Question Old Motherboard Issue : ASUS H97M-E with core i7 4790K

[StonedXander]

Hello.

Eons ago, I purchased a rig containing a ASUS H97M-E mobo and an Intel Core i7 4790K (the glorious period of Devil's Canyon).
I remember that I've stumbled upon a BIOS issue and my retailer had to flash my mobo bios so it can support my i7-4790K (note the K).

Recently, after YEARS of flawless service, the BIOS failed me.
So, by reflex, I've flashed the CMOS ...
And the mobo retrieved its old BIOS, not compatible with the i7-4790K.

So, I'm kinda stuck here. Unless one of you knows some black magic to flash the BIOS without CPU nor memory card.

I've tried to find alternative mobo ... no chance.
BUT, old 4th Gen CPU still exists, and especially ones that are directly compatible with this [redacted vulgarity] H97 chipset.

Any thought ?

PS: I'm a bit attached to this rig. One way or another, i'll resurrect it.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

So, by reflex, I've flashed the CMOS ...
Cleared the CMOS.

You could try this is your first option;

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/H97M-E/E9092_H97M-E.pdf?model=h97me

page 2-2 and 2-3, ASUS CrashFreeBIOS 3 section 2.1.3. If that doesn't work out, then you will need a CH341A BIOS programmer to flash the BIOS chip with the latest BIOS version or an older Haswell Processor to drop into the socket and then flash the BIOS.

 

[StonedXander]

Oh ! The ASUS CrashFreeBios reminds me of something ! Thx. I'll try this.

Btw, I've ordered an old i3 Haswell on amazon but from an obscure place. Dunno when it will finally arrive ;p

Thx btw the way ! I keep you in touch !

 

[StonedXander]

I think I need an old USB key. I've tried with a 64GB one ... maybe not the best thing to do. But at least, the CPU turned on. The SW_PWR led is not blinking anymore. There's hope !

Well, in fact, I think there's something about my wireless keyboard ... perhaps it's not detected ... which would be odd 'cause after all, the dongle emulates a classic usb keyboard/mouse ...

 

[StonedXander]

Good (and weird) news ! I wondered if the fact that my SATA disks were plugged was to be taken into account.
So, I just unplugged them and ... TADA ! I'm in the BIOS now.

And the weirdest part ? Even if I cleared the CMOS, the latest BIOS is sitting here ...

So what happened ? ...
My workstation is linux only. Just before the fatal reboot, I've changed the initramfs compression from lz4 to gz. Nothing fancy. Nothing to do with BIOS after all !

But ... dunno ... I think there's something here ... a missing link ...

 

[StonedXander]

It's alive ! I finally got the BIOS text screen prompting me to press F1.
Then, I got to set up UEFI back and some other stuff so my linux could boot. Now, I have to restore all the settings.

Thx for your help.

(Weird thing : I've not seen the crashfree 3 screen. Perhaps it was lightning fast, but given the bios is store on a chip ...)