Server Upgrade Motherboard Error Help


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Hello - I just completed a few upgrades on my unraid server and am now stuck in motherboard error purgatory...hoping someone smarter than I can offer some assistance as I'm at my wits end.

Put CPU, MB, RAM together. Start it up. I first get an error 78, then I plug in a mouse to the usb slot and then it changes to an error 64. I have tried the following:

  1. Taking memory sticks out, have tried A1 only, A2, only, B1 only, B2 only, A1 & B1, A2 & B2 - always end up in the same place as described above
  2. Resetting CMOS using CMOS reset button as well as unplugging all power and removing battery than putting back in - end up in the same place as described above
  3. Reseating CPU and RAM - end up in the same place as described above

 

Error Code 78 | ACPI Core initialization

Error Code 63~67 | CPU DXE initialization started

Source

 

I have no hard drives or other devices plugged into the motherboard, it is only CPU, RAM and power supply. There is no separate GPU.

I cannot get the BIOS version as I don't even get to the BIOS screen in the boot process and for whatever reason I cannot find it on the motherboard.

 

Build:

CPU: Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte C246-WU4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($261.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 CL16 Memory  ($114.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply 

 

I've triple confirmed both the CPU and RAM are on the compatibility list for the MB.

 

Greatly appreciate any advice or guidance. I have requested a call back from Gigabyte tech support as well as sent in a support request to their portal but I don't expect them to get back to me anytime soon...

 

My guess is one of the 3 new components (CPU, RAM, MB) is defective, which ultimately is fine, I just want to quickly handle the return/replacement through Amazon to get this thing back up and running.

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8 minutes ago, Sean M. said:

Error Code 78 | ACPI Core initialization

Error Code 63~67 | CPU DXE initialization started

I have seen similar errors and inability to get into BIOS when the BIOS was too old to support the CPU.  I would be surprised if the board has been sitting around so long that is has a BIOS that does not support the 9xxx processors.

 

According to MB support site, the board supports 8th and 9th generation CPUs.  BIOS F3 (April 2019) is required for 9th Gen RO stepping processors and the current BIOS is F5.  Oldest BIOS listed is F2.

 

Have you tried boot with just one RAM stick?

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6 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

I have seen similar errors and inability to get into BIOS when the BIOS was too old to support the CPU.  I would be surprised if the board has been sitting around so long that is has a BIOS that does not support the 9xxx processors.

 

According to MB support site, the board supports 8th and 9th generation CPUs.  BIOS F3 (April 2019) is required for 9th Gen RO stepping processors and the current BIOS is F5.  Oldest BIOS listed is F2.

 

Have you tried boot with just one RAM stick?

Thanks for reading about my issue! Yes, I tried 1 ram stick across the board A1, A2, B1, B2 with no luck unfortunately.

 

Since I'm unable to get into the BIOS at all right now, I don't believe I have a way to update the BIOS. I don't have another CPU around that's compatible nor does this board have Q-Flash Plus (ability to flash bios with no boot screen).

Edited by Sean M.
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1 minute ago, Sean M. said:

Since I'm unable to get into the BIOS at all right now

A different vendor (ASRock) sent me a BIOS chip preflashed to latest version when I was having issues related to BIOS.  It was socketed on the board and easy to replace.

 

I know you said you could not find it (does a board layout diagram in the manual help?) but often there will be a sticker on top of the BIOS chip with the version number of the BIOS.  If can find it  perhaps you can at least determine if BIOS version is the issue.

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1 minute ago, Hoopster said:

A different vendor (ASRock) sent me a BIOS chip preflashed to latest version when I was having issues related to BIOS.  It was socketed on the board and easy to replace.

 

I know you said you could not find it (does a board layout diagram in the manual help?) but often there will be a sticker on top of the BIOS chip with the version number of the BIOS.  If can find it  perhaps you can at least determine if BIOS version is the issue.

Interesting! That's great ASRock would have customer service that helpful...I'm not sure if I'll get as lucky with Gigabyte but we'll see if they reply to my support ticket at all.

 

This is the first motherboard I've ever had this much trouble finding the BIOS version on tbh, I read all through the manual and went over the board with my phone flashlight but could not find a BIOS callout just the board revision. 🤔

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47 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

A different vendor (ASRock) sent me a BIOS chip preflashed to latest version when I was having issues related to BIOS.  It was socketed on the board and easy to replace.

 

I know you said you could not find it (does a board layout diagram in the manual help?) but often there will be a sticker on top of the BIOS chip with the version number of the BIOS.  If can find it  perhaps you can at least determine if BIOS version is the issue.

Debating ordering a cheap supported 8th gen processor from Amazon (Intel Pentium Gold G5400) and then returning it after...not sure if that's a thing or if it will 100% solve the issue obviously.

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4 minutes ago, Sean M. said:

Debating ordering a cheap supported 8th gen processor

May be going down a rabbit hole here as I am not 100% certain an out of date BIOS is the issue.  

 

The BIOS chip is definitely socketed on the MB and replaceable as the chip for your board can be purchased on eBay flashed to the latest BIOS version.

 

Perhaps Gigabyte will respond and point you in the right direction.

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4 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

May be going down a rabbit hole here as I am not 100% certain an out of date BIOS is the issue.  

 

The BIOS chip is definitely socketed on the MB and replaceable as the chip for your board can be purchased on eBay flashed to the latest BIOS version.

 

Perhaps Gigabyte will respond and point you in the right direction.

