pastrychef's Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming (WI-FI AC) build w/ i9-9900K + AMD 6600 XT

[elfcake]

Finally have to come to you all for some help.

My system broke a couple of days ago and wouldn't boot after a couple of weeks of being suddenly unstable (lots of cpu panics). I got a circle with a line through it on the display when it finally quit.

I've tried to re-install onto a new partition to then run CCC to restore from backup, however, I couldn't get the installer to work using the same USB stick that I installed from to start with. I was pert way through the restore when the system had a cpu panic.

Since then, it will boot part way, either for the emergency partition or the real system. The real system fails as it is incomplete. The emergency one fails as the OpenCore EFI looks to be incompatible with High Sierra (which is what I have there).

Pressing Del to get into the BIOS settings to change the boot EFI now fails and I just get a blank screen when I try.

Any ideas? I'm wondering if the MB has failed.

I am not terribly knowledgeable but have you tried resetting the BIOS and then choosing the proper BIOS settings? Not that any of the previous problems have anything to do with resetting BIOS.

 

[aussiepilot]

I am not terribly knowledgeable but have you tried resetting the BIOS and then choosing the proper BIOS settings? Not that any of the previous problems have anything to do with resetting BIOS.

I've tried shorting out the jumpers on the MB to reset the BIOS. This gave (briefly) the old style BIOS entry instructions, but then went to the blank screen as before.

 

[elfcake]

I've tried shorting out the jumpers on the MB to reset the BIOS. This gave (briefly) the old style BIOS entry instructions, but then went to the blank screen as before.

I'm stumped. I am sure that @pastrychef would be helpful.

 

[pastrychef]

Finally have to come to you all for some help.

My system broke a couple of days ago and wouldn't boot after a couple of weeks of being suddenly unstable (lots of cpu panics). I got a circle with a line through it on the display when it finally quit.

I've tried to re-install onto a new partition to then run CCC to restore from backup, however, I couldn't get the installer to work using the same USB stick that I installed from to start with. I was pert way through the restore when the system had a cpu panic.

Since then, it will boot part way, either for the emergency partition or the real system. The real system fails as it is incomplete. The emergency one fails as the OpenCore EFI looks to be incompatible with High Sierra (which is what I have there).

Pressing Del to get into the BIOS settings to change the boot EFI now fails and I just get a blank screen when I try.

Any ideas? I'm wondering if the MB has failed.

I've tried shorting out the jumpers on the MB to reset the BIOS. This gave (briefly) the old style BIOS entry instructions, but then went to the blank screen as before.

If the screen is going blank while you are in BIOS, it's almost certainly a hardware problem.

Some things to try:

• Run with just one or two sticks of RAM.
• Disconnect all USB peripherals except keyboard and mouse.
• Pull video card and just run on IGPU.
• If you are using a water cooler, make sure the pump is working.
• Disconnect all HDD and/or SSD except for your macOS drive.
• Try booting in Windows to see if things are stable.

 

[aussiepilot]

If the screen is going blank while you are in BIOS, it's almost certainly a hardware problem.

Some things to try:

• Run with just one or two sticks of RAM.
• Disconnect all USB peripherals except keyboard and mouse.
• Pull video card and just run on IGPU.
• If you are using a water cooler, make sure the pump is working.
• Disconnect all HDD and/or SSD except for your macOS drive.
• Try booting in Windows to see if things are stable.

Thanks,

Some of the errors I was getting trying to re-install hinted at memory problems as well. I've tried as suggested and still no luck, so I guess probably a partial M/B failure as it runs the OpenCore loader if I don't try and access the BIOS, so CPU and at least some of the memory have to be ok.

My local supplier happens to have a few Z370G A/C MBs available, so I've ordered one as well as some new memory. Now that the cost has halved, I can get some decent memory. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get to rebuild things though.

 

[pastrychef]

Thanks,

Some of the errors I was getting trying to re-install hinted at memory problems as well. I've tried as suggested and still no luck, so I guess probably a partial M/B failure as it runs the OpenCore loader if I don't try and access the BIOS, so CPU and at least some of the memory have to be ok.

My local supplier happens to have a few Z370G A/C MBs available, so I've ordered one as well as some new memory. Now that the cost has halved, I can get some decent memory. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get to rebuild things though.

That's terrible to hear... Did you try with your video card pulled?

 

[elfcake]

Thanks,

Some of the errors I was getting trying to re-install hinted at memory problems as well. I've tried as suggested and still no luck, so I guess probably a partial M/B failure as it runs the OpenCore loader if I don't try and access the BIOS, so CPU and at least some of the memory have to be ok.

My local supplier happens to have a few Z370G A/C MBs available, so I've ordered one as well as some new memory. Now that the cost has halved, I can get some decent memory. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get to rebuild things though.

Here is a tool for testing parts that I have used. Just an inexpensive shot in the dark.

 

[cbjerg]

Thank you @pastrychef cause I found a very good price(1TB $135) in local. I hope I will get it tomorrow.

I am using that very drive right now. I had to update the firmware from a Windows PC in order to get it to work. I can't remember what firmware version was on there, but I couldn't but into macOS from it before updating it.

 

[Azimuth1]

Hi there,

Something very strange is happening to a Z370 machine of mine. Asus Z370 Prime A with the latest BIOS (v. 2401. Mojave 10.14.6 is installed. I've updated to latest Clover (5101), and now the BIOS cannot see the NVMe (M2.1) disk as boot disk anymore. See the attached file: it's listed but BIOS always remains at disabled as boot option.

The most strange aspect is that the _very_ same EFI put on USB disk is working perfectly. (I have to press F8 at boot though.) SO I deduced it cannot be the EFI folder. I tried downgrading the Clover but nothing... ANY HINTS?

I really don't know what can be the culprit.

 

[pastrychef]

Hi there,

something very strange is happening to a Z370 machine of mine. Asus Z370 Prime A with the lastest BIOS (v. 2401) . Mojave 10.14.6 installed... I've updated to latest Clover (5101) and now BIOS cannot see the NVMe (M2.1) disk as boot disk anymore... see the attached file: it's listed but BIOS always remains at disabled as boot option.

The most strange aspect is that the _very_ same EFI put on USB disk is working perfectly (I have to press F8 at boot though). SO I deduced it cannot be the EFI folder. I tried downgrading the Clover but nothing... ANY HINTS?

I really don't know what can be the culprit.

The only thing I can think of is to triple check that /EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.efi is there...

Maybe a CMOS reset can help...