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ASRock A2 error can't get into BIOS

S

SomeGuy133

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
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Details:
ASRock Z170 OC forumla
6700K
950PRO
Full specs are down below in sig.

I keep getting an A2 error but I have 0 SATA devices attached and have cleared CMOS and removed battery several times and I keep getting A2 error. I get A2 error all the time but normally I get past it.

I put my 950 PRO into my server and it shows up right away and I did a check disk and no errors were found and i can access all my files. So that isn't an issue.

The A2 error is preventing me from getting into BIOS to change any settings and I even try the boot directly to BIOS button on MB and still hit this error.

What is wrong and why can't I get past this stupid A2 error. I always get this stupid A2 error on all my rigs from Z97-Z170....normally it is easy to pass but this time it is being a total mook

Also monitor works fine and boot paused on F2/delete to access BIOS screen but after a couple mins goes black to _ (blinking) than loads error message saying remove SATA devices and clear CMOS text message which i have no SATA devices and have cleared CMOS several times.
 
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would this be better in MB section or windows section? It is a motherboard issue but i don't recall seeing very many need help posts here in the past.
 
Discharge all the motherboard capacitors by disconnecting the PSU from the wall and hitting the power button several times, let it rest about ~5 minutes disconnected from the wall and clear CMOS by removing the battery for another ~5minutes, plug the battery and try again. that's happening with Asrock Board since Z77 IIRC I have always solved that way.
 
Araxie said:
Discharge all the motherboard capacitors by disconnecting the PSU from the wall and hitting the power button several times, let it rest about ~5 minutes disconnected from the wall and clear CMOS by removing the battery for another ~5minutes, plug the battery and try again. that's happening with Asrock Board since Z77 IIRC I have always solved that way.
Click to expand...
K did 1-2 mins alst time. I'll try 5 or so mins. Last time 1-2 mins worked. If this fails any idea? Is it the motherboard or something else? Curious on where the problem is coming from.
 
Okay I just retried it...left it off for 10 or so mins and still same thing.

Correction though:
Monitor shows: f2/delete to go to BIOS screen (stays for a few mins)
MB error code: A2

Monitors switches to: blank black screen with _ (blinking)
MB Error code: switches to b2 for ~30 seconds
MB error code: switches to A3

Monitors sometimes switches to if i wait several minutes: Text message saying remove all IDE/SATA and clear CMOS
MB error code: remains on A3 for this whole time.
 
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Doesn't matter what the code is. First thing you do with these kinds of issues is move to an absolute minimum configuration. So, no GPU if you have onboard video, minimum RAM, SATA devices disconnected. That's just basic troubleshooting.
 
silent-circuit said:
Doesn't matter what the code is. First thing you do with these kinds of issues is move to an absolute minimum configuration. So, no GPU if you have onboard video, minimum RAM, SATA devices disconnected. That's just basic troubleshooting.
Click to expand...
made edit to the above. I can remove GPU but seems pointless. I only have 2 RAM sticks and I don't have any extra RAM. So run with one stick?

Should I remove 950 PRO?
 
Yeah, pull all but one stick of RAM, no drives, nothing. See if you can get in BIOS, and if you can start adding things back one by one.
 
silent-circuit said:
Yeah, pull all but one stick of RAM, no drives, nothing. See if you can get in BIOS, and if you can start adding things back one by one.
Click to expand...
jesus....sooo

pulled out GPU gave it a try with 2 sticks: nothing.

Pulled out one stick: works.

switched sticks: works

tried both sticks: works

tried gpu: works....

wtf did i learn....nothing. Nothing is broken...nothing was bad....computer is just a giant fucking mook.

Now i just have to fix boot loader since computer decided to be a mook while encypting. Probably just need to remove all unencrtypred files and reinstall but at least i can get to fucking BIOS.

I seriously don't get why I get this A2/A3 error all the time with nothing in it and nothing is fucking broken! Is this just a bad MB or am I cursed?

