Stupid BIOS Question

[River Valley Computer]

OK - here goes. This question will probably get me removed from Technibbles but here goes.

A customer brought in an approximately 5 year old desktop gaming computer with a ASUS MB. It has perplexed four of us. It comes up with blue screens. We did the normal troubleshooting, RAM, HDD, CPU. But what blows us away is if we remove the HDD and reboot it, it comes up with a Windows BSOD. It had two drives, a M.2 and a 2.5 SSD and we removed both. Where in the heck does the Windows BSOD come from? The customer had even bought a new MB and it still did it. WHAT ARE WE MISSING??????????? PLEASE!!!!!

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sounds like an embedded SSD. What is the exact model number of the motherboard?

 

[River Valley Computer]

Sounds like an embedded SSD. What is the exact model number of the motherboard?

That is DEFINITELY a possibility. We have to check it tomorrow and post it. He said he bought the 2nd MB for $60. Thanks

 

[sapphirescales]

5 years old is probably too old to have this, but a lot of modern motherboards are putting an m.2 slot on the BACK of the motherboard for some God forsaken reason. Check in the BIOS for m.2 devices. You might also want to check if there's an m.2 SSD underneath a heat sink plate on the motherboard.

 

[HCHTech]

a lot of modern motherboards are putting an m.2 slot on the BACK of the motherboard for some God forsaken reason.

I couldn't believe it when I came across my first one of these. It was a pretty fancy MB, so at the time I though it must have been the only place there was room for it, but still seems like a galactically bad idea to me.

 

[River Valley Computer]

The model number of the MB is ASUS A320M-K

 

[nlinecomputers]

There’s nothing on the back of that board and it only supports a single M.2 slot.

 

[River Valley Computer]

BIOS​

128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP,WfM2.0, SM BIOS 3.0, ACPI 6.1, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 3, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3, My Favorites, Last Modified log, F12 PrintScreen, ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information, F6 Qfan Control


We are currently investigating this 128 MB Flash ROM

 

[Blues]

What is the goal besides resolving the BSOD which it sounds like occur no matter which drive(s) are or are not connected. I would try booting to a USB you should still be able to interrupt the boot to change BIOS boot order or select boot device preferably boot to a Windows environment. This would help narrow down if the board can boot properly. I suspect the UEFI Bios in the 128MB Flash or some part of this complex looking BIOS they mention might be holding some boot settings that aren't happy with the OS or system somewhere.

 

[nlinecomputers]

What is the goal besides resolving the BSOD which it sounds like occur no matter which drive(s) are or are not connected. I would try booting to a USB you should still be able to interrupt the boot to change BIOS boot order or select boot device preferably boot to a Windows environment. This would help narrow down if the board can boot properly. I suspect the UEFI Bios in the 128MB Flash or some part of this complex looking BIOS they mention might be holding some boot settings that aren't happy with the OS or system somewhere.

If I understand correctly @River Valley Computer has tried more than one mobo and has the same issue. That implies that the Flash Rom must hold some WinPE based utility and that something attached to the system is causing this WinPE to BSOD. So a bad PSU, a bad CPU, or bad memory. Or maybe a grounding fault with the chassis. It would help to know precisely what BSOD stop code is occurring.

 

[River Valley Computer]

If I understand correctly @River Valley Computer has tried more than one mobo and has the same issue. That implies that the Flash Rom must hold some WinPE based utility and that something attached to the system is causing this WinPE to BSOD. So a bad PSU, a bad CPU, or bad memory. Or maybe a grounding fault with the chassis. It would help to know precisely what BSOD stop code is occurring.

Numerous different BSOD error codes. We researched several of them and they had no relevance to the issue. We really feel that the Flash ROM is the key here. Kevin is calling ASUS to see if they can shed any light on this. Ha
te issues that we can't diagnose. Thanks for all your help and ideas though.

 

[River Valley Computer]

This is one reason I have dictated early on that we do not do custom builds - too many variables. This one has just become a personal vendetta.
.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Numerous different BSOD error codes. We researched several of them and they had no relevance to the issue. We really feel that the Flash ROM is the key here. Kevin is calling ASUS to see if they can shed any light on this. Ha
te issues that we can't diagnose. Thanks for all your help and ideas though.

If both Mobos are doing the same thing then you are chasing a symptom not the problem. Something attached to that mobo is the cause. Can't be anything else.

 

[River Valley Computer]

If both Mobos are doing the same thing then you are chasing a symptom not the problem. Something attached to that mobo is the cause. Can't be anything else.

I totally agree - that is what we deducted yesterday. Something really odd with the MOBO. Was just hoping somebody on TN had maybe experienced a simular problem. We are really suspecting that 128MB ROM. Thanks

 

[nlinecomputers]

I totally agree - that is what we deducted yesterday. Something really odd with the MOBO. Was just hoping somebody on TN had maybe experienced a simular problem. We are really suspecting that 128MB ROM. Thanks

Ok, that statement contradicts itself. Both motherboards have the same rom. If they are BOTH failing the exact same way then you either have enormous bad luck or the problem IS NOT THE ROM!!!

 

[MudRock]

Ok, that statement contradicts itself. Both motherboards have the same rom. If they are BOTH failing the exact same way then you either have enormous bad luck or the problem IS NOT THE ROM!!!

I mean, it could be one bad ROM across board... But as you said, symptom, not the problem.

If you're getting errors with nothing besides motherboard, RAM and CPU sitting out of the case on something safe and plugged into a separate PSU, its most likely RAM or possibly (but improbable unless someone tinkered) CPU.

Random BSOD codes very often is RAM.

Edit: Wonder if the EZ Flash 3 is WinPE based. Would explain the source of the BSOD Windows error w/o a drive attached.

 

[Blues]

I thought the errors were from booting w/o a drive or with the clients drive which is why I suggested a WinPE if it is failing with that in both boards then I would try with single stick of RAM assuming this has dual sticks but single stick is rare these days outside of laptops and SBCs.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I thought the errors were from booting w/o a drive or with the clients drive which is why I suggested a WinPE if it is failing with that in both boards then I would try with single stick of RAM assuming this has dual sticks but single stick is rare these days outside of laptops and SBCs.

A BSOD error is windows only. SOMETHING has to be connected or built into the system with WINDOWS on it to generate that form of error.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I mean, it could be one bad ROM across board... But as you said, symptom, not the problem.

I consider that highly likely. Or a PSU. Fading Power supplies can make memory chips act wonky giving the same results. Gotta have 5 volts, not 4.5 or weird stuff can happen.

 

[MudRock]

I consider that highly likely. Or a PSU. Fading Power supplies can make memory chips act wonky giving the same results. Gotta have 5 volts, not 4.5 or weird stuff can happen.

Yep! Why I suggested doing testing right on bench with diff PSU (Or build yourself an open air test bench.)

I have seen PSUs cause weird and magical bugs that even look like memory during memtest86