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Question

Help - computer stopped POSTing

May 11, 2017 4:05PM PDT

Apologies for any typos, etc. On phone because well, my PC just died last night and I'm at a loss.

I have a video of the boot sequence which just has an error code of 91 - display connection started. The machine does not post and the monitor never turns on.

Googling that "error code" doesn't do much

The computer was working for the past 6 months without issue and I hadn't made any changes or upgrades.

https://streamable.com/k09kf

I've actually never came across this before after about 15 years of building PC's. It feels like the comp isn't drawing enough power or it overheats and just shut itself off.

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.

And the parts itself:

BLKFRISALE1: CYBERPOWERPC Skorpion K1 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard w/ Kontact Blue Switches and Programmable RGB LED Lighting [+0]
BLUETOOTH: None
CABLE: None
CARE1: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+5]
CARE2: Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400 Extreme Performance CPU - Thermal Compound Optimized for Thermal Dissipation [+4]
CARE3: Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chassis - Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+5]
CAS: IN WIN 909 E-ATX Full Tower premium Aluminum Gaming Case w/ Tempered Glass both Side Panels [-1505] (Black)
CASUPGRADE: RGB Multi-Color 16 Million color LED 3x Interior light Strip (top, side, bottom) w/ RF Controller [+14]
CC: None
COOLANT: High-Performance Coolant powered by Koolance (UV Red Color)
CPU: Intel® Core™ Processor i7-6950X Extreme Edition Ten-Core 3.00GHz 25MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011-V3
CS_FAN: Default case fans
DOCKINGSTATION: None
EVGA_POWER: None
FA_HDD: None
FAN: CYBERPOWERPC HydroFluxe Custom PETG Hard-Tube Water Cooling kit 360MM (HydroFluxe Extreme - Liquid Cooling for CPU + 2 Video Card )
FREEBIE_CU: None
HD_M2SSD: None
HD_PCIE1X_SSD: 1.2TB Intel® SSD 750 Series NVME PCIe SSD - 2500MB/s Read & 1200MB/s Write (Single Drive)
HDD: 4TB (4TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)
HDD2: None
HEADSET: None
KEYBOARD: None
MEMORY: 64GB (16GBx4) DDR4/3000MHz Quad Channel Memory (GSKILL Ripjaws V [+240])
MONITOR: None
MOPAD: None
MOTHERBOARD: * ASUS ROG X99 RAMPAGE V EXTREME/U3.1 ATX w/Wi-Fi 802.11 AC 2.4/5 GHz, Dual Intel GbE LAN, 4x Gen3 PCIe x16, 1 PCIe x4, 1x M.2 PCIe, 10x SATA 6Gb/s
MOUSE: None [-69]
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: None - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY [-100]
OVERCLOCK: Extreme OC (Extreme Overclock 20% or more)
POWERSUPPLY: 850 Watts - Corsair CSM Series CS850M 80 Plus Gold Certified Modular Ultra Quiet Power Supply
PRO_WIRING: None
RUSH: RUSH!!! READY TO SHIP IN 3 BUSINESS DAYS [+69]
SECURITY: None
SERVICE: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (INCLUDES LABOR AND LIFETIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT)
SLI_BRIDGE: NVIDIA HB SLI Bridge for GTX 10 Series [+49]
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: None
TUNING: None
TVRC: None
USBHD: None
USBX: None
VIDEO: GeForce® GTX 1080 Founder's Edition 8GB GDDR5X (Pascal)[VR Ready] (Dual Card (SLI))
VIDEOCAMERA1: Logitech C615 Full HD 1080p Webcam [+73]
WARRANTY: STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 Year Parts WARRANTY + ONE (1) YEAR SHIPPING [+10]
WNC: None
WTV: None

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
The methods we use void the warranty.
May 11, 2017 4:08PM PDT

Before you start, use your warranty.

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Good call.
May 11, 2017 4:09PM PDT

Doing that in the mean time. I assume it's to trouble shoot the issue, like rotate out the ram, etc?

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I don't even do that on in warranty PCs.
May 11, 2017 4:15PM PDT

Otherwise the maker may walk on the warranty.

But seriously my method on a dead PC is to remove anything that is not needed to boot. If it's down to what should work then the motherboard comes out and we try on cardboard. But before all that I use a Volt meter on the CMOS Battery then the PSU leads. How to use a Volt meter and what is expected is on the web.

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Answer
Resolved!
May 11, 2017 5:08PM PDT

****RESOLVED****

So, I swapped out RAM sticks, was about to replace my video cards, etc. but decided to see if i could do something less invasive by flashbacking the BIOS: http://event.asus.com/2012/mb/USB_BIOS_Flashback_GUIDE/

It worked! Flashed the bios to the latest, unplugged the USB stick and booted without fail.

Some things I learned:

91 isn't an "error code", it's just a BIOS/POST code telling you the progression, since I assume the BIOS was corrupt, it couldn't get pass this stage.

Don't keep the USB stick in, you will get the error A2 as it tries to boot off of it.

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How could this happen?
May 11, 2017 5:16PM PDT

In decades I've yet to find a corrupted BIOS. Even when the Chernobyl virus was rampant we never lost a BIOS.

Is there something missing about how this happened?