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Maximus VIII Hero A2 qcode + Boot Device LED; can't get into BIOS

Publius
Level 7

‎12-25-2017 10:12 AM - last edited on ‎03-05-2024 09:37 PM by Community Admin

First time builder here. Built a Skylake mid tower build over the weekend, and everything was going fine at first. I had an HDD and SSD hooked up, no gpu, and it booted fine. I got into the BIOS and tried to change it to boot off a USB so I could install windows. That's when the trouble started. Now, anytime I turn on the computer, I get stuck with the A2 qcode (which means "IDE Detect"), and the "Boot Device LED" is solid orange. No BIOS and no video output (using HDMI). Also, no beep codes.

I have tried many different things, including running with one stick of RAM in different slots, disconnecting the HDD and SSD, using just the SSD or the HDD, using just a USB drive (in different ports), swapping out SATA cables for the drives, swapping out power cables for the drives, updating the BIOS, clearing the CMOS, taking out the CMOS battery and putting it back in, reseating the CPU and cooler, and literally taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together again. This is my first build, but I did my research and was pretty careful building it. At this point, I'm worried I'll have to RMA the motherboard or something. Anyone else experience this problem and know a possible solution? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

TL:DR: First time builder; new computer booted up just fine the first couple of times, but now can't get into the BIOS with A2 qcode and Boot Device LED

Here are my specs:
MoBo: ASUS Maximus VIII Hero
CPU: Intel i7-6700k
Cooler: Corsair H100i V2
PSU: Corsair TX750M
RAM: 16 GB (2x8) Mushkin Redline
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2 REPLIES 2

Nate152
Moderator

‎12-25-2017 10:37 AM

Hi Publius

Welcome to the ROG forum.

Remove all drives, with your pc powered down press and hold the clear cmos button (the one with the green circular arrow) for 3 seconds then try booting.

After doing this, do you get display and are you able to enter the bios ?
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Publius
Level 7
In response to Nate152

‎12-26-2017 07:10 PM

Thanks for the reply, but I actually called in that same day and the person on the phone helped me to fix the problem.

Long story short, I think clearing the CMOS did the trick, but I was unaware because I didn't plug my monitor back in. I just assumed that since I was getting the same LED's on the motherboard, it still wasn't booting properly. Stupid, I know.

Anyway, it works now. I can get into BIOS without any problems. I am now having problems getting Windows to install from a USB flash drive, but that should be easier to debug.
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