Question MSI Z690I UNIFY EZ Debug LED on after screen froze, no BIOS/POST on reboot ?

[ldelvec]

Hi All,

Quite an interesting problem I am having. PC running fine with no issues after upgrading from a dead Sabrent NVMe M.2 drive to 2xNVMe M.2 Samsung 980 Pro's a couple of weeks ago. Upgraded the RAM from some Oloy DDR5 to G.SKILL DDR5 sticks as well. Used the PC fine for weeks, and then the screen froze randomly while running some game (that isn't heavy at all, MTG Arena) so I held the power button down and tried to reboot, now the PC boots (GPU, CPU cooler, and RAM LED's and fans run normally) but doesn't display anything over DisplayPort and isn't booting to BIOS as far as I can tell.

• I've tried the CMOS reset button on the I/O shield, no change.
• I've tried the old Oloy RAM, no change.
• I've tried inspecting the CPU pins, no change.
• I've moved the M.2 boot drive from slot 2 to the third slot (back of mobo), no change. I also plan to keep the second M.2 slot unoccupied for thermal purposes, FYI.

I did notice that one of the EZ debug LEDs (the second one from the top) is steady on for about 30 seconds and then goes off after booting. I believe this corresponds to the DRAM but that doesn't make sense because I have, in theory, a working backup RAM stick... this is my second PC build so I'm not a noob nor an expert, but I'm definitely at a complete loss for what could be wrong here. Please help!

Specs
MSI MEG Z690I Mini-ITX UNIFY Mobo
RTX 2080 Super GPU
i7 12700K CPU
Kraken X63 (I believe) CPU cooler
Silverstone 700 W Platinum PSU
G.SKILL ripjaws S5 RAM
Meshlicious case

 

[Lutfij]

Silverstone 700 W Platinum PSU
Silverstone is the brand of the unit, while 700W is the advertised wattage of the unit. Similarly, Platinum is the advertised 80+ efficiency rating for the unit. Please mention the model for the unit.

Sadly your motherboard doesn't have a BIOS recovery, manual flashing option in the event that your BIOS has gone South.

Try breadboarding your build with the bare minimum, running of the iGPU and seeing if you get any life out of the platform, sans any form of storage hooked to it.

 

[ldelvec]

Silverstone 700 W Platinum PSU
Silverstone is the brand of the unit, while 700W is the advertised wattage of the unit. Similarly, Platinum is the advertised 80+ efficiency rating for the unit. Please mention the model for the unit.

PSU Model: SST-SX700-LPT

I think you are on to something with trying without storage, (one of the M.2 drive slots, M2_2 on this board get ridiculously hot like 60C just sitting on the desktop so that's why I moved it to M2_3) so I will try with just mobo, CPU and RAM here in a few minutes.

Thank you in advance for the assist!

If I try the above without any luck, I will try flashing the BIOS as I believe there is version 7D29v1A (came out ~3 months ago) I can update to. I guess I'd just be surprised the BIOS is shot... but maybe high temps can cause anything?

 

[ldelvec]

I think you are on to something with trying without storage, so I will try with just mobo, CPU and RAM here in a few minutes.

Tried this, no change.

Now to try flashing the BIOS? Which I think is impossible without being able to boot to it/not having BIOS recovery like Lutfij said.

I also noticed that when the PC turns on, USB peripheral devices (like my keyboard) do not light up. If it were the BIOS "bricked" then would it make sense for the USB peripherals to not light up? Sort of makes sense in my mind...

 

[ldelvec]

Heading to Microcenter to pick up a new mobo - I believe the BIOS on this one is just bricked - note to self to never buy another MSI mobo and especially never buy one without a BIOS reset button like this one (not to be confused with a CMOS clear button that most all motherboards have.)

 

[Deleted member 2838871]

Heading to Microcenter to pick up a new mobo - I believe the BIOS on this one is just bricked - note to self to never buy another MSI mobo and especially never buy one without a BIOS reset button like this one (not to be confused with a CMOS clear button that most all motherboards have.)

You don't have this option? Mine does.

https://www.manualowl.com/m/MSI/MEG-Z490-UNIFY/Manual/530259?page=60

Sorry you've had bad luck... I've been using MSI boards for years with no issue.

 

[punkncat]

I would check to see if you don't have a second BIOS. Should be a small dipswitch at the bottom right of the board near the power button. Primary BIOS is white light, backup BIOS is red light just there next to the dipswitch.

I am basing this information on my own Z590 board. I have found many of the features to be similar across this line in spite of chipset.

