Problem upgrading to XFX Fury

[Feld]

Hi,

I just got a new XFX Fury (non-X) card to replace my old... wait for it... Visiontek Radeon HD 4870. This is for a system I built roughly a year ago but was in no rush to upgrade the video card until a good deal came along. I saw the deal where if you open a new Chase Freedom account you get $150 cash back once you spend $500, plus 10% cash back when you buy from Amazon. That means I can get a $500 Fury for about $300, so I pulled the trigger.

The rest of my system specs are:

• i7 4790k
• Asus Maximus VII Hero
• 32 (4x8) GB G.SKILL DDR3 2666
• Samsung 840 EVO 512 GB
• PC Power & Cooling 750W PSU
• Samsung 1920x1200 display (I intend to get a Freesync screen eventually)
  • I also have an LG 4k TV connected to the CPU integrated graphics HDMI port that I only use for watching movies
• Windows 7 Pro 64bit

Well it arrived today so I did the following:

1. Uninstall the existing AMD drivers
2. Reboot
3. Clean out the remaining AMD/ATI driver bits that were missed
4. Reboot
5. Power down, disconnect everything
6. Remove the old 4870 and replace with the new XFX Fury in the top x16 slot
7. Reconnect all the system cables and power on

It booted into Windows with a resolution of 640x480 and automatically installed a default Windows video driver. It wouldn't let me change the resolution, and the display adapter showed as something like "General VGA Adapter".

I had already downloaded the latest Crimson package for Fury on Windows 7 64bit, so I began the install. But it would just sit there at 0% and never do anything. I rebooted and tried again with the same results. I tried downloading just the AMD driver and installing and that too would just sit there at 0%. If I try using the AMD auto-detect application for drivers it would just say it couldn't detect any applicable hardware. I tried going into the BIOS and making the CPU integrated graphics the default adapter, loaded into Windows, tried the full Crimson and basic driver installs as well as the auto-detect and had the same results.

Finally, I thought maybe the BIOS needed to be updated since I hadn't done that since shortly after my initial setup around a year ago. I downloaded the latest BIOS and did the update using the USB BIOS Flashback feature. I did this correctly - put the file on a flash drive, powered down, put the flash drive in the proper USB slot, pressed the update button, and waited for it to complete. But now when I turn it on the system hangs in the boot process and no signal gets sent to either screen. I've tried flashing the BIOS to all of the different ones on the Asus website that are newer than the one I had been running initially and each got to varying stages in the boot process, though none sent any signal to the monitor or the TV.

At this point the Q-code LED on the motherboard is indicating 55: Memory not installed. This is with the most recent available BIOS. Some of the earlier BIOSes stopped on other codes, like 10 (PEI Core is started), 15 (Pre-memory System Agent initialization is started), 41 (not even listed in the manual), 78 (ACPI module initialization), and D7 (No Console Input Devices are found). Obviously, the memory has been working fine for the last year, and I didn't touch it at all during this attempted upgrade. I also tried removing the Fury altogether and booting with only the integrated graphics and it still sends no signal and stops on code 55. I can't even manage to get back to the point I was at initially with the Fury card running but only at 640x480 and only with generic drivers. I can't get any output to the display or TV at all.

So... Did I somehow kill my memory without touching it? Is there a problem with the XFX Fury? Some incompatibility between that and my motherboard? Did I fry the BIOS chip from flashing it so many times? I'm at a loss at this point. I need some help.

 

[AtenRa]

Take off one memory module, take off the Fury and stay with the iGPU, take off any other hardware installed to the motherboard (like SSDs, HDDs etc), reset the bios and see if you will get a signal to the monitor.
DONT turn off the PSU when you take off the hardware.

report back.

 

[Feld]

Take off one memory module, take off the Fury and stay with the iGPU, take off any other hardware installed to the motherboard (like SSDs, HDDs etc), reset the bios and see if you will get a signal to the monitor.
DONT turn off the PSU when you take off the hardware.

report back.

With nothing connected but one stick of ram (in the slot closest to the CPU, which I can't take out without removing the tower CPU cooler that overhangs it), the power supply, and an HDMI cable from the iGPU to the monitor, there is no change. It hangs on code 55 and does not send any signal to the monitor.

 

[AtenRa]

Next to the START button, there is a small red MEM OK button, push that after you bush the start button and report back.

 

[Feld]

Next to the START button, there is a small red MEM OK button, push that after you bush the start button and report back.

It doesn't seem to do anything. No LEDs are affected at all, it still sits at code 55, and there is no signal to the monitor.

 

[KingFatty]

What kind of CPU tower cooler? If it's like mine, you can pull off the fan from the metal heatsink, which then allows access to that last RAM slot. So you don't need to fully remove the entire CPU cooler, just pull off the fan, remove the RAM, then snap the fan back on (mine was attached with clips).

Then maybe you will find that last remaining RAM stick or motherboard slot was bad, based on testing the other one after removing that one.

 

[SilentRunning]

Take off one memory module, take off the Fury and stay with the iGPU, take off any other hardware installed to the motherboard (like SSDs, HDDs etc), reset the bios and see if you will get a signal to the monitor.
DONT turn off the PSU when you take off the hardware.

report back.

Why would one want to leave the motherboard powered when adding or removing hardware. That is just a bad practice.

 

[boozzer]

Why would one want to leave the motherboard powered when adding or removing hardware. That is just a bad practice.

code 55 error. my best guess.

 

[Seba]

Why would one want to leave the motherboard powered when adding or removing hardware. That is just a bad practice.

Maybe he wanted to write: "DON'T forget to turn off the PSU when you take off the hardware."

 

[4K_shmoorK]

Maybe he wanted to write: "DON'T forget to turn off the PSU when you take off the hardware."

