'Reboot & select proper boot drive'

Help needed guys

Desktop been working with no issues then today restarted & stuck on BIOS splash screen .... will eventually get a flashing cursor on left hand side & then mins later will get ''Reboot & select proper boot drive'

I can hit DEL at start up & then ALT F2 for ASUS EZ Flash utility in order to update BIOS - i have placed new BIOS on FAT32 USB stick BUT after many, many mins get 'no existing drives'??!! The whole experience is so slow though with getting into BIOS

I have checked boot order in BIOS & can see PC points to my Scandisk 240gb SSD drive but obviously does not load

I am unable to boot into SAFE MODE

I have a placed windows 10 ISO on USB stick & changed boot order ... no joy as PC is unable to see USB stick

I have disconnected everything i dont need - only monitor, USB mouse & keyboard, power

I am therefore at a loss as what is wrong ..... Mobo, SSD Drive, PSU, etc

Please can anyone provide any assistance?

ASUS A78l-M mobo
Windows 10
240gb Scandisk SSD drive

Hi,

Remove the USB stick and see if you can boot into Windows.
If yes restart and enter the bios. You normally have a two options offered in EZ bios update to update the bios: either let it search the web for a new version or put the USB stick in that contains the renamed .cap file.
On my ASUS board the a dedicated USB port to do just that: flash or recover bios.
No need to try to boot off a non-bootable stick.

Cheers,

Suggest you return the bios settings to their default status.The motherboard manual will tell you what and how to do it.
Then check to see if the motherboard will boot from usb,old boards do not have that facility.
If it won't,there is a work around,using ---PLoP boot manager--- and ---EASY BCD---.This requires some prior reading and it is not difficult to use. I did it years ago,which is proof positive.
A recovery drive,Windows,Hirens or whichever you have,is needed if you still can't boot into Windows.

First, you posted, "I have a placed windows 10 ISO on USB stick & changed boot order ... no joy as PC is unable to see USB stick"

How exactly did you place the Windows 10 ISO on a USB stick? You can't just copy the iso file to a USB flash drive. You have to create a bootable USB flash drive from the ISO file. For your motherboard the USB flash drive can be either FAT32 or NTFS, but the flash drive must be MBR and the partition on the flash drive must be marked as ACTIVE. Then you need to see the actual contents of the ISO file on the flash drive - files and folders, including setup.exe - not just the ISO file itself.

See this tutorial:
Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10

Make sure you have the USB flash drive pugged into a black USB port directly off the motherboard on the back of the computer. Not a blue USB port.

Finally, I found this post elsewhere:

I have found a solution after refusing to give up on my board. I have the same board (M5A78L-M). I assume that your USB drive is bootable with a valid image.

There are 2 menus that must have the USB selected and first in the boot order. Yes, there are 2 boot order lists.

Under the USB config menu, make sure the USB devices are <auto>. (possibly optional step)

Before setting the device boot order, enter the HDD menu directly below the "Boot Order" menu (can't remember what its called). This menu lists the order that the HDD's will boot. Make sure "Drive 1" is the USB device. On my rig, I removed the sata drives from the list, and had USB as the only device.

Now, go into the device boot order menu and select your USB device.

F10 to save and exit. (may need to use after each step)

Note: If any new drives are connected (eg. SATA, USB, etc.) and the system booted, you will need to redo the BIOS settings.