ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming LGA 1700 - BIOS 1801 - Update problems ?

wordsworth · Feb 3, 2024

Ghot said:
Make note of the 2nd paragraph in post #3.

It could be...

Bad USB stick.
Bad format.
Bad download.
Glitch in the rename.

You seem to know what you're doing. just start from the beginning again.
This time, have some pizza rolls handy.
Try a new download, format and rename first.
If you're still having problems... try a new USB stick, altogether.

As Ghot says here, two of the most common reasons for a solid green light appearing is the USB drive is not formatted correctly or you have the wrong BIOS downloaded. To solve the first, use diskpart to format the USB drive with MBR, not GPT. To solve the second problem, look very carefully at the motherboard BIOS you are downloading; Asus has a bad habit of naming too many motherboards with very similar names. For example, I have the Asus ROG Strix Z590-A Gaming WIFI motherboard, but there is also an Asus ROG Strix Z590-A Gaming WIFI II motherboard.

Ghot · Feb 3, 2024

wordsworth said:
or you have the wrong BIOS downloaded

It may be the right BIOS, but like any download... the internet may have burped during the download.
A bit or byte missing here or there, may not affect a lot of downloads. But it will DEFINITELY affect a BIOS download.

wordsworth · Feb 3, 2024

I suspect the problem will be solved by starting over with formatting the USB drive in MBR then dropping the downloaded BIOS update on it again.

bobkn · Feb 3, 2024

Ghot said:
It may be the right BIOS, but like any download... the internet may have burped during the download.
A bit or byte missing here or there, may not affect a lot of downloads. But it will DEFINITELY affect a BIOS download.

The download is a ZIP file. I've never downloaded a ZIP that was corrupted but still expanded.

I had a similar issue with a Gigabyte board. It turned out that I made a typo when I manually renamed the file. If the OP used the included renamer tool, that wouldn't have happened.

I just checked. The USB drive that worked is MBR.

kciN · Feb 3, 2024

I think the usb stick has to be fat32 format. Easiest way is right click on the device/format/file system. Can set allocation unit size to auto as well. I would also leave the original and the renamed bios on the stick while running bios falshback but that is just me. gl

bobkn · Feb 3, 2024

kciN said:
I think the usb stick has to be fat32 format. Easiest way is right click on the device/format/file system. Can set allocation unit size to auto as well. I would also leave the original and the renamed bios on the stick while running bios falshback but that is just me. gl

(snip)

The renamer doesn't leave a copy of the original file. Not that it matters.

wordsworth · Feb 3, 2024

kciN said:
I think the usb stick has to be fat32 format.

Yes, the file system must be fat32, and the partition style MBR not GPT.

PerpetualCycle · Feb 3, 2024

geneo said:
Try updating to the 1402 bios first. That is the earliest one supporting 14th gen.

The ME firmware must be updated to recognize the 14th gen processors. According to your MB bios update page, 1402 contains this ME as part of the Bios upgrade. 1801 does not update the ME firmware so expects ME firmware that supports 14th gen to be present, which it is not.

If this isn't your current hurdle, expect it will be we next.

OK. I am pretty much positive this is your issue. You need to update the ME firmware first (it won't boot or enter the BIOS if the ME doesn't support your processor). This ME is firmware that resides in your Z790 chipset. BIOS 1402 includes an ME firmware update. When you boot after you finish flashing 1402 , It will first load the firmware into the chipset then update the BIOS.

Later you can update to 1801 once you have access to windows. There is even newer ME firmware that is supposed to be loaded manually from Windows before updating to 1801.

Cheers and good luck.

THiBOR69 · Feb 3, 2024

geneo said:
Try updating to the 1402 bios first. That is the earliest one supporting 14th gen.

The ME firmware must be updated to recognize the 14th gen processors. According to your MB bios update page, 1402 contains this ME as part of the Bios upgrade. 1801 does not update the ME firmware so expects ME firmware that supports 14th gen to be present, which it is not.

If this isn't your current hurdle, expect it will be we next.

Could you tell me where to find BIOS 1402 ? I don't see other bios on ASUS page other than 1801 ??

Thank you sir.

Ghot · Feb 3, 2024

THiBOR69 said:
Could you tell me where to find BIOS 1402 ? I don't see other bios on ASUS page other than 1801 ??

Thank you sir.

They always have a button called "See All Downloads" under the latest BIOS version.

The site is back up.

BamaInArk · Feb 3, 2024

geneo said:
You need to update the ME firmware first (it won't boot or enter the BIOS if the ME doesn't support your processor). This ME is firmware that resides in your Z790 chipset. BIOS 1402 includes an ME firmware update. When you boot after you finish flashing 1402 , It will first load the firmware into the chipset then update the BIOS.

