Question Stuck on yellow boot light "Please press DEL or F2 to enter UEFI BIOS Setting" - SSD Issue?

[Doubtfully]

Hello - I have researched quite a few of these topics here but the majority of them were related to new builds.
Note: This issue is completely random with no parts or cables being changed in the past year.
The computer I have had since 2019, and this only started today. When I start the computer it takes me to an ASUS screen that says I must press F2 or DEL to enter UEFI BIOS Settings
When I press F2 or Delete nothing happens. The motherboard will get past the DRAM, VGA then goes to a yellow Boot light.

Things I have attempted from other posts:
I have removed all cables except power, HDMI for the monitor, and USB for the keyboard which I have attempted at every USB slot.
I have removed all RAM and tried loading just one stick at different ram slots.
I have reseated the graphics card
I took out the ATX-24 power cord, used an air duster to ensure the connections were clean, and placed it back in.

---------
The one thing that made progress:

When I removed the SATA cable to the SSD (I only have 1 SSD), it let me press F2 and go to another screen where it said USB: 3 connections 2 keyboards, and 1 mouse, even though only one USB my keyboard was connected. It then went into the BIOS settings. I pressed F5 to go to the default settings saved and then turned off the computer. Placed the SATA connection back to the motherboard and now I can't press F2 or DEL to enter BIOS anymore.

So I assume it's an issue with the SSD - but where do I go from here? Is the SSD trash, did I lose all my data on the SSD?

Specs:
Motherboard - ASUS PRIME Z370-A II
CPU - Intel Core i7-8700k LGA1151 300 Series
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart BX1 650W
SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E500B/AM)
Graphics: MSI GeForce RTX 2060 6GB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB - DDR4 DRAM 2400MHz

 

[Ralston18]

2019 Computer:

PSU: history of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

= = = =

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Clean out dust and debris.

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, jumpers, and case connections are fully and firmly in place.

Use a bright flashlight to look for signs of damage, corrosion, bare conductor showing, pinched/kinked wires, browned or blackened areas, swollen components, cracks, loose or missing screws.

Swap in a new CMOS battery.

 

[Doubtfully]

2019 Computer:

PSU: history of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

= = = =

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Clean out dust and debris.

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, jumpers, and case connections are fully and firmly in place.

Use a bright flashlight to look for signs of damage, corrosion, bare conductor showing, pinched/kinked wires, browned or blackened areas, swollen components, cracks, loose or missing screws.

Swap in a new CMOS battery.

Thanks for replying
It was primarily used for Minecraft and school. I do have a bad habit of rarely shutting down the computer ever.

I powered down, unplugged the cable removed a lot of dust buildup. I unconnected and reconnected all the cables and nothing looks kinked. I replaced the SATA wire for the SSD just in case.

I removed the GPU again to replace the CMOS battery, I held a screwdriver to the CMOS port for 10 seconds while the computer was unplugged.

Without placing the GPU back in, started the computer and still cannot get past the F2 or DEL to enter UEFI BIOS Settings.

I ordered another SSD because when the SATA cable to the SSD is not plugged in, it allows me to press F2 and default the settings but the moment the SATA cable is connected, I cannot get past that BIOS splash screen. Could an SSD prevent booting? I thought the BIOS system boots before it starts talking to the SSD.

I did check for any corrosion or signs of damage on the motherboard and just about everything and I see no damage or cracks. The only thing I haven't done is remove the CPU but unsure if that would even be worth trying.

Any other suggestions I would be grateful. For my current route, I think I will use the new SSD once it arrives and see if it will boot - Install windows and possibly use my old SSD as a secondary and see if I can access all my files once I got Windows up and running on the new SSD.

 

[Ralston18]

This motherboard?

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...ME_Z370-A_II_UM_WEB.pdf?model=prime z370-a ii

Read through the manual just to get a sense of how things should be.

Then referencing Page 1-11 and try clearing RTC again.

Double check the jumper pin placement and do the same for all other jumpers as well.

 

[Doubtfully]

This motherboard?

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/PRIME_Z370-A_II/E14608_PRIME_Z370-A_II_UM_WEB.pdf?model=prime z370-a ii

Read through the manual just to get a sense of how things should be.

Then referencing Page 1-11 and try clearing RTC again.

Double check the jumper pin placement and do the same for all other jumpers as well.

Thank you greatly for the response. Everything was in order.

I think the SSD is fried. New SSD came, booted into BIOS. Got Windows installed via a Thumb Drive.
Attempted to insert old SSD back in now that it was looking at the new SSD for the boot drive and it broke it at BIOS again.

Inserted the SATA cable for the (broken) SSD when the computer was up and running and tried doing a refresh on disk management. It cannot even detect the drive.

Called a data recovery place, and got quoted "$400 to $2700." Sucks to learn this lesson but never did back-ups and all my photos from the past 10 years on there, so I may have to suck it up and pay the recovery experts.

Thanks again Ralston for your effort in attempting to fix this with me.