B450M Steel Legend - Won't POST after BIOS udpate

[Time-Bandit]

So... is it prior to the latest or flashing up/forward... im confused by your words.

If you're asking to flash back to a prior version, it should be ok, yes.

Currently on 2.90 which is stock BIOS this board came with, wanting to go up to 3.30. 3.60 is the one I had problems with.

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I know it was mentioned earlier that the 3200G is on Zen+ silicon not Zen2 like other 3000 series chips. I don't think this is an issue, although I initially thought it might be. I believe it has more to do with what the BIOS has in it's list of valid CPUs than architectural differences for the most part (of course each entry probably contains details specific to the CPU itself, that would be different with different architectures, I just don't think it's as simple as Zen+ support, Zen2 support, Zen3 support etc, each SKU needs its own entry.)

According to ASRock 3200G (YD3200C5M4MFH) is supported since P2.10 and 3200G (YD320GC5M4MFH) since P2.60.

I don't think it's an issue of not being supported as much as it's an issue of buggy BIOS. ASrock is not known for their BIOS quality in general. My BIOS (retrofitted for Zen2) has a bug where if I bump the power switch the PC will immediately shut down, but RGB and fans stay active. It does not respond to further inputs from the power switch in this state. The PSU needs to be shut off and I then need to leave it off for 10 or 20 seconds before flipping it back on. Then it will boot normally. Is this a big deal to me, nope, I almost never use the power switch. But I definitely panicked the first time it happened and I thought I had caused a no-post situation by locking up my GPU with a over-zealous OC.

If/when Zen3 chips ever become inexpensive will I be tempted to toss one in and see how it goes? Absolutely! Will I be prepared to replace the board if necessary? you bet! Am I still happy with this board, absolutely, at the time I was able to get a VRM competitive with $300 boards for $160. It's somewhat ironic how people (maybe different groups) will go after Intel for constantly releasing new chipsets even though they could theoretically support more CPUs, and AMD for having bad microcode. Two solutions to the same problem and neither makes everybody happy.

There is extra confusion as there was a large push to sell B450 boards that were out of the box compatible with Zen-Zen2 CPUs when Zen2 was released, some vendors were better about this than others. Namely MSI released a lot of boards with brand new BIOS chips.

Yes my board was doing similar things with the latest revision, it would power off but RGB fans would stay on and spin etc (This was when I managed to get the system to boot on and off before considering to flash back to the old BIOS).

Based on your experience would you say with old AsRock BIOS revisions the stability is abit better if they have been out for sometime?

 

[EarthDog]

Currently on 2.90 which is stock BIOS this board came with, wanting to go up to 3.30. 3.60 is the one I had problems with.

Ok.. gotcha. In that case, it's absolutely OK to use a previous version. You're on one now, right?

 

[Time-Bandit]

I think the 2 BIOS revs after the current working one I am on have Ryzen XT support on them, that won't knock out the code for the 3200g will it? or is this removal of code for older CPUs just due to the latest CPU branch?

I want to either passthrough my APU (if even possible) to a VM otherwise if I can passthrough the GPU I am currently using to a VM on Windows 10. Couple of games I would like to play but not keen on having on my main system. I have trust issues with games that I can't get from steam (as strange as it sounds).

 

[EarthDog]

I have trust issues with games that I can't get from steam (as strange as it sounds).

It seems like you're trying to reinvent the wheel but for no good reason. If you get over this (and you likely should what games are you talking about and from where? Are these torrented games or something?) you won't have to jump through other, more difficult hoops, to achieve your goal.



K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid!)!

 

[Zerileous]

I wouldn't say it was more stable or less stable. This is an odd bug but it doesn't cause any instability, and it's a repeatable condition with a known (although irritating if you're running an unstable OC for competition) and repeatable solution. I should maybe flash the BIOS to see if it's better.

The revision the board shipped with was really bad at memory training and would often fail after 3-4 attempts and then require XMP to be reset and try again. Usually it would work the first or second try at least. This was with a 2600x though, so that may have been more the fault of the memory controller. Hard to say there, but I prefer this issue.

