BIOS rom file saved in the root directory. As for the USB 2.0 claim, I think that doesn't hold true not in 2021. What file format is the pen drive at? FAT32 or NTFS? Try with FAT32, store BISO file on root directory and rename it as stated in the manual.

I followed their guide and manual to the letter:

1. Freshly formatted USB stick in FAT32.
2. Get the BIOS from MSI web site (I tried it with both the latest 16 and 15)
3. Copy it to the thumb drive and rename it to MSI.ROM.
4. Remove the CPU (I also tried it with CPU, still won't POST)
5. Connect power and press the flash button. The power came on, red light on and then off after a bit. That should mean the BIOS has been updated.

It still won't POST. Tech Support insisted it's because I was using USB 3.0 stick.

 

[drea.drechsler]

...
Is there any truth in that USB3.0 and USB2.0 makes a difference in flashing BIOS directly on the MB?

I am aware that MSI's BIOS flashback can be picky about the USB drives as many have reported that older drives (more likely to be USB2.0) work more reliably. Whether that's the difference or not it can't hurt to try different flash drives.

One other peculiarity is to name the file in ALL CAPS so for some reason that helps. A does removing the CPU; so do it with an empty AM4 socket.

Here's a video of going through the process on your particular board:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwyQ0Sfz_aw