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Question

AMD Ryzen build boot issues...

Sep 21, 2017 4:07AM PDT

Built a new Ryzen rig a few months ago.

Stupid thing will not boot to Windows when an external HDD is connected.

It attempts to (gets to the Windows splash screen for a second then the screen blanks out and prompt "Windows is loading files
" slider appears at the bottom of the screen twice... Then it opens the BIOS window.

Disconnect External drive & off it goes...

Now I have tried the following several times with no success.

1 - 3 different external HDD.

2 - Plugged drive into various USB ports.

3 - Reset BIOS to default.

4 - Made sure the internal SSD is set as first boot device.

5 - Disabled every internal device in BIOS so ONLY the SSD is seen.

5 - Disconnected EVERY internal drive (2Tb HDD & Blue Ray writer) and tried to boot with external HDD connected.

6 - As above but tried connecting SSD to various internal SATA connectors.

Regardless of what I try...

External HDD connected... No Boot.

External HDD disconnected... Boots fine.

It's only a wee issue cause I tend to keep the unit on 24/7 anyhow but the fact that it is doing it in a brand new build is driving me nuts!!! Am I missing something really obvious?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Ryzens tend to get a lot of BIOS updates.
Sep 21, 2017 9:18AM PDT

So I don't see if you are checking with the maker if they have a newer BIOS.

Some BIOS's are just buggy. I've had to swap motherboards in those cases, but is the BIOS the latest and if that didn't fix, what does the maker/seller have to say?

(I agree it's defective.)

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Answer
Just curious
Sep 21, 2017 1:24PM PDT

What happens if you disconnect the external hdd and connect a usb flash stick?

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Tried...
Sep 21, 2017 9:55PM PDT

Strangely enough it works...? Which is even odder as I thought if it was an issue with the BIOS forcing a USB devive boot regardless of settings then it should have done it with the USB key inserted...?

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Or ...
Sep 21, 2017 10:00PM PDT

That external has a bootable area on it. While I think the BIOS has a defect (did you get the BIOS current?) you can take that USB HDD and try a disk wipe on it (do not create partitions on it yet) then test. That should boot normally. Then you can create a partition and let Windows format it and if you did it right the bootable area should be gone.

https://www.google.com/search?q=remove+bootable+flag+from+usb+drive if you want to try that flag only.