I think I killed my MSI Z97 U3 PLUS Motherboard!!!

[jaggerwild]

Working on installing a brand new Vega 64, and 34" monitor to complete my dream machine.

First step, hook up the 34" to the on board graphics. PC will boot into windows, but won't show the UEFI Bios screen. I plug my 24" Dell monitor and it works fine. I noticed that the BIOS on my MSI Z97 was way old (first version).

I download the BIOS, put it on a USB thumb drive and run M-Flash. Goes through the BIOS ME update, then 100% through the BIOS update itself. Says success and says I can wait 5 seconds or reboot myself.

I wait 5 second and let it reboot on it's own... fans spin up, no beep, no nothing. No signal on the screen.

Take out battery, unplug, reset CMOS, wait 15 minutes, same thing. Fans spin up, but no beep and absolutely no signal to the monitor. Tried 3 different times.

This board has a soldered on BIOS chip and no second BIOS. I'm sooooo pissed. My new toys (over $1,000 worth) are sitting next to a dead box.

Boot the board, the bios flash was good. When the board hangs on boot, hit "RESET"(with the board powered on), board will boot then. You can send me money when it works too!

 

[Sasqui]

Boot the board, the bios flash was good. When the board hangs on boot, hit "RESET"(with the board powered on), board will boot then. You can send me money when it works too!

Easy enough that it's worth a try, will let you know either way

 

[Sasqui]

Boot the board, the bios flash was good. When the board hangs on boot, hit "RESET"(with the board powered on), board will boot then. You can send me money when it works too!

Sorry man, no money coming your way. Tried it 100 different ways to Sunday just 15 minutes ago. I even had the CMOS clear jumper on with the battery out since last night. Took off the CMOS jumper and put the battery back in, powered up, nothing, held the reset button nothing. Just spinning fans. Held the power button down, shut off, turned on, held the reset button, still same thing.

If I shutdown by holding the power button, that's when the blue LED comes on, it blinks 16 times then stops.

 

[Sasqui]

@Solaris17 @silentbogo

Ok, now things are getting weird. I was looking into the BIOS I saved from the motherboard and comparing it with the VER 1.A I downloaded from MSI, then the apparent VER 1.0, the file sizes are different, does that indicate I've got the wrong ROM?

Here's a pic of the MB:

Here's where I downloaded the 1A and 10 BIOS files you see above:

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z97-U3-PLUS

I google MS-7922 and it lands on Z97S SLI Krait Edition

Is the V1.1 a "one-off" of the Z97 U3 PLUS?

 

[jsfitz54]

So if you have the wrong bios, why did it not say there was a mismatch and say you have the wrong version and can't proceed?

 

[Sasqui]

why did it not say there was a mismatch and say you have the wrong version and can't proceed

Good question, because it didn't. I watched the whole process. It did an update of "BIOS ME" first, then an update of "BIOS"

...and there's no mismatch between the MB model and the MSI support page. The only thing that seems off is the VER 1.1 and I searched for that as well, with no results.

 

[jsfitz54]

What ver bios did you flash? I thought ver 1.4 was newest then found ver 1.6 here:

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/BIOS/Msi/MSI-Z97-U3-PLUS-BIOS-1-6.shtml

EDIT: This page shows 1.A as newest:
https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z97-U3-PLUS#down-bios

Look at ver 1.8 notes regarding Intel graphics driver???

 

[Sasqui]

What ver bios did you flash? I thought ver 1.4 was newest then found ver 1.6 here:

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/BIOS/Msi/MSI-Z97-U3-PLUS-BIOS-1-6.shtml

EDIT: This page shows 1.A as newest:
https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z97-U3-PLUS#down-bios

The .1A0 version in the screenshot above, file size 8,192 KB

All of the versions on softpedia are 8,192 KB ....as are the ones on the MSI site. The one I saved from the MB is 6,656 KB (refer to screenshot above)

 

[jsfitz54]

The .1A0 version in the screenshot above, file size 8,192 KB

All of the versions on softpedia are 8,192 KB ....as are the ones on the MSI site. The one I saved from the MB is 6,656 KB (refer to screenshot above)

Do you have another BLANK USB drive to try blind flashing another ver bios nearest the top but not 1.A. Also, are you using the correct USB port on the back of the MB??

