x399 taichi fails to boot with "33 d3 Ad A2 21 12"
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=7357
Printed Date: 18 Jul 2025 at 11:19am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: x399 taichi fails to boot with "33 d3 Ad A2 21 12"
Posted By: soniqboom
Subject: x399 taichi fails to boot with "33 d3 Ad A2 21 12"
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018 at 8:09am
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" rel="nofollow - System details, problem summary and problem details below. I would appreciate it if anyone could suggest next steps for me. Should I try different RAM, or open a support request for a dead A2 socket and to RMA the (1-day old) board? (I apologise in advance if I made any mistakes typing this up, and missed them in the proof-read; it has been a long day trying to narrow down the cause of this issue). System details: Motherboard: X399 TAICHI/A/ASRK Purchased 2 days ago CPU: 1950X Cooler: Noctua
NH-U14S TR4-SP3 cooler Memory: F4-3200C14Q-64GTZR * OS: Windows 10 (build 1709) Storage: M2_1:
1 x 1TB Samsung 960 PRO M.2 PCI-E NVME SSD Storage: M2_2:
1 x Crucial Technology 1TB MX300 M.2 2280SS SSD - CT1050MX300SSD4 * I realise this is not on the QVL, but have used it as (a) memory on the QVL just isn't available right now and (b) I did research and ask other users and two people said it worked for them, nobody said it didn't work for them. Summary: Installed all hardware as per manual (RAM in slots S2, B2, C2, D2). Booted (BIOS version 1.50). Used internet update in UEFI to update to v2.00. After windows 10 install, windows reported "64
GB of RAM, 47.9 GB usable". Systematically narrowing down the issue led me to the point where any of the 4 RAM sticks in slot A2 caused the board not to boot, displaying error code C0. All sticks in any other *2 slot allowed the board to boot with no issues. Flashback of BIOS to v1.70 caused the board to fail to boot regardless of memory stick configuration. The error codes cycled through as follows: 33
de Ad A2 21 12. (Is it me or does that say "dead A2")? Flashback of BIOS to v1.50 allows the board to boot, but shows the same symptoms as for v2.00. Detailed troubleshooting notes: A single stick of RAM in DDR4_A2 causes the motherboard to fail to boot into UEFI, reporting error code C0. This is regardless of the stick of RAM, out of the set of 4, that is used. After flashback to v1.70 the board fails to boot with error codes 33 de Ad A2 21 12 displayed on a cycle. This error shows with DDR4 slots A2, B2, C2, D2 populated, and also with just C2, D2 populated. With BIOS v1.50 the errors are as with v2.00.
Notes: - In all successful boot configurations listed below, each populated slot reports as 16384MB (DDR4-2133) in EUFI. Installation process:
1. Hardware was fully installed, with RAM in A2, B2, C2, D2. 2. On first boot it booted successfully into UEFI. BIOS version was 1.50. It was upgraded to 2.00 using Internet Flash.
3. Windows 10 1709 was then installed successfully. 4. With all slots populated (switching RAM sticks through the slots): a) Windows 10 reports only "64 GB of RAM, 47.9 GB usable". This is a shortfall of 16GB from the expected report of "63.9 GB usable", which equals exactly one stick of RAM; b) UEFI reports Total Memory = 65536MB, Quadruple-Channel Memory Mode; c) HWInfo reports Memory Clock as only 1,065.6 MHz.
5. Rotating RAM in pairs (sticks 1, 2 then 3, 4) with 2 sticks of RAM in C2, D2: a) Windows 10 reports "32 GB of RAM, 31.9 GB usable"; b) UEFI reports Total Memory = 32768MB, Dual-Channel Memory Mode.
6. Rotating RAM in pairs (sticks 1, 2 then 3, 4) with 2 sticks of RAM in A2, B2: a) Windows 10 reports "32 GB of RAM, 15.9 GB usable" - this is a shortfall of 16GB (1 stick) from the expected report; b) UEFI reports Total Memory = 32768MB, Dual-Channel Memory Mode.
