Question PC is suddenly stuck in a restart loop ?

[Asuno]

Hello!

Today my PC got stuck into a reboot loop. Starts and instantly stops.

I installed 2 new RAM sticks and a new SSD into my Asus ROG Maximus X Formula mobo and it booted up well. Screen appeared with an issue, that the new SSD runs as a Sata, and i should change it to 4X from 2x (or something similar. Sorry i’m not the brightest when it comes to hardware).

As i changed the required option in BIOS, saved and restarted, the PC got stuck on a black screen. Nothing loaded. After 5-10 minutes i shut the PC down and restarted.

To my surprise, the PC was stuck in a loop of starting and stopping in 2 seconds or even less. My first thought was to reset the BIOS settings, i did so using the CMOS reset button on my mobo. This, unfortunately did not solve the issue. I unplugged my HDDs and took out the new SSD, along with the new RAM sticks i inserted. (When it booted up, it showed that the RAM sticks are fine, working as needed.)

I tried CMOS reset again, same issue. Tried flashing the BIOS, issue persisted. I took it apart, down to RAM and CPU left. Did not boot, issue is the same.

The Mobo is telling me the issue is the CPU, as it has a red light showing up, that it found some issues. It is showing an error code 00 on the mobo itself besides the red CPU light.

I read that this error means either no power to CPU, faulty CPU or faulty mobo.

As i took the PC apart, i noticed this:

https://imgur.com/a/YeZJFdB

View: https://imgur.com/a/YeZJFdB


On the bottom of the picture, the Mobo seems.. burned(?)

Any clue what could have happened there? I’d assume that the mobo is damaged, and must be replaced, everything else seems fine.

Thank you.

 

[Aeacus]

Wanted to mark this answer of yours as the best solution, even though there were many. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a tick, it is lacking the ability to be marked as solved. As i see in the thread you sent me about marking a topic solved, i need to contact a moderator who can fix this issue.

Poked our mods about it.

About a month ago, forums were updated and now have a new code it runs on. But like with anything new, there can be issues. Currently, selecting Best Answer can be troublesome, hence why poke a mod about it.

 

[Asuno]

Oh i see. Thanks.

Got the PC today. Booted up nicely. Still have to add my HDD to it and move data to SSDs, but should be fine. This is my first MSI mobo and the bios is totally new to me. Do i need to set the m2 ssds to 4x myself or it does it automatically?

Also, CPU is automatically turbo boosted i assume, i just cannot see that in the BIOS cuz it is not under heavy load yet?

There seems to be a “Game boost” menu, with my CPU and XMP profile. I assume XMP profile can be enabled safely, unsure about the CPU one.

 

[Aeacus]

Do i need to set the m2 ssds to 4x myself or it does it automatically?

Should be automatic. Was automatic for both of my MSI MoBos, the Z170 chipset and Z97 chipset.

Booted up nicely. Still have to add my HDD to it and move data to SSDs, but should be fine.

Install Win before adding any additional data drives. Since else-ways, Win may put it's bootloader on your data drive and you'll face issues in future.

Also, CPU is automatically turbo boosted i assume, i just cannot see that in the BIOS cuz it is not under heavy load yet?

Yes.

To monitor your CPU (whole PC in that matter), download and run HWinfo64,
link: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

Summary mode has prettier GUI, but Sensors mode has everything listed.

There seems to be a “Game boost” menu, with my CPU and XMP profile.

I advise against the Game boost mode. Since that's default profile for CPU OC, which also can include RAM XMP. Aka lazy man's OC.

If you want to OC your CPU, do it manually from BIOS. Since those default profiles are too generous in applying high voltage to CPU.

Oh, manually turning on RAM XMP is safe.

 

[Asuno]

Should be automatic. Was automatic for both of my MSI MoBos, the Z170 chipset and Z97 chipset.


Install Win before adding any additional data drives. Since else-ways, Win may put it's bootloader on your data drive and you'll face issues in future.



Yes.

To monitor your CPU (whole PC in that matter), download and run HWinfo64,
link: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

Summary mode has prettier GUI, but Sensors mode has everything listed.



I advise against the Game boost mode. Since that's default profile for CPU OC, which also can include RAM XMP. Aka lazy man's OC.

If you want to OC your CPU, do it manually from BIOS. Since those default profiles are too generous in applying high voltage to CPU.

Oh, manually turning on RAM XMP is safe.

Thank you!

I will turn on XMP and let the CPU be then. GPU working fine as i see, i have not seen the GPU fans work yet but i did not do anything that would put heavy load on the PC yet. But it should be fine(hopefully.)

 

[Asuno]

Everything working as intended luckily. My only issue seems to be my bluetooth connection. I did plug in the Wi-fi adapter, as i saw that is also the Bluetooth adapter. Wi-fi is working fine. Network, bluetooth, etc. drivers were installed. Everything seems ok. Tried restarting too. Still, cannot find any devices over bluetooth. Besides that everything is fine, checked google and various places for an answer, but could not find one that worked yet. Considering i have the latest drivers.. Maybe it is some kind of interference, and i should unplug and let the PC sit for a while? Any idea appreciated.

 

[Aeacus]

Maybe it is some kind of interference, and i should unplug and let the PC sit for a while? Any idea appreciated.

I don't have that much experience with Bluetooth (don't use any Bluetooth devices myself).

But, what could be the issue: MoBo has Bluetooth 5.3 (or 5.4), while your device operates at e.g Bluetooth 3.0. And latter, MoBo Bluetooth device is unable to connect to.
Still, it "should" work.

I suggest consulting holy bible of PCs 1st (MoBo manual) and if that doesn't give any answers/ideas, contact MSI and ask them. I'm sure MSI can help you with this, since after all, they made the MoBo and i highly doubt you're the only one in entire world with this issue (meaning, MSI has experience on what is going on and how to fix it).

 

[Asuno]

I don't have that much experience with Bluetooth (don't use any Bluetooth devices myself).

But, what could be the issue: MoBo has Bluetooth 5.3 (or 5.4), while your device operates at e.g Bluetooth 3.0. And latter, MoBo Bluetooth device is unable to connect to.
Still, it "should" work.

I suggest consulting holy bible of PCs 1st (MoBo manual) and if that doesn't give any answers/ideas, contact MSI and ask them. I'm sure MSI can help you with this, since after all, they made the MoBo and i highly doubt you're the only one in entire world with this issue (meaning, MSI has experience on what is going on and how to fix it).

Will do. Thanks. Seems to be running stable, havent played anything that would make it sweat yet, but at around avg 4.8k ghz the cpu did not go over 60C, so temps are pretty nice. Thanks for the suggestion of those top fans.