p9x79 deluxe A2 error please help!

[bleek78]

Hey everyone, so i got a problem here. Here's my rig:

64gb of kingston 1600
3930k
p9x79 deluxe
h100i cooler
asus geforce gtx 660
2 x intel 120gb ssd raid 0
4 x wd green 3tb raid 10
corsair 760 psu
windows 7
all bios updated

So my h100i took a crap and i had to send it back for warranty, everything was working.

I put the cooler and fans back in, plugged the psu back in(unplugged for 2 weeks) and booted it.

It wouldn't post for 3 tries and then went right into windows no problem. I left it running for a bit just to make sure cpu temps were ok with the new cooler and windows updated itself and it asked me to restart!

So i did and it got stuck with A2 error code on the board and would not post. I pressed the cmos clear and still nothing.

Any thoughts, would really love to hear what you guys think it might be, what did i screw up considering it was running just fine before the restart!

Please and much appreciated!

 

[Paul NZ]

Looks like A2 is an IDE error? Check the hdd / hdd cables. Altho now that you cleared the cmos settings you may have to reconfigure the BIOS. And make sure the hdd is the bootdisk

 

[bleek78]

Hey Paul, thanks for chiming in, all cables are fine, and i never touched anything. All i did was click restart after the update and it stuck.

I can't get any video or bios post at all.

I can understand if i reassembled it wrong when i put the cooler back in, but i got into windows after i reassembled everything.

 

[Paul NZ]

But is the hdd the main bootdisk in the BIOS??

 

[bleek78]

@Paul NZ yes the ssd is the main boot last time i checked in the bios. But now i can't even boot into the bios, nothing comes up on screen

 

[bleek78]

Just checked all wires to hdd's, also any loose connections. Everything is plugged in, everything is getting power, but i'm still getting A2 error, screen stays black, any suggestions?

 

[norsestar]

What happens if you unplug the boot drive or all the drives? If the boot drive is an SSD that requires AHCI and the BIOS reset defaulted back to IDE that might confuse it. This doesn't explain the initial three boot failures, though -- maybe bad battery?

 

[bleek78]

Hey @norsestar thanks for chiming in. I replaced the cmos batt just to be safe. I agree with you if the cmos reset, but i can't even get into the bios! It starts key board lights up, all fans on pump is running, but blank screen and stuck on A2!

The crazy part was it WAS running until reboot and it just got stuck on A2

 

[bleek78]

SOLVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So after racking my brain not understand how everything was working, and then after reboot nothing responds, ive read pages and pages on this A2 error!!!!!

Then i read a post on how the asus x79 boards are sensitive towards hardware not totally plugged in and is not very forgiving. I assumed everything was plugged in properly because the rig was running just before re-boot.

But i remembered removing one dimm to give me more room to plug the pump in, and i figured the dimm was seated properly since everything was running. But just for shits and giggles i popped that same dimm back out and really stuffed it back in with a very positive click!

Plug everything back in and BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's all good again!!!!! Go figure!

Here is the C&P of what i read, credit goes to oldlawman from a rog forum:

"I have managed to replicate the A2 error deliberately now a number of times and fix it on both my M5 boards. It seems to me, based on my own observation, always to happen after disconnecting various hardware and then not refitting it properly, i.e. cable for SATA, GPU card, PSU 8 pin CPU and/or RAM sticks. I have deliberately then refitted these various components sloppily and by this I mean not fully fitting or snugly fitting a cable or component although they seem to be in the various sockets etc. The board is very unforgiving with these sorts of problems so my advice would be to persevere and try the good advice you get from the fantastic guys on this forum."

Hope this helps someone else that might have the same issue i had!

Thanks to everyone!