MSI z97 gaming wont load BIOS

[thiagobrasilia]

Hello fellows!

My z97 gaming msi mobo keeps looping post codes but never reaches the bios.

First it was taking a long time to give the A2 code and let me choose setup or boot. Now it wont even let me check the bios anymore (therefore, cant tell the version, but it was working for more then one year I guess). The mobo will repeat the Post codes as shown on the following video and wont leave the black screen or allow any interaction whatsoever: https://youtu.be/RWyGkNwyh2k

Things I tried:
Disconnecting sata cables (using 3 for hard drives, tried removing any or keeping any combination)
Swapping/changing sata cables
Disconnecting mouse, keyboard, lan and even sound/mic cables.
Removing my gtx 970
Using one memory, changing memory location (all slots)
Resetting the CMOS (briefly... but reseted the mobo BIOS settings way before I could not reach it anymore)
Using the reset button that shows the blue led
Removed everything from the case and tested from scratch. Besides removing the CPU, all other components were removed and the error persists. If I remove all RAMS the "no ram" code appears instead.

All I can think now is testing another PSU, since I cant test for electrical shortcuts. But I dont have another PSU here, so I hope someone can give me some ideas, cause this is driving me mad already ahah.

Thank you so much!

 

[rocktalkrock]

So are you saying this problem appeared suddenly for no reason you could see?

 

[thiagobrasilia]

So are you saying this problem appeared suddenly for no reason you could see?

Well... I didn't touch the hardware and barely changed any software when the boot got slow.
Restarts are quite fast. They go to codes 99, 95 and A2 pretty quickly and sent me to the MSI logo (where I can enter setup or boot options).

A little update, after I mounted everything outside the case (all drives, VGA, monitor etc) It went back to where the problem began. Keeps looping the codes for several seconds and sometimes it reaches A2 and let me boot. If I shut down completely, I have to try my luck with this again, if I reset/restart, it goes quicker to A2 only if it managed to free itself from the "post loop" as I described.

Still can`t figure out whats going on.

 

[rocktalkrock]

So are you saying this problem appeared suddenly for no reason you could see?

Well... I didn't touch the hardware and barely changed any software when the boot got slow.
Restarts are quite fast. They go to codes 99, 95 and A2 pretty quickly and sent me to the MSI logo (where I can enter setup or boot options).

A little update, after I mounted everything outside the case (all drives, VGA, monitor etc) It went back to where the problem began. Keeps looping the codes for several seconds and sometimes it reaches A2 and let me boot. If I shut down completely, I have to try my luck with this again, if I reset/restart, it goes quicker to A2 only if it managed to free itself from the "post loop" as I described.

Still can`t figure out whats going on.

What is the full name of your MSI Z97 Gaming motherboard?

 

[thiagobrasilia]

So are you saying this problem appeared suddenly for no reason you could see?

Well... I didn't touch the hardware and barely changed any software when the boot got slow.
Restarts are quite fast. They go to codes 99, 95 and A2 pretty quickly and sent me to the MSI logo (where I can enter setup or boot options).

A little update, after I mounted everything outside the case (all drives, VGA, monitor etc) It went back to where the problem began. Keeps looping the codes for several seconds and sometimes it reaches A2 and let me boot. If I shut down completely, I have to try my luck with this again, if I reset/restart, it goes quicker to A2 only if it managed to free itself from the "post loop" as I described.

Still can`t figure out whats going on.

What is the full name of your MSI Z97 Gaming motherboard?

Z97M gaming (site)

I just tested the CMOS battery and its displaying about 3.21V. Just to be sure I replaced with a new 3V battery and the problem persists.
When for some reason the codes stop looping and I reach code A2, I get the "All settings were reset to default values" message with f1 option to enter setup and f2 to resume booting.

 

[rocktalkrock]

So are you saying this problem appeared suddenly for no reason you could see?

Well... I didn't touch the hardware and barely changed any software when the boot got slow.
Restarts are quite fast. They go to codes 99, 95 and A2 pretty quickly and sent me to the MSI logo (where I can enter setup or boot options).

A little update, after I mounted everything outside the case (all drives, VGA, monitor etc) It went back to where the problem began. Keeps looping the codes for several seconds and sometimes it reaches A2 and let me boot. If I shut down completely, I have to try my luck with this again, if I reset/restart, it goes quicker to A2 only if it managed to free itself from the "post loop" as I described.

Still can`t figure out whats going on.

What is the full name of your MSI Z97 Gaming motherboard?