Would not touch or remove any powered components even if I had rubber sausages for fingers. Right now I'm stuck with just regular sausage fingers.

 

[james1701]

Does that board have dual bios chips?

 

[Feld]

What kind of CPU tower cooler? If it's like mine, you can pull off the fan from the metal heatsink, which then allows access to that last RAM slot. So you don't need to fully remove the entire CPU cooler, just pull off the fan, remove the RAM, then snap the fan back on (mine was attached with clips).

Then maybe you will find that last remaining RAM stick or motherboard slot was bad, based on testing the other one after removing that one.

The tower cooler is a Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK. It's very large and the fins fully overhang the closest ram slot. I already had to pop off the fan on that side to be able to get the 3 farther sticks out. That last stick will definitely require removing the tower to take out, unfortunately. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that, but...

 

[Feld]

Does that board have dual bios chips?

No, it's not a dual BIOS board. The USB UEFI updating process does behave as though the updating is working (light blinks as expected until complete), but of course I never get any signal to the monitor so who knows.

 

[james1701]

What about the USB flashback option?

 

[AtenRa]

Why would one want to leave the motherboard powered when adding or removing hardware. That is just a bad practice.

yes my bad, sorry for that.

I meant not to turn off the power button of the PSU after you shut down the System.

 

[Seba]

yes my bad, sorry for that.

I meant not to turn off the power button of the PSU after you shut down the System.

What? Why?

If you just shut down and after that do not turn off the PSU (or better yet, unplug it), the motherboard is still powered.

 

[james1701]

Yes

 

[Feld]

What about the USB flashback option?

This is the method I've been using to update the BIOS.

 

[Feld]

I also tried the CLEAR_CMOS button. It reset the system briefly but immediately went back to code 55 again, with no signal to the monitor.

 

[Feld]

And just to be clear, I did unplug the power supply before inserting or removing the graphics cards and ram sticks. It seemed dangerous not to do so.

 

[james1701]

did you try to boot with not memory at all?

 

[LTC8K6]

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?49187-Maximus-VII-hero-error-code-55

You have a pretty heavy cooler...

 

[AtenRa]

What? Why?

If you just shut down and after that do not turn off the PSU (or better yet, unplug it), the motherboard is still powered.

There is a bug with some ASUS boards and GPUs. When you uninstall the GPU from the Motherbord with the PSU button turned off, then when you reinstall the GPU again you dont get a signal on the monitor. You will have to install a different GPU to get a signal in the monitor.
That behavior doesn't happen if you dont turn off the PSU button after you shut down the system.

@ Feld

If you have a spare GPU, or you can borrow one from a friend, try to install it and see if it will work.
If it will work, shut down the system, dont turn off the PSU button and reinstall your own GPU and you should be fine.

 

[uBreakiFix TX]

There is a bug with some ASUS boards and GPUs. When you uninstall the GPU from the Motherbord with the PSU button turned off, then when you reinstall the GPU again you dont get a signal on the monitor. You will have to install a different GPU to get a signal in the monitor.
That behavior doesn't happen if you dont turn off the PSU button after you shut down the system.

@ Feld

If you have a spare GPU, or you can borrow one from a friend, try to install it and see if it will work.
If it will work, shut down the system, dont turn off the PSU button and reinstall your own GPU and you should be fine.

Borrow one from a friend you say?

Thanks for the tip, though. Mr. Feld had brought this beauty of a system in for some assistance and I think this was what finally did the trick. I suspect that the BIOS did require an update to work properly with the new GPU, but ran into an error during the flash. The system is now running smoothly with current drivers and a full range of resolution options.

I'll try to recap the process of getting the issue fixed just in case someone else has the problem in the future.

I started by trying a spare GPU, but still no display output. I moved onto validating that the RAM was in fact not the issue as error 55 was the only post behavior. This required removing the cooler, which was surprisingly simple with the middle fan absent. I'm lucky enough to have a spare set of DDR3 in my personal system at the office (G3258 ftw!) and was able to test them on the board. It still came back with error 55.

I moved onto flashing the BIOS with the latest version before replacing the original RAM back in the system. This process took a lot longer than expected and the system restarted itself 4 to 5 times with various error codes before coming to settle on 64. Manually starting the system after about 10 minutes yielded results varing from 64, 62, A6, and even 99 at one point. Finally it came back with D6 ("No Console Output Devices are found"), so I plugged in a keyboard and mouse. The next restart posted A2 ("IDE Detect").

This is when I decided to try the spare GPU again, which gave me A0 and a nice shiny ASUS ROG logo on my monitor. Powering down the system, I moved to reinstall the original RAM that I had already tested by booting with each stick on my personal system. The system booted using the iGPU and seemed to offer plenty of resolutions. Then I installed the R9 Fury (which is massive & a nightmare for cable management with dual, central 8pins). I installed the latest, minimal version of AMDs drivers and restarted to a perfectly working system.

It seems to be just a case of one small problem after another. Not sure if everything that was done actually contributed to restoring the board, but it's good to see something this nice not end up in an RMA landfill.

 

[Feld]

It was a very strange problem, to be sure. Although I still can't seem to tell what caused the above issues, I'm glad to be getting a proper display signal once again. I did bring the system in to my local uBreakiFix store and they got it working trough the troubleshooting process. I was thinking I had screwed up the BIOS or somehow one of the RAM sticks had died, on top of possibly having a bad graphics card. Maybe it all had something to do with the issue AtenRa mentioned that can be fixed by swapping the GPU and then swapping back, though I never turned off the power supply switch during my troubleshooting process - only unplugged it. Anyway, I'm glad it's all fixed with no hardware issues. Thanks everybody for your help!