Question Strange occurrence occurred following BIOS upgrade to version V. 2503?
Question Strange occurrence occurred following BIOS upgrade to version V. 2503?
The setup
(constructed by the supplier, roughly 1.5 years prior):
Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero
BIOS: One of the initial versions, supporting only 64 GB of RAM (as far as I understand)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
CPU: 13 Gen Intel i9-13900K, with ASUS AI overclocking at 5.8 GHz.
ASUS ROG liquid cooling
RAM: 64 GB, 4x16 GB PNY DDR5 6200 PC5-49600 (operating at 4800 MHz, per vendor settings)
System drive C: RAID 1, 2x1 TB PNY CS 1031 SSD (one in M2.1 socket, one in M2.2 socket)
Data HDD D: RAID 1, 2x2 TB Western Digital
Data HDD E: RAID 1, 2x2 TB Western Digital
OS: Windows 11
It operated adequately, booting quickly (15-20 sec), with CPU temps staying below 78-89°C even during heavy usage.
Approximately 10 months ago, I began handling large NASTRAN tasks (90-100% CPU load, terabytes of scratch files, runtime 8-10 hrs) – and encountered limitations due to insufficient RAM and storage capacity.
Subsequently, I revised the system:
upgraded BIOS to version 18xx (enabling 128 GB RAM)
removed the 1 TB PNY stick from M2.2 socket
installed two Samsung 990 Pro 4 TB SSDs in M2.2 and M2.3 sockets (RAID 0) for temporary use
activated Hyper Card with two M2 slots in PCIEX16(G4) and enabled Dual Channel in BIOS
added two Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB SSDs in RAID1 on the Hyper Card for system storage
moved Windows to the Hyper Card via EaseUS software
formatted the PNY stick in M2.1 slot for extra data use
added 128 GB RAM – 4x32 GB G.Skill Trident Z5, DDR5 6400 (stable at 5600 MHz despite mismatch)
It functioned well for about six months under heavy CPU demands, with temperatures around 80-85°C.
Later, I experienced intermittent NASTRAN failures (no error messages) and a blue screen. Temperatures rose to 95-98°C. Suspicion points to instability issues with the i9-13900K and 14900K.
Thus, a few days ago I updated BIOS to v2503 using USB Flashback – suspecting the i9-13900K was the culprit.
The system would only boot in Safe mode, displaying error codes like "GPU header corruption" and "Intel Rapid Storage technology degraded."
Returned to BIOS: GPU header corruption resolved after setting Boot Sector Recovery Policy to Auto.
NOTABLE OBSERVATIONS:
-the RAID 1 configuration now displays one 1 TB stick (previously empty) and one 1 TB Samsung stick
-other identical 1 TB Samsung sticks (initially system stick in RAID1 with another 1 TB Samsung) appear as separate drives in BIOS
-after restarting, the PNG stick appears offline in Disk Management
BIOS adjustments:
-After updating to v.2503, Dual Channel was restored on the Hyper card.
-The RAID1 setup changed from two 1TB Samsung sticks to one 1 TB PNG and one 1 TB Samsung stick.
-Attempts to rebuild RAID1 on system SSDs failed.
-BOOT PROPERTIES for SD cards showed mixed results – some listed as single devices, others still hinted at RAID1 links.
-Removing the RAID structure from the Samsung stick resolved the issue.
-Restoring RAID1 on the system SSDs worked
-The system now boots normally, albeit with a 1-1.5 minute delay
-The 1 TB PNG stick is visible in Disk Management
Back to BIOS:
-Testing Dual Channel on Hyper card restored factory defaults, likely affecting the 2x1 TB Samsung drives (system on Hyper card).
-I reset Dual Channel and excluded both SSDs from the fake RAID1.
-Trying to rebuild RAID1 on the system SSDs (2x1TB Samsung 990 Pro) failed
-Examining SD card properties revealed the removed Samsung stick still showed RAID1 links despite being excluded.
-After removal, both 1 TB Samsung sticks functioned without issues, and RAID1 was successfully restored
-The system now boots correctly
The 1 TB PNG stick is operational again
Everything appears to be functioning properly (hopefully).
Someone please clarify [redacted issue] – how could the RAID1 setup shift from two 1TB Samsung drives to one empty PNG and one 1TB Samsung after a BIOS update? I know the factory setting disables Dual Channel on the Hyper card, which likely disrupted the system’s RAID1 configuration. However, removing one Samsung stick from RAID1 and replacing it with an empty PNG stick seems to have resolved the problem. Also, the 1x1 TB Samsung stick that was excluded still retained some RAID1 association.
I’m not very technical, but I’ve often worked around BIOS quirks by improvising – maybe someone can help me understand what went wrong.**
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
There appears to be an additional BIOS update available: 2603;
ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO | ROG Maximus | Gaming Motherboards｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global
This model boosts builds with its powerful 20-stage power system, DDR5 memory at hyperspeed, and PCIe 5.0 connectivity. It includes five M.2 SSD slots equipped with heatsinks, Thunderbolt™ 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, Wi-Fi 6E, AI Overclocking, AI Cooling II, and more.
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I’d give it a shot to see if it helps your situation. I’m interested in discovering the performance gains from using the Samsung 990 Pro in RAID0 configuration.
How could the RAID1 setup change after the BIOS update—from two 1TB drives to one 1TB PNG plus another 1TB PNG?
It might be due to a BIOS corruption. Typically, we recommend clearing the CMOS after updating the BIOS to ensure all previous settings are reset.
Thank you for your reply. My original post was made following all the steps mentioned in the post, after the first successful boot. The second attempt didn’t go well: the comp boots fine, but the wired keyboard and mouse aren’t functioning.
I tried various solutions—changing USB ports, restarting the comp—but nothing worked.
They only respond in BIOS (lucky!), so at least I could go back to BIOS version 2301. However, the problem with the keyboard and mouse remains. Both lights are on, but they don’t work.
Since they operate in BIOS, I suspect the USB ports might be fine now.
After switching back to BIOS 2301, the Hyper card settings returned to a single M2 slot, which erased the RAID1 setup on the system drive. After reapplying RAID1 on the Hyper card, it reported “Rebuilding” but didn’t show any progress in BIOS.
I’m not sure if the mouse/keyboard issues are related to the system itself—please check my understanding if I’m wrong.
I saved the current BIOS 2301 settings as a file, though I doubt I can share it here.
I’m really frustrated and seriously thinking about replacing both the motherboard and CPU (both 18 months old and still under warranty) with new ones (though they’re still covered).
Additionally, there’s another issue: after booting, a small window appears with the message “Access violation at address 04969FA5 in module dip4.dll. Read of address 00000000.” This seems like an ASUS vs Corsair compatibility problem… but I have no way to fix it without HDD access.
Hopefully RAID1 will recover properly within a day or so.
Discussing the 990 Pro in RAID0 is tricky, considering I've made numerous adjustments. However, performing 20 to 80 million read/write operations on a SATA HDD certainly impacts the analysis time.
Let's consider this: with the standard NASTRAN setup (including RAM and CPUs), the task took 10 hours. Upgrading the configuration—adding more RAM and using all 32 CPUs—cut it down to 4 hours. Raising RAM from 64 to 128 GB, plus assigning a dedicated scratch area on the Samsung 990 Pro further decreased the analysis duration to roughly 40 to 70 minutes. That's impressive.
The 990 Pro really performs well...to be honest.