7. Rotating each stick of RAM through slots A2, B2: a) using slot B2 successfully boots into UEFI each time; b) using slot A2 never boots and the motherboard displays error code C0.
Note that UEFI is set to defaults: 1. XMP Profile = Auto 2. TR4 Advance Boot Training = Auto
After following the above steps to narrow down the problem the following steps were performed: 1. A2, B2, C2, D2 were populated. 2. BIOS was then flashbacked to 1.70 as per the manual, p29. Result: The board does not boot to UEFI, displaying the codes: 33 de Ad A2 21 12 in turn. Note: This error also shows with only slots C2, D2 populated.
3. BIOS was then flashbacked to 1.50 as per the manual, p29. Result: The board now displays the same symptoms as when running v2.00.
CMOS clearing causes no change to the described symptoms. |
Replies:
Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018 at 10:07am
" rel="nofollow -
Your 64GB kit. Are the 4 sticks serial numbers consecutive? Mem showing up at half values sometimes represent mismatched sticks. Too, make damn sure they are FULLY seated into he slot(s). This seems to be more commonplace in the past couple of years here. Assuming the sn's are consecutive, try this. With two consecutive sticks populating ONLY A2 and B2, check that BIOS recognizes 32GB, and you check stability however you care. Note: Always check stability BEFORE flashing! Reset BIOS to Default, Save and exit, reboot back to BIOS, using Instant Flash flash to BIOS 2.00, check that BIOS recognizes 32GB, and you check stability however you care. Post back how that goes using A2 and B2. |
soniqboom wrote:Posted By: MisterJ
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018 at 10:27am
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" rel="nofollow - soniqboom, I would suggest you open a ticket with ASRock Support and start the discussion of a RMA for your board with a bad memory socket. Please, in the future, use Instant Flash to update your UEFI. Here are the Dr. Debug codes: http://forum.hwbot.org/showthread.php?t=16017 I did not examine all, but I suspect most are progress codes and tell you little. As far as I am aware they do not identify busted parts. What speed are you running the memory? I recommend you run only the SPD speed (probably 2400 MHz) until you get to a stable system recognizing all memory, then try your XMP. Please keep us informed. Thanks and enjoy, John. ------------- Fat1 X399 Pro Gaming, TR 1950X, RAID0 3xSamsung SSD 960 EVO, G.SKILL FlareX F4-3200C14Q-32GFX, Win 10 x64 Pro, Enermx Platimax 850, Enermx Liqtech TR4 CPU Cooler, Radeon RX580, BIOS 2.00, 2xHDDs WD |
Posted By: kerberos_20
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018 at 1:51pm
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for low frequencies u can try a1/b1 slots they tend to not overclock that well...signal gets broken unless u play with it for a while but 2133 should be fine (2666 should be max) |
Posted By: soniqboom
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018 at 4:36pm
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EDIT: Thanks for the help, wardog. Sorry, I was so focused on writing a proper reply and making sure I had covered all your points I forgot to thank you.
This isn't what's shown in the x399 Taichi manual on page 20 - the manual states slots A2, B2 for two sticks and A2, B2, C2, D2 for 4 sticks. Is the manual incorrect?
Yes they are (this is a quad channel kit, but I did double check that they were consecutive S/Ns before installing the sticks). The sticks were originally installed with consecutive S/Ns in slot order A2, B2, C2, D2. The tests I did tested both consecutive S/N order, and other randomised orders.
They are. You can't help but flex this board a little when you install RAM sticks once the board is in the case; I don't want to push any harder and flex it any more than it does already. FWIW both ends of the stick click into their catches.
