I think I killed my MSI Z97 U3 PLUS Motherboard!!!

Sasqui · Nov 23, 2017

Busy day tomorrow, need sleep

Thanks all for the help. The FlashCAT is arriving Friday and I plan to re-flash with the original bios file to start with.

jsfitz54 · Nov 23, 2017

Keyboard usb or din plug? If you have a old keyboard with DIN, use that.

Final_Fighter · Nov 23, 2017

Sasqui said:
There's a way to do it without slaughtering the MB See this post: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...-z97-u3-plus-motherboard.238973/#post-3757569

I also save the original BIOS file before I flashed

thats your best bet. i did not read threw the whole forum but had just figured you were still having this problem and needed a solution.

good luck

edit: i just got a reply back from that company i use. they do have an image you can flash onto the chip if yours fails for whatever reason. they want 13 bucks for it. ill send there info your way if you need it. i would contact msi first tho because they might be able to provide it for free.

Sasqui · Nov 23, 2017

jsfitz54 said:
Keyboard usb or din plug? If you have a old keyboard with DIN, use that.

Only USB.

And I'm back, because I forgot I had some cyber black Friday shopping to do, have to wait for midnight it appears... lol

...Edit:

Final_Fighter said:
i just got a reply back from that company i use. they do have an image you can flash onto the chip if yours fails for whatever reason.

What form, a BIOS EEPROM file???

Final_Fighter · Nov 23, 2017

Sasqui said:
Only USB.

And I'm back, because I forgot I had some cyber black Friday shopping to do, have to wait for midnight it appears... lol

...Edit:

What form, a BIOS EEPROM file???

ya, they send it in .bin format and you just flash it onto the chip using your programmer.

edit: it really does not matter the extension so long as the file structure is how its supposed to be.

silentbogo · Nov 23, 2017

Sasqui said:
Ok, now things are getting weird. I was looking into the BIOS I saved from the motherboard and comparing it with the VER 1.A I downloaded from MSI, then the apparent VER 1.0, the file sizes are different, does that indicate I've got the wrong ROM?

Can you upload it? I wanna check what's inside.
I've already checked both A0 and 00 versions from MSI website, and both are in Intel HEX format and do include BIOS and ME regions, which means those images are ready to flash as-is and do not require any modifications.

Sasqui · Nov 23, 2017

silentbogo said:
Can you upload it? I wanna check what's inside.
I've already checked both A0 and 00 versions from MSI website, and both are in Intel HEX format and do include BIOS and ME regions, which means those images are ready to flash as-is and do not require any modifications.

Yea, be glad to... question is how to upload here? Could share a Dropbox or Google Drive link too.

FireFox · Nov 23, 2017

steen said:
Typical Asus behavior.

You don't start blaming the Manufacturer, and btw i don't see where the OP mentioned Asus, am i retarded :confused:

Sasqui · Nov 23, 2017

Knoxx29 said:
You don't start blaming the Manufacturer, and btw i don't see where the OP mentioned Asus, am i retarded

Lol, didn't even catch that. Yea, nothing to do with ASUS

jsfitz54 · Nov 23, 2017

@Sasqui , Read this entire post: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=180978.0

USB stick should be formatted FAT32 and be under 32GB in size. Some drives are finicky so maybe try different ones.

Sasqui · Nov 23, 2017

jsfitz54 said:
@Sasqui , Read this entire post: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=180978.0

USB stick should be formatted FAT32 and be under 32GB in size. Some drives are finicky so maybe try different ones.

It's FAT 32 and 8GB. The flash completed without a hitch ... except it bricked the board lol . I'm convinced there's a BIOS mismatch or something else

jsfitz54 · Nov 23, 2017

Sasqui said:
I'm convinced there's a BIOS mismatch or something else

So have you contacted MSI so you can get the correct bios when the FlashCat arrives? (save time)

EDIT: Also, like I said previously, try a lower version Bios nearer to the top, if there is a mismatch on MSI website regarding ver. 1.A.

Sasqui · Nov 23, 2017

jsfitz54 said:
So have you contacted MSI so you can get the correct bios when the FlashCat arrives? (save time)

I saved the original BIOS, so that's try #1

jaggerwild · Nov 23, 2017

Sasqui said:
Busy day tomorrow, need sleep Thanks all for the help. The FlashCAT is arriving Friday and I plan to re-flash with the original bios file to start with.