EDIT: That MSIHQ DOS Flash Utility saved my ass.

 

[Sasqui]

Do you have another BLANK USB drive to try blind flashing another ver bios nearest the top but not 1.A. Also, are you using the correct USB port on the back of the MB??

No idea how to blind flash, honestly. USB was plugged into one of the 2x USB 2.0 slots on the IO panel, it wouldn't work on any of the USB 3.0 slots

 

[Solaris17]

They aren't related. 1.1 is the PCB version of the board not an indication of what BIOS was one it or what one it should have. The web page would indicate that difference otherwise. 1.A is the newest BIOS since it comes after 1.9 and this boards naming scheme ends numbers with 9 so there would not be a 1.10 for example.

The bios sizes can vastly change depending on changes specifically to the UEFI structure since it takes more space and more so boards that belong to generations of CPUs that change alot after launch. x299 is a big contender here since there is alot of varience in what the chips can do and alot of the chips were un-released at launch so the BIOS sizes vary wildly.

 

[Sasqui]

They aren't related. 1.1 is the PCB version of the board not an indication of what BIOS was one it or what one it should have. The web page would indicate that difference otherwise. 1.A is the newest BIOS since it comes after 1.9 and this boards naming scheme ends numbers with 9 so there would not be a 1.10 for example.

The bios sizes can vastly change depending on changes specifically to the UEFI structure since it takes more space and more so boards that belong to generations of CPUs that change alot after launch. x299 is a big contender here since there is alot of varience in what the chips can do and alot of the chips were un-released at launch so the BIOS sizes vary wildly.

If you look at the screenshot, the DOWNLOADED .100 BIOS and .1A0 BIOS are the same size, BUT not the same size as the .100 BIOS saved from the MB.

My GIGA UD5H had two MB versions 1.0 and 1.1, each have their own BIOS version, I know that firsthand ...EDIT (but Gigabyte makes that clear on the support site)

 

[jsfitz54]

No idea how to blind flash, honestly. USB was plugged into one of the 2x USB 2.0 slots on the IO panel, it wouldn't work on any of the USB 3.0 slots

You prepare the usb stick put it in the back slot and boot tapping the F2 key to get a prompt

Do you have the CD that came with the motherboard. Often there is a Bios restore utility on the disk.

 

[Solaris17]

If you look at the screenshot, the DOWNLOADED .100 BIOS and .1A0 BIOS are the same size, BUT not the same size as the .100 BIOS saved from the MB.

My GIGA UD5H had two MB versions 1.0 and 1.1, each have their own BIOS version, I know that firsthand.

Yes because the updates include the firmware for Intel ME but ME is not part of the main BIOS block and would not be dumped.

 

[Sasqui]

You prepare the usb stick put it in the back slot and boot tapping the F2 key to get a prompt

Do you have the CD that came with the motherboard. Often there is a Bios restore utility on the disk.

The board will not boot at all after the flash to .1A, see the OP

Yes because the updates include the firmware for Intel ME but ME is not part of the main BIOS block and would not be dumped.

When I flashed with M-Flash, it did an update of "BIOS ME" first, then an update of "BIOS"

 

[jsfitz54]

See these instructions:

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=184066.msg1323020#msg1323020

The board will not boot at all after the flash to .1A, see the OP

That's blind flashing, you don't get a screen at all but the disk will restore the factory bios.
The manual should have instructions.

