MSI Z97-G45 Gaming can not POST or enter BIOS but has display

Question

Hi
First post here and sadly a technical one. I just bought the following hardware:
- MSI Z97-G45 GAMING MoBo (no idea on BIOS since I cannot enter it at all)
- Intel Core i5 4690K s1150
- 16GB (2x8GB) Patriot Viper 3 Black Mamba 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Dual/Quad Channel Kit [PV316G160C9K]
- Corsair CX750M PSU
and installed the hardware with the following old hardware that I am carrying over:
- 2 X Hitachi 1TB Sata HDD
- 2 X GTX 275 SLI
To begin with, my existing drives were setup as RAID 0 and has a installed Windows 7 64-bit on there already. I unregistered the Product key before taking it all apart with the idea of registering it again once the new hardware was all together.
So basically, when I received all the new parts yesterday and put them all in. Upon powering on, I see the MSI Dragon logo fullscreen with the option to press DEL or F11. I let it continue without pressing any key to see how it goes. After the dergaon logo, all I get is "Missing Operating System" at the top which did not really worry me and I assumed it would be realted to the Raid not setup (right?)
So I rebooted the PC and decided to press DEL to enter BIOS. However, every time I want to enter the BIOS the screen turns black! The display is still functional though from what I can tell (the display does not lose signal).
Following that, I reset the CMOS from behind by pressing the button with a pen tip. Starting the PC again now gives me a display of all my hardware that it detected (correct CPU, Correct amount of ram, correct HDD etc...). It also gives me two options... F1 to Enter setup or F2 to Continue. Pressing F1 displays the text "Entering Setup..." at the bottom but again it fails to enter the BIOS (it freezes on the above screen - does not turn black this time) and choosing F2 to Continue freezes as well.
I have tried to boot up with the following changes:
- No GPU and use on board VGA only
- One stick of ram in multiple slots
- No HDDs connected at all
- I've checked the CPU to make sure no bent pins
- Reconnected the PSU cables into the motherboard
I should also mention that when I test it on the bare minimum (CPU, PSU, 1 stick of ram) I get A9 in the lower corner before the dragon logo appears.
Right now I am out of ideas and any suggestions would be helpful or at least some insight in what problems I described may indicate. Thanks!

Answer 1

Quote from: Bernhard on 08-July-14, 19:43:46
Can you post your board's serial number. This contains the manufacture date. From that one could deduce the BIOS version on that board.
As for the windows installation from your previous system, you would be very lucky if you were able to boot with that. Perhaps force safe mode if and when you are able to boot, and then try installing the new drivers. The problem is that with the old drivers still in the boot menu, you are probably heading down a slippery slope trying to re-use it. A clean installation would be advised.
Whatever is on the HDD now should however not prevent you from getting into the BIOS.
The fact that your CPU is recognised by its make doesn't mean that its supported. The CPU ID is probably read by the BIOS, but the microcode of the CPU may be missing in the BIOS support. I am trying to think of possible reasons here, and these are just some of my current ideas as to why you may not be able to get into the BIOS.
Have you tried your MB outside the case yet, i.e. on a non conductive surface, i.e. wood or cardboard to eliminate any chances of a potential short?
Also, you may want to check your CPU seating again and carefully inspect the CPU socket pins to ensure that none were bent or are not making proper contact
Yep here is the serial number: 601-7821-050B1405415963
Yeah I didn't really expect to have too much luck with the original windows 7 installation but I had no choice since my last computer failed to power on (faulty PSU I suspected).
However, as you also mentioned, I do not think it would prevent me from reaching the BIOS setup.
Hopefully the above serial can make some sense for you but I do recall some sort of date after a CMOS reset at the top... I think it was 21 April or May 2014 or so. This was next to the following: E7821IMS v2.0.
Once I get home, I will try a few things like you suggested but trying to get as much info as I can before I get home so I have a few things to try.
Thanks again!
EDIT - as a side note, I also contacted the Online Retailer I got it from and the first response from them was that the DEBUG "A9" code meant it was the RAM not fully inserted. That is another thing I have to be 100% sure of but I am fairly sure it was fully clicked in on both sides... but you never know!