Bricked card Need PRO Advice

[BronzeStar]

Hi. My card died. Happy New Years!

>r9 290a edfd (xfx r9 290 DD) xfx logo and fans light up when pc powered on
>Bricked, motherboard doesn't acknowledged gpu, doesn't post. Doesn't boot to bios, displays nothing. is not working. sad start to the year.
(100% confident that it's the gpu and nothing related to any other piece of hardware I have so please no questions like "what's your psu")
>not being recognized in atiflash
>bridged pins 1 and 8 on bios, still not being recognized

> All pcie lanes confirmed working, using igpu as main. w98 usb bootable with atiflash

is the card dead? Or is there something I haven't tried. I've tried it on both bios settings, in all 3 pcie lanes. the bios is PM25LQ020.

card looks fine, no blown capacitors or burnt anything. basically it was going along doing it's thing and then boom the pc reset, and then it powered itself back up and we were going and then boom the pc reset, and again, and then the 4th it powered back on it just didn't give me display. I managed to get hwmonitor open long enough to see a few things and honestly everything looked fine on the gpu side, I started to suspect the board or psu but those have all checked out and the system is running great on the igpu as is. Currently using it now to type this. So.... is it GG game over buy an nvidia card time or is there some wizardry I could perform. I don't even know why it's dead. I was pretty confident the bridging was going to work specially since the card powers on and fans spin and logo lights up and all that jazz. but nope.

And before anyone asks it's been open prior and had the tim replaced so no I don't think I can send it in. I've had it for about 4-5 months and it's performed fine, with no real issues other than blank boots randomly every now and again, usually a restart fixed it. Not sure what was causing that but I don't believe it to be related

I'm hoping someone has that one magical thing I haven't tried, so open to all suggestions thanks!

 

[jboydgolfer]

have you tried another dGPU to flash it back? if it doesn't have a dual bios switch that is.

 

[BronzeStar]

have you tried another dGPU to flash it back? if it doesn't have a dual bios switch that is.

I'm using the igpu if that's what you mean, I guess I'm not sure what difference it would make having another dgpu in there?

 

[Mr.Scott]

I'm using the igpu if that's what you mean, I guess I'm not sure what difference it would make having another dgpu in there?

Another dGPU will eliminate the PCIe slot in the board as a possible problem. iGPU will not do that.

 

[jboydgolfer]

no i mean dGPU, another PCIE based GPU to load into the OS, then Launch Atiwinflash, then program button after you've swapped out the functioning second card, for the bricked card.

Another dGPU will eliminate the PCIe slot in the board as a possible problem. iGPU will not do that.

right.....but that isnt a way to fix his problem I thought he wanted to flash a Working bios, and if he DOES, he'll NEED another DGPU

 

[cdawall]

Card should have dual BIOS?

 

[jboydgolfer]

Card should have dual BIOS?

i thought so, but either it doesnt or OP doesnt know about it, which brings up the old point..of no business messin round but i digress, and am happy to assist getting it fixed.

 

[cdawall]

i thought so, but either it doesnt or OP doesnt know about it, which brings up the old point..of no business messin round but i digress, and am happy to assist getting it fixed.

It has one

 

[jboydgolfer]

there You go^ and please make sure to use caution in the future. what was it that you wanted to accomplish with the original flash? maybe someone can help with that goal . also, EVEN though You have a dual bios switch, Make damn sure you have a few copies of the original bios. you can use GPU-Z to save them as many times as you like. download it for Tpu here if You dont have it, use the ---> right pointing arrow key to save bios image file. that will cover your butt in the future.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

BAKE BAKE BAKE

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair+VGA+card+by+re-flowing+solder+on+the+board/2240

Memtest is a must if have already

 

[BronzeStar]

Hi! Thanks for the quick responses.

All 3 were stated in my original Post. The second thing in my post says "my card died" So no unfortunately, I'm not trying to flash a working bios. I wish it was that easy

Card is dead. I can't use it, as stated in my original post, which is why I'm using atiflash in a windows 98 bootable usb instead of atiwinflash at the desktop.
Card has dual bios, as I stated in original post I've tried it on both bios settings, no go.
Also as stated in original post, I've verified all pcie lanes to be currently working and no other hardware issues are are present, the fault is entirely within the gpu.

However, baking the card is a realistic, sad but true possibility, Highly highly doubting it's solder joints but I suppose when you've exhausted your resources to this point you have to try anything. I'll give that one a go tomorrow.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

If the cause was natural then ,no bios update will sort it out.