EDIT- Oops, disregard this. I missed that this is an ITX board which will not have the 2 BIOS option.

 

[punkncat]

Sorry you've had bad luck... I've been using MSI boards for years with no issue.

I have also had good service out of MSI motherboards. I think all of the PC in the house currently are running one.

 

[ldelvec]

You don't have this option? Mine does.

https://www.manualowl.com/m/MSI/MEG-Z490-UNIFY/Manual/530259?page=60

Sorry you've had bad luck... I've been using MSI boards for years with no issue.

The MSI Z690I MEG Unify does not have what ASUS calls a BIOS FLASHBACK™ BUTTON. Both do have what both brands call a CLEAR CMOS BUTTON.

If the ASUS Z690I ROG STRIX works when I swap it here in the next couple of hours, then I will be using Asus mobo's & not looking back. If anyone reading this wants the MSI board pre or post RMA (it's well within warranty, purchased Jan 2022) then feel free to reach out.

Thanks everyone - and of course if anyone reading this has any other ideas to try, I'm all ears.

 

[ldelvec]

Okay super bummer - I just tried the ASUS Z690I ROG STRIX and it does not work. It's exhibiting the same exact symptoms on ASUS' version of EZ debug LED's & obviously no POST/BIOS on boot despite all the case peripherals powering on (fans, AIO cooler, etc.) Quite vexing to put it simply.

Now my only thought is to replace the CPU unless I get some other advice from here!

 

[nuffpunk]

The exact same thing happened to me on the same day out of nowhere - the only change i made was installing some Intel Graphics update right before it happened, any chance you did the same? Ive troubleshooted everything and narrowed it down to MB/CPU - just swapped in a new PSU yesterday to no avail, waiting on MB/CPU to show up . . .

 

[ldelvec]

Happy update:
I did swap the motherboard to the new ASUS Z690I ROG STRIX and will be keeping it since it seems to maintain better temps not only for CPU but for the M.2 drives as well, but after swapping the i7 12700K with a new one, the system works completely. I will amend my previous posts regarding the MSI Z690I MEG Unify as I believe now that the ultimate problem that occurred was too hot of an i7 12700K, causing irreperable damage to the CPU. I think ultimately the cooling setup I have is to blame in concert with my lack of throttling the CPU down from stock performance.

Fix/recommendations for those with m-ITX + i7 12700K setups: I went and set the CPU multiplier to 47 in the BIOS (effectively limiting the max frequency to 4.7 GHz), left XMP off, set a voltage offset of -0.05 V, and set the RAM clock max to 4.7 GHz. Now, even under maximum load, I still get really good performance, and my i7 12700K (package temp) doesn't get hotter than 66C, and the M.2 drives don't get above 39-44C dependent on the slot we're talking about (the slot further from the Mobo is the cooler slot.)

You could definitely set the multiplier to higher, but I wanted as much headroom & as quiet as possible whilst still maximizing performance. There is probably some sort of graph someone could make here that would help folks dial this in better, where we could look at efficiency over clockspeed. Meaning, I think there is evidence here to think that the thermal load whilst operating in the 1 - 4 GHz range is negligible, whereas 4 - 5 GHz, your efficiency is so poor that so much of the power to run the CPU is being lost to heat that the cooling setup in an m-ITX form factor just can't keep up. Obviously, YMMV based on silicon lottery. e.g. You could have a really lucky chip that operates at same efficiency in 4-5 GHz range as it does in the 3-4 GHz range, contrarily you could have the obverse. If anyone knows of said general efficiency curve, it would be wise for m-ITX builders to keep to the more efficient side of operating frequencies to minimize thermal load and maximize performance.

 

[ldelvec]

The exact same thing happened to me on the same day out of nowhere - the only change i made was installing some Intel Graphics update right before it happened, any chance you did the same? Ive troubleshooted everything and narrowed it down to MB/CPU - just swapped in a new PSU yesterday to no avail, waiting on MB/CPU to show up . . .

I updated my PC pretty religiously. Updates didn't sit for more than a day or two due to the usage level and how I like things. I don't think it was an update that did it.

I originally thought it was the PSU, but upon further investigation the new CPU was working, I was just not realizing it.

 

[ldelvec]

RMA is approved by Intel for this bad processor, once receiving the new one from the RMA tomorrow, I'll replace & confirm my findings a "second time" I suppose.

 

[ldelvec]

Plugged in the new, received-from-RMA proc and I'm typing on this PC right now - all works!

So, in short, for anyone out there working with mini-ITX cases... don't be dumb like me! Monitor your temps!