FM2A88X Extreme6+ Flashbricked

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   Hi,

i got above MB with all these nice gold caps and dual bios, both bioses with 3.00 version. I loaded BIOS 4.20A from the official support page and started the built-in flash on BIOS A which worked flawlessly. After reset, everything seems fine so i used the bios backup feature to mirror the update to the second BIOS B chip which turns out to be a fatal action afterwards.

I tried a cold boot from the BIOS B then and the board hangs at POST Code 10 (tested with PCI analyzer card), i then switched back to BIOS A and it hangs at the same POST Code, so the board is dead now.

I think an offboard downgrade is the only chance to get it back to life.

The question is: What went wrong? Why is a warm boot working but not a cold boot? Is this an expectable behaviour when flashing beta bioses? Means beta is completely untested or what are your suggestions to avoid such bricks in the future?

Thanks,
Chris

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AncapDude Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Feb 2024 Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote AncapDude Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: FM2A88X Extreme6+ Flashbricked Posted: 06 Feb 2024 at 9:29pm
	Hi, i got above MB with all these nice gold caps and dual bios, both bioses with 3.00 version. I loaded BIOS 4.20A from the official support page and started the built-in flash on BIOS A which worked flawlessly. After reset, everything seems fine so i used the bios backup feature to mirror the update to the second BIOS B chip which turns out to be a fatal action afterwards. I tried a cold boot from the BIOS B then and the board hangs at POST Code 10 (tested with PCI analyzer card), i then switched back to BIOS A and it hangs at the same POST Code, so the board is dead now. I think an offboard downgrade is the only chance to get it back to life. The question is: What went wrong? Why is a warm boot working but not a cold boot? Is this an expectable behaviour when flashing beta bioses? Means beta is completely untested or what are your suggestions to avoid such bricks in the future? Thanks, Chris

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Online Points: 25073	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 Feb 2024 at 11:50pm
	I would try pull the CMOS battery and clear CMOS (with no power connected to the system) before trying an external flash. It could just be a switching issue (stuck on BIOS b). If that fails then you can go ahead with the external flash. Luckily your BIOS ROMs are socketed, that isn't the case with newer boards. As for the BIOS, could have been a bad/incomplete flash. If you have an external flasher then you could try using that to flash the 4.20a BIOS onto one of the ROMs and see if it works properly after that. If so, it was a bad/partially bad flash, if not, there could be an issue with the beta or at least, an issue with your particular system configuration. Good luck