MSI z77a-g45 sudden power-off after 30 minutes of working.

[nkokki15a402de]

Hello everyone!

My computer (Motherboard: msi z77a-g45, cpu: i7-3300 IvyBridge, Memory: 8 Gb Corsair Vengeance, PSU: 550 Watt OEM, GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7700) suddenly powers-off after about 30 minutes of operating time (even in idle state).

I have tested other PSU and 2 different GPUs but the problem remains.

Also, I have changed thermal paste and the CPU temperature is between 35-42 Celcius degress in idle state.

In BIOS screen ME Version says n/a, though I have updated bios in the latest release since several years.

The pc powers-off also in bios state or with Linux Live Distro after about 30 minutes of operating time.

What could be the problem?

Is there any solution or I have to throw away the motherboard?

Thank you in advance!!

 

[nkokki15a402de]

In some older mainboard's BIOS versions ME-FW can be listed in BIOS Setup as N/A

Check with HWiNFO® 64 under Mainboard, Intel ME

Thanks a lot again for your help! Unfortunately not! It may be a hardware problem. With the HWiNFO 64 under Mainboard, there is not Intel ME but only Devices ACPI and SMBIOS DMI.

 

[Svet]

To include ME-FW Flashing with this tool (>>Forum USB flasher<<) ,
you need to use special BIOS archive with valcheck.com:
valcheck_E7752IMS.2D1 (Use Mode1 from the tool to prepare the USB key)
also go for latest version E7752IMS.2D1 who has important fixes compared to .2B0

 

[nkokki15a402de]

But why test with different GPUs, why not use the iGPU of the CPU via onboard HDMI port? It's better to leave out components to narrow it down, wherever possible.

However, in the meantime, I googled a bit. Because these 30 minutes on the dot, something is too odd about this. And it seems like the Intel Management Engine situation might have been a good guess: https://community.intel.com/t5/Mobi...r-boot-possibly-due-to-Management/m-p/1203826

Further research indicates that there is an Intel ME Watchdog timer, which, if the ME is not responding or frozen after exactly 30 minutes, it will shut down the system. So in your case, with the ME not having been flashed properly, it can't respond, and you get the 30 minute shut-off via the Watchdog timer.

To solve this, you need to get the BIOS + ME flashed properly. So even trying older versions of them, you can attempt to update them again later.

I think that is the problem because precisely after 30 minutes of operation the pc crashes. I tried to get the BIOS + ME flashed, but unsuccessfully when it comes to ME. Although I used even this forum’s tool for flashing BIOS and ME.

 

[citay]

Yeah, after 30 minutes, the ME watchdog timer will shut off the power or reboot the system if it didn't get a response from the Management Engine in time. It is basically a countdown implemented in hardware, and when it expires without ever getting a response, it assumes the component has failed, and triggers the according action.

Normally, the ME answers regularly, so the countdown keeps getting reset and never expires. But if the ME never answers anymore, then you only ever get 30 minutes of runtime. As you said, you can immediately boot the PC again and get another 30 minutes. That is a safeguard, to prevent the system from entering an endless reboot cycle in cases of a major error that the reboot does not repair.

So now, at least you get 30 minutes of trying to flash the BIOS and such. Or actually, since you have the flash programmer CH341A, you can use this kind of method (bit more info here), which can be done by connecting the programmer to the JTPM1 header, or putting its clamp directly onto the BIOS chip. Then you can freely mess around until you get this fixed. Don't be afraid of trying this, what's the worst that can happen, that you mess up the firmware of this old board... you can probably get such a board (sometimes bundled with CPU+RAM) for maybe 20 EUR/USD on eBay or some place like that. So at this point I would use it to get experience in CH341A programming, it can always come in handy.

 

[nkokki15a402de]

To include ME-FW Flashing with this tool (>>Forum USB flasher<<) ,
you need to use special BIOS archive with valcheck.com:
valcheck_E7752IMS.2D1 (Use Mode1 from the tool to prepare the USB key)
also go for latest version E7752IMS.2D1 who has important fixes compared to .2B0

Thank you so much @Svet!!! I think the problem is solved. I flashed my BIOS version to E7752IMS.2D1 with the Forum USB flasher, I cleared CMOS through the dedicated button at the back of my mobo and I reinstalled ME drivers in Windows: http://download.msi.com/dvr_exe/intel_me10_mb.zip. Since then, for over an hour now the pc didn't power-off suddenly, like it was doing every 30 operating minutes. In my BIOS settings I can finally see Intel ME Version, something I couldn't do before. I really appreciate your help and of course other guys' help (@citay, @RemusM, @dvair) to my problem. I am grateful to all of you guys!!!