Fair enough; I'll see if/when they get back to me and what they say. Perhaps they can use the serial # to identify the BIOS it shipped with at least. Thanks for taking the time to read through and reply!

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Have you tried with the board sitting on the motherboard box, completely away from the case? Use something conductive to short the power button pins.

Just MB, PSU, CPU, RAM. NOTHING else touching the board except for the video cable.

 

Also, do you get different codes if you remove the CPU / RAM?

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23 hours ago, jonathanm said:

Have you tried with the board sitting on the motherboard box, completely away from the case? Use something conductive to short the power button pins.

Just MB, PSU, CPU, RAM. NOTHING else touching the board except for the video cable.

 

Also, do you get different codes if you remove the CPU / RAM?

On 10/6/2020 at 10:47 PM, Hoopster said:

May be going down a rabbit hole here as I am not 100% certain an out of date BIOS is the issue.  

 

The BIOS chip is definitely socketed on the MB and replaceable as the chip for your board can be purchased on eBay flashed to the latest BIOS version.

 

Perhaps Gigabyte will respond and point you in the right direction.

So I reseated everything once more, still ran into the same error when starting up 78 -> plug in mouse -> 64. However in frustration (or luck) I thought why not plug in my unraid flash and see what happens...well...the unraid server starts up and I'm able to get into the Unraid GUI by navigating through my network!

 

Even with it started I am seeing "FF" as the error code on the bios display. I also cannot get anything from either of the display ports so I have no way to get into the BIOS...I don't think? The unraid GUI confirms the BIOS is at version F5 which is the latest but I still would like to get into the BIOS as I need to tweak the settings per my understanding to enable the iGPU passthrough for HW Transcoding.

 

Any advice based upon my the latest troubleshooting?

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44 minutes ago, Sean M. said:

I also cannot get anything from either of the display ports so I have no way to get into the BIOS

Are you using the iGPU in the processor or do you have a discrete graphics card installed on the motherboard?

 

Gigabyte boards let you specify which graphics card to use as the primary display (iGPU or GPU in 1st or 2nd PCIe x16 slot).  If you have no graphics card installed, it should be defaulting to the iGPU as Primary Graphics Display setting is probably "Auto" by default.

 

If you are just using the iGPU, do you have a PCIe GPU laying around you could install and see if that makes any difference?  Of course, it has to be one that has a Display Port output.

 

According to the manual for your MB, the BF through FF debug codes (chapter 3 page 51) are "reserved" codes.  FF does not appear to be an actual error code as noted by @jonathanm

 

78 and 64 are also not errors.  They just indicate certain states in the boot up process.

 

78 - ACPI Core Initialization

64 - CPU DXE Initialization is started

 

If you are relying on the iGPU, you may need to check the CPU socket and make sure there are no bent pins.  I had an issue once where 3 pins were misaligned and they prevented video from displaying.  I was able to carefully re-align the pins and I had video on the next boot.

Edited by Hoopster
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46 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

Are you sure FF is an error? On at least some boards, FF is the "all OK".

 

Your monitor may not support the signal being sent. Do you have access to a different one?

 

6 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

Are you using the iGPU in the processor or do you have a discrete graphics card installed on the motherboard?

 

Gigabyte boards let you specify which graphics card to use as the primary display (iGPU or GPU in 1st or 2nd PCIe x16 slot).  If you have no graphics card installed, it should be defaulting to the iGPU as Primary Graphics Display setting is probably "Auto" by default.

 

If you are just using the iGPU, do you have a PCIe GPU laying around you could install and see if that makes any difference?  Of course, it has to be one that has a Display Port output.

 

According to the manual for your MB, the BF through FF debug codes (chapter 3 page 51) are "reserved" codes.  FF does not appear to be an actual error code as noted by @jonathanm

 

78 and 64 are also not errors.  They just indicate certain states in the boot up process.

 

78 - ACPI Core Initialization

64 - CPU DXE Initialization is started

 

If you are relying on the iGPU, you may need to check the CPU socket and make sure there are no bent pins.  I had an issue once where 3 pins were misaligned and they prevented video from displaying.  I was able to carefully re-align the pins and I had video on the next boot.

I was reading through this thread: Overclocked.com in which they debate the same topic of FF being good vs an error, some users reported display errors they were having with FF so not sure if that's the case.

 

I unfortunately do not have another monitor lying around with displayports or an adapter handy 😔

 

I was planning on relying on the iGPU alone for this build so my assumption would be that it was defaulting to per your description. I don't have a 'spare' PCIe GPU but I do have an old XFX Radeon HD 6950 in my desktop that I could pull out to test perhaps - seems like it is compatible.

 

I triple checked the pins when I reseated everything this AM but truthfully I've never seen a bent pin in person so perhaps I just don't know what I'm looking for...

 

Edited by Sean M.
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13 minutes ago, Sean M. said:

I've never seen a bent pin in person so perhaps I just don't know what I'm looking for...

Here's a picture of the bent pins in my CPU socket.  I no longer have this board, but you can see the three misaligned pins in the very upper left corner.  Notice how they are not aligned in the same way as all the other socket pins.  Under a magnifying glass and with a pair of very small tweezers, I simply pushed the pins to the right until they were aligned with the rest. 

 

Video and ability to enter the BIOS on the next boot was the result.

 

 

bent pins.jpg

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34 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

Under a magnifying glass and with a pair of very small tweezers, I simply pushed the pins to the right until they were aligned with the rest. 

Note. You only get ONE chance to get this right. The pins will break if bent more than a couple times.

 

First hand experience talking here.

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