Multiple problems installing TPM module.

tinmar49 · Apr 23, 2023

Fortunately, this problem is only on one pc out of four that I have W11on. The pc is as follows:

Gigabyte A320M-H rev 1.2 BIOS F56b
Athlon 3000G
8Gb DDR4
Patriot M2 P300 256Gb
W10 pro system builder DVD
The pc was built from scratch about 1 year ago and upgraded to W11 shortly afterwards.

My other three pc's have had a TPM module added, and the only thing needed software wise was to visit my Microsoft account to reset the PIN.

I fitted module to the Gigabyte, disabled the ftpm and the TPM is now from the module.
The PIN was disabled as expected, but the two options were pin or using a USB stick. I dont have a USB stick for this pc, so everything stopped there.

No worries, I will start afresh with a W11 ISO, but there was no way that W11 would work.
I got Windows up and running with the original W10 disk. And it activated automatically.
Then I got W10 fully up to date no bother, and decided to upgrade it to W11.
The Athlon 3000G is not acceptable, really? Not according to the latest PC health check.
Also secure boot is not set up. The legacy CSM must be turned off. I had already enabled UEFI in the BIOS, but CSM was still there. Now things get very silly. I got rid the CSM in the BIOS and saved the settings and rebooted. Well I tried. Each time the BIOS reboots, (with or without a password) it goes back to the Bios screen without pressing del. This repeats until I reinstate CSM. I tried resetting the BIOS and even removing the battery, and even doing both of these things does not affect the time and date which I had expected to have to put back in. Setting the recommended defaults gets the BIOS booting to Windows.
In this BIOS, if the CSM is disabled, an additional setting pops up below. It is to enable secure boot, not visible when CSM is still enabled. And with the booting loop these settings have repeatedly prevented me from proceeding, about 20 attempts so far.

NavyLCDR · Apr 23, 2023

From the sounds of it, your Windows is installed in Legacy mode - which means an MBR partitioned drive with an NTFS partition marked as active that it boots from. You need to convert the drive to GPT with a FAT32 EFI System Partition to boot in UEFI mode from.

z3r010 · Apr 23, 2023

tinmar49 said:
I fitted module to the Gigabyte, disabled the ftpm and the TPM is now from the module.

Just why? what was wrong with ftpm?

tinmar49 · Apr 23, 2023

Its the BIOS at fault, now there is no way I can get anywhere near Windows. Earlier, I could get windows booting only if the CSM support was enabled, but not anymore. Setting optimum defaults has no effect, it just goes back to the BIOS screen. Resetting the BIOS by shorting the pins does not work, neither does removing the battery for 5 minutes, although that does require resetting the date and time. It is exactly the same with the TPM module removed. Having a password makes no difference.

NavyLCDR · Apr 23, 2023

Well, glad you got it tracked down to the BIOS. Maybe check for a newer BIOS version to flash?
Personally, I would still look at the Windows installation.

Good luck!

tinmar49 · Apr 24, 2023

Unfortunately, the BIOS is the latest F56b which came out on Feb 9 2023. Of course the BIOS chips are no longer socketed like they were in the past, so the only option may be to change the motherboard. There is a reasonable chance that Microsoft will allow the change, I have been lucky with them before, otherwise I will buy another builder pack of W10 64 pro.
The processor, an Athlon 3000G is listed as compatible with W11, and this PC and another one that I have use them with no bother.
Having the BIOS stuck in a loop and not proceeding to the OS seems to be very rare, I have never heard of this happening. And it has got worse in the last few cycles, originally, I could get it to Windows by reactivating CSM support or restoring defaults, not now.

NavyLCDR · Apr 24, 2023

As I said before, you need to look at your installation of Windows. When you replace your motherboard, please send me your old one. I could always use another computer.

Another thing to consider is faulty drive. I had two brand new ADATA SSDs that were doing the exact same thing. Sometimes the computer would boot from them, more times than not the computer would boot into BIOS. Replaced the ADATA SSD with a Toshiba and have had zero problems for years.

Your insistence that it is the motherboard or BIOS is more than likely incorrect.

We don't even know if your Windows is installed in UEFI mode or legacy BIOS mode.

tinmar49 · Apr 24, 2023

Windows is installed in UEFI mode. It is looping back into the BIOS whether I save and exit setup or exit without saving. Normally you have to use the del key. It also goes straight to BIOS from off with the mouse and keyboard disconnected. And, the same happened with the M2 drive removed, so Windows has nothing to do with it.

Back to everything connected. I have found the only way that the BIOS will boot to Windows.
First- in BIOS, secure boot must be disabled.
Second- in BIOS CSM must be enabled
Changes are saved and system then passes to Windows.

If the CSM is enabled, then the secure boot option is not shown. As soon as CSM is disabled, the secure boot option shows up and can be used. But if secure boot is left enabled, CSM reverts to off automatically when changes are saved.

I now believe that the TPM module running or not or the fTPM on or not is not connected with the secure boot problem.

PerpetualCycle · Apr 24, 2023

tinmar49 said:
If the CSM is enabled, then the secure boot option is not shown. As soon as CSM is disabled, the secure boot option shows up and can be used. But if secure boot is left enabled, CSM reverts to off automatically when changes are saved.

