[SOLVED] MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Motherboard, NOTHING after -

[EmRArt]

MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Motherboard that has been operating for a year or so, recent installation of Win10 64bit that's been functioning reliably for about a month - everything running just fine, except the various fans throughout the case are just horrendously loud (not dirty, just loud).

I had no fan controllers in place, so I decided to try the the MSI Command Center from MSI's website, downloaded, installed, and throttled the processor fan speed down a bit. Let it do an auto-calibration just to see the difference (between my settings and what it thought was optimal), and it said it needed a reboot to apply settings.

I did not touch DRAM settings, but did turn on Game Boost, and now I'm not getting a display (no BIOS flash screen or POST), no power to the keyboard (wired USB), but the digital readout is showing temp changes as though the processor is still trying to do something.

Suggestions to get my BIOS back? Would a flash on a thumbdrive possibly write over whatever the Command Center did?

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

I came in here to let you know that I haven't bothered to fully read the first part of this because the letters are gigantic and in bold.

Which distracts and irritates me.
Especially on mobile where it's taking up way too much of my screen for like two sentences.

 

[EmRArt]

I came in here to let you know that I haven't bothered to fully read the first part of this because the letters are gigantic and in bold.

SORRY, don't know why it defaulted that way, thought it was behaving similar to other forums, where fonts were large until posted...resolved

side note, you coulda just said, "your font is too big" and that would have been enough...

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

just do a CMOS reset.
see if that helps.

also, I wouldn't bother trying to use something like command center software for fan speeds in the BIOS when you can just go into the BIOS and set it all up there.

alternatively, if you do want to try using the program, I would suggest installing the latest BIOS so that you can remove any potential errors like this one that can be caused due to the program being too new and the BIOS being too old.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

also, to add a little more clarification to what I said earlier, I'm sure you can probably agree that when you come across something and it's got large bold text filling up the screen it kind of makes you not want to bother with it.

and what I was trying to get across without so many words was just that, and that if it is a bother for me (and most likely you as well) it would be a bother for many others and it would just keep you from getting the help you need because nobody would be bothered to even read the post

wasn't trying to be mean, which it might've come across that way initially.

 

[EmRArt]

MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Motherboard that has been operating for a year or so, recent installation of Win10 64bit that's been functioning reliably for about a month....

Suggestions to get my BIOS back? Would a flash on a thumbdrive possibly write over whatever the Command Center did?

Well that was a wild ride I didn't want to take, but hopefully will help others with the same debug codes that I've seen around here, that never got an answer...
4C 55 00 19 0D

I collected some various suggestions around the forums, and went through my typical process of elimination

1. BIOS reset (via jumper) = no BIOS/POST
2. BIOS batt pulled (pc unplugged, of course), left out for 30 seconds, reinserted = no BIOS/POST
3. inspired by some that got debug code 55 upon first install of the mobo, pulled Memory Sticks from DIMM slots 2-4 = BIOS and system operating on a single 8GB stick. Poked around BIOS settings, turned off Game Boost (little concerned that, that didn't turn aoff with the jumper-initiated reset), played with fan speeds again (didn't throttle the CPU fan, despite settings changes)
4. rebooted to test settings stuck and BIOS was still accessible after changes were made = good
5. inserted 2nd stick into DIMM slot 2 = BIOS and system operating on two 8GB sticks
6. Inserted 3rd stick into DIMM slot 3 = BIOS and system operating on three 8GB sticks
7. Inserted 4th stick into DIMM slot 4 = no BIOS/POST, and the 4C 55 00 19 0D debug code showing again, also noticed an LED slow flashing above the JTBT1 pins ( SLOW_1 switch is set to SLOW), which it does not do, during normal operation (this LED is not listed in the manual)

8. removed stick from DIMM slot 3, and moved stick from DIMM slot 4 into DIMM slot 3 = BIOS and system operating on three 8GB sticks and the LED above JTBT1 stopped flashing​

9. moved stick from DIMM slot 3 to DIMM slot 4 (to test if DIMM slot 4 was the failure point of origin) = BIOS and system operating on three 8GB sticks in DIMM slots 1, 2 & 4​

10. inserted 4th stick into DIMM slot 3 = no BIOS/POST, and the 4C 55 00 19 0D debug code showing again​

11. removed stick from 4th DIMM slot, booted and went to MSI's site, noted BIOS update version (a few versions have been released since my install in 2017; v1.A0 to V1.I0), put update on a thumbdrive, rebooted and flashed the BIOS​

12. rebooted with new BIOS version, still only 3 sticks in memory banks, and booted successfully​

13. nstered 4th stick into DIMM slot 4 again, and booted successfully​

​

What I learned from this:

1. Don't trust MSI Command Center
2. I should buy a physical 4 fan throttler with front panel dials
3. Zalman CPU cooler (large copper fin with single fan and blue LED below ) does not throttle without a physical controller; it comes with one, but 11 years ago the throttler's molexes got in the way of another system fan, and has since been lost to the depths of my spare parts bins

I'd posted the question initially, in case there was a simple one-step fix, that someone else had encountered, but since that wasn't the case, I hope my efforts help others with this board.

I still don't know what the slow-blinking LED was indicating

 

[rgd1101]

What fixed it is the latest bios.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

So overall, not using command center along with using latest BIOS fixed the majority of issues?
sounds like even though you went through hell, the end result was something simple for a fix and nothing that required buying new parts and stuff so happy to hear that all worked out in the end

I have this exact same motherboard, but I have some different hardware, and I control the case fans using the fan curve settings in the BIOS.
I have the fan speeds connected to GPU temps so that as the card heats up to pump more heat into the case, the more the fans spin to push the air out.

Same for the fans on my AiO RAD because I have the RAD setup at the front as an intake.

And I have an AiO but that has a USB 2.0 header connector so I can control things via the software from NZXT.

Haven't personally encountered any issues myself, but that may be because my component setup is more straight forward and simple.

 

[EmRArt]

So overall, not using command center along with using latest BIOS fixed the majority of issues?

Fixed the one issue (which I s'pose could be narrowed down to 4 mem sticks unaccepted due to Command Center and BIOS version incompatibility?)...there weren't any issues prior to installing the Command Center

I control the case fans using the fan curve settings in the BIOS

I tried that after I got full boot functionality, but the CPU fan doesn't change a bit, and that could be, because it's 3pin rather than 4pin

I have the fan speeds connected to GPU temps so that as the card heats up to pump more heat into

the case, the more the fans spin to push the air out.
I hadn't thought of doing that

Haven't personally encountered any issues myself, but that may be because my component setup is more straight forward and simple.

This is my build, TheBeast
Case: Thermaltake Kandalf (4 versions of TheBeast have lived in this case, though I'm searching for a case with the PSU to go at the bottom, and has a bottom filter)
PSU: XION Supernova 800W
Mobo: MSI Z170A Gaming M5
Proc: Intel i7-6700K Skylake
Mem: Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (4x 8B)
Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050Ti
Sound: Creative SB X-Fi Titanium

Cooling
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9700 110mm blue LED
Front: two 120 mm fans between filter mesh and 8 storage drives
Side panel fan: 250mm
built-in GPU and PSU fans

CPU temp never reaches above 35C, under load
GPU temp never reaches above 91C, under load