Cheers and good luck.

FYI but it appears newer Intel chipset Bioses also simultaneously update the ME as well. At least with Asus motherboards.

"Updating this BIOS will simultaneously update the corresponding intel ME to version 16.1.30.2307. Please note after you update this BIOS, the ME version remains the updated one even if you roll back to an older BIOS later."

PerpetualCycle · Feb 3, 2024

BamaInArk said:
FYI but it appears newer Intel chipset Bioses also simultaneously update the ME as well. At least with Asus motherboards.

"Updating this BIOS will simultaneously update the corresponding intel ME to version 16.1.30.2307. Please note after you update this BIOS, the ME version remains the updated one even if you roll back to an older BIOS later."

Well you may be right in this case mate, Intel chipset (ME) firmware is interdependent of BIOS firmware - sometimes Asus asks you to update ME firmware, if needed, manually before a BIOS update, sometimes it is included. If 1402 flash doesn't work it still may be that the processor has to be taken out before the flash. I would do that as a last resort though, as it is a PITA to take a processor out and put it back in. I remember going through this chicken or egg first pain in the 4th gen. Then it was necessary to have the newer chip out if the required BIOS and ME were not already flashed.

THiBOR69 · Feb 3, 2024

geneo said:
Well you may be right in this case mate, Intel chipset (ME) firmware is interdependent of BIOS firmware - sometimes Asus asks you to update ME firmware, if needed, manually before a BIOS update, sometimes it is included. If 1402 flash doesn't work it still may be that the processor has to be taken out before the flash. I would do that as a last resort though, as it is a PITA to take a processor out and put it back in. I remember going through this chicken or egg first pain in the 4th gen. Then it was necessary to have the newer chip out if the required BIOS and ME were not already flashed.

Arghh still having issues. I flashed successfully I believe because the green lights turned off like they should. That was on the 1801. But it will not post. I turned on the PC and it said BIOS IS UPDATING LED FIRMWARE. DONT TURN OFF. So I left it alone for 10 minutes and restarted. The BIOS LED on the MB is solid green next to the cpu and gpu leds

I dont know what to do now

should I try to reflash 14 bios then 18 again ? Please aadvise me before my wife kills me LOL.
Thank you

Ghot · Feb 3, 2024

THiBOR69 said:
should I try to reflash 14 bios then 18 again ? Please aadvise me before my wife kills me LOL.

Try setting the BIOS to Optimized defaults. That option should be on the last tab in the BIOS.
If you don't see the tabs, hit the F7 key first.

THiBOR69 · Feb 3, 2024

Ghot said:
Try setting the BIOS to Optimized defaults. That option should be on the last tab in the BIOS.
If you don't see the tabs, hit the F7 key first.

Ummm How ? I have a blank screen. Just black. I tried DEL to bios and nothing

BamaInArk · Feb 3, 2024

THiBOR69 said:
Ummm How ? I have a blank screen. Just black. I tried DEL to bios and nothing

You can reset the bios manually on the motherboard itself. Either by using the Clear CMOS button on the Backplane or via motherboard jumper and/or removing the CMOS battery.

THiBOR69 · Feb 3, 2024

BamaInArk said:
You can reset the bios manually on the motherboard itself. Either by using the Clear CMOS button on the Backplane or via motherboard jumper and/or removing the CMOS battery.

Oh yes I have a clear all button on back ... then just reboot ?? but wont it still just hang on black screen ? trying to get into bios .. ? let me try .. brb

Ghot · Feb 3, 2024

THiBOR69 said:
Oh yes I have a clear all button on back ... then just reboot ?? but wont it still just hang on black screen ? trying to get into bios .. ? let me try .. brb

If you still get the black screen... try flashing the 1801 BIOS again, and follow ALL the directions in the pic...

If absolutely nothing works, here is the number for ASUS motherboard tech support in the USA...

THiBOR69 · Feb 3, 2024

THiBOR69 said:
Oh yes I have a clear all button on back ... then just reboot ?? but wont it still just hang on black screen ? trying to get into bios .. ? let me try .. brb

Ok looks better... It reinstalled BIOS and ME. Now I am in BIOS Screen !! says BIOS 1801 and see's my i7-14700K. It all looks ok. Except my memory is showing 4800MHz and should be 7000Mhz. Any thoughts ? :) Oh Think I need to turn ON X.M.P. ill try..

PerpetualCycle · Feb 3, 2024

THiBOR69 said:
Ok looks better... It reinstalled BIOS and ME. Now I am in BIOS Screen !! says BIOS 1801 and see's my i7-14700K. It all looks ok. Except my memory is showing 4800MHz and should be 7000Mhz. Any thoughts ? :) Oh Think I need to turn ON X.M.P. ill try..

XMP should do it