Everyone seems nervous about updating their firmware, but things are usually fine since everything is well set up. Before proceeding, verify if your motherboard supports dual BIOS, which lets you change between firmwares if needed. Even without this feature, you can flash the firmware directly using USB tools or a recovery USB drive in case the main one fails. Many boards also let you update via a recovery USB. If you lack these options, updating is worth it—especially if your RAM isn’t working properly.
The process is straightforward and outlined in your manual. For extra safety, use a brand-new USB drive formatted with FAT32 and include the MBR partition table. Page 49 of your guide details both methods here: https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe...PRO_EN.pdf Flashback technique is my go-to. I've used it over 15 times on my current motherboard. If you choose to work through the existing BIOS interface instead.
I'm sure your first attempt was M-Flash and it worked. Your IO on the back shows some damage from a poor installation, but you still have access to the flash button. Connecting power to the CPU and ATX is necessary for the process. Reading through your posts, thank you for the support. Edit: I realize I may have made a mistake—I had to switch to flash mode (press Ctrl F5 at boot) and extract the file to USB before flashing. Now I'm stuck in a boot loop. Either go through setup in BIOS or reboot because the OS appears gone. I've rebooted about ten times. X.x
It means only the essential connections—24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS 12v for the CPU—are required. Once the board is assembled, these are already set up. This approach is ideal for someone who wants to remove the motherboard and flash it straight away without further steps. Using m-flash works too. For those familiar with CSM, you may need to enable it for legacy boot support, and fTPM/SecureBoot might also require re-activation. Anything beyond standard settings will likely need adjustment after the flash.
I attempted to switch to flash mode but encountered an issue—it indicated I had no operating system and suggested booting into setup. In short, I reinstalled Windows and am currently resetting my settings. My Wi-Fi adapter also failed, so it’s not working properly. I’m planning to have someone fix the PC instead of trying again.
It likely ran an older operating system stored on a legacy MBR drive, requiring CSM support to identify and start from it. This depends on whether the BIOS was recently updated—unclear otherwise. Newer BIOS versions usually disable CSM by default and only boot modern GPT partitions.