MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk always booting to BIOS

[emmanuele.sordin159d02e0]

Hello everybody.
I build a mid-range workstation around an MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK DDR4 motherboard. On the whole, my PC works fine and is a pleasure to use, but with an annoying issue.

Upon startup, most of the times (say, 80 to 90%) it will boot into the BIOS instead of booting up the OS (Windows 11). So I always have to exit the BIOS without saving (F10) and restart, after which the OS will starts up normally.

Anybody have an idea about how to solve this issue? The only detail I can think of is that I have a KVM through which I share my keyboard and mouse across three PCs, but other that my system is pretty much standard. I'd rather not take my workstation apart just to send the MB back for service.

Thanks in advance
ES

 

[darkhawk]

>>Posting Guide<<

Really need more info on the system. HDD/SSD's, etc.....the more info the better.

 

[citay]

Also, check your current BIOS version. If it's older, update to the newest one, in case this is a rare bug that is triggered by your specific setup.

 

[emmanuele.sordin159d02e0]

>>Posting Guide<<

Really need more info on the system. HDD/SSD's, etc.....the more info the better.

Sure, here goes...
Mainboard: MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK DDR4 (BIOS version: 1.5)
CPU: Intel i7-13700K
RAM: 2x32 Gb DDR4-3200, part number: CMK64GX4M2E3200C16
Primary disk: WD Blue SN570 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
Secondary disk(s): 2 x Samsung SSD 870 QVO 4TB (RAID 1)
Video card: Asus Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 V2 OC Edition
PSU: Mars Gaming MPVU750
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black
Display: MSI PS341WU (connected via DP)
OC: no
OS: Windows 11 22H2 build 22621.2283, EN
Mouse: Genius GM04003A
Keyboard: Dell U483D
KVM: Lindy KVM switch pro

HTH, Thanks in advance
ES

 

[emmanuele.sordin159d02e0]

Also, check your current BIOS version. If it's older, update to the newest one, in case this is a rare bug that is triggered by your specific setup.

I had the unfortunate idea of updating the BIOS (from 1.50 to 1.90), now I'm getting a inaccessible boot device BSOD error.

Tried reverting back to 1.60, but Windows 11 won't boot. Help!

Thanks
ES

 

[emmanuele.sordin159d02e0]

I had the unfortunate idea of updating the BIOS (from 1.50 to 1.90), now I'm getting a inaccessible boot device BSOD error.

Tried reverting back to 1.60, but Windows 11 won't boot. Help!

Update: I have managed to boot Windows 11 in safe mode and to update some Intel drivers. Now Windows 11 boots but my RAID 1 array is gone (the two disks are shown in Windows Explorer as two separate drives with the same content).

Any suggestions on how to rebuild the array without losing data?

Thanks
ES

 

[darkhawk]

Is there a reason for running a raid array? If it's strictly to mirror the data for safety, sure, I suppose that's a reason, but I don't think it's going to help you much for the most part. Same with Raid 0, there's really no real world speed bonus by doing it.

I'd honestly just use them as 2 separate drives and be done with it.

 

[citay]

I had the unfortunate idea of updating the BIOS (from 1.50 to 1.90), now I'm getting a inaccessible boot device BSOD error.

That's not an unfortunate idea, that is a must with a problem like you had. Looks like you could solve the error you got afterwards, so it looks like there was something wrong all the time, and now it's an overall more reliable solution on the newest BIOS.

Now Windows 11 boots but my RAID 1 array is gone (the two disks are shown in Windows Explorer as two separate drives with the same content).

Don't worry, a RAID1 is a very simple mirroring. If you set it up the same as you had it before, it should work again like before right away. But with SSDs, RAID1 makes little sense, it's better to make backups. For example, use one 870 QVO as is, put the other 870 QVO into an external USB enclosure and run a backup of your data once a week or so. I use FreeFileSync for that.

Because when you use a good SSD model, a sudden failure becomes very unlikely. Failure rates of a proper SSD are a fraction of a percent, making it the most reliable PC component that was ever sold (no exaggeration, they have proven that statistically). And for that minuscule eventuality, you just do regular backups. I've always been a proponent of "backups over RAID1", because a RAID1 does nothing about the much more common dangers such as user error, software mishaps, updates breaking something, and so on. This will all be immediately mirrored in a RAID1 and you have gained no extra security from it.

You can do backups as disk images or just user data, incremental or full backups, to an internal or external drive or several, manually or automated. This is all preferable over a RAID1 nowadays, especially external/offline backups stored away from the PC (which protect against a host of additional dangers that a RAID1 is helpless against).

