Question Obscure motherboard problem for someone wanting a challenge ?

[murky66]

Hello,

I've been a long time Tom's Hardware lurker and feel that I used to have an account, although I couldn't figure it out when logging in just now, so I present as a newbie even though I am quite experienced!

Anyhow, on to my problem! I am attempting to build a PC for a friend and he has a couple of requirements, one being that it will run Windows 11 and the other being that he can use a Legacy PCI sound card (not PCIe). I know this may sound ridiculous, but it does make sense because it is a professional multichannel card. No matter how ridiculous you think that is, please try to overlook that element and focus on what comes next. I just feel a little back story is necessary.

So, I purchased an AM4 Gigabyte AB350M-D3H motherboard on eBay.
I go to update the bios and find that it has a version that does not even appear on Gigabyte's support page. Furthermore, the revision of the board is 1.1, yet Gigabyte only lists 1.0 as an option. So I do some digging and find someone else on reddit that encountered this. Apparently that board was used by a PC builder named ACE Computers and it has some sort of locked bios installed. I speak to a very nice guy there that is genuinely helpful (rare these days) and he sends me instructions for flashing an unlocked bios via EFI Shell, which I managed to figure out how to boot into, etc. etc. After a lot of trial and error, it worked and I got the motherboard to a point where I actually had Gigabyte bios installed. I started with an older one F20 that was from like 2017 or something. Then I incrementally flashed about 15 different bios versions up to the point where I had F51c working. I skipped ahead to F52h (the most current bios) and now the board just displays the bios splash screen (says Gigabyte Ultra Durable or whatever with the F-key commands / DEL to bios / etc. at the bottom of the screen). It seems like the keyboard does not do anything and the display remains stuck on this screen forever.

Some things I have tried so far to fix this are: clearing the cmos, removing the battery and clearing the cmos for 10 minutes, holding the power button for over 10 seconds, holding power and reset for over 10 seconds, turning off and on repeatedly for 3 or 4 times in a row, moving ram to different slots, unplugging the keyboard, plugging the keyboard to different sockets, rebooting with the USB EFI shell drive inserted, moving the video card to a different slot, replacing the original CPU (2700X) with a 1700X, used different RAM, and possibly another one or two that I can't think of at the moment.

So, if you have read this far and enjoy a challenge, I invite you to make some suggestions on how I may bring this motherboard back to life. One last thing. This is just set up on a bench at the moment. I have only the motherboard AB350M-D3H, 1700X cpu, one DDR4 8GB ram module, GTX 1030 video card, and a 550W EVGA PSU connected. There is no nvme installed and no other storage for that matter.

Thanks for any suggestions or help.

murky66

 

[murky66]

Ah, man. Running out of solutions.

Trying the PS/2 keeb/mouse might work. Let us know how that goes.

I found a PS/2 to USB adapter and tried that today but it still just sits on the splash screen.

 

[COLGeek]

I found a PS/2 to USB adapter and tried that today but it still just sits on the splash screen.

Those are notoriously unreliable and don't work with all USB devices.

 

[murky66]

You have to short Pins 1 and 6, and you need to be very sure you know which they are. Pin 1 should be marked, and they normally count anticlockwise. If you're lucky, the corner pins will be numbered on the board itself (1,4,5,8).

Also, check that you actually do have a backup BIOS chip. The official version of your board does so you probably should have.

Thanks for the confirmation, that's what I read somewhere else as well and I do a lot of electronics projects so I am very familiar with the pin numbering and all.

I tried shorting pins 1 and 6 of the main bios chip. It still just boots up exactly the same. Either it is already booting to the backup chip or I am not getting it right.

 

[murky66]

Those are notoriously unreliable and don't work with all USB devices.

Thanks, I'm just finding it difficult to pay $15 - $20 on ebay for an old PS/2 keyboard. This whole failed motherboard was only $50 to begin with and I feel like it would boot into the bios regardless of a keyboard even being present at all. I never had to hit a key to get into the bios on any of the previous attempts.

