PSA: Be careful before updating to a Zen 2 BIOS

[Thunder 57]

I haven't seen anything like this posted here so I thought I would bring it up. Quite a few people are having problems with BIOS updates that include Zen 2 functionality. It usually comes down to devices not working. This is because so many boards were made with a 128Mb BIOS on board. People are losing functionality (RAID), compatibility with older CPU's, and have their UEFI toned down to save on memory.

I suggest reading this thread for more information.

Personally, I had this problem:

Though to mention that the new bios from ASUS C7H is bugged. On 2406, the USB support is not working properly. None of the mice I have works inside the bios.
Also have trouble with DOCP support for my 16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-3200 CL14.
I went back to 2304.

Though with an ROG B450-F, and I did not seem to have any trouble with memory. Still, no mouse in the BIOS all of a sudden to my surprise! To make things worse, when I treid to flash it back, Asus wouldn't allow it saying it was not a valid BIOS file! I had to make a USB bootstick to flash it back! And to top it all off, they still have this buggy/broken BIOS available for download on their website. Bad look for Asus.

What I did find that is very useful is this Google Sheet. It contains pretty much anything you would ever need to know about any AM4 board. MANY boards, including some x570 ones (!) use 128Mb Bios chips. If you have a 256Mb one, you will probably be golden. If you have a 128Mb one, I suggest searching for others who have tried updating to see if anything sticks out.

 

[EXCellR8]

I don't think the loss of RAID functionality should bother too many people, however my X370 board is 128MB like the Taichi.

Someone put a lot of work into that chart, props.

 

[Thunder 57]

I don't think the loss of RAID functionality should bother too many people, however my X370 board is 128MB like the Taichi.

Someone put a lot of work into that chart, props.

I don't think so either and I think the mobo companies will get it figured out, in the mean time I just wanted to share with others that people (myself included) have had problems. I'm just lucky it didn't completely kill my USB. I suspected we will see Bristol Ridge being dropped to give them room to fix potential issues in the end as a compromise.

And yes, that chart is super useful. It is my new go-to for VRM info. Sure beats sifting through 20 minute Youtube videos.

 

[PingSpike]

That chart is amazing.

 

[PClark99]

MSI B450M Mortar Titanium

The GUI is simplified and it takes a minute for the board to get into windows. USB functionality is untouched. Don’t do RAID so don’t know about that.

Once I’m in windows everything does run fine. Very snappy.

 

[NTMBK]

I'm sorry, but why the hell does a BIOS need more than 128MB of storage?! That's more space than the entirety of Windows 95!

 

[thecoolnessrune]

I'm sorry, but why the hell does a BIOS need more than 128MB of storage?! That's more space than the entirety of Windows 95!

It's a 128Mb chip, not 128MB. It's only 16MB of Storage.

 

[Iron Woode]

the MSI max series will have 256MB.

My Asrock B450 has 128MB.

 

[crashtech]

Interesting, I did notice when flashing an Asus Prime B350-Plus for Zen 2 that mouse functionality because seriously impaired in BIOS after the flash. Since it's not difficult to navigate the UI with the keyboard, I actually did not think much of it until seeing this thread.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hmm, guess I had best be careful flashing my Asus ROG STRIX B450-F ATX board. I'm currently running a 2700 @ 4.0Ghz, but am also using NVMe RAID-0, with a pair of Intel 660p 1TB NVMe drives. If I lose RAID, that would be no bueno. I mean, it wouldn't exactly be the end of the world, I could just re-format and re-configure with a single one of those drives. I don't even use it as a client workstation, I just crunching on it. The RAID-0 NVMe was strictly for benchmarking and LOLs, really.

 

[ubern00b]

the MSI max series will have 256MB.

My Asrock B450 has 128MB.

256Mb
128Mb

Fixed for you, there is a monumental difference between 128MB and 128Mb just so you know

It's a 128Mb chip, not 128MB. It's only 16MB of Storage.

And I believe it's 8MB for 128Mb and 16MB for 256Mb bios

 

[gdansk]

128 Mb (megabits) = 8 MB (megabytes). Because 1 byte = 8 bits.

 

[crashtech]

No, 128Mb = 16MB.

 

[NTMBK]

It's a 128Mb chip, not 128MB. It's only 16MB of Storage.

