MSI X370 motherboard stopped posting

Hardware Motherboards
1

Hello all,

So about 3 weeks ago I built a new system: MSI X370 Gaming Plus, Ryzen 1600, G.Skill Aegis 2x8GB DDR4-3000, Old GTX200, Corsair Vengance 550W PSU and Sanddisk SSD. No high end components but it worked, posted, and booted Windows and Manjaro in dual boot.

Recently, when tried to wake the system from standby the system speaker gave three (if I remember correctly) long beeps and had all fans spinning at maximum, no video out. According to MSI this is: "3 beeps - Base 64K memory failure - bad memory". When booting after that all fans spin to maximum, the debug LEDs on the mobo light up solid for CPU and DRAM and the system stays in that state without video out. There are no beeps of any sort.

Switching the two sticks of RAM or putting a single stick in the preferred slot, removing them completely does not change anything. The only change I can produce is unplugging the CPU 8 pin header, resulting in only the CPU debug LED lighting up, so I assume the mobo is still running through some checks before failing.

Measuring voltage on CPU and PCIE connectors gives me 12.16V which seems fine. I have warranty on all components, sadly I don't have any spare sticks of RAM or a spare CPU around to test with, hence my question: despite no beeps on consecutive startups, can I count on it being the RAM? How likely is it that two RAM sticks go bad simultaneously during standby. Any other ways I can debug (resetting BIOS, removing battery, reseating CPU I have tried).

Greetings from Germany and thanks in advance, have been following this great community for a couple of years now, hoped to make my entré with a solution rather than a question, but this I'm so far unable to solve this one on my own.

1 Like
2

2 bad sticks at once is unlikely but not impossible, were you running really high voltages (1.5-2.0v) or a high OC on the memory?

Could also be a bum memory controller or a board issue. Don't know enough about ryzen to say unfortunately.

3

No high voltages and no overclocking. Only thing I was using was the extended memory profile that was enabled by the recent update, don't see that causing an issue though.
Thx though. I might just want to get another set of RAM to make sure that is not the issue.

4

steps to try (you may have tried these already)
unplug everything from the mobo except cpu ,cpu fan, and video card (since there is no onboard video you need the card).

this includes unplugging the :
front panel connectors
usb motherboard headers
keyboard/mouse
all usb connections
all sata cables
and all pci(e) cards except video

also look for swollen/leaking caps, and any other damage while you are in there

the only cables hooked to this board should be :
24pin power
cpu power
cpu fan
video card power cable (as needed)
internal speaker (if its not onboard)

see if it boots. (jump the pins )

if not try a known good video card.
if not try a known good psu
if still not try a known good single stick of ram. try it in different slots (in case of a bad slot)
if not try a known good cpu/cpu fan
if not the board is bad

if you get it to post then start plugging things in 1 at a time until it doesnt post. then last thing plugged in has a issue

the idea of all that is to eliminate things like :
bad power or reset switch
bad ram/cpu/video card
faulty psu
bad usb device/cable (yes ive seen them cause a no boot /no beep situation)
any other thing that might cause a "no post" situation

1 Like
5

As long as you still have RMA on all the parts, I'd just swap them one by one, starting with the memory.

6

thanks for the list. I can tick of most of the points, right now running the board outside the case with a minimal components and connectors plugged on. Only thing I have not yet tried is exchanging PSU, GPU, New set of sticks and CPU. I should be able to at least get hold of GPU and PSU over the weekend.

Sticks and CPU I will have to see, I am the first of my local friends using DDR4 and AM4 socket.

Guess I may have to resort to RMA for that as I don't really want to have a spare ryzen lying around.

7

I believe that am4 integrates its memory controller, meaning it's equally likely to be the cpu as it is the board (as opposed tomemory rejection being wholly attributable to the board, as in other cases)

8

allready tried to disconnect the psu from the wall,
and then take the bios battery out for a couple of minutes.
And put back the battery, and connect the psu again and see if it posts then.

9

Clear CMOS, disable this.

1 Like
10

It sounds like the OP hasn't tried that so why not. Also I would say set it all up outside the pc on cardboard and see if it works.

11

Thanks for the suggestions. CMOS has been cleared by shorting pins, battery was removed 10+ minutes. System is assembled on the motherboard box outside the case with a bare minimum of components installed and PSU was unplugged from the grid for several hours.
No changes so far. Friday I will be swapping the RAM, PSU and Graphics card and will report then if the situation changes in any way.

12

Sounds like a dead board most likelly.

13

Yeah, really does. Unfortunately.

14

Had something similar happen to my ASRock X370 Gaming K4
At first, the case fans started behaving wierd.
Then the system shut down while gaming and would not post again.
The debug LEDs showed the code for "missing VGA-adapter"
changed my GPU for another one from a working system, put it in the other PCIe slot, cleared CMOS, removed battery, tried minimal config, different RAM and different RAM configs…

RMA
New board, old configuration: Works (but for how long?)