X670E-E, Q-CODE "00," WONT POST/BOOT

Dark_water_

Hey all,

I built this PC in December as a novice, after saving for a "dream computer." The dream didn't materialize. I am not an expert, or even moderately knowledgeable person, when it comes to PC building, so please be patient while reading:

I have been experiencing this problem continuously until the latest BIOS flash which aggravated the problem more severely. Previous, 3 power cycles would result in a successful boot. This is no longer the case, as of the latest BIOS update.

Description of problem:

When booting from a cold/dark state, the PC hangs while posting. A motherboard Q-Code of "00" displays with a constant yellow DRAM D-light. The only option is to recycle the power. perhaps 25% of the time the system will then cycle and boot into windows without further issue. The other 75% of the time, the system will post into safe mode. No changes will be made to the bios, and a save/restart results in a boot to windows 25% of the time (again.) The other 75% of the time it results in a restart with code 00 as listed above.

after the latest Bios update, I now receive Q-code 36, with a CPU (RED) LED light after the computer restarts from posting in safe mode.

I generally power-cycle the system until I am able to hit the normal-boot jackpot, however this is no longer working after even 10 attempts.

Fixes attempted:

-deselect EXPO I/II. -Deselected AI Overclocking -Memory Diagnostic tool finds no memory faults. -CMOS reset. -Swapped position/re-seated the 2 ram modules physically -Updated BIOS -Heavy Swearing -Crying into my hands in frustration after spending thousands on a PC at micro-center that I can only use when the gods decide.

I am in way over my head here, so I am just reaching out to the community for any support you might be able to offer. Thanks in advance.

System Components:

Case: Fractal Meshify 2

PSU: Corsair HX1200

Operating system: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (10.0, Build 22621)

Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16-Core Processor 16/32

Cooling: NZXT - Kraken Z73 360MM

Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX X670E-E GAMING WIFI

RAM: 32 GB G.Skill Flare X5 Series F5-6000J3636F16GX2-FX5

m2 Samsung SSD 980 PRO 1TB

m2 disk2: Samsung SSD 990 PRO 2TB

m2 PCIe SSD 4 TB

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (24.0 GB)

VR: HPN HPN36C1 (2880x1440 / 4.8 Inch)

Monitor: AOC AG493UG7R4

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dark_water_

I have a couple of similar ASUS boards up and have had issues with this kit. I'll be digging into it more this week. Our testing is focused elsewhere, but I'll look at that kit a bit more and see what I can figure out. In our case the board wouldn't POST until discharged the system. Then it did train and POST, however we encountered stability issues. It sounds like you're encountering a cold boot issue. Are you stable when it does boot?

I don't have the board in front of me, but try this. There's a setting I believe is called MCR. Used to be called MRC on DDR4 boards. Its purpose it to speed up your boot and wake times by not training every time. Disable this, let the board retrain every time you start it up. Lets see if that has any impact first. I'll get more information this week.

Dark_water_

When I can get windows to boot, the system is 100% trouble free. I am terrified to reboot, but I recently turned off "fast boot" based on something I read on another forum. It didn't improve anything once disabled. Here goes nothing with the "MCR "setting if I can located that. If you see another reply, it must have worked.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dark_water_

The BIOS does have a search feature. I'll get more details when I'm in and we can go from there. If that's not the trick, it's just a matter of tweaking memory settings. The problem with that is there are a lot of component quality factors. The IC's on the RAM, the PMIC's on the RAM factor in with DDR5. The IMC is also a factor. Every system is different, you can't copy settings from one system and expect the same result on another, but it can get you pretty close. I have a Strix B650E and a TUF X670E. I'll see what I can figure out that memory kit.

Dark_water_

@PowerSpec_MikeW

Thank you for taking the time to help. It is appreciated. I am using Bios version 0922 x64, on EC MBEC-x670-023. "MCR" and "MRC" do not return results, nor do they in a google search. Unfortunately, I have to step away on business for the next ten days, but any thoughts you have will certainly be attempted upon my return.

I can't post the link to microcenter reviews for the F5-6000J3636F16GX due to the age of my accnt, but upon reading reviews for the RAM, i am thinking this may simply be as easy as using different RAM. Seems like a lot of folks are having trouble.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dark_water_

It may just be the speed as well. AM5 is still a new platform, it's AMD's first shot at DDR5. I've had issues with the ASUS boards I have at 6000, but he 5600 C36 kit ran fine just by loading the XMP. Memory compatibility is going to improve over time.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dark_water_

Closest board I have is an X670E TUF Gaming. I was able to load XMP and currently I'm testing with reboot and sleep tests. That setting I mentioned was spelled out in the BIOS. Memory Context Restore. Disable that.

Dark_water_

@PowerSpec_MikeW

Thanks for this tip. I will attempt it as my earliest convenience and report back for posterity.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dark_water_

Testing on our TUF X670E with that kit, no warm/cold boot issues. I'll see if can test on a Strix-F.

Dark_water_

@PowerSpec_MikeW

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/48788#Comment_48788

Thanks again for offering your assistance. Upon disabling "Memory Context Restore" the system became unresponsive within BIOS. Ultimately, I had to power off the system and re-attempt, to no avail. After 3 solid months of fighting with this "free" ram from the promotion, I replaced it with F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5NR. So far, all issues apprear to be solved, though initially the new dimms threw a 1A code until power cycling the system. I appreciate your time.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dark_water_

Must be a better IC on the Trident kit. Sorry the FlareX kit from the promotion didn't work out for you. Memory compatibility with AM5 seems to be an ongoing effort as they update the AGESA firmware. We've certainly seen a lot of that here on our side. This is AMD's first DDR5 platform, they're certainly work on this. It's going to improve as time goes on.