Z97M gaming (site)

I just tested the CMOS battery and its displaying about 3.21V. Just to be sure I replaced with a new 3V battery and the problem persists.
When for some reason the codes stop looping and I reach code A2, I get the "All settings were reset to default values" message with f1 option to enter setup and f2 to resume booting.

Try disconnecting all your SSD's and HDD's. See if that will stop the looping and get you into the BIOS.

 

[thiagobrasilia]

So are you saying this problem appeared suddenly for no reason you could see?

Well... I didn't touch the hardware and barely changed any software when the boot got slow.
Restarts are quite fast. They go to codes 99, 95 and A2 pretty quickly and sent me to the MSI logo (where I can enter setup or boot options).

A little update, after I mounted everything outside the case (all drives, VGA, monitor etc) It went back to where the problem began. Keeps looping the codes for several seconds and sometimes it reaches A2 and let me boot. If I shut down completely, I have to try my luck with this again, if I reset/restart, it goes quicker to A2 only if it managed to free itself from the "post loop" as I described.

Still can`t figure out whats going on.

What is the full name of your MSI Z97 Gaming motherboard?

Z97M gaming (site)

I just tested the CMOS battery and its displaying about 3.21V. Just to be sure I replaced with a new 3V battery and the problem persists.
When for some reason the codes stop looping and I reach code A2, I get the "All settings were reset to default values" message with f1 option to enter setup and f2 to resume booting.

Try disconnecting all your SSD's and HDD's. See if that will stop the looping and get you into the BIOS.

Thank you for the reply.

It`s super random when I disconnect SSDs and HDDs and something changes. I just got to the bios removing a SSD, but now no matter which combination of drives I keep, 0, 1, 2 or all of them, I cannot reach the bios again.

I used the 120fps iPhone camera to watch the POST closely.
Basicaly there are 2 loops that keep hanging and repeating (before BIOS initialization):
The short list (uncommon)
00 - NO INFO, seems like the default start
09 - Power on South Bridge Initialization
10 - NO INFO, seems to be just the start of another check section
19 - Early South Bridge Initialization
15 - Early North Bridge Initialization
00 - Looping here?
5D - NO INFO, seems to be part of the Early Initialization section as well
55 - Early Memory Initialization
36 - Early CPU Initialization
32 - Early CPU initialization
4F - NO INFO (very mysterious this one)
03 - Power on North Bridge Initialization (usually the last code before 00 again)

And the long list (the usual final loop that keeps repeating over and over again)
00 - Seems to be the start of the POST procedure
2E - NO INFO, probably related to Power Initialization
33 - Early CPU Initialization
35 - Early CPU Initialization
37 - Early North Bridge Initialization
3E - Early South Bridge Initialization
3A - Early North Bridge Initialization
36 - Early CPU Initialization
3C - Early South Bridge Initialization
38 - Early North Bridge Initialization
39 - Early North Bridge Initialization
3F - Early Memory Initialization
40 - Early Memory Initialization
69 - Late North Bridge Initialization
55 - Early Memory Initialization
36 - Early CPU Initialization
32 - Early CPU Initialization
4F - NO INFO (the mysterious code)
03 - Power on North Bridge Initialization

The 3X part of the long loop sometimes have different values, but the loops always end up on 03.
I just found a video on YouTube of someone having the same problem. Seems like somehow when he got to the BIOS an update solved for him. I`ll prepare an USB to test this next time I get lucky and reach the BIOS as well.

 

[rocktalkrock]

So are you saying this problem appeared suddenly for no reason you could see?

Well... I didn't touch the hardware and barely changed any software when the boot got slow.
Restarts are quite fast. They go to codes 99, 95 and A2 pretty quickly and sent me to the MSI logo (where I can enter setup or boot options).

A little update, after I mounted everything outside the case (all drives, VGA, monitor etc) It went back to where the problem began. Keeps looping the codes for several seconds and sometimes it reaches A2 and let me boot. If I shut down completely, I have to try my luck with this again, if I reset/restart, it goes quicker to A2 only if it managed to free itself from the "post loop" as I described.

Still can`t figure out whats going on.

What is the full name of your MSI Z97 Gaming motherboard?

Z97M gaming (site)

I just tested the CMOS battery and its displaying about 3.21V. Just to be sure I replaced with a new 3V battery and the problem persists.
When for some reason the codes stop looping and I reach code A2, I get the "All settings were reset to default values" message with f1 option to enter setup and f2 to resume booting.

