Question MSI Meg z490 Ace Q -code?

Apr 3, 2022
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Hi, I've got an msi Meg z490 ace motherboard which is stuck with the CPU debug light on and a q code of '--'. It never gets to 00 tried reflashing the bios, different cpu's, different sticks of ram in different slots, different psu's, with and without gpus and now I'm completely stumped.

Has anyone ever seen this before?

Any help would be great.

Rob
 
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Can you please parse the rest of your specs like so:
CPU:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:

As for your issue, was it like this out of the box? Inspect the CPU socket for any bent or broken pins. There should be a sticker on the motherboard to identify the BIOS version that came shipped from the factory. Perhaps a couple of images of the board where there are stickers will help us identify the BIOS version.

Could you walk us through how you flashed the BIOS on the motherboard?
 
CPU: i3 10105f & g6400
Ram: 2x8 gb corsair 300mhz
SSD/HDD: 240gb m.2
GPU: asus 1660ti
PSU: corsair 750 & 650
Chassis: breadboard
OS: w10
Monitor:

I flashed the bios without anything fitted e.g. No cpu ram and so on....

I downloaded a bios file from msi site a few earlier versions as I've seen about the latest one is bugged. Extracted the file to a newly formated USB stick and changed the file name to MSI.ROM. It seems to be successful the flashback button flashes for about 5 minutes and the board restarts. I then turn it all off and rebuild the system up and it's still showing cpu debug and -- q code.

Bios : 7c71 ver 1.3

This is as far as I get.

Thanks for any suggestions
 
Hi, I'm still stuck with this issue, Completely stuck. Seen a couple of these boards on ebay with the same -- q code.

One showed the board powered up but without a cpu installed but they said the board is working fine. so I'm thinking my board isn't registering that the cpu is fitted so it's looking more and more like it's beyond me to repair.

Any ideas would be great.

Rob