Problem with flashing Sapphire Radeon VII

[Vlad62]

Hi everybody,

I have a problem with re-flashing of my Sapphire Radeon VII graphic card.
The card arrived from Amazon Warehouse Deals with working fans and RGB lightning, but with no signal on monitor (the lamp remains yellow). I succeeded to boot up Windows 10 after I used my build-in graphic card and switched to CMS mode in MB Bios. Device Manager reported that the card was turned off because of the error 43.
Reinstalling of AMD drivers didn't help.
GPU Z and AIDA64 recognize the card, but the first displays some strange values (for example 0 Gb memory).

I have read that this error could be fixed by re-flashing of Vbios, so I decided to make a try. I used Atiflash program and Vbios from Techpowerup

Sapphire Radeon VII VBIOS

16 GB HBM2, 808 MHz GPU, 1000 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

it was exactly the same Vbios that GPU Z displays.
I followed all instructions, but when I click Program button, after 2 seconds comes the message "Error in VBIOS image".

I couldn't find anything about this error in the Internet, so I decided to ask here. I attach some screenshots to clarify details.

Could you please help?

PS. I had the same problem with my Asus rx 570 card recently (error code 43), also tried to re-flash vbios and everything worked fine, the problem was fixed..

 

[Tatty_Two]

Welcome, a very odd issue, if you take a look at the link below, I have taken a look in our unverified Bioses and that comes up with 4 entries, the first on the list is the Bios you have attempted to flash, the 3 below are a different bios , might be worth a try flashing one of those.

VGA Bios Collection | TechPowerUp

 

[Vlad62]

Hallo, Tatty, thank you very much, 2 of Vbios worked by re-flashing (one as Uefi version), but... unfortunately the error code 43 remains in device manager.

Does it mean that the card has hardware problems?

 

[Tatty_Two]

Hallo, Tatty, thank you very much, 2 of Vbios worked by re-flashing (one as Uefi version), but... unfortunately the error code 43 remains in device manager.

Does it mean that the card has hardware problems?

Possibly yes, however there are a few other things to try, make sure to do a clean uninstall of your drivers then download an older version of the driver, try one from about 3 months after the cards were released, install that one and re-boot.

 

[bobbybluz]

As a side note a few months ago I wanted to buy a Radeon VII. I went down the rabbit hole doing research on them and discovered many users have had issues this this GPU. Even some early units sent to reviewers had hardware problems. There are currently 13 "for parts only" Radeon VII's on Ebay as of 15 minutes ago (and at prices 3x-4x higher than the functional one I was considering on the local Craigslist). One website did a complete breakdown of the origin of the Radeon VII (an attempt by AMD to transform one of their professional GPU's into a flagship consumer card) and the potential caveats in the design of it. At this point in time it appears to be something to be avoided, unfortunately, and from what I've read online code 43 means RMA time for it. Best of luck to you and if a solid fix is ever found for them I'll buy one in the future.

 

[Vlad62]

Possibly yes, however there are a few other things to try, make sure to do a clean uninstall of your drivers then download an older version of the driver, try one from about 3 months after the cards were released, install that one and re-boot.

If you mean DDU Program I made this and Windows 10 then downloaded the driver by itself, I did not install Adrenaline or so...
I have read a lot on the topic and suspect a hardware problem.
What is interesting, both Amazon and Sapphire Service decline the warranty repair. Sapphire even write, the can not offer me a PAID repair!
I have a sort of "technical support" from Amazon, and proposed them to make me a discount for the card or pay for the repair, if I can found a place to do it. No answer yet, it is interesting, what they will decide... I wouldn't like to send it back for a refund, because I would like to have a working card instead, and I do not see the reasons, why I can not do it..

As a side note a few months ago I wanted to buy a Radeon VII. I went down the rabbit hole doing research on them and discovered many users have had issues this this GPU. Even some early units sent to reviewers had hardware problems. There are currently 13 "for parts only" Radeon VII's on Ebay as of 15 minutes ago (and at prices 3x-4x higher than the functional one I was considering on the local Craigslist). One website did a complete breakdown of the origin of the Radeon VII (an attempt by AMD to transform one of their professional GPU's into a flagship consumer card) and the potential caveats in the design of it. At this point in time it appears to be something to be avoided, unfortunately, and from what I've read online code 43 means RMA time for it. Best of luck to you and if a solid fix is ever found for them I'll buy one in the future.

Yes, one of the options could be to sell the card, as "defected" for about 1000 Euro. I see only one reason for such a high price - they probably make 1 working card from 2 broken ones (sometimes the problem can be in just soldering or so) and than use it to mine Bitcoin. So, if a working card is sold for about 2000 Euro, it could be reasonable to pay about 1k for a one with error 43.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Not knowing how long you have had the card, surely your country must have regulations regarding "fit for purpose" in terms of unless stated otherwise the item purchased much function as intended, even Open box items are required to work even if they come with limited warranty or state otherwise.

 

[Vlad62]

Not knowing how long you have had the card, surely your country must have regulations regarding "fit for purpose" in terms of unless stated otherwise the item purchased much function as intended, even Open box items are required to work even if they come with limited warranty or state otherwise.

I have this card only 2 weeks, the condition of it was described as "used: very good", if it would be a small firm, I think, they would surely prove the card before sending it to me, but it looks like Amazon Warehouse Deals doesn't do it, so I do not know, what they will decide to do with this card. I would like to have it working, but at the moment I even don't know, who could repair it for me...

 

[Tatty_Two]

I have this card only 2 weeks, the condition of it was described as "used: very good", if it would be a small firm, I think, they would surely prove the card before sending it to me, but it looks like Amazon Warehouse Deals doesn't do it, so I do not know, what they will decide to do with this card. I would like to have it working, but at the moment I even don't know, who could repair it for me...

If the card does not work then they should either replace it with a working card or reimburse you fully.

 

[Vlad62]

If the card does not work then they should either replace it with a working card or reimburse you fully.

Yes, but the problem is, that I don't want a full refund, I want a working card and theoretically have a right for a warranty service. But both Amazon and Sapphire don't want to repair it. I can not do a RMA there, which I would like to do...

Sapphire Service Team says that according to a business agreement, they can not RMA cards from Amazon. It sounds weird, but it is so...

 

[bobbybluz]

Here's the unfortunate reality of your situation: Amazon doesn't do repairs and the manufacturer is refusing to issue a RMA. As my late father used to tell me many years ago "What you want and what you're going to get are two different things". Take the Amazon refund and look for something else to buy. Be happy they're willing to give you your money back and aren't accusing you of damaging the GPU. Other than a refund you're in a no-win situation with this.

 

[Vlad62]

Here's the unfortunate reality of your situation: Amazon doesn't do repairs and the manufacturer is refusing to issue a RMA. As my late father used to tell me many years ago "What you want and what you're going to get are two different things". Take the Amazon refund and look for something else to buy. Be happy they're willing to give you your money back and aren't accusing you of damaging the GPU. Other than a refund you're in a no-win situation with this.

As I wrote above, there is also an option to try to sell it by Ebay for about 800-1000 Euro with error 43. But I would like to get it repaired...
I don't think Amazon would accuse me to of damaging, because I could just send it back in 30 days - without any explanations and they would not check it..

 

[Maes]

Any update to the outcome of this? I recently pulled the card out for a routine cleaning dust it out the heat sink with a can of compressed air after installing the card I'm getting this exact error with the same GPU z screen. I have never flashed or even knew it was a thing until researching this error. AMD is no help other than that card is no longer under warranty