I never really power my system down (F@H) so neither was a huge bother.

 

[Time-Bandit]

It seems like you're trying to reinvent the wheel but for no good reason. If you get over this (and you likely should what games are you talking about and from where? Are these torrented games or something?) you won't have to jump through other, more difficult hoops, to achieve your goal.



K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid!)!

Dauntless comes up with something Malware related with Malware Antibytes I forget what it said since it was sometime ago when I scanned it on another system and Genshin impact (chinese based game).

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I wouldn't say it was more stable or less stable. This is an odd bug but it doesn't cause any instability, and it's a repeatable condition with a known (although irritating if you're running an unstable OC for competition) and repeatable solution. I should maybe flash the BIOS to see if it's better.

The revision the board shipped with was really bad at memory training and would often fail after 3-4 attempts and then require XMP to be reset and try again. Usually it would work the first or second try at least. This was with a 2600x though, so that may have been more the fault of the memory controller. Hard to say there, but I prefer this issue.

I never really power my system down (F@H) so neither was a huge bother.

I guess if I can flash down from the highest BIOS version a few versions down from that I should be able to flash back to stock right ? I figure thats how it would work logically at least.

Then at least I can test and try.

 

[Zerileous]

Its confusing when you say stock. Do you mean 2.9 that the board came with? Bios 1.0-2.5 come with the warning "**User will not able to flash previous BIOS once upgrading to this BIOS version." More recent releases than that do not have the warning, however if in doubt you should contact Asrock. If you've already gone from 2.9 to 3.6 and back it seems to be supported.

Regarding the 3200G, AFAIK it was never knocked off of any BIOS. None of the warnings say anything about that CPU family, and since it's a more recent release, it doesn't make sense for it to be replaced by the 5000 series. Again, if in doubt, contact Asrock.

What specifically with AGESA 1.0.0.6 do that 1.0.0.4 will not? Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[EarthDog]

Dauntless comes up with something Malware related with Malware Antibytes I forget what it said since it was sometime ago when I scanned it on another system and Genshin impact (chinese based game).

You missed my point.... where did you get these games? Are they pirated? From disks? From a different Steam-like entity?

 

[Time-Bandit]

Its confusing when you say stock. Do you mean 2.9 that the board came with? Bios 1.0-2.5 come with the warning "**User will not able to flash previous BIOS once upgrading to this BIOS version." More recent releases than that do not have the warning, however if in doubt you should contact Asrock. If you've already gone from 2.9 to 3.6 and back it seems to be supported.

Regarding the 3200G, AFAIK it was never knocked off of any BIOS. None of the warnings say anything about that CPU family, and since it's a more recent release, it doesn't make sense for it to be replaced by the 5000 series. Again, if in doubt, contact Asrock.

What specifically with AGESA 1.0.0.6 do that 1.0.0.4 will not? Maybe I'm missing something.

Sorry yes my boards stock so to speak BIOS is rev 2.90 so everything works fine on that one. The one I am wanting to flash to is;

3.30 2020/8/3 9.43MB Instant FlashHow to Update Optimize PCIe M.2 SSD performance on AGESA Combo-AM4 PI 1.0.0.6

*ASRock do NOT recommend updating this BIOS if Pinnacle, Raven or Summit Ridge CPU is being used on your system.
*Before updating this BIOS, please also read the description in previous BIOS version.

This is the BIOS right before the most recent one where I had problems.

I am not sure with the difference between 1.0.0.4 and 1.0.0.6 I was just checking out a youtube video where a guy was saying this version is significantly better. Since I don't know much about it myself personally was looking to update BIOS as far as I can go without ending up with a machine that won't be bootable/useable.

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You missed my point.... where did you get these games? Are they pirated? From disks? From a different Steam-like entity?

No not pirated, Genshin impact much like Dauntless are downloaded directly from the game companies website, each have their own launcher.