Best to remove and reapply thermal paste
Clean gpu contacts with rubber/erazer - retest
Give a slight bend here and there , - retest

Highly possible a weak solder joint / Gpu need reballing = Bake

Revived my 560 few months ago by baking , running 100% now . Was giving green dots/line and vga memory was giving errors .
Cause must of been weak solder joint on one of the memory chips

 

[BronzeStar]

If the cause was natural then ,no bios update will sort it out.

Best to remove and reapply thermal paste
Clean gpu contacts with rubber/erazer - retest
Give a slight bend here and there , - retest

Highly possible a weak solder joint / Gpu need reballing = Bake

Revived my 560 few months ago by baking , running 100% now . Was giving green dots/line and vga memory was giving errors .
Cause must of been weak solder joint on one of the memory chips

Interesting, I have reapplied tim and reset, tried again etc. Haven't really bent the pcb around per say. The card sits dangerously close to a few areas where it's possible in a one off world that it could short itself out. I've read up quite a bit regarding ati gpu's doing this and being fixed with a bios flash. I suppose the fact that even bridging the bios, something more or less looked at as a last resort, doesn't allow atiflash to find it means that the problem is elsewhere. I suppose I never thought about baking it. I guess with the way the card sags and kind of has that bend to it it's possible the solder could have broke. I'll let a few more people weigh in before I pull the card back apart and throw it in the oven.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

I could'nt give much advice on the bios needing to be reflashed ,but leave the baking for last resort.
See if any other solutions first.

 

[Aquinus]

I haven't read that the OP has tried using the secondary BIOS with the switch on his GPU. Can we get confirmation on that? If both are dead, then the GPU itself probably is dead but, the OP hasn't said anything about trying it.

 

[Mr.Scott]

Card is dead. I can't use it, as stated in my original post, which is why I'm using atiflash in a windows 98 bootable usb instead of atiwinflash at the desktop.
Card has dual bios, as I stated in original post I've tried it on both bios settings, no go.
Also as stated in original post, I've verified all pcie lanes to be currently working and no other hardware issues are are present, the fault is entirely within the gpu.

 

[Aquinus]

Missed that. I would call it dead.

 

[jsfitz54]

And before anyone asks it's been open prior and had the tim replaced so no I don't think I can send it in. I've had it for about 4-5 months and it's performed fine, with no real issues other than blank boots randomly every now and again, usually a restart fixed it.

My 2 cents: RMA card. 5mo old card that you reapplied new paste too, should not void warranty when you said that it had intermittent errors from the start.

 

[Jetster]

RMA it

 

[cdawall]

If you tried both bios and the card doesn't work it's not a bios issue RMA it. No idea why this is even a thread.

 

[Mr.Scott]

If you tried both bios and the card doesn't work it's not a bios issue RMA it. No idea why this is even a thread.

Agreed.

 

[BronzeStar]

If you tried both bios and the card doesn't work it's not a bios issue RMA it. No idea why this is even a thread.

Because that's a loser, quitter way out of things. The thread is a thread because this is a forum to get help is it not? If you want to be a loser and a quitter why are you on a forum to help people sort out problems? Interesting I must say...

I'm going to reflow the card, with the way it sags it makes me wonder if hairlines could have formed.
Then I'll be testing the transistors and checking the capacitors for damage.
Maybe I'm looking for a more technical based forum.

As stated in the original posting (I notice some of you refused to read it, which then I have to question why you're even commenting with your so called 'help') I cannot RMA the card. Thanks

 

[Aquinus]

@BronzeStar baking the card is dumb if it's still under warranty because baking it will ruining your warranty. RMA'ing it is the safe bet, we're not in the business of making bad decisions but, if that's what you want to do, then do it. Just don't come back to us whining that it didn't work and the vendor won't RMA the card.

These cards don't have a solder problem like much older GPUs when the type old solder was changed like on GeForce 9000-series cards.

It's not a quitter or loser way out of the problem to save yourself from buying a brand new GPU. It's called common sense and saving your own ass. I'm unsubbing if that is the kind of behavior that we're going to encounter in this thread.

As stated in the original posting (I notice some of you refused to read it, which then I have to question why you're even commenting with your so called 'help') I cannot RMA the card. Thanks

Just re-read your opening post. It says nothing about not being able to RMA the card just that you don't think you can, I read that you've had it for less than a year, so unless you bought it second hand, you probably can RMA it. It doesn't hurt trying as the worst that can happen is the RMA getting rejected.

 

[BronzeStar]

@BronzeStar baking the card is dumb if it's still under warranty because baking it will ruining your warranty. RMA'ing it is the safe bet, we're not in the business of making bad decisions but, if that's what you want to do, then do it. Just don't come back to us whining that it didn't work and the vendor won't RMA the card.

