"A2" might *not* be a problem (Taichi z370)
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=6764
Printed Date: 22 Nov 2024 at 11:01am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: "A2" might *not* be a problem (Taichi z370)
Posted By: jonathan7007
Subject: "A2" might *not* be a problem (Taichi z370)
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2017 at 4:50am
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I have a good tip to pass on! Manual for my z370 has an omission. During outside-the-case breadboarding I tried power-up to prove ability to POST before placing
everything inside the case. I borrowed a cheap HDMI-only monitor from my work area that
might have had weird interface characteristics... or the HDMI drivers aren't
native, but there were never ANY glimmers of successful POST during
these attempts. I always ended with "A2" displayed on the LED code
display. This has a message provided in the mobo manual requiring that
the user remove all SATA or IDE (!) devices. Nothing like that was
connected at this stage. The only other piece attached was my new
Samsung 960 Nmve 512 M@ "drive". I called ASRock
headquarters and asked if I could speak to someone for a tech question,
and a helpful gentleman told me that "A2" was a "good" code. I should
check the HDMI cable or the monitor. He told me that this code would be
displayed after the stage of POST during which the screen was asking me to hit F1 or F2 for the dive
into the BIOS. (There are two other function key interrupts listed on that splash image...) In other words, I had missed the prompt to go to the BIOS screen(s). I saw the BIOS as soon as I 1. switched for another monitor that I connected to the DisplayPort output of the motherboard graphics instead of HDMI, and 2. hit "F2" as the board was initializing and the codes were flying by. He was right. That other monitor did it - a Display Port unit. There was the BIOS, aqua colors and to me, as big as Manhattan. Beautiful.
(That second monitor a bit old and VGA/DVI - so the cable had a DP-to-DVI
adapter on it and that was OK for this situation, thankfully.) So
the printed manual was misleading about the meaning of "A2". At the
very least it leaves out important possibilities in the code's meaning. I mentioned that a word about this would be an excellent addition to the manual; the tech was defensive a bit, telling me that the error text segments were "given to us" by what sounded like an electronics group outside ASRock's ability to control. Odd. The purpose of the manual is to help *and" keep tech calls to a minimum to help the company's bottom line. Win-Win when done well. Let me say that I was very grateful he was staffing the phone and I told him so. I would have gone nuts waiting for answer by web-page-inquiry form (while my work surfaces were occupied by an uncompleted build...)
------------- Taichi z370, i7-8700K, Samsung Pro960 512GB, Asus GTX1060 3GB GPU, EVGA 850 PSU, Win10 |
Replies:
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2017 at 6:29am
Thanks for sharing  ------------- 
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Posted By: jonathan7007
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2017 at 8:44am
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Xaltar, It's a way to give back to all those who help me in a forum like this. I do appreciate your thanks. Documentation is so sparse, and in fairness to the companies that offer such sparse docs, a huge percentage don't read even these thin booklets or have poor reading comprehension. (...was a elementary teacher so I know this first hand...) And RTFM was a [sad]thing even back when docs were thick books written carefully by tech writer specialists. So we crowd-source it and have the responsibility to get aback in and share. And hope the search algorithms are up to the task! ------------- Taichi z370, i7-8700K, Samsung Pro960 512GB, Asus GTX1060 3GB GPU, EVGA 850 PSU, Win10 |
Posted By: DrFranco
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2018 at 11:28am
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Thank you so very much! Based on the manual this code would indicate a SATA error. Been banging my head against the wall for hours because of this. |
Posted By: dez496
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2018 at 3:19pm
| " rel="nofollow - I know this is an old post but I am confused. Should I try out another monitor, new cable? |