They are not steam based, if they were or had a steam version I would get them from there.

 

[EarthDog]

I wouldn't worry about it from its own website.

 

[Time-Bandit]

Both very popular games just being cautious, paranoid.

 

[Zerileous]

I have this filed for future reading: https://overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/amd_agesa_update_1_0_0_6_-_do_bios_updates_matter/1

Here is a summary of the added features https://www.anandtech.com/show/11447/amd-announces-ryzen-agesa-1006-update

 

[Time-Bandit]

Great thank you for that, managed to flash to 3.30 and the system is working fine. Just have to work out how to pass GPU to my virtual machine win10 guest in virtual box.

 

[Time-Bandit]

I have this filed for future reading: https://overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/amd_agesa_update_1_0_0_6_-_do_bios_updates_matter/1

Here is a summary of the added features https://www.anandtech.com/show/11447/amd-announces-ryzen-agesa-1006-update

These links don't mention anything about microcode for previous gen CPU's being removed. Would it be safe to say that newer BIOS revisions should work with older chips as I recently purchased a 2700x.

Would updating the BIOS mean I can run my memory at a higher speed? The ram I have right now is 2400mhz and I think max is 2933? or something around that mark. I would like to try XMP if its simple enough to do (is this safe?)

If updating the BIOS would make no difference then I can leave it. I am running the revision 1 back from the latest which works with my system on my 3200G.

 

[Zerileous]

Everything 2.60 and newer is flagged

*ASRock do NOT recommend updating this BIOS if Pinnacle, Raven or Summit Ridge CPU is being used on your system.

, which would indicate to me that you should use 2.50 for the 2700x, as it is Pinnacle Ridge.

The max supported is 2933MHz but I'd imagine the 2700x could manage 3200Mhz memory.

 

[Time-Bandit]

Everything 2.60 and newer is flagged , which would indicate to me that you should use 2.50 for the 2700x, as it is Pinnacle Ridge.

The max supported is 2933MHz but I'd imagine the 2700x could manage 3200Mhz memory.

Awesome thank you for confirming, I saw on the internet 2933mhz but then people saying 3200mhz. I couldn't work out why the figures differ. I thought if there is a max figure for the RAM that was it. I am using 2400mhz so I can't imagine XMP going anywhere near that surely?

Also is XMP safe to use? and I saw another feature XFR does that work by default on the 2700x or do I need to disable/enable something in BIOS?

 

[EarthDog]

Depends on the CPU as to the maximum memory speed... Some Ryzen CPUs are 2933, while the newer(est?) ones are 3200MHz. That is the max supported without overclocking and how it has always been listed.

As far as XMP, that depends on the sticks as the XMP profile is stored on the RAM sticks.

 

[Zerileous]

XFR = extended frequency range. It is on by default, it basically just means the CPU will boost from it's base clock. Precision boost overdrive is the one that is not enabled by default, and I believe is not available on B450 chipsets, but it does not make a large difference (just raises the power limits, can get you an extra 50-100Mhz in multi core loads in some circumstances).

 

[Time-Bandit]

So PBO isn't worth worrying about ? I see there is PBO and PBO 2 still nothing to worry about ?

Also I have been reading around about the boost speeds on Ryzen CPU's and seeing that the higher speeds are only for the best 2 cores and not the overall chip.

Is it not possible to make it so I can get the max speed on all cores or would this mean overclocking and messing around with things?

Are the overclock capabilities of the 2700x large enough for a significant FPS difference?

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Depends on the CPU as to the maximum memory speed... Some Ryzen CPUs are 2933, while the newer(est?) ones are 3200MHz. That is the max supported without overclocking and how it has always been listed.

As far as XMP, that depends on the sticks as the XMP profile is stored on the RAM sticks.

Ah crud, so if my stick has no XMP profile its useless and can't be used in XMP? or can manual profiles be created for the stick ?

 

[trents]

PB/PBO is really noting but hype: https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3491-explaining-precision-boost-overdrive-benchmarks-auto-oc