X870 Steel Legend POST issue
Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: AMD Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock AMD motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=113571
Printed Date: 22 Oct 2026 at 2:25am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.08 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: X870 Steel Legend POST issue
Posted By: PeterNeedHelp
Subject: X870 Steel Legend POST issue
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2026 at 3:44am
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Hello. Starting on September 1st, after my system has worked perfectly for 1.5 years, the motherboard now will sometimes try to POST but get stuck on a solid green "BOOT" LED. Specs Motherboard: ASRock X870 Steel Legend Wifi BIOS Version: 4.43 since September 5th. I was previously on version 3.40 for over a year. This issue occurs for me on both 3.40 and 4.43. CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-Core Processor RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z5 64GB model F5-6000J3040G32GX2-TZ5NR x2 Power Supply: CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM1000x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply GPU: SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB GDDR6 PCI Express 5.0 x16 ATX Drives: - Main drive for windows 11: Samsung ssd 990 pro 2tb - Other drives: samsung ssd 850 evo 250gb, samsung ssd 980 pro 1tb, toshiba hdwd130 Additional information - My last windows update was on July 14th, so it couldn't be a windows update that caused this - My last GPU driver update was also on July 14th, so it couldn't be a GPU driver update that caused this - I haven't changed how I use the computer in months - The room that the computer is in has not changed in temperature more than a few degrees F, and the room is not humid - No devices have been added to or removed from the computer in months - There have been no power surges or other electrical issues in months - Nothing has bumped the computer - The computer is clean of dust - My boot order in the bios is the main drive for windows 11, then the other drives. - My bios has the latest default settings from v4.43 with the EXPO 6000 profile for my RAM. - When I tried to update the bios to v4.43 with Instant Flash, the issue would occur during the restart too (it happened 3 times). The only reason I got onto v4.43 is by it luckily successfully booting on the first attempt 1 time out of 4 attempts, since it has to restart once to start updating the bios. Things I've noticed - When trying to POST and ultimately getting stuck, the CPU light will be solid with the DRAM light blinking. Then, the green BOOT light will be the only one on and it'll stay on forever. - When trying to POST and ultimately succeeding, the CPU light will be solid with the DRAM light blinking. Then, the green BOOT light will be the only one on for a second, and then the CPU light will flash on then off while the BOOT light is still on. Then, the white VGA light will be the only one on temporarily, and the system will start running perfectly fine. - If it gets stuck on the solid green BOOT light, if I press the reset button it'll try again and it'll succeed. - The issue has only ever occurred (in about 10 attempts) when trying to boot from power off; however, it also booted perfectly fine on September 2nd and September 3rd. But it has only succeeded on the first attempt once out of 8 times today, so it's as if it has worsened on its own. - Once I've booted into windows, the computer is completely stable - The only issue is the inconsistent success I have with the POST sequence, which is why I think it's the motherboard's fault |
Replies:
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2026 at 4:24pm
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Try removing the GPU and connecting your display to the motherboard display output. A green LED is meant to indicate successful test completion (POST for that component). Sometimes the system can hang at the boot phase when it doesn't detect your display or GPU properly. While you have the GPU out, use a Q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol to carefully clean the contacts that go into the PCIe slot. It's not uncommon with how heavy modern GPUs are these days for the card to sag in the slot and develop some corrosion on the contacts that can, over time, accumulate and cause a bad/intermittent connection. This is why GPU brackets have become a fairly common thing. Let me know if the system works without issue using the CPU's iGPU without the dedicated GPU installed. If it still has the issue we will have to look at other troubleshooting options. Good luck  ------------- 
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Posted By: Necrooss
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2026 at 5:43pm
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Hi. I'm having the exact same issue on my X870 Steel Legend WiFi. Stuck on solid green BOOT LED on cold boots, resolves after power cycling 5-6 times, and completely stable once in Windows. Fans spin, no display, no motherboard logo, consistent every time until I retry. Did you find solution? I want to know before I start reseating everything once more. Thanks. |
Posted By: DontAsk
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2026 at 8:56pm
