(SOLVED) Asus Maximus VIII Formula does not boot

[Nate152]

If you're able to get into the bios, on the boot tab try setting "secure Boot" to "Other Os".

[Cold_Fire_18]

It does not work either. I also tried flashing back to BIOS 1601 and same problem.

[Jones0610]

Nate is the expert here so I will defer to him. However, I am getting a bit confused by all the experiments in this thread. So just to "reset"...

You're running a basic configuration with all unneeded hardware removed, correct? The BIOS is set to all default values, correct? As a troubleshooting technique, when things make no sense it's always good to go back to the basics.

I agree that the voltage adjustment making things worse is odd.... but it does cast suspicion on the RAM. Seems to me I've read about problems with Corsair RAM. Since I am running g.skill I didn't pay much attention to the specifics. You said that memtest ran OK, correct? The full test is four passes and takes 5 or so hours to run to completion. Once this test completes successfully I would be slow to make any changes to the BIOS settings and if a change made no difference I'd roll the BIOS back to default. I'd definitely avoid XMP or any OC until you have a 100% stable system at the default settings.

IMHO, you ought to upgrade the BIOS to 2202. Can't hurt, I think, especially since most of the BIOS upgrades improve support for newer, faster memory.

Since you're not making much headway you might think about picking up some slower RAM, ideally something that is on the ASUS compatibility list. My g.skill 3200 RAM isn't on the compatibilty list but so far is working fine on my M8F mobo. I'm running it at the default of 2133 though since my G4400 CPU won't support higher speeds. I'll upgrade to a mega CPU later. You can pick up 8Gb of 2133 RAM for a song and that might help shed some light on what's going wrong for you. At this point it could be the CPU, mobo or the RAM. And I suppose an outside chance it's the PSU. I build my systems on a breadboard to eliminate case/wiring issues until everything runs 100%. You might think about doing the same for ease of troubleshooting. At this point you need to eliminate as much as possible from the configuration so that the root cause becomes more obvious.

[Nate152]

Ok let's recap and look over what is happening,

You say when switching off the psu and switching it back on it boots properly, setting the Dram voltage to 1.35v gives you a blue screen.

When you try to boot without switching off the psu do any lights or fans come on or do you get absolutely nothing?

I would also try what Jones0610 suggested with minimal components such as 1 stick of ram and I agree that Corsair ram seems to be the most problematic on ROG boards but some have no issues with it.

When looking at Ram QVL lists go by the ram manufacturers QVL list.

[Jones0610]

Nate, I was just thinking about the SSD. Seems like a long shot but the Samsung Pro has encryption and other factors that could possible be in play here.

Since the OP has an educational copy of Win10, might make sense to throw in an el cheapo HDD and install W10 on it at least to see if things get better (or worse).

[Cold_Fire_18]

Yea I ran memtest for 4 hours plus for the full 4 passes and it reported zero errors. I did try upgrading to 2202 as well, I read on another thread that any BIOS below 1701 is the most stable for XMP so I tried it even though I do not have XMP set on my BIOS. I also unplugged my rams and plugged in one by one to test if removing any one of it causes the problem to disappear. I also removed my graphics card and tested with the monitor plugged into the onboard graphics. Yesterday I unplugged everything from my computer and plugged in the monitor with a different HDMI cable when the motherboard showed A0. I am now going to do a re-installation of my windows 10 to see if anything improves. As this is my first PC in like 10 years I do not have any other hardware I can swap out to test.

[Nate152]

Before installing windows 10, disable CSM and set "Secure Boot" to "Other Os".

Maybe disabling CSM before the windows installation is the ticket.

Good luck and let us know if this works, I got my fingers crossed.

[Cold_Fire_18]

Hello again! It boots up properly after a shut down and also after hibernate after I reinstalled the OS. I have yet to download any programs so I will update again even if everything works as it should so that any others who might encounter this problem in the future will know what is the fix in the unlikely case they encounter this issue.
One last question, when starting up the pc i realized that instead of beeps, there is a tick coming out from the system. There is another tick when it boots into the desktop. I read that this is the sound of the relay that prevents the speakers from popping when booting. Is this true?

Oh and I did not read your reply before reinstalling so I let the BIOS be at default before reinstalling and no issues for now.

[Nate152]

That's great Cold_Fire_18

I'm not sure what could have happened the first time around on the windows installation but it's good to see you got it working like it should.

Nice going !

I'm going to rep you and Jones both for getting this solved.

[Cold_Fire_18]

Thank You Nate! And Thank You Jones too for taking the time to reply!

Let me go find out what rep is. I will rep u both for assisting if I can rep!