MSI Stealth 16 Studio A13VG no longer boots after Windows 11 clean install – SSD detected in BIOS

[tim1]

Hi everyone,

I’m having a problem with my MSI Stealth 16 Studio A13VG and I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar or can point me in the right direction.
I wanted to reinstall Windows 11, so I created a USB installer using the official Windows 11 Media Creation Tool.
During the Windows installation, the internal NVMe SSD was initially not detected. This turned out to be related to Intel VMD/IRST. I loaded the correct Intel IRST/VMD driver from MSI, after which the NVMe SSD was detected correctly and I was able to start the installation normally.
Everything went fine up to that point.

The problem:
When Windows had to restart for the first time during the installation, the laptop booted straight into the BIOS instead of continuing with the Windows installation.
Since then, I have not been able to get the laptop to boot.

Here is what I have checked so far:
The NVMe SSD is correctly detected in the BIOS.
The Windows 11 USB installer is also detected.
When pressing F11 for the Boot Menu, I can see the USB installer.
However, selecting the USB does not actually boot from it. The system simply ends up back in the BIOS.
BIOS settings do not seem to be saved correctly. When I change certain settings, they appear to revert after reboot.
I have already flashed the BIOS to the latest version available on the MSI website.
To rule out the SSD itself, I also tried another NVMe SSD from another MSI laptop. That laptop/SSD had never been booted before, so the SSD still contained the original pre-loaded MSI Windows installation.
The Stealth 16 Studio also refuses to boot from this SSD.
Both NVMe SSDs are correctly detected by the BIOS.

So at this point, I have a situation where both the original SSD and another NVMe SSD containing the original MSI factory Windows installation are detected by the BIOS, but the laptop will not boot from either of them.

The Windows installation USB is also detected, but the laptop will not boot from that either.

The thing I find particularly strange is that BIOS changes do not seem to persist after a reboot.

Has anyone experienced this with an MSI Stealth 16 Studio A13VG, or have any suggestions on what I should check next?

 

[Edric]

You could try resetting the EC first: disconnect the AC power, press and hold the power button for 25 seconds, then reconnect the AC power and test it.

It looks like the issue might be related to the Windows 11 installation, the USB installation drive, or some other factor—the exact cause isn't clear yet. You could try using a different USB flash drive and reinstalling the system.

It’s unclear why the BIOS settings are being affected; could you share which settings you changed that reverted to their defaults after a reboot?

 

[tim1]

You could try resetting the EC first: disconnect the AC power, press and hold the power button for 25 seconds, then reconnect the AC power and test it.

It looks like the issue might be related to the Windows 11 installation, the USB installation drive, or some other factor—the exact cause isn't clear yet. You could try using a different USB flash drive and reinstalling the system.

It’s unclear why the BIOS settings are being affected; could you share which settings you changed that reverted to their defaults after a reboot?

I have already performed the EC reset as suggested, but unfortunately this did not resolve the issue.

I have also created a completely new Windows 11 installation USB and still qo straight to BIOS. The problem remains exactly the same, so I don't believe the issue is related to the Windows installation or the USB drive.

Regarding the BIOS settings: the only setting that is retained after a reboot is the date and time. All other changes are reverted to their defaults, including:
Boot order
Security settings
Secure Boot settings
BIOS/UEFI password
Even a BIOS password is not retained after reboot.

 

[Edric]

I have already performed the EC reset as suggested, but unfortunately this did not resolve the issue.

I have also created a completely new Windows 11 installation USB and still qo straight to BIOS. The problem remains exactly the same, so I don't believe the issue is related to the Windows installation or the USB drive.

Regarding the BIOS settings: the only setting that is retained after a reboot is the date and time. All other changes are reverted to their defaults, including:
Boot order
Security settings
Secure Boot settings
BIOS/UEFI password
Even a BIOS password is not retained after reboot.

I suggest you contact MSI customer service for further assistance.