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Pitchblack · ‎05-01-2016

First I have to go back a little. I use the R5E with a 5820K, Kingston HyperV HX430C15PB2K4/16, a MSI GTX 980, a Plextor M6e since late summer 2014. Late 2015 I changed the M.2 SSD to Samsungs SM951 and the GPU to the MSI GTX 980Ti Gaming. First with Windows 8.1 Ent. then with Windows 10 Ent. Everything worked fine. Oh I run the HyperX Memory in XMP profile 2 with 2666MHz, profile 1 (3000MHz) seems not stable with the 5820.

A few weeks ago I had an issue with the boot process stuck after POST with just the ROG logo but not booting Windows 10. The R5E shows the Q-Code F6 / Fb, after a few tries and sometimes Windows 10 Startup repair it worked again for about 2-3 days. But I did get really annoyed and planned to take the whole box apart and install a new power supply at the same occasion (AX1500i & CableMod) - a big mistake, in retrospect.

The built worked quite well. A quick check "on the open patient" does not showed abnormalities. So I assembled all. But after 2-3 restarts I stuck in the same problems again; switch on OK, BIOS OK, POST not OK. Again ROG logo but no Windows boot, again Q-Code F6 / Fb. I scheduled the Windows reinstall for today Sunday. Sunday morning I briefly reassigned the H105 pump instead of CHA_FAN1A to CHA_FAN1B - and again from CHA_FAN1B to a 12V-Molex adatper to the power supply (I hate when the bios or Al Suite mess up the Pump rpm which should run at full speed alltime) - that's it - somehow this was the beginning of the end. After restart the screen stays black - no signal whatsoever. Tried it with different ports on different displays. The screen stays black. Q-Code AA - so everything should be perfect. Then somehow I connected only the HDMI to my beamer and volia I did get the BIOS. Then I was able to boot into Windows 10, connect the DP to my Display and switched over with Win+P to the DP. Reboot and everything went away again - but this time permanent. I try to recreate the last working case but no luck.

I then started to plug the GPU into another PCI slot and somehow managed to break the slot unlock - duh. When something goes wrong everything goes wrong - it's sunday and outside it rains.

Only later I noticed that the VGA_LED is permanently illuminated. So GPU back out CMOS reset, Switch between BIOS 1 (v2101) and 2 (V2001) merrily back and forth, always lit VGA_LED even without GPU, then sometimes VGA_LED lights along with BOOT_Device_LED and then again only alone. tried everything possible, RAM in a different order, even built in the old Plextor M6E, the same. Extremely frustrating. Q Code changes randomly between 40, d6 and again the perfect AA.

Tomorrow I take the GTX 980 Ti to the office and test it in another PC (Dell Precision), after that I take a Quadro home test it in R5E. Then I will probably hopefully know whether one or both two components are gone. I strongly suspect the MB, I already had some history with their QM with my Asus Swift PG278Q.

Cheers and I hope you all had a better sunday,
Nick

Qwinn · ‎05-01-2016

Qcode AA and 40 are the codes you want. AA is what you should have in Windows. Code 40 is the same but after waking from sleep mode. Being stuck on 99 is not a good sign.

I'm pretty sure F6 is a "VGA cards not detected" code. Early on I would get it sometimes after tweaking the BIOS. I would have to set CSM to enabled to get back in, then diaable it again. I haven't had that in a long time though. It may be my plugging in the EZ plug molex connector that feeds extra power to the video cards that resolved it, seems to me that was about the right time frame. See page 1-42 in the manual for its location, usually only needed for multiple video cards though. Could also have been some bios update along the way too, of course.

It may seem too simple, but also make sure you don't have the computer plugged in alongside too many other things on the same wall outlet too. I've seen that cause similar issues. If you do offload a few things to another outlet, it sometimes takes a few reboots for the PSU to recognize and deal with it properly for some odd reason.

Pitchblack · ‎05-01-2016

Yes sorry I did mean I get AA from time to time (not 99) - I was sitting almost the whole day before the open rig and did get confused about that.
I did leave the GPU a few hours outside of the rig. Then in the evening I decide to try it again. Put the GPU back in the rig in the lower x8 slot (I did that before and it din't work)....

Again only d6 with vga_led or d6 with boot_device_led and vga_led but now only these two error, no matter how often I press Clear CMOS and switch BIOS and reset.
Then I just tried the retry button and then it worked! I did get a signal I was able to get in the BIOS change some settings (Cooling related) and even boot into WIndows 10.
My Wallpaper was gone, that was weird and I tried to start Nvidia Properties. Then I did get the message to reinstall the driver - maybe because I changed the slot. Then shutdown
again, hooked up my SATA SSD's went again into Windows 10 and changed the Drive Letters. Shutdown Again - removed the GPU from the x8 to the x16 slot and start BUT that was it.
No more signal again only d6 with boot_device_led and vga_led I tried to recreate the prior success, disconnect the SATA SSDs, put the GPU back into the x8 slot,
try to hit Retry but nothing works.