That is normal behavior.

Can you flash back to an earlier BIOS on that board? I don't know what that board can do but I could flash back to an older BIOS on Z390 Gigabyte Master.

tinmar49 · Apr 25, 2023

I have just put F55 BIOS on a USB stick and Q-flash has accepted it as an upgrade. Unfortunately, the CSM and secure boot problem has not changed. I will try going back to the earliest essential Bios. That is F54, I will get back to you shortly.
No dice, F54 loads fine and shows up in the BIOS but as soon as CSM is disabled the BIOS is stuck in a loop. As soon as CSM is reenabled everything goes back to normal booting.

NavyLCDR · Apr 25, 2023

tinmar49 said:
I have just put F55 BIOS on a USB stick and Q-flash has accepted it as an upgrade. Unfortunately, the CSM and secure boot problem has not changed. I will try going back to the earliest essential Bios. That is F54, I will get back to you shortly.
No dice, F54 loads fine and shows up in the BIOS but as soon as CSM is disabled the BIOS is stuck in a loop. As soon as CSM is reenabled everything goes back to normal booting.

Which is completely normal behavior when Windows is installed in Legacy BIOS mode without a FAT32 system partition to boot from. A screenshot of your disk management would help us to help you.
How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management

tinmar49 · Apr 25, 2023

I have already mentioned this, but it seems to have been missed. With CSM enabled the BIOS runs as expected with NO C drive connected to the motherboard. The expected screen comes up with "reboot and select proper boot device............etc etc". Then I disable CSM and the BIOS goes into the loop and there is no way out.

NavyLCDR · Apr 25, 2023

Why are you running CSM enabled with no C: drive connected to the motherboard?

An alternative way of showing what is on your disk is to boot from the Windows 10 USB flash drive. Press Shift + F10 to get into a command prompt at the first screen. Then run:
diskpart
list volume

and post the results.

Code:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.1555]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\System32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22621.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: RAIDER

DISKPART> list vol

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     D   Data         NTFS   Partition    945 GB  Healthy
  Volume 1     R   RECOVERY     FAT32  Partition   8191 MB  Healthy
  Volume 2     C   Windows 11   NTFS   Partition    401 GB  Healthy    Boot
  Volume 3     E                NTFS   Partition     64 GB  Healthy
  Volume 4                      FAT32  Partition    100 MB  Healthy    System

DISKPART>

tinmar49 · Apr 26, 2023

CSM is enabled by default in this BIOS. Removing the M2 drive was only to eliminate any Windows related influence. The disk management results are exactly the same as two other pc's that I compared it with. When putting the fresh W10 on the other day, I didn't interfere with the normal extra hidden partitions that Microsoft always adds when loading.

NavyLCDR · Apr 26, 2023

tinmar49 said:
CSM is enabled by default in this BIOS. Removing the M2 drive was only to eliminate any Windows related influence. The disk management results are exactly the same as two other pc's that I compared it with. When putting the fresh W10 on the other day, I didn't interfere with the normal extra hidden partitions that Microsoft always adds when loading.

Why do you have an utter refusal to post any indication of what you have installed on the disks? Good luck with the new motherboard. Good day to you. You don't want help.

tinmar49 · Apr 27, 2023

Tried something different today. I replaced the Patriot 256Gb M2 with a freshly formatted WD SN750 500Gb M2. Switched on and set the optimised defaults in BIOS. I booted from a W11 pro DVD and it got part way and then refused to load as the system did not comply with W11 requirements. I went back into the BIOS and disabled CSM, made sure AHCI was set and secure boot. This time it went to the press any key screen

. I tried the W11 dvd again and it has loaded, activated and all the updates have worked. Disk management shows exactly the same configuration with C running NTFS and the pair of small hidden partitions not showing any file system, probably fat 32.

NavyLCDR · May 5, 2023

tinmar49 said:
Tried something different today. I replaced the Patriot 256Gb M2 with a freshly formatted WD SN750 500Gb M2. Switched on and set the optimised defaults in BIOS. I booted from a W11 pro DVD and it got part way and then refused to load as the system did not comply with W11 requirements. I went back into the BIOS and disabled CSM, made sure AHCI was set and secure boot. This time it went to the press any key screen . I tried the W11 dvd again and it has loaded, activated and all the updates have worked. Disk management shows exactly the same configuration with C running NTFS and the pair of small hidden partitions not showing any file system, probably fat 32.

I thought you said the motherboard was bad?

tinmar49 · May 9, 2023

I didn't know what was wrong with the motherboard. Changing the M2 drive only happened because I had a spare available, and there is no guarantee that things eventually working had anything to do with it. The TPM module is running fine and may not have been the cause of the problems. The particular pc is a backup to an old W10 pc that may last for some time.

rzn6jw · Jun 20, 2023

It's like NavyLCDR said, your C: drive needs to be GPT not MBR. Boot into Win 10 and run MBR2GPT.exe. Then boot your BIOS eliminating CSM and you should be able to load Win 11.