Intel Motherboards - Error code a8 on Taichi z270

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Error code a8 on Taichi z270

Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: Intel Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock Intel Motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4495
Printed Date: 23 Jul 2025 at 1:35am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Error code a8 on Taichi z270

Posted By: mbaren
Subject: Error code a8 on Taichi z270
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 11:07pm

" rel="nofollow - Hi there -

I recently got a Taichi z270 board. It works... sort of.

Basically, every time I power up, it almost immediate shows an error code of a8, which is unfortunately not in the Dr. Debug documentation. And it hangs immediately - no chance to get into UEFI or anything.

Then, if I immediate power off and power back up, the CPU fan spins up, stops, and then starts again, and the whole things boots as normal. So I can use my PC, but obviously something is a little off.

I've done the whole "clear CMOS" thing, which seems to be a suggested response to a whole lot of errors, but it didn't fix the issue.

Any ideas? I'm kinda lost here.

Replies:

Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 11:18pm

" rel="nofollow - Could you provide a full list of system specs including power supply brand and model, it is also helpful if you identify any old components that have gone into your build.

Clear CMOS works for a (seemingly) wide variety of issues, the reality is that it works with UEFI related issues which makes the number of times it is suggested make a little more sense. The vast majority of issues we see here on the forums are either compatibility, PSU or UEFI related.

In addition, does this happen every time you power on or only from cold boot (the system being turned on for the first time in over several hours)?

Error a0-a7 are storage related so I would try disconnecting your drives and testing to see if you can get into the UEFI (reproducing the issue without storage/drives connected).

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Posted By: mbaren
Date Posted: 28 Feb 2017 at 2:04am

Thanks for the response!

So, I figured it out - it's actually a RAM issue. It seems that my Corsair ram sticks (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15) are not officially supported by this board. So even though the board will read their XMP profile (which is for 3000MHz), this problem occurs when I attempt to use it. If I shut off XMP, the issue goes away.

That's a bit of a bummer, but at least I figured it out.

FWIW, here's my full build:

i5-7500

ASRock 270 Taichi

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8) DDR4-3000 (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15)

Intel 520s SSD

Samsung 850 EVO SSD

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750ti

EVGA SuperNova G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
... and some USB devices

Also, with regards to your question about when it happens - yes, it happens booting cold, or not-so-cold. The problem is pretty consistent all around.

Anyway, in the interest of being thorough I wish ASRock would update its documentation to include the a8 code, and of course hopefully a future bios update will make my memory compatible, but at least everything's working okay now.

Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 28 Feb 2017 at 2:45am

Thanks for posting back, the Z270 boards are still very new and will be receiving updates for a while before all the kinks are worked out. Luckily it seems they are less buggy than Skylake was at launch Confused

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Posted By: parsec
Date Posted: 28 Feb 2017 at 8:44am

mbaren wrote:

" rel="nofollow - Hi there -

I recently got a Taichi z270 board. It works... sort of.

Basically, every time I power up, it almost immediate shows an error code of a8, which is unfortunately not in the Dr. Debug documentation. And it hangs immediately - no chance to get into UEFI or anything.

Then, if I immediate power off and power back up, the CPU fan spins up, stops, and then starts again, and the whole things boots as normal. So I can use my PC, but obviously something is a little off.

I've done the whole "clear CMOS" thing, which seems to be a suggested response to a whole lot of errors, but it didn't fix the issue.

Any ideas? I'm kinda lost here.

So a memory, or really yet another DDR4 XMP profile issue. I've used XMP profiles with every mother board with DDR2 and DDR3 memory I've owned, but DDR4... I wouldn't use the XMP profile, or I should say I can't use them, nothing but problems.

What I use that works for me with DDR4 memory is the DRAM Tweaker feature in the DRAM Configuration screen. It looks like it just reads and lets you apply some of the XMP data/settings from the memory, but must be only a subset of the XMP data. Give that feature a try.

An A8 POST code? The Ax codes are generally SATA and storage drive related. Might be the memory that AHCI uses causes that failure when using the XMP profile. Confused

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Posted By: mbaren
Date Posted: 01 Mar 2017 at 7:24am

Thanks! Yeah, I may give that a try this weekend.