This happens when encrypted or not encrypted and happened with SATA and NVMe M.2. On both boards too Z97/Z170
 
Are you seeing "A2 error" or just "A2". In the latter case, that's just the BIOS telling you which POST step is being run at that moment. The way it works is that when the POST routine jump into a subroutine the first thing it does is write a code to port 80h so that a diagnostic tool (like the little 88 display on the motherboard) can read that port and know which step the BIOS was running when something went wrong.
 
ryan_975 said:
Are you seeing "A2 error" or just "A2". In the latter case, that's just the BIOS telling you which POST step is being run at that moment. The way it works is that when the POST routine jump into a subroutine the first thing it does is write a code to port 80h so that a diagnostic tool (like the little 88 display on the motherboard) can read that port and know which step the BIOS was running when something went wrong.
Click to expand...
according to manual dr debug is reporting A2 and that code means IDE/SATA, which i have 0 of and CMOS was cleared with no luck but removing everything and putting it back in magically made it work again.

http://www.asrock.com/support/faq.asp?id=334
 
Right, POST sends A2 to port 80h before starting the SATA/IDE initialization. Once that init step is started, something was causing it to get stuck there. Removing and replacing the ram fixing it means the RAM wasn't quite seated well enough (my thoughts are there was some dirt on an address pin) and the CPU was getting some bad instructions or data.
 
ryan_975 said:
Right, POST sends A2 to port 80h before starting the SATA/IDE initialization. Once that init step is started, something was causing it to get stuck there. Removing and replacing the ram fixing it means the RAM wasn't quite seated well enough (my thoughts are there was some dirt on an address pin) and the CPU was getting some bad instructions or data.
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so magically ram isn't seated well after 2 months? magically RAM moves? uhuh
 
SomeGuy133 said:
so magically ram isn't seated well after 2 months? magically RAM moves? uhuh
Click to expand...

you would be surprised how much times I've found that to be an issue.. sometimes isn't properly seated on the first installation and a minor movement can make a single pin to fail, it happened to me like one year ago to my brother old rig, moved my case to clean below it, returned to original position then it wasn't refusing to post until removing all RAMs noticed one was a bit loose, reseated and all was good to go, never an issue again even an issue it had with black screening when doing a simply restart..

Anyway, good you "fixed" the issue.
 
SomeGuy133 said:
so magically ram isn't seated well after 2 months? magically RAM moves? uhuh
Click to expand...

We'll, I didn't realize this was a two month old build...

but their is still nothing magical about it. You simply had high frequency signal passing through a marginal connection that degraded enough to be a problem.
 
Ram can magically move except it isn't magic. It is called physics. See, matter expands and contracts based on temperature. This means if you have a sudden rise or drop in temps, things can expand or shrink some. If you had maybe sorta half way inserted the ram, it could have shifted due to temps or by moving the tower around. Not likely, but not impossible.

Also note that some motherboards are moody. I use to own a moody ASRock X58 Extreme3.
 
ryan_975 said:
Are you seeing "A2 error" or just "A2". In the latter case, that's just the BIOS telling you which POST step is being run at that moment. The way it works is that when the POST routine jump into a subroutine the first thing it does is write a code to port 80h so that a diagnostic tool (like the little 88 display on the motherboard) can read that port and know which step the BIOS was running when something went wrong.
Click to expand...

That's Hot. Thanks for the explanation. I love to read about low level stuff like that.
 
DrLobotomy said:
Ram can magically move except it isn't magic. It is called physics. See, matter expands and contracts based on temperature. This means if you have a sudden rise or drop in temps, things can expand or shrink some. If you had maybe sorta half way inserted the ram, it could have shifted due to temps or by moving the tower around. Not likely, but not impossible.

Also note that some motherboards are moody. I use to own a moody ASRock X58 Extreme3.
Click to expand...

Yup, sounds like this whole thing was good old fashioned chip creep. Hot cold hot cold and the ram sticks move their way out of the sockets.

PS: "Moody" PCs are usually related to either wiring, or even house grounding. Had a guy who lived in an apartment building, and his PC would just go stupid randomly through the day. Turned out he had ringing voltage from his neighbor's telephone line. Every time his neighbor got a call, his drive controller would hang up. Blue screen, reboot and everything was hunky dory. Just noticed through the walls that the phone was ringing when the thing locked up. Went back through some other customers whom had "Moody" PCs, and found almost all of them had some kind of noise on their ground. A couple of battery backups with line conditioning, and almost all of those machines are happy now.
 
I have seen systems that the customer brought in, was working, after car ride, wouldn't boot. Took RAM modules out and seated them back, bam, system starts back up. I've seen systems with loose slots and they were touchy. I've also had to clean the contacts on some RAM modules before with one of those big ass pink erasers to get the system back booting again. Most of the time the end user or whoever put the RAM in didn't seat them in enough. Some virgin RAM slots can feel like you are about to break something when putting a module in. <-- Don't read into that ROFL
 
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