Z170 Extreme7+ Problems

I just wanted to give an update.  I returned the board and ASRock promptly sent me a replacement.  In the meantime, I reinstalled my old ASUS board and upgraded the OS to windows 10.  I also installed every driver for that board from ASRock's download page.  Then I installed the replacement board and everything went pretty smoothly.  The biggest problem I had was setting up the RAID system.  I believe this is mostly due to the Intel Rapid Storage Technology software and drivers.

The 8 pin connector is connected.  I don't have a video card as I was planning on using the onboard graphics.  I mostly remote desktop into this machine so high end graphics don't make a lot of sense.  Besides the onboard graphic with the i7 processor should be equivalent to a low end card and I can always buy a card later if I find I need one.  Anyway, it did show something on the monitor but now does not.  I did have a PS2 keyboard plugged in but it was/is a good keyboard.  I didn't do anything to the board that should have caused this change in behavior unless you consider rebooting the computer to be a cause.  It just went from booting into windows to not booting into windows.  Therefore, I'm trying to figure out if the motherboard is still good or not.  I can install win10 on this machine but, of course, the board has to be good.  So is there a good way to tell?

mchrist152 wrote: I clear the CMOS, then power it up but see nothing on the monitor.  The dr. debug screen is blank. The cpu fan is turning normally and the leds on the board appear normal.

Mike, you didn't by chance overlook the 8-in power connection in the upper left quadrant of the motherboard did you?

EDIT: Or any power connection the video card requires?


Edited by wardog - 25 Nov 2016 at 3:30pm

Xaltar wrote: Hehe, it looks like we posted on top of each other Parsec

I've quite often wondered if you two were "curious'.

I guess I know now.

mchrist152 wrote: It's a USB mouse but a PS2 keyboard.  Even if your theory is correct, at least the keyboard should work then.  And that's really all I need to work on the bios. But also, there are USB 2.0 ports on the back panel which I am using with the mouse.  Hopefully, that wouldn't be a problem with the 2.0 ports, right?

wardog's statement is not a theory, it is a fact with any Intel 100 series chipset board, such as your Z170 Extreme7+. I own one too.

Your Z170 board will ONLY install USB 3.0 drivers for ALL the USB ports, including the USB 2.0 ports. Intel did that. Yes, this affects the USB 2.0 ports, as I said above.

Windows 7 does not have a native USB 3.0 driver in it installation package. This situation was recognized when the Intel 100 series chipsets were released. That's been known for over a year, since the release of the Skylake platform. This really is not discussed very much in the PC media for some reason, so unless you own a Skylake system you won't be aware of it. This issue does not affect Windows 8.1 or 10.

If you go to your board's information page, you'll find a link just under the pictures of the board, How to install Windows 7. Not particularly obvious, but it is there. Here's a direct link to that page:

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/Win7Install/index.html

This guide for installing Windows 7 gives you a few options, depending upon the hardware and Windows 7 installation media available to you.

If you happen to be using an NVMe SSD as the OS drive, you have another issue waiting for you.

The Windows 7 installer suggesting a repair might simply be a side affect of the lack of the USB 3.0 driver, or your OS drive might have an OS on it now.