These cards don't have a solder problem like much older GPUs when the type old solder was changed like on GeForce 9000-series cards.

It's not a quitter or loser way out of the problem to save yourself from buying a brand new GPU. It's called common sense and saving your own ass. I'm unsubbing if that is the kind of behavior that we're going to encounter in this thread.

Just re-read your opening post. It says nothing about not being able to RMA the card just that you don't think you can, I read that you've had it for less than a year, so unless you bought it second hand, you probably can RMA it. It doesn't hurt trying as the worst that can happen is the RMA getting rejected.

Again. I cannot RMA the card. As I've stated at least 3 or 4 times now. Thanks.

Fair enough. However it's hard for me to believe it 'just died, rma it'
That's a very baseline logical resolution. I guess I'm looking for a more technical resolution.

I suppose I will report back in a few days after I have fixed the card. "It's dead" is not an answer I'm willing to take unless you can back that up with some kind of logical explanation on what exactly would be dead about it.

I was more or less looking for anyone that has used atiflash or had to manually reset or bypass a gpu bios. The answers I've gotten here have been similar to that of which I'd receive if I called the xfx help desk. Re flowing is very much a realistic thing here, Sure maybe the solder has become better but the parts and joints are smaller. Newer iphones have this problem.

Just let's put it this way, if you were to have a blown capacitor on your gpu and you'd send it in for RMA instead of spending 5 minutes to solder a new one in please don't give me your advice. Thanks

 

[Aquinus]

Again. I cannot RMA the card. As I've stated at least 3 or 4 times now. Thanks.

If the card is so borked and there is no obvious visual issues with the card, your only option is baking which is arguably a bad idea.

We're all saying attempt RMA because you haven't stated why you can't RMA it, just that you can't. There is no harm in attempting an RMA even if you don't think you can. XFX will tell you if you're out of warranty, so why not try?

We can't give you advice to fix a dead card if there is no way of figuring out which component is failing or has failed.

suppose I will report back in a few days after I have fixed the card. "It's dead" is not an answer I'm willing to take unless you can back that up with some kind of logical explanation on what exactly would be dead about it.

If both BIOS' in your GPU aren't working, that indicates a hardware flaw with the card assuming you haven't overlooked something obvious like plugging PCI-E power into the card. A flaw that you most likely can't rectify as BGA solder point can't be easily fixed. Baking could fix it but there is a much greater chance that you'll kill the card more than it already is and completely eliminate any possibility for RMA (despite what you said, I'm still waiting for your explanation as to why you can't RMA it because that really is your only safe remaining option because 6-7 months is well within warranty period unless you got it second hand, which you haven't stated.)

was more or less looking for anyone that has used atiflash or had to manually reset or bypass a gpu bios.

Which will do you no good if the secondary BIOS on your card doesn't work either which indicates that the BIOS is not at fault, so I would stop thinking about that one.

Re flowing is very much a realistic thing here, Sure maybe the solder has become better but the parts and joints are smaller.

Which means that they're even more likely to flow where they shouldn't, which is what makes it a bad idea. These cards also don't have an issue with solder flowing because the GPU got too hot like GeForce 9000 series cards, as I said earlier but, those GPUs had an issue with the solder that was actually used and had a lower melting point than it should have. Your GPU doesn't have such an issue which is why it's arguably a bad idea.

Just let's put it this way, if you were to have a blown capacitor on your gpu and you'd send it in for RMA instead of spending 5 minutes to solder a new one in please don't give me your advice. Thanks

I would say RMA it because most people like to hold on to their warranty and soldering voids it. It also doesn't help that you don't even know what component has failed an given your information, I don't think we could tell you either. So unless you've already done something foolish to the card that you know will be rejected by RMA, there is absolutely no reason not to try it. You also can't replace components if you have no way of figuring out which one failed which is the case with many hardware failures.

"It's dead" is not an answer I'm willing to take unless you can back that up with some kind of logical explanation on what exactly would be dead about it.

Sorry bro, there are limits to determining what failed when the GPU doesn't start up. There are some that are obvious like things you can see visually but, if the machine can't boot, your options are rather limited. GPUs are complex hardware and it's unrealistic to try to fix it yourself once it gets to a certain point. The fact that it isn't even detected by your motherboard is usually the sign that it's dead because even a GPU with bad VRAM or ones that are unstable would be detected.

Don't shoot the messenger of bad news but, I don't suspect anyone is going to say anything that's much of a departure of what we've already told you.