Question [Solved] Weird BIOS Freeze if I reset CMOS without an HDMI port rant

[wilds]

Had a really annoying issue with the MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk for the past hour or so. Each time I tried to enter BIOS, it would instantly freeze. Windows was not affected. I initially thought it was due to a bad memory overclock, despite Windows being unaffected.

Resetting CMOS fixed it until after re enabling my settings (XMP profile and disable RGB); and upon entering BIOS again, it would freeze entirely. I did google the issue, and came across a few people who had same problem. One thread had a user who's BIOS froze when entering advanced (mine just instantly froze). A user suggested using an HDMI cable.

Fix was hooking up an old monitor with HDMI. BIOS doesn't freeze at all with that. My main display is a 1440p144 which successfully entered BIOS several times already. I don't use HDMI at my desk. When I built this PC I did use a 720p TV in the living room to verify it could POST, but that was only other time I used an HDMI port. Makes me wonder if I used a displayport cable I would have encountered a frozen BIOS immediately on building the PC.

So here's the funny part: I reset CMOS for fun (lol), and booted up with the displayport monitor, and enabled XMP. Rebooted, and re-entered BIOS and it is frozen. But if I enter BIOS with an HDMI monitor, I can then unplug it after reboot, and use the 1440p monitor in BIOS without issue until I need to reset CMOS again. So basically I have this weird bug that will cause my BIOS to freeze unless I enter it once with an HDMI based display.

Now that I know how to replicate the bug, I am not too worried that there is any hardware issue, but jeez what a bug. It could have something to do with the 1080 ti for all I know. Am really curious at why/how this is happening.

 

[curryloti]

NVIDIA Graphics Firmware Update Tool for DisplayPort 1.3 and 1.4 Displays

Download English (U.S.) drivers for NVIDIA hardware - , , ,

www.nvidia.com

GL

 

[wilds]

Never updated the firmware before as far as I was aware, but this card did have a previous owner. Says I already have updated firmware.
But the description on that webpage definitely sounds a lot like my issue. Probably is the culprit, awesome find!

If you are currently experiencing a blank screen or hang on boot with a DP 1.3 or 1.4 monitor, please try one of the following workarounds in order to run the tool:

• Boot using DVI or HDMI
• Boot using a different monitor
• Change boot mode from UEFI to Legacy; or Legacy to UEFI.
• Boot using an alternate graphics source (secondary or integrated graphics card)

 

[BobC0728]

Had a really annoying issue with the MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk for the past hour or so. Each time I tried to enter BIOS, it would instantly freeze. Windows was not affected. I initially thought it was due to a bad memory overclock, despite Windows being unaffected.

Resetting CMOS fixed it until after re enabling my settings (XMP profile and disable RGB); and upon entering BIOS again, it would freeze entirely. I did google the issue, and came across a few people who had same problem. One thread had a user who's BIOS froze when entering advanced (mine just instantly froze). A user suggested using an HDMI cable.

Fix was hooking up an old monitor with HDMI. BIOS doesn't freeze at all with that. My main display is a 1440p144 which successfully entered BIOS several times already. I don't use HDMI at my desk. When I built this PC I did use a 720p TV in the living room to verify it could POST, but that was only other time I used an HDMI port. Makes me wonder if I used a displayport cable I would have encountered a frozen BIOS immediately on building the PC.

So here's the funny part: I reset CMOS for fun (lol), and booted up with the displayport monitor, and enabled XMP. Rebooted, and re-entered BIOS and it is frozen. But if I enter BIOS with an HDMI monitor, I can then unplug it after reboot, and use the 1440p monitor in BIOS without issue until I need to reset CMOS again. So basically I have this weird bug that will cause my BIOS to freeze unless I enter it once with an HDMI based display.

Now that I know how to replicate the bug, I am not too worried that there is any hardware issue, but jeez what a bug. It could have something to do with the 1080 ti for all I know. Am really curious at why/how this is happening.

Wow! thanks for posting this. Same exact issue. Could not figure it out. I had to clear CMOS to get PC working again. I also have an MSI B550 Tomahawk. I was tweaking my memory DRAM settings yesterday and this started happening. I have 4 monitors. Based on your suggestion: My main monitor is DP, unplugged all DP monitors and left the one HDMI plugged in and it went right in no issues. It was working without issue for months until yesterday when I started OC'ing my RAM.....seems like an MSI B550 issue. Going to reach out to them. My memory OC is stable. No windows issues and ran multiple memory tests (one overnight last night for 14 hours) and zero errors.