machinist e5-mr9a-pro wont boot, shows FF

[zoulztealer]

friend of mine got this here:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006394406501.html

when he wants to boot, the debug led only shows FF all the time.

any ideas what this could be or how to solve?

removing ram, gpu or clearing bios has no effect on the debug code, always shows FF no matter what.

booting one ram stick does not work neither.

try another psu or board / cpu dead?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Try the CPU in a different board. If the CPU works in the other board the the Machinist board is toast.

Thats the problem when you buy these sort of boards. They are often frankensteined together from parts that are pulled off faulty boards to make a working motherboard then held together with a bios that is beyond useless with often results in a lot of compatibility issues with other hardware if not immediately then further on down the road.

Always a huge risk with these boards.

 

[zoulztealer]

Try the CPU in a different board. If the CPU works in the other board the the Machinist board is toast.

Thats the problem when you buy these sort of boards. They are often frankensteined together from parts that are pulled off faulty boards to make a working motherboard then held together with a bios that is beyond useless with often results in a lot of compatibility issues with other hardware if not immediately then further on down the road.

Always a huge risk with these boards.

yeah. the chins say the test everything before its send out. its a pretty good deal when it works.

i found that some dudes switched the psu and then it worked, another time it was the usb front panel connector from the case that caused the issue, reseating the cpu or booting the board with anything on it (no ram, no cpu, no cpu, etc) may also help.

well try that and report back.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

If you have to cut corners like that, Its always a safer bet to try and buy one off someone else whose had one, used it for a while/satisfied their curiosity and wants to get rid of it.

I wouldnt even bother testing other CPUs in the board either until you've confirmed if the one you originally put in works with another system or not. It could have fried it for all we know.

If it does work then you could try different CPUs if you have some available and time on your hands otherwise send it back for a refund if possible and keep looking.

 

[Toothless]

FF code per manuals means "fully functioning" however I've personally seen it as "fully f*cked"

Pop the CMOS battery out, let it sit with no power for 5 minutes, try again.

 

[zoulztealer]

If you have to cut corners like that, Its always a safer bet to try and buy one off someone else whose had one, used it for a while/satisfied their curiosity and wants to get rid of it.

I wouldnt even bother testing other CPUs in the board either until you've confirmed if the one you originally put in works with another system or not. It could have fried it for all we know.

If it does work then you could try different CPUs if you have some available and time on your hands otherwise send it back for a refund if possible and keep looking.

yeah. it has buyer protection and can be returned for free, too. we will try another psu and reseat the cpu. if it wont boot its flying back.

im suspecting the issue may lie with c6/c7 lp state support from the psu. this psu he tried just seemed to trashy for me, too little power and probably no c6/c7 support or sth else. we ordered another one (be quiet! System Power 10 750W ATX 2.52) and will check with that. i believe there may be issues with different atx versions from some psus in con with the chin xeon kits.

 

[eidairaman1]

FF code per manuals means "fully functioning" however I've personally seen it as "fully f*cked"

Pop the CMOS battery out, let it sit with no power for 5 minutes, try again.

No manuals-no support, Id return the board

 

[zoulztealer]

No manuals-no support, Id return the board

will do that very likely. not exactly a good sign if its like that right from the start. but were giving it a few last tries in the next days since other people were able to fix it with another psu.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

I would pop a diag speaker on the board and go for the Beep Codes.

Some guy made a useful thread that should had been stickied and kept up to date, but seems to lack interest for proper diag. Concensus = return the board, but you don't even know why.

TechPowerUp Motherboard Beep and post codes Read first!

HI! Welcome to the diagnostics - These codes cover modern and Legacy hardware based on the Bios type being used per manufacture. Some post codes will be included, this thread is a work in progress always. Wanna help? Input is always helpful!! If you'd like to contribute, please post your post...

www.techpowerup.com

Good Luck!!

 

[eidairaman1]

I would pop a diag speaker on the board and go for the Beep Codes.

Some guy made a useful thread that should had been stickied and kept up to date, but seems to lack interest for proper diag. Concensus = return the board, but you don't even know why.

TechPowerUp Motherboard Beep and post codes Read first!

HI! Welcome to the diagnostics - These codes cover modern and Legacy hardware based on the Bios type being used per manufacture. Some post codes will be included, this thread is a work in progress always. Wanna help? Input is always helpful!! If you'd like to contribute, please post your post...

www.techpowerup.com

Good Luck!!

Really depends if it truly is using an American Mega Trends/AMI, Phoenix, Award firmware etc and not some basket case firmware.

 

[zoulztealer]

well i think it may be this here too, just so obvious:

(enable english translation)

im not there locally so i cant check. i told him to disconnect everything but i bet he left the usb panel on and apparently this board has a bug where it cant boot with FF due to that. trying to find that out right now...

 

[eidairaman1]

well i think it may be this here too, just so obvious:

im not there locally so i cant check. i told him to disconnect everything but i bet he left the usb panel on and apparently this board has a bug where it cant boot with FF due to that. trying to find that out right now...

Tell him over the phone to disconnect it, do a teleconference with him

 

[Dr. Dro]

Does this board even have a real X99 or C612 chipset? A lot of these Chinese refurbished boards don't actually have a supported chipset.