Whoops, I missed that. Thanks

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have not used RAID in years, but can report everything else is great on the Asrock B350 gaming 4 I used for the 3600. I had better boards for it, but that was more work, and 4 letter words like that have unsavory connotations.

 

[Thunder 57]

So Asus released a new BIOS for the B450-F yesterday.

ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING BIOS 2501
Fix an issue where the mouse will sometimes freeze in the UEFI.

I'm tempted to try it, but I have no real reason to.

@VirtualLarry

 

[Thunder 57]

So Asus released a new BIOS for the B450-F yesterday.



I'm tempted to try it, but I have no real reason to.

@VirtualLarry

I figured I'd be the guinea pig because I can easily revert now. I am pleased to report that I haven't had any problems with this new BIOS.

 

[Z15CAM]

I mentioned a UEFI mouse issue when I updated my ROG X470 Crosshair VII Hero 256MB BIOS to version 2406 here: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/bug-in-crosshair-x470-hero-vii-uefi-bios-v2406.2567439/ but based it on a failing Logictec G203 mouse as a M100 worked in UEFI.

I run a NMVe M2 XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB Boot Drive in the M2 SATA position, SATA RAID 0 SCRATCHPAD drive with 2 500MB EVO 860's for encoding video and don't have RAID issues with the BIOS 2406 update plus a 4 TB WD SATA for Media storage.

Presently running a 2600X with 4 sticks of 8 GB TFORCE @ 3200mhz 14CL (Capable of running at 3600 Mhz 16 CL @1.4v) and contemplating upgrading to either a 3700X or 3800X.

That's a great Chart thanks.

-----------------------------------------------

PS:
Still love my old ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 with an I7 2700K Sandy Bridge running at 4.8 Ghz's for the last several years.

Video cards vary.

Can't say what you expect from AMD Ryzen Systems but have to say they do work very well for me. From my experience Gen1 & 2 Ryzen like Voltage to run can't say what Ryzen 7Nm Gen 3 likes on a X470 with a 256Mb Bios.

Definitely less CPU Voltage and Heat with more Clocks at Temp.

 

[b-mac]

ASUS released bios 2501 which fixed the mouse issue in bios but my b450i is still unstable with the 3600 installed, works normally with the 2600x in.

 

[Thunder 57]

ASUS released bios 2501 which fixed the mouse issue in bios but my b450i is still unstable with the 3600 installed, works normally with the 2600x in.

Unstable how?

 

[VirtualLarry]

So Asus released a new BIOS for the B450-F yesterday.

I'm tempted to try it, but I have no real reason to.

I've got my 3600 in my B450-F ROG STRIX ATX board right now, finally, under 240mm AIO WC. (Replaced my 2700, after flashing over the internet to 2406 (which Internet Flash said was newest), and then to 2501, via USB.)

(BTW, my Team Group 128GB flash drive, WAS NOT recognized in UEFI / Asus Flash 3. Had to revert to using one of my Adata all-rounders, the 16GB UV128 Yellow/Black drives, that I buy relatively cheap in bulk at Newegg.)

So far, so good. Got my NVMe RAID-0 still working. (*Had some trouble getting that to re-activate, had to disable CSM booting entirely, to get it to work.)

I haven't set XMP yet, I have some GSKill DDR4-3600 RGB TridentRGB RAM ("for AMD").

Right now, it just finished installing Win10 1903 64-bit, so I have to reboot now and let it do the reboot phase. Catch ya in a bit.

Edit: Ok, finished installing Win10 1903 on the ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming ATX PC, set XMP (3600), set PBO to "Enabled", booting into Win10. Ryzen Master is giving similar temps, similar clocks, similar core voltages.

Memory clock is 1800, Fabric Clock is 1600, guess I need to adjust FCLK to 1800 to match up. (Wonder what the inefficiency level is with those not 1:1.) Worst case, I'll drop RAM clock to 3200.

 

[b-mac]

Unstable how?

Performance randomly degrades, I can tell when its going to start when my mouse starts skipping around when moving on windows desktop. If I swap the 3600 out back to the 2600X it works just fine, no issues.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Gigabyte used 128Mb chips on all their top-end x570 boards. Bleh! Why, Gigabyte, why?!?

 

[Raduque]

I have a 128Mb chip on my MSI B350 Bazooka. Updated to beta 1.LM for my Ryzen 3600. I lost control of my RAM's RGB lighting and my HDD activity light.

 

[DrMrLordX]

HDD activity light? What? How arbitrary is that?