 

[emmanuele.sordin159d02e0]

Is there a reason for running a raid array? If it's strictly to mirror the data for safety, sure, I suppose that's a reason, but I don't think it's going to help you much for the most part. Same with Raid 0, there's really no real world speed bonus by doing it.

Don't worry, a RAID1 is a very simple mirroring. If you set it up the same as you had it before, it should work again like before right away. But with SSDs, RAID1 makes little sense, it's better to make backups. For example, use one 870 QVO as is, put the other 870 QVO into an external USB enclosure and run a backup of your data once a week or so. I use FreeFileSync for that.
You can do backups as disk images or just user data, incremental or full backups, to an internal or external drive or several, manually or automated. This is all preferable over a RAID1 nowadays, especially external/offline backups stored away from the PC (which protect against a host of additional dangers that a RAID1 is helpless against).

I admit both of you have a point here. However, I think a RAID1 array is a hassle-free (well, kind of...) way of having somebody keep two copies of the same data always up-to-date-for you ;-), so it still has an edge over manual or semi-automated backups.

Thx
ES

 

[darkhawk]

I admit both of you have a point here. However, I think a RAID1 array is a hassle-free (well, kind of...) way of having somebody keep two copies of the same data always up-to-date-for you ;-), so it still has an edge over manual or semi-automated backups.

Thx
ES

I mean, it's valid. I just don't worry about that as much anymore. With how reliable most components seem to be anymore, it's not a huge concern for me. But I get your point.
I don't think you're going to be able to 'save the data' as you're going to have to remake the array.....it's another annoying issue with BIOS upgrades/downgrades and such, as sometimes it happens and doesn't work, and other times it works just fine.

 

[emmanuele.sordin159d02e0]

I mean, it's valid. I just don't worry about that as much anymore. With how reliable most components seem to be anymore, it's not a huge concern for me. But I get your point.
I don't think you're going to be able to 'save the data' as you're going to have to remake the array.....it's another annoying issue with BIOS upgrades/downgrades and such, as sometimes it happens and doesn't work, and other times it works just fine.

Fortunately, it looks like the data on both HDs resulting from the "dismantling" of the array is in good health. So, I ordered an external USB HD which I'll use to back up the data. Then I'll rebuild the RAID 1 array (which is very likely to result in data loss) and copy back the data into the newly rebuilt array. And I'll be left with a "roomy" external HD, which doesn't hurt.

But I just think that a RAID array being reset by a BIOS update is an awful, MAJOR flaw.

ES

 

[citay]

I admit both of you have a point here. However, I think a RAID1 array is a hassle-free (well, kind of...) way of having somebody keep two copies of the same data always up-to-date-for you ;-)

The one and only thing this can do is protect against a drive failure. And this is a stretch for the 870 QVO. It might be slow in certain scenarios, but it's not unreliable. But as i said, this doesn't protect against any of the far more common dangers in daily use, because every mishap will immediately be mirrored. By using RAID1 with such SSDs, you're simply battening down the wrong hatches.

I would do it the following way: Yes, get another USB drive. But also take out one of the QVOs and put it into an external enclosure as well. If your data is quite important, for example for work, you could do a daily incremental backup onto the external QVO at the end of the day, then putting it aside. As for the other external drive, this is for your weekly or monthly backup, perhaps even storing multiple older backups if there's enough space on it. This is in case you need an older version of a file, you delected something by accident which you want back, stuff like that. This you store in a secure place, at least in a different room.

I'm telling you, for the data safety, this is a much better solution overall.

 

[darkhawk]

Fortunately, it looks like the data on both HDs resulting from the "dismantling" of the array is in good health. So, I ordered an external USB HD which I'll use to back up the data. Then I'll rebuild the RAID 1 array (which is very likely to result in data loss) and copy back the data into the newly rebuilt array. And I'll be left with a "roomy" external HD, which doesn't hurt.

But I just think that a RAID array being reset by a BIOS update is an awful, MAJOR flaw.

ES

There's no doubt it's terrible. But it's another reason I don't update my BIOS much anymore (working system is better than updating and NOT working......even if it has security updates anymore.....), and also why I don't personally use RAID. My laptop (what I'm typing this from) gets all the folders I care about (desktop, downloads, and a few other folders) backed up weekly using a program called freefilesync, to a local network server. Been using it that way for about 2 years, and have 2 years worth of backups from it. And it's all catalogued, etc....and I don't have to do anything to do it. It's all setup to run in the background, etc.....which is another reason I don't have RAID going on my laptop. I just don't need to worry about it.