Can't you just short two of the pins(while the chip is on the board), I assume its a 8 pins BIOS chip? Should have just got an EPROMM adapter that way you cant flash any and all EPROMMs for now on?
Your Avatar is freaky!! Keep looking at its belly button talking to you

Sasqui · Nov 23, 2017

jaggerwild said:
Can't you just short two of the pins(while the chip is on the board), I assume its a 8 pins BIOS chip? Should have just got an EPROMM adapter that way you cant flash any and all EPROMMs for now on?
Your Avatar is freaky!! Keep looking at its belly button talking to you

Shorting of pins I don't think will help a bad 6 MB BIOS flash.

Yes, that's my bellybutton talking, lol ...it's a skew on this meme:

jsfitz54 · Nov 24, 2017

@Sasqui

So what's the verdict?

jaggerwild · Nov 25, 2017

If you short 2 of the pins together, it basically clears the Eprom so it can be loaded with a good bios(I am the last person should be giving bios info)!

Solaris17 · Nov 25, 2017

He hasn't reached back out yet, but he did work today. I promised id walk him through the sequence when he was in front of the parts.

Sasqui · Nov 25, 2017

Solaris17 said:
He hasn't reached back out yet, but he did work today. I promised id walk him through the sequence when he was in front of the parts.

Well... after a bunch of figuring out how to connect the Flashcat to the MB, I might be looking at a BIOS chip that they don't support. Flashcard is also saying the firmware is out of date, but I can't find how to update it anywhere.

You around later today or tomorrow?

I'll post a pic of the BIOS chip after I get back from breakfast with the GF

jaggerwild · Nov 25, 2017

You sure you have the right chip? easy to confuse other chips. Down near the old north-bridge location(near the PCI-E)?

Solaris17 · Nov 25, 2017

Sasqui said:
Well... after a bunch of figuring out how to connect the Flashcat to the MB, I might be looking at a BIOS chip that they don't support. Flashcard is also saying the firmware is out of date, but I can't find how to update it anywhere.

You around later today or tomorrow?

I'll post a pic of the BIOS chip after I get back from breakfast with the GF

Send me a picture of your board and ill walk you through how to setup the flash cat and get it connected to the board.

silentbogo · Nov 25, 2017

Sasqui said:
I might be looking at a BIOS chip that they don't support

That's impossible. Most likely a loose wire or bad connection somewhere.
If you are using a clip with jumpers, then for the sake of compatibility you need to use a single-channel SPI (see an attached pic)

Sasqui said:
Flashcard is also saying the firmware is out of date

There is a PDF in "FCUSB\Documentation" folder. Scroll down to page 9 and follow the instruction.
It's actually very-very simple: just toggle a switch as shown in description, attach, start the tool and once you get a DFU pop-up - just point it to the new firmware. Then disconnect and set the switch back to its initial position.
The fresh firmware is also located in "FCUSB\Software\Firmware" folder. You need an FCUSB.CLASSIC.xxxx.SPI.hex, not the other ones.

Solaris17 · Nov 25, 2017

silentbogo said:
That's impossible.

pretty much this. the tool isnt configured yet or there is a bad contact point/it isnt hooked up right.

Sasqui · Nov 25, 2017

Will send a few pics later

stinger608 · Nov 25, 2017

I'm very interested in seeing how this FlashCat works!

I hope this takes care of your board @Sasqui !!!!! That would suck to have a Z97 paperweight.

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System Name	Senile
Processor	I7-4790K@4.8 GHz 24/7
Motherboard	MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
Cooling	Be Quiet Pure Rock Air
Memory	16GB 4x4 G.Skill CAS9 2133 Sniper
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE Vega 64
Storage	Samsung EVO 500GB / 8 Different WDs / QNAP TS-253 8GB NAS with 2x10Tb WD Blue
Display(s)	34" LG 34CB88-P 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD (34401440) FREE_SYNC*
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + HD HDMI
Power Supply	Corsair HX750
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB & G610 Orion Red
Software	Win 10

Processor	ryzen 5 5600x
Motherboard	AB350m Pro4
Cooling	custom loop
Memory	TEAMGROUP T-Force TXKD416G3600HC18ADC01 16gbs XMP
Video Card(s)	HP GTX1650 super 4gb
Storage	MZVLB256HBHQ-000H1 PM981a (256GB)/3TB HDD
Display(s)	Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx
Case	Rosewill CULLINAN
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair 750w
Mouse	Best Buy Insignia
Keyboard	Best Buy Insignia
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I think I killed my MSI Z97 U3 PLUS Motherboard!!!

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