Having trouble with MSI PRO B650M-A system

[rdy12157c02d8]

recently was able to get my system together and I’m at a bit of a loss as to what’s gone wrong here.

Specs:
Ryzen 5 7600X
MSI PRO B650M-A Wifi
ADATA XPG Lancer Blade 16gb DDR5-5600 CL46
Gigabyte RX 7600 XT Gaming OC
WD SN750 1tb
Corsair RM750 Power supply

I was able to get everything but the GPU built up a few days ago and the system was working no problem, was able to get into the bios fine and install windows. The system was working with no problems. When my gpu arrived I added it to the system and for the most part things work ok. I had some instability that updating drivers seemed to resolve, I was able to benchmark the system and do some light gaming with it.

I started to notice that the system was behaving really strange on startup, the case fans would start up fine but the Gpu fans would try to spin at 15%-20% power for 10 seconds before stoping for 30-40 seconds and then repeating this cycle. My monitor would indicate no output and I wasn’t getting loaded into bios or any other signs of life from the system. This would go on for minute or two before the monitor would get the PC’s output and start up as normally.

After this issue developed, I also noticed that the Motherboard’s Ethernet adapter would randomly stop working. It would give an error that no cable was plugged in despite one being in the system. I tried updating the drivers but this didn’t solve the issue. The adapter would work for 1-2 minutes after startup but then completely stop. Restarting the system didn’t solve the issue. My errors were similar (but not identical) to the ones in this thread: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?...-onboard-devices-randomly-malfunction.396071/

This beings me to today when the system completely stopped booting up. The GPU fan cycle just continued indefinitely with the monitor never receiving an output. I noticed that I was getting two debug lights on the motherboard, a red CPU and yellow RAM light. When the lights came on was not consistent at all, sometimes both of them went out while other times some of them stayed on. I tried booting with the ram sticks removed and swapped places and made sure that they were fully seated each time. I then tried to boot the system without the gpu as my problems had only started after the gpu was installed. This didn’t solve the issue and the debug lights remained.

At this point I’m thinking/hoping it’s a motherboard issue, but I really don’t understand how the system can be fine one day and completely non-functional the next. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[zerijelly]

Please update BIOS to the latest version to check. BIOS is available from: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B650M-A-WIFI/support
For how to use BIOS M-Flash function for BIOS update:

Have you installed the graphics card to PCI_E3 slot to check whether the symptom could be improved?

 

[rdy12157c02d8]

Bios has been updated, issue is still persisting unfortunately. I'm not sure if I was clear enough but I'm not even getting the chance to get into the bios at all. I used the Bios flash process which seemed to work correctly. Just a black screen indicating no input, I tried using two different cables but still no luck.

 

[citay]

Don't bother waiting for a video signal, because with any of the first three EZ Debug LEDs being on, there will be no output yet, the problem has to be solved first.

You said you successfully flashed the latest BIOS version using the button method. Did it flash for 5-8 minutes and then reboot?

Didn't you update the BIOS first thing, before installing Windows? This is what I would advise, because a motherboard tends to ship with a BIOS version that's already months outdated, and updating to the latest version can prevent trouble. The BIOS is much more low-level than a Windows driver, so with any fundamental problems, it should be on the top of your list, over driver updates.

Generally, it's good thinking to leave things out in order to rule them out. Of course, at some point like the RAM or CPU, you would need known good (borrowed) parts to rule those out completely.

We have had quite some reports of people getting random CPU+DRAM LEDs on MSI AM5, especially the 600-series boards, and they are always quite difficult to troubleshoot, because there is usually no apparent reason for the issue. So fixing it is also not straight-forward. The best thing is to methodically try things, from the easy ones to the ones that cause more hassle.

For example, did you try a simple Clear CMOS already (shorting the two JBAT1 pins with a screwdriver while power is removed)?

The RAM, you tried individually in all slots? After this, confirming a proper BIOS flash should have priority.

 

[rdy12157c02d8]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate the help.

The light did flash for around that long and then went out, I followed this tutorial here and everything went exactly like the video:

I also made sure to confirm that I installed the correct bios for my specific board.

I admittedly did not update the bios before installing windows. I assumed that because the system started up fine for the first few days that a bios update was not an immediate priority. I have not tried a clear CMOS, when you say "when power is removed" do you mean the external power cord or the internal cables connecting the power supply to the motherboard? I have tried various Ram combinations in the designated slots but not the secondary ones. I'll try some more Ram combinations with the secondary slots before doing a clear CMOS.

 

[citay]

What I meant was, before doing the Clear CMOS, turn off the PSU (if it has a switch), or pull the mains cable from the PSU or from the wall.