AM5 Motherboard Suddenly Unable to Boot (Kind Of)

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Kuromizu

Gawd
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Apr 1, 2008
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Backstory (you can skip this if you want):

So, about 2 months ago, I sold a motherboard that I didn't plan to use. It was a B650E-F ASUS board brand new, sealed in the box. A month later, I find out that the guy lied about his location and I had really shipped it to a forwarding company and buyer also got banned from the hardwareswap reddit for something to do with another users; but that's only tangential to the story. The guy complained that the motherboard wouldn't detect EPS power. He had the plugs in loosely and they were being pressed on by an AIO. He also complained about windows errors. I asked to help him troubleshoot, but he refused. I asked him to seek support from ASUS, but he refused and said because of recent ASUS controversy, he didn't want to deal with ASUS. After a long PayPal battle, I ended up with my money back (so did he) and I have the board now too.

Problems:

I fired up the board yesterday with some of the least important parts I have, and it booted up and worked fine...until it didn't. I decided to see if anything malicious came from the board to my boot drive, so I ran a Windows Defender scan. I bet a few security guys are cringing, but it's what I've got. The system crashed with a WHEA (I think) blue screen. This is an error that the buyer described, but it only happened once. He didn't describe any of the following issues.

Since then, it's been hit or miss getting into the BIOS configuration page. The system runs through all the diagnostic LEDs and gets to the "press delete or F2" screen to enter BIOS. I managed to get in a few times and tried flashing. The flash took, but same issue.

I used BIOS flashback to reflash the same BIOS (1616) and managed to get back to BIOS, but not able to boot from any drive at all. Not SATA, not NVME, and not USB.

I reflashed to an older BIOS, 1414 I think, and the same issue.

I am reflashing again using BIOS flashback to see if it makes a difference.

At this point, I'm 95% sure it won't make a difference and the issue is not the BIOS itself.

If that's true. What could it be? Your thoughts and theories please?
 
Kuromizu said:
I appreciate that, and I have that thought as well, but I'm more interested in hearing about what this issue might be and what possible fixes might be right now.
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If everything your connecting to the mb is known good...trying to chase down the cause will likely result in an exercise in futility.
 
Assuming this is being tested out of the case on non conductive medium? CPU socket examination for damaged pins. Very close board inspection for missing smt components or screwdriver gouges or any other physical damage from mishandling. Not much else is possible or feasible without specialized debugging equipment.
 
learners permit said:
Assuming this is being tested out of the case on non conductive medium? CPU socket examination for damaged pins. Very close board inspection for missing smt components or screwdriver gouges or any other physical damage from mishandling. Not much else is possible or feasible without specialized debugging equipment.
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Yeah, you're right. There are no bent pins and yes, it's being tested in that way. Even if I could identify a missing or damaged SMT component, without the specialized equipment or at least a proper schematic (which I'll never get) I wouldn't know if the part is actually causing the failure.

I guess sending it back or selling for parts are the best options.
 
does the bios see any of the drives at all? or is it just not booting after bios?
 
I've successfully replaced damaged smt components on boards before with my hot air work station. Bought a board from someone on this forum a couple years ago that would hang on usb init with an over current warning. Close visual inspection revealed a dented smt electrolytic capacitor. Removed and replaced the capacitor and it's been running in my wife's machine every since. These thing are difficult but not impossible so maybe have a close look anyway.
 
After updating the bios are you clearing and loading the setup defaults?
 
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I think it's safe to assume that the guy who 'Bought' the board also broke it. If you are saying you got money back and the board, buy a new one and RMA the broke one.
 
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