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Hi, did you already tried using the AGESA default profile instead of the EXPO/XMP profile? If that works then the issue may be related to the IMC/DRAM. Either degeneration or too optimistic settings in the BIOS (e.g. voltages, sub-timings, etc.). However, 5600MHz is the max. official guaranteed DRAM frequency for the Ryzen 9000 series if only 2 ram slots are used regardless if it's single or dual rank ram. |
Posted By: Necrooss
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2026 at 11:27pm
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Hi. I've tried a bunch of BIOS settings. Default, underclocked, overclocked, EXPO enabled, and even disabling fast boot. Yesterday I ran memtest86 and left the USB stick plugged into the back of the mobo. Today I haven't run into the problem at all so far. My guess (and it's really just a guess, since I'm not deep into this low-level stuff) is that Windows have done something with its boot partition, and having an extra bootable device connected changes how the boot devices get enumerated compared to having just the one. |
Posted By: RinDman
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2026 at 4:29am
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Well if you have cold boot or resume from S3 with black screen with only num lock led reacting to your keyboard : Smells CPU going away If it's a degradation, as a temporary band aid : Try LN2 settings to have a succesfull boot on cold morning or resuming from sleep Sent back my CPU to AMD, I'll wait for a replacement |
Posted By: Necrooss
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2026 at 10:38pm
| Thanks for the tip, but numlock doesn't toggle when I'm stuck on the BOOT LED, so doesn't seem to be the same issue. Still troubleshooting. |
Posted By: DeniDoman
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2026 at 10:15am
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ASRock B850M Steel Legend WiFi - same issue. I noticed it before, but after 4.43 it become much worse. I need 4-5 attempts to start the PC. I tried: - Plug the monitor into GPU and internal GPU - Eject my GPU - Eject both SSDs (including bootable) - Disconnect all USBs - With and without EXPO - Disabled memory training saving (e.g. it trains every start) - Reinstall CPU (visual check showed no issues with the CPU or socket) - Try with 1 RAM module in B2, then another. Same for A2. Nothing helped. But after it starts - works hours under heavy load, no BSODs, no issues. So, I'd say it's some memory-related BIOS startup issue introduced somewhere in 2026 and degraded even more in 4.43. Please investigate and fix asap, this is very annoying. My build: - ASRock B850M Steel Legend WiFi - AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D - GeForce RTX£5090 32G VENTUS 3X OC - G.Skill Flare X5 64 GB DDR5-6000 (2x 32 GB) - F5-6000J3040G32GX2-FX5, EXPO - MSI MEG AI1300TS |
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2026 at 1:34pm
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Thanks for the info DeniDoman. It may be worth opening a https://tw.asrock.com/events/tsd.asp£kind=MB" rel="nofollow - support ticket with ASRock and linking to this thread in it. Every configuration and specific detail will likely be useful to them. -------------
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Posted By: DeniDoman
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2026 at 2:24am
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I will. Enabling LN2 helped, now it's stable. What a joke! Reddit post with this workaround was created a YEAR ago. Half a year ago the official support asked to enable LN2 and check. But the problem still exists. For those who come after: Advanced\AMD Overclocking\(Accept)\LN2 Mode -> Enabled |
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2026 at 4:46pm
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Let me know how it goes with your ticket and how your system holds up. Good luck -------------
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Posted By: DeniDoman
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2026 at 11:06pm
Got the answer next day:
So I successfully RMAed my CPU, ordered a new Gigabyte mobo and now trying to RMA my ASRock mobo. |
Xaltar wrote:Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2026 at 12:47am
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Ouch, bad luck DeniDoman. Good luck with the RMA and new board/CPU. I suspect your original board wasn't the cause but better to be safe than sorry. At the end of the day piece of mind is always better than taking a chance. Here's hoping you never have an issue like this again -------------
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Posted By: PeterNeedHelp
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2026 at 2:24am
| Late update: I tried the integrated graphics and ran into the same issues consistently, so I've concluded that my GPU is fine, clean, and unrelated to this. Considering the other guy was told his CPU was faulty, I assume it's the same case for me. Oh well |
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2026 at 2:47am
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Damn, sorry to hear it PeterNeedHelp. It was worth ruling out other possible causes at least. Good luck with the RMA. -------------
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