BIOS update taking over an hour

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filip.nordmar15f002ee

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I recently download the latest BIOS update for my MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max motherboard. I copied the files to a USB with fat32 format, opened up the BIOS and started updating.

At first it seemed to be doing well, progressing slowly. Then the display went to standby and I didn’t check it for over an hour. Now when I turn on the display it shows “no signal” like it isn’t connected, and I can’t see how far the update has progressed.

The PC is definitely still on, but I have no way of knowing if it’s still updating or if something is wrong. Does anyone have know what’s up and if I should be worried?
 
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BIOS update via M-Flash takes up to 5 minutes at the most, usually less. So after an hour it will have long been finished. Is the PC still on? If so, press CTRL-ALT-DEL and see if it boots into the BIOS again, if not, press reset. Still nothing, turn it off, wait a bit and turn it back on. If it's off, however, just turn it on and press DEL to enter the BIOS and check if the BIOS version is now the latest one. Also then you can enable A-XMP for your RAM again etc.
 
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1. The PC was definitely still on but there was no signal to any monitor, keyboard or mouse. So I could not see if the update was actually still going or press "reset".
2. I turned off the PC in hope that it would just start normally but no, now it's stuck like this with no signal to any monitor.
3. I took out the CMOS battery for a while to reset. Then plugged it back in, started the PC, and there was no change. Still no signal to monitors, mouse or keyboard
4. I plugged the USB Drive into the Flash BIOS port in the motherboard and pressed the Flash BIOS button which started flashing red. Approximately five minutes go by and it stops flashing, restarts the PC, and starts glowing red. There is still no signal to any monitor, mouse or keyboard. Both the Flash BIOS LED and the USB drive's LED is glowing.
5. The motherboard CPU LED is glowing red.
 
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I can’t access my PC right now, and I don’t have all components committed to memory but I’ll do my best

MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max motherboard
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6 core CPU
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 GPU
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16 GB Ram
Corsair TX 650M PSU
Crucial P1 M.2 2280 NVMe 1Tb ssd

I've tried flashing the BIOS via the USB port on the motherboard and the "Flash BIOS" button. The LED starts flashing red for a few minutes - stops flashing and turns the PC off - Restarts it automatically and the LED is either glowing red or not glowing at all. After this process there is still no signal to monitors, keyboard or mouse. It's not booting at all. The motherboard's CPU LED is glowing red, but it's actually been doing this for a long while and there has been no issue. I checked and there were no bent/broken pins and no dist/dirt in the CPU.

I have tried with different USB drives. Tried with an older BIOS update file instead of the newest one (didn't work). I've tried removing the CMOS battery for a few minutes and then put it back in. I've tried resetting CMOS via "shorting CMOS jumper" according to the user manual instructions.
 
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Ok. Hmm, the Corsair TX650M, is this perhaps the original model from circa 12 years ago? Then i would try with a different PSU first, and i would use no PSU of that age anymore. The technology is outdated and the capacitors have aged too much, losing their electrical properties. See my Guide: How to find a good PSU. The only TX650M you can keep using are the 2017/2021 versions with black&white label, but the ones with orange color on the label are too old.

Now, this doesn't explain why it happened after a BIOS update and never before, but it would go back to what i posted here the other day (if your PSU really is that old model). In that case, i would connect a different PSU (known good, not too old - preferably still within its warranty period - and of decent quality), and then try the Flash BIOS Button method again, see if that changes anything.
 
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Thank you for the tip!
I went to my local PC repair shop and explained everything. He said that he’s come across quite a few MSI motherboards that simply can’t handle updating the BIOS and that often the motherboard will short circuit during the update. He said that it’s most likely that the motherboard is unusable and I should get a new one.
I hear what you’re saying about the PSU. I don’t think it’s that old since I bought it in 2019 after all, and I don’t think the PSU would be the problem since before trying to update the BIOS there was no issue booting. I haven’t had any other power related problems
 
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Well, the BIOS can corrupt in rare cases, however, that's one of the things the Flash BIOS Button is for. This will blindly flash the BIOS, whatever is going on with it.

If the PSU is the newer one with the black&white label, then that PSU theory is less likely, yes. It should still be good. I would try other BIOS versions, for example with 7B86vHG, using the Flash BIOS Button. There has to be a way to get this working again.
 
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I agree, it should work! I checked the PSU and it is the one with black/white label.
I tried the flash bios button with the newest bios update and an older bios update (from 2020) with two different USBs. There was still no difference. I know I’m not an expert when it comes to troubleshooting but I have tried pretty much every single tip I can find, both from online forums and from the user manual.
At this point I’m just considering buying a new motherboard because I have no working laptop and need something to use while studying.
 
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I'd try the 7B86vHG BIOS, just because that is an older known good version.

When you first updated the BIOS, you said it progressed slowly. How slow are we talking? I mean, if the display enters standby, it must've been at least ten minutes? Even that would already be long for a simple BIOS update.

Worst comes to worst, there is still this kind of method with an external flash programmer (bit more info here), with which you flash the newest BIOS version directly onto the BIOS chip. Maybe your local PC repair shop offers something like that. That's if we assume that the BIOS is still corrupt and cannot be flashed with onboard means anymore. I don't know what's going on with these older AM4 boards sometimes.
 
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I’m not sure if the monitors entered standby because it took too long or because the motherboard got [***CENSORED***] up. I left the room to do some cleaning and when I got back they were in standby and had no signal.
I’ll try the method you suggested but if that doesn’t work I’ll just get a a new one. I can get an upgrade on my old motherboard for just 160$ so it’s not a big deal. Thank you for taking the time to respond and help me, I really appreciate it!
 
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