Now, about 2 hours after the last unsuccessful try I start again, again I get d6 with boot_device_led and vga_led. Now I did see in the OC panel 'cmos err'. Switch off, Clear CMOS,
d6 with boot_device_led and vga_led but no cmos err. After that I hit Retry button and again d6 with boot_device_led and vga_led with cmos err in the oc panel.

by the way as drive I use all the time the Samsung M951 and yes I have all power connected and double checkes already the 24pin, the 8pin, the 4pin and even the 4pin molex EZ plug.

with the d6 and both LED it looks like the GPU which is in my system sadly the most expensive part and the part I wanted to keep. Tomorrow I leave the 980Ti at home I tink,
the is no system at my office with that kind of PSU power. But I try to bring an old Quadro home.

Pitchblack · ‎05-01-2016

are here only three or is one chip missing?

Pitchblack · ‎05-01-2016

and finally a complete overview (yes I did break the slot 1 lock and disconnected all SATA ports )

Pitchblack · ‎05-01-2016

It seems this member had the same or similar problem:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-51998.html

He finally get it working after remove the CPU cooler and clean the CPU and do a Repaste Job. I'm not sure this will help me, my CPU package temp is around 29 °C.

Avenger411 · ‎05-01-2016

Hey!,

I had the "d6" problem on 2001 modded bios. Once i switched to the normal 2001 bios it went away. Try another bios 1902,1801,1702 etc. Use RoG flashback and use a FAT32 usb.

Max

Cpu : Intel 5930K@4.25ghz@1.2v / Cache @4.25ghz@1.20v
Cpu Cooler : Corsair H100i
Case : Corsair 780T
Memory : G.Skills 32GB DDR4-3200mhz CAS 15-15-15-35-1T@1.370v
Motherboard : Asus Rampage V Extreme (BIOS 3504)
M2 : Samsung 950 Pro NVME 512gb (Gaming)
M2 : SSD1 : OCZ RD400A 128gb (windows)
SSD1 : Crucial MX100 512gb (data)
Gfx : EVGA Titan X w/ 980 Hybrid Cooling AiO Liquid Cooler
PSU : Antec HCP-1000W
Monitor : Asus RoG Swift

Pitchblack · ‎05-02-2016

Avenger411 wrote:
Hey!,

I had the "d6" problem on 2001 modded bios. Once i switched to the normal 2001 bios it went away. Try another bios 1902,1801,1702 etc. Use RoG flashback and use a FAT32 usb.

Max

Thanks I will try that.

btw I have now a persistent Q-Code 'd6', Boot_Device_LED & VGA_LED and CMOS Err on the OC Panel. Don't matter what I try - even without a GPU installed 😞

Pitchblack · ‎05-03-2016

Yesterday I did the BIOS flashback like Max recommend. After that I did a complete disassembly of the components (like the user Kalorn back in 2014). No heat sink compound problems in my case but the repaste did bring a temperatur drop of 5°C.

Then I continued with a breadboard setup. Just MB, CPU & Power Q-Code 53 which is fine, then with RAM Q-Code AA I think. And then with a Nvidia Quadro K620 (slot 4) voilà I see my BIOS again. After that I added the M.2 with Win10 and was able to boot into Windows 10. So far so good, I switched from Slot 4 to Slot 1 and it worked also.

Then full of hope I take out the Quadro and but pack the GTX 980 Ti...... The Fans spin and the logo glows BUT sadly Q-Code d3 and lit Boot_Device and VGA LEDs again :-(.
Back to the Quadro everything is finde Q-Code AA and no LEDs. This morning I put in addition to the Quadro the GTX into slot 4 - the Systems boots with Q-Code 40 and Windows 10 comes up. The WIndows Device Manager don't see the card at all not even a question- or exclamation mark. In the NVIDIA Properties is only the Quadro viewable.

The MSI GTX 980 Ti is now on RMA leave.... till I don't know - ever maybe? At the moment I can use a small Quadro off a broken Precision. But no more games for a long time.

Thanks for your help and Cheers,
Nick

drop4205 · ‎05-03-2016

Thats no fun but atleast you figured it out. Nice to have access to spare stuff to try and diagnose an issue. Good luck keep us posted

Maximus XI Formula, I9-9900k, Phantex Evolove X, Seasonic Titanium 850W, Custom loop PE360+SE360 Rad, G.Skill Trident Z F4-3200C14 32g, Nvidia Reference RTX 2080 TI, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1Tb, Windows 11

Post Boot problems went to an even bigger issue