 

[Solaris17]

The board will not boot at all after the flash to .1A, see the OP



When I flashed with M-Flash, it did an update of "BIOS ME" first, then an update of "BIOS"

yup. ME stands for Management Engine the main BIOS block "BIOS" is all the stuff you see when you hit DEL at startup. Thats the stuff you actually interact with.

 

[Sasqui]

See these instructions:

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=184066.msg1323020#msg1323020

I had no problems with the BIOS flash up until the part after it said it was successful and to either restart manually or wait 5 seconds. I let it reboot and the system was bricked.

yup. ME stands for Management Engine the main BIOS block "BIOS" is all the stuff you see when you hit DEL at startup. Thats the stuff you actually interact with.

So that's all contained in the .1A0 file? The download includes that and a .EXE file (along with a .TXT file)

 

[Solaris17]

I had no problems with the BIOS flash up until the part after it said it was successful and to either restart manually or wait 5 seconds. I let it reboot and the system was bricked.



So that's all contained in the .1A0 file? The download includes that and a .EXE file (along with a .TXT file)

yup the txt is usually just instruction. the exe is just the flash tool. all the good stuff is in the actual binary BIOS file.

 

[Sasqui]

yup the txt is usually just instruction. the exe is just the flash tool. all the good stuff is in the actual binary BIOS file.

Here's the contents of the BIOS download from MSI (Ver .100):

...AFUDE238.EXE is a flash tool?

 

[Final_Fighter]

if you can get a .bin image from a bios recovery business there is a way to program the chip without having to solder it off. you would need these 2 things and the drivers.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SOIC8-SOP8...ST-SHIP-USA-/253229896571?hash=item3af5ad937b

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CH341A-Ser...r-Pin-board-/282708460008?hash=item41d2bcc1e8

the drivers are in the description.

i emailed a company that does bios recovery to see if i can get an image and let you know. sometimes the programmer cant read the bios when its on the motherboard and you need to have it removed then program it. its a hit and miss type situation. if you need to remove it its not that hard to do, just look up some youtube vids.

edit: with this programmer you cant just flash the bios image from the msi website, they are structured differently. you have to get one thats all setup and ready to go like they are when they are programed by them when new. i would need to email msi to see if they can get a fresh bios. usually they will just give me the run around. if you email them tel them you need one that you can flash directly onto the chip because you have a programmer.

edit 2: the way the guy shows it in the video is with the bios removed. with the adapter i listed you can just clip it onto the motherboard.

here is another rundown of how to use it.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1612108/...o-unbrick-flash-almost-any-card-amd-or-nvidia

 

[Sasqui]

if you can get a .bin image from a bios recovery business there is a way to program the chip without having to solder it off. you would need these 2 things and the drivers.

There's a way to do it without slaughtering the MB See this post: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...-z97-u3-plus-motherboard.238973/#post-3757569

I also save the original BIOS file before I flashed

 

[jsfitz54]

So when you use the MSIHQ tool to create a bootable USB drive, when the tool opens, you have to add the .bin file(or whatever the .extension file is) and run the program. It incorporates the Bios into the program and makes a bootable USB drive.

The Master USB ports are the ones nearest the keyboard/mouse inputs.

 

[Solaris17]

Here's the contents of the BIOS download from MSI (Ver .100):

...AFUDE238.EXE is a flash tool?

View attachment 94204

Yup. what you would do is create an MS-DOS startup disk using RUFUS for example. then you would put the .exe and the BIOS on the drive and boot from it. You would land at an old school looking DOS prompt and you would literally type AFUDE238.exe and it would run the flash tool.

 

[Sasqui]

So when you use the MSIHQ tool to create a bootable USB drive, when the tool opens, you have to add the .bin file(or whatever the .extension file is) and run the program. It incorporates the Bios into the program and makes a bootable USB drive.

The Master USB ports are the ones nearest the keyboard/mouse inputs.

The system is bricked as far as I can tell, no video signal, no lights on keyboard and mouse. The fans power up but nothing else. I did notice the light on the USB drive come on, but no activity, just stays lit.