I did this - it is detailed in the original post. To summarise as my original post may have been badly written:
When you say "Reset BIOS to Default" I assume you mean to clear CMOS? I did the above steps, updating to v2.00 using Instant Flash from the x399tc2.00 file. The results were the same as before: BIOS recognises all the sticks as 16384MB (DDR4-2133) with Total Memory = 65536MB, Quadruple-Channel Memory Mode, however Windows reports "32GB of RAM, 15.9 usable". And to your other comment:
FWIW I genuinely thought I had as the BIOS was reporting all sticks as being present, which is why I proceeded to flash it and then install windows. It is worth noting that if the BIOS had been shipped as v1.70 I wouldn't have got as far as installing windows due to the cycling Dr Debug error codes that prevent the board even POSTing. It's odd that this feature went away in v2.00 FWIW the reason I flashed when I did is because of reading the issues about: (1) installing windows with earlier BIOS versions (iirc they are related to iommu settings); and (2) m.2 sata ssds causing issues in slots 1+2. Both of these were reported fixed by v2.00. However next time I will certainly install with the shipped BIOS first. Assuming there are no issues using my SATA SSD in M2_2 then I will test memory stability before updating the BIOS. |
Posted By: soniqboom
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018 at 4:38pm
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Thanks for your reply.
I will do that later today if we don't make any further progress in this thread.
I'm just using the defaults in the UEFI - I haven't made any changes. The UEFI defaults to XMP Profile = Auto, TR4 Advance Boot Training = Auto. What would you recommend as the process when the system is first booted up to configure memory speed?
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Posted By: kerberos_20
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018 at 9:07pm
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start with default frequency, if its stable, keep increasing, until u hit wall |
Posted By: MisterJ
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2018 at 4:52am
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soniqboom, it sounds like you have a bad memory socket and I doubt that can be fixed with a settings change. I had a pair of bad sockets on my X370 board and had to RMA. Wanted to make sure you were not OCing. I would suggest running all Default settings until some confidence is gained in the system - perhaps a few days at least. Enjoy, John.
------------- Fat1 X399 Pro Gaming, TR 1950X, RAID0 3xSamsung SSD 960 EVO, G.SKILL FlareX F4-3200C14Q-32GFX, Win 10 x64 Pro, Enermx Platimax 850, Enermx Liqtech TR4 CPU Cooler, Radeon RX580, BIOS 2.00, 2xHDDs WD |
Posted By: soniqboom
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2018 at 4:58am
I think that's the conclusion I've come to. I have reported it as DOA and stared the refund process.
Nope. Not yet at least! Thanks for all the help. I have a replacement x399 Taichi board ordered for tomorrow so I will try and remember to update here once I've switched everything over to the new board.
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Posted By: MisterJ
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2018 at 5:36am
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Thanks much, soniqboom. Best and enjoy, John.
------------- Fat1 X399 Pro Gaming, TR 1950X, RAID0 3xSamsung SSD 960 EVO, G.SKILL FlareX F4-3200C14Q-32GFX, Win 10 x64 Pro, Enermx Platimax 850, Enermx Liqtech TR4 CPU Cooler, Radeon RX580, BIOS 2.00, 2xHDDs WD |
Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2018 at 7:07am
Please do. |
Posted By: soniqboom
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 12:27am
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" rel="nofollow - Summary: re-seated CPU; all RAM now recognised; runs fine at 3200 (stable under prime95); but reboots intermittently when pc is idle. ASRock support response ASRock support got back to me - my ticket contained all of the information I've posted here and nothing else of note. Their response was really good, imho. In summary: 1. Regarding the initial symptoms they said:
2. Regarding the Dr debug codes:
3. Regarding HWinfo reporting the memory clock as 1,065.6 MHz