Try disconnecting all your SSD's and HDD's. See if that will stop the looping and get you into the BIOS.

Thank you for the reply.

It`s super random when I disconnect SSDs and HDDs and something changes. I just got to the bios removing a SSD, but now no matter which combination of drives I keep, 0, 1, 2 or all of them, I cannot reach the bios again.

I used the 120fps iPhone camera to watch the POST closely.
Basicaly there are 2 loops that keep hanging and repeating (before BIOS initialization):
The short list (uncommon)
00 - NO INFO, seems like the default start
09 - Power on South Bridge Initialization
10 - NO INFO, seems to be just the start of another check section
19 - Early South Bridge Initialization
15 - Early North Bridge Initialization
00 - Looping here?
5D - NO INFO, seems to be part of the Early Initialization section as well
55 - Early Memory Initialization
36 - Early CPU Initialization
32 - Early CPU initialization
4F - NO INFO (very mysterious this one)
03 - Power on North Bridge Initialization (usually the last code before 00 again)

And the long list (the usual final loop that keeps repeating over and over again)
00 - Seems to be the start of the POST procedure
2E - NO INFO, probably related to Power Initialization
33 - Early CPU Initialization
35 - Early CPU Initialization
37 - Early North Bridge Initialization
3E - Early South Bridge Initialization
3A - Early North Bridge Initialization
36 - Early CPU Initialization
3C - Early South Bridge Initialization
38 - Early North Bridge Initialization
39 - Early North Bridge Initialization
3F - Early Memory Initialization
40 - Early Memory Initialization
69 - Late North Bridge Initialization
55 - Early Memory Initialization
36 - Early CPU Initialization
32 - Early CPU Initialization
4F - NO INFO (the mysterious code)
03 - Power on North Bridge Initialization

The 3X part of the long loop sometimes have different values, but the loops always end up on 03.
I just found a video on YouTube of someone having the same problem. Seems like somehow when he got to the BIOS an update solved for him. I`ll prepare an USB to test this next time I get lucky and reach the BIOS as well.

You say you got to the BIOS once but not again. Have you cleared the CMOS again, after a failed boot?

 

[thiagobrasilia]

You say you got to the BIOS once but not again. Have you cleared the CMOS again, after a failed boot?

Reading your post I just cleared the CMOS again.
First I got the long loop ending with 4F and 03 (slow enough to perceive easily)
It had an automatic reset and now its looping super fast until 03 (about a whole loop in just one second)

 

[rocktalkrock]

You say you got to the BIOS once but not again. Have you cleared the CMOS again, after a failed boot?

Reading your post I just cleared the CMOS again.
First I got the long loop ending with 4F and 03 (slow enough to perceive easily)
It had an automatic reset and now its looping super fast until 03 (about a whole loop in just one second)

If your motherboard is still in the case, try unplugging the power supply, removing the coin battery and then holding down the PC's power button for 30 seconds. This is meant to drain any power still in the system. I don't know if it will help but it's worth a try.

 

[thiagobrasilia]

If your motherboard is still in the case, try unplugging the power supply, removing the coin battery and then holding down the PC's power button for 30 seconds. This is meant to drain any power still in the system. I don't know if it will help but it's worth a try.

No luck with that. But I figured out a solution. Damn... What a nice feeling ahaha

This solution applies for MSI Z97M gaming motherboards, but should work for its "cousins" that share the same BIOS.

So, to reach the BIOS if you are having code 03 (even for a split second before POST loop occurs), you need to play with RAM, VGA and CPU. Most likely the RAM will be the source of the "difficulty" if you didn't add an extra VGA or messed with your CPU. It might take you several attempts and you might try removing some of your SATA stuff (like SSDs) to make it work, but eventually you might reach the "all settings reset to default values" screen and press F1 to enter the setup.

If you are able to reach BIOS, now you need a pen drive with version 1.9 of it or higher (I noticed it corrected memory compatibility issues... How convenient). Please use a FAT32, or MSDOS-FAT(FAT32) if you have a mac, filesystem on your pendrive containing just the new BIOS file. Just to be safe you can save the old BIOS via the "m-flash" menu before updating. Once you are ready, update the BIOS.

IMPORTANT: It might take you several attempts to actually update the BIOS since you might face the same difficulty to reach it before the automatic update begins. The messages will be very clear once it starts.

So far that did it for me. Now I`m using 2 memory slots, customized fan speed and all that good stuff.

I hope that helps someone in the future and I would like to finish with a special thanks to rocktalkrock for his/her time!

Cheers!