 

[eidairaman1]

Does this board even have a real X99 or C612 chipset? A lot of these Chinese refurbished boards don't actually have a supported chipset.

It claims to use intel b85...

MACHINIST LGA 2011-V3 ATX Motherboard, X99 Gaming Motherboard with Sel

✳LGA 2011-V3 server socket: Perfectly compatible with Intel 5th/6th generation Core i7 processors and XEON E5 V3/V4 series processors, not compatible with LGA 2011 CPUs. (eg Core i7-5820K, Core i7-6850K, Xeon E5-2609 V4, Xeon E5-2673 V3)✳DDR4 memory slot: This gaming motherboard is designed with...

machinistofficial.com

 

[Ruru]

It claims to use intel b85...

MACHINIST LGA 2011-V3 ATX Motherboard, X99 Gaming Motherboard with Sel

✳LGA 2011-V3 server socket: Perfectly compatible with Intel 5th/6th generation Core i7 processors and XEON E5 V3/V4 series processors, not compatible with LGA 2011 CPUs. (eg Core i7-5820K, Core i7-6850K, Xeon E5-2609 V4, Xeon E5-2673 V3)✳DDR4 memory slot: This gaming motherboard is designed with...

machinistofficial.com

Which is interesting as at least in desktop form, Broadwell is supported only by 9-series, and that V4 Xeon is a BW-E(P).

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Really depends if it truly is using an American Mega Trends/AMI, Phoenix, Award firmware etc and not some basket case firmware.

Wouldn't matter... All 3 use different beep orientations to declare an issue.

FF on AMI is reserved for future codes. There would be accompany beep, CPU not detected.

CPU is either unsupported or CPU broken.

Also, is possible board broken. But, so far, everyone else here has taken a GUESS not an actual diagnostic step that wouldn't require purchase of MORE hardware to diagnose what a Beep or two would have said free.

These come with some motherboards and some cases. Look around. Might help in a pinch

EDIT: I should say, if it doesn't beep, board broken.

 

[Caring1]

friend of mine got this here:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006394406501.html

when he wants to boot, the debug led only shows FF all the time.

any ideas what this could be or how to solve?

removing ram, gpu or clearing bios has no effect on the debug code, always shows FF no matter what.

booting one ram stick does not work neither.

try another psu or board / cpu dead?

What CPU is he trying to boot with?

 

[Dr. Dro]

It claims to use intel b85...

MACHINIST LGA 2011-V3 ATX Motherboard, X99 Gaming Motherboard with Sel

✳LGA 2011-V3 server socket: Perfectly compatible with Intel 5th/6th generation Core i7 processors and XEON E5 V3/V4 series processors, not compatible with LGA 2011 CPUs. (eg Core i7-5820K, Core i7-6850K, Xeon E5-2609 V4, Xeon E5-2673 V3)✳DDR4 memory slot: This gaming motherboard is designed with...

machinistofficial.com

I genuinely wonder how do they even wire a B85 to work with Haswell-E... if the CPU is v4 I don't think the chipset would even work since Z87 and B85 are not compatible with Broadwell

 

[eidairaman1]

Wouldn't matter... All 3 use different beep orientations to declare an issue.

FF on AMI is reserved for future codes. There would be accompany beep, CPU not detected.

CPU is either unsupported or CPU broken.

Also, is possible board broken. But, so far, everyone else here has taken a GUESS not an actual diagnostic step that wouldn't require purchase of MORE hardware to diagnose what a Beep or two would have said free.

These come with some motherboards and some cases. Look around. Might help in a pinch

EDIT: I should say, if it doesn't beep, board broken.

View attachment 354660

Very rare to see a buzzer pigtail even, i have some from back in the day even

 

[Caring1]

I genuinely wonder how do they even wire a B85 to work with Haswell-E... if the CPU is v4 I don't think the chipset would even work since Z87 and B85 are not compatible with Broadwell

The listing does say NOT compatible with .....

 

[zoulztealer]

chipset is Intel Q87. they can vary too, but thats usually mentioned on the store page.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

The listing does say NOT compatible with .....

And all you need is a beepity beep beep to confirm it. And.... buy a support cpu. lol.

Very rare to see a buzzer pigtail even, i have some from back in the day even

I threw a bunch out HAHA. it's just a must have for older gear. It's saved me on many platforms. Q-Code too, but not always as helpful for diag, it's like a scan tool that gives you a MIL code but no description.

I always liked the XBOX ring of death. At least you knew you where Fk'ed haha

 

[zoulztealer]

What CPU is he trying to boot with?

its a kit with cpu+ram+board, 64gb and 2690v4.

 

[Dr. Dro]

its a kit with cpu+ram+board, 64gb and 2690v4.

Likely caused by v4 CPU. This chipset wasn't intended even for the E5 v3's, it's some frankenstein. Verify by using a cheap v3

 

[Caring1]

its a kit with cpu+ram+board, 64gb and 2690v4.

They supplied a CPU, they specifically said NOT to use?

Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2690 v4 (35M Cache, 2.60 GHz) Product Specifications

Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2690 v4 (35M Cache, 2.60 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com