Intel Motherboards : z170m-itx/ac gaming, bricked after BIOS update?

Author: parsec
Subject: z170m-itx/ac gaming, bricked after BIOS update?
Posted: 20 Oct 2016 at 12:18pm

jd49 wrote: Specs: New build ASrock z170m-itx/ac gaming i3-6100 16GB (2x8) 3000 MHz RAM Seasonic Platinum 660XP2 PSU 500gb Samsung EVO 1TB 3.5" mechanical Built PC last night with a transplanted HD from an old Sandy Bridge build expecting to format and reinstall Windows 10. Started in BIOS fine. Forgot my Windows flash drive and restarted to boot the install drive. It booted my old Windows install fine before I could do anything (to my surprise!). Anyway, I figured I'd grab the new BIOS off the web (mistake!) and put it on a flash drive to install in the BIOS. Within the BIOS, the new BIOS file was found and started the install process. I didn't pay very close attention but know the progress bar filled up perhaps once or twice. On the last progress bar, it stopped at 98% and restarted. When it restarted, the screen was blank, but the fans and LEDs in the case were on. Nothing seemed to be happening. I gave it some time (several minutes) but panicked, gave in and shut the PC down. Since then, nothing has allowed the PC to post. It will start, fans will spin, and LEDs will flash (including those on USB drives). It is currently connected to a known working monitor via HDMI. I also have tested it with a known working GTX 960 which is installed at this point for troubleshooting. It was originally running video from the MOBO when I first set everything up. I'm at work, but here is what I tried so far: Check seating of RAM, power cables, etc. Booting with a FAT32 USB3 drive with only the most current BIOS file, tried multiple ports. If I was supposed to press any keys (F6?), I haven't tried that. Clear CMOS button with power off and cable unplugged. I've also tried clearing it by holding it down. Removed connection to battery for several minutes with CMOS clear and attached USB drive (this caused the PC to start and immediately restart which gave me hope, but after running for 10 minutes did nothing). Of the things I've tried, the symptoms are always the same, black screen saying no input, even as I wait for up to 15 minutes. LEDs on and fans spinning. No sound/beeps. When I left for work I kept the battery unplugged, so when I return I can fully test it with the recommended 4 hours disconnected (pending). I'd like to test it with some items removed, maybe only 1 stick of RAM and remove the VGA card again? I've also seen cases where an older BIOS file might work off USB, even though the newest won't. Any thoughts or am I bricked? Thank you

First, I'm confused about the board you have. You said its a ASrock z170m-itx/ac gaming.

No such board made by ASRock.

There is a Z170M-ITX/ac. Or a Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac. Not that it makes any difference given your problem, but always good to know what we are working with.

Your description of the Instant Flash process was accurate, the two progress bars, one for the Crashless feature, and one for the actual update.

What is different is the automatic restart at 98% progress. You should have been prompted to press Enter to restart the PC, as the update was complete. 

Who knows what happened at the point where the PC restarted. Or did it shutdown first?

No mention of an OC of the CPU or memory being used when you ran Instant Flash. Given your CPU, it would have been a BCLK OC, if you had one at all.

Given what you described, I doubt the problem is related to your hardware. As the Instant Flash instructions state, don't turn off the PC if there is a failure of the update process. Restarting the PC at that point would have started the update process again, or put you back into the UEFI to run it manually again.

Turning it off when you did committed the incomplete flash, resulting in it being corrupted. Or at least that is what normally occurs. Also, clearing the CMOS immediately after a UEFI update is not recommended.

The Crashless feature works by having a USB flash drive in a USB 2.0 port on the IO panel, and starting the PC. If it would work, you would see some activity after a while on the monitor. You could try that, but given all you've done, I'd say your UEFI is bricked.

You can easily replace the UEFI chip, it is not soldered in place. You can get replacement chips from ASRock, pre-loaded with a UEFI, or from places like eBay. The ASRock source can be contacted at the link below. (Sorry but the forum link creation tool is broken, that is the correct URL text for the web page. Just highlight the text, left click on it, and select open link option.)

http://www.asrock.com/support/index.asp?cat=RMA