I think most of this confirms what we'd already said. What I did next: 1. Removed cooler and took photos of the TIM 2. Unclipped CPU retention frame and rail frame, kept CPU in the frames. 3. Inspected and photographed the socket, pins and the cpu contact surface. Some TIM had bled out of the sides (tiny, tiny amounts), but certainly hadn't made it into the socket or onto the contact surface underneath the CPU. One pin reflected light strangely on the photos, but didn't look bent to the eye, I intended to check that again but ran out of time. So here's the weird thing: I was running out of time so I clipped the CPU back in, screwed it down using the torque wrench, fixed and screwed in the cooler and reassembled the board in the case to keep it safe for the night. The next morning I booted it without thinking. I did nothing different to the original install except I didn't clean the cooler and put new TIM on, I used the old stuff. You can see where this is going ... 1. All the memory is now reported as usable in windows 2. When I then (a) reset the CMOS; (b) rebooted into UEFI and then set it to XMP Profile 1, selecting 3200 memory speed it (c) booted into windows, and (d) passed prime95 on both blend and then small FFT for 1 hour each. Temperatures in p95 Blend as reported by HWInfo (ambient is 23 C) are no more than: 1. TDie: 34 C above ambient after running for an hour (2 C when idle) 2. RAM (DIMM 1, 3, 5, 7 respectively): 19, 17, 21, 28 above ambient (3, 3, 5, 9 C when idle). 3. Motherboard: 6 C above ambient (1 C when idle). Temperatures are more than a little anecdotal as the fans aren't just running at 100% all the time, there is a fan profile which adjust fan speed based on TCtl and mobo temperatures. Here's the problem though: It isn't stable. It is stable under p95 but if it sits idle it intermittently reboots. This sometimes happens 65 seconds after showing the windows login screen, without me touching anything, and sometimes doesn't happen before I've done other stuff and rebooted deliberately. It only happens when the PC is idle and doing nothing (i.e. I've stepped away). I've also noticed that before it reboots the USB mouse and keybard become unresponsive. I've only noticed this before some reboots, other times it reboots without me using them so I don't know if it happened or not. Also sometimes they become unresponsive and it doesn't reboot for a while so I have to reset it myself. This unresponsiveness also happens in the UEFI screen as well as in windows. (Mouse and keyboard are plugged into the USB ports closes to the flashback button on the back of the board). What next? So now I'm stumped. 1. Is it a bad board and/or a bad CPU? 2. Are they ok and the CPU is still seated badly (how is that even possible given the physical engineering of the TR4 slot, the orange carrier frame, the clip to fix into the rails, the blue clips to hold it down, and the provided torque wrench)? 3. Is it seated properly and this is now something else entirely? And what, therefore, should I do next (I have a second board sitting here now but would rather refund it than use it if at all possible)? None/some/all of: 1. Re-seat the CPU again? 2. Remove the CPU again, check the pins yet again and report back to ASRock? 3. Fiddle with voltages and see if the RAM stabilises when the PC is idle (which voltages would this be)? 4. Try the second board (which will cost me, so I want to avoid it if possible)? 5. RMA this board? ------------- X399 Taichi (BIOS 2.00), 1950X at default, F4-3200C14Q-64GTZR https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/hC7wtJ" rel="nofollow - (full parts list) |
Posted By: kerberos_20
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 6:25am
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as for those "de ad and few others" loop i can reproduce it too when i put too high timings on RRD |
Posted By: soniqboom
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2018 at 11:30pm
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I thought I'd post an update. I opened the second board. On first CPU install (doing nothing any differently to the other times I installed the cpu on the original board) it worked fine. I even re-seated it a couple of times, all with no issues with the A2 slot. I then went back to the first board and had the A2 slot issue after re-seating the CPU yet again, then it went away again after re-seating it another time again! ASRock were concerned about a pin on the socket that was reflecting light a little differently in the photos, but after a lot more detailed photos they decided it probably wasn't a problem. In the end due to the issues with re-seating it (that weren't happening in Board 2) they said to RMA it. I was convinced enough by the difference in behaviour between the two boards that this was the right call.
------------- X399 Taichi (BIOS 2.00), 1950X at default, F4-3200C14Q-64GTZR https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/hC7wtJ" rel="nofollow - (full parts list) |