 

[COLGeek]

Thanks, I'm just finding it difficult to pay $15 - $20 on ebay for an old PS/2 keyboard. This whole failed motherboard was only $50 to begin with and I feel like it would boot into the bios regardless of a keyboard even being present at all. I never had to hit a key to get into the bios on any of the previous attempts.

Try removing all storage devices (HDD/SSD), if not already tried. Only the CPU, memory, and GPU installed.

I really think you bricked the motherboard early on when mentioning updates. Does anything ever flash on the screen?

 

[murky66]

Try removing all storage devices (HDD/SSD), if not already tried. Only the CPU, memory, and GPU installed.

I really think you bricked the motherboard early on when mentioning updates. Does anything ever flash on the screen?

All that has ever been plugged in is the CPU, 1 stick of ram, and a keyboard. I bought the motherboard with the intent to fully update the bios and then install a newer 5000 series cpu like the 5700x3d or something. So I started off with a 2700x I had laying around to update the bios.

Currently, the PC posts and then displays the Gigabyte splash screen (where it shows the keyboard commands at the bottom for pressing del to go to bios, etc.) With no storage connected, it should just automatically enter the bios, but it never does and the keyboard is completely unresponsive.

I'm just going to throw it in the bin and move on I guess. It's pretty typical of how things go when you try to help out a friend with very specific needs. I thought it would be no problem and then it fought with me every step of the way.

 

[COLGeek]

All that has ever been plugged in is the CPU, 1 stick of ram, and a keyboard. I bought the motherboard with the intent to fully update the bios and then install a newer 5000 series cpu like the 5700x3d or something. So I started off with a 2700x I had laying around to update the bios.

Currently, the PC posts and then displays the Gigabyte splash screen (where it shows the keyboard commands at the bottom for pressing del to go to bios, etc.) With no storage connected, it should just automatically enter the bios, but it never does and the keyboard is completely unresponsive.

I'm just going to throw it in the bin and move on I guess. It's pretty typical of how things go when you try to help out a friend with very specific needs. I thought it would be no problem and then it fought with me every step of the way.

What GPU? With AM4 CPUs, unless the model ends in G, those lack integrated video controllers and you MUST install a GPU for the system to boot.

 

[murky66]

What GPU? With AM4 CPUs, unless the model ends in G, those lack integrated video controllers and you MUST install a GPU for the system to boot.

Yeah, it's a PCIe Gigabyte 1030 and it was working fine during the first 15 or so bios updates I did.

 

[COLGeek]

Yeah, it's a PCIe Gigabyte 1030 and it was working fine during the first 15 or so bios updates I did.

Sounds DOA now. Sorry.

 

[murky66]

Sounds DOA now. Sorry.

No worries. Thanks for the chat about it.

 

[COLGeek]

My pleasure. Given the previous stated need for PCI, did you see the earlier link for industrial PC motherboards?

 

[murky66]

My pleasure. Given the previous stated need for PCI, did you see the earlier link for industrial PC motherboards?

yeah, thanks

 

[Moonstick2]

...I feel like it would boot into the bios regardless of a keyboard even being present at all. I never had to hit a key to get into the bios on any of the previous attempts.

I wonder though: if the motherboard can't detect a keyboard, it might not enter BIOS on the basis that the user wouldn't be able to do anything. Staying on the splash screen with a "Press DEL" message might serve as an indicator to the user that no keyboard has been detected.

That Gigabyte motherboard does have an enable/disable switch for Legacy USB keyboards in the BIOS, which is meant for MS-DOS stuff. Whether that has any bearing on this, like it's defaulting to disabled and affects BIOS, I don't know.

Without a PS/2 keyboard, the only last gasp option I can think of is to try booting with the USB keyboard attached to each and every USB port. In the past there'd sometimes be a special 'priority' one that could work in BIOS situations where others couldn't.