can't boot to bios: asus rog strix z490-A

rboris · 07 Oct 2021

The Windows 11 upgrade notice that my hardware is not ready because of absent TPM prompted me to try to boot into the bios (eprom) to reset the security settings.
Simple enough, I thought. But no. No method works and I have followed just about every scheme on the internet help groups (turn off fast boot; "recovery then advanced startup, etc." from windows update; f2; del. And nothing works.
Also changed keyboards from a new Unicomp IBM (USB) clone to an old IBM think pad keyboard (USB too).
I do know that the keyboards boot "late" once the windows splash screen appears and that might be the problem because the computer (i9 10900 with 32 MB ram) is so fast.
Exotic problem.
Please help.

Macboatmaster · 07 Oct 2021

From your post - it follows that the computer spec is not correct, as that says
CPU: i7 4930k
Motherboard: asrock x79

that system neither the processor or the chipset which is the Intel X79
support TPM which on Intel is known as PTT
Platform Trust Technology

However your mentioned i9-10900 is supported for 11

but what is the motherboard
see this please
Verify Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Chip on Windows PC

SIW2 · 07 Oct 2021

Macboatmaster said:

but what is the motherboard

It is in the title of the thread

rboris · 07 Oct 2021

i have updated my computer profile:
this machine is my backup machine and the one i am talking about on this forum
10-Core Intel Core i9-10900, 4900 MHz (49 x 100)
Asus ROG Strix Z490-A Gaming 32665 DIMM1: Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK32GX4M2D3600C18

GeForce GTX 960 (2 GB) Samsung SSD 850 PRO 512GB (512 GB, SATA-III)

the other production machine is slightly higher speced:
Intel Core i9-10900KF, 4900 MHz (49 x 100) Asus ROG Maximus XII Formula 32641 MB Crucial Ballistix BL16G30C15U4R.M16FE1 GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB) Sabrent Rocket 4.0 2TB (2000 GB, PCI-E 4.0 x4)

bobkn · 07 Oct 2021

The easiest course may be to clear the CMOS. I don't see that you've tried that.

The system default is supposed to support a USB mouse and keyboard at startup. Maybe some setting has changed that prevents that.

rboris · 07 Oct 2021

maybe. I've never done that. don't want to fry the machine, which works well otherwise.
thanks.

Macboatmaster · 07 Oct 2021

Sorry for missing the motherboard in the title

If BY CHANCE your system is installed MBR traditional BIOS rather than UEFI you will not be able to enter firmware from Recovery options

see tutorial
Boot to UEFI Firmware Settings from inside Windows 10
This only applies if your PC's motherboard has a UEFI firmware chip instead of a BIOS chipset.
This only applies if Windows 10 was installed using UEFI, and not legacy BIOS (CSM).

See: How to Check if Windows 10 is using UEFI or Legacy BIOS

I know you mention you have tried F2 and Delete but have you tried a restart
on the restart button on the case and then del

IF on this computer in question you have two monitors connected, one to the card and one to the
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
if the restart and del does not work
try disconnecting the monitor connected to the card

Other than that you are with my colleagues suggestion of CMOS reset on the jumper.
After shorting the pins for 5 to 10 seconds
reconnect power cord
power on and hold down del key immediately after pressing power on

bobkn · 07 Oct 2021

rboris said:

maybe. I've never done that. don't want to fry the machine, which works well otherwise.
thanks.

You've never cleared the CMOS? It just resets the BIOS settings to their defaults. You have to open the case to get to the pins, but it has no risk of frying the machine beyond that. I've done it many times over the years, without issues.

Some Asus motherboards have an external button to clear the CMOS, but the ROG Strix Z490-A is not among them.

joeandmarg0 · 07 Oct 2021

If you do not feel comfortable removing the battery,then enter the bios and reset it to the default setting.

rboris · 14 Oct 2021

Fixed!

I had to turn off motherboard video. The absence of a splash screen was the big clue. The computer didn't know which video to use -- the internal video or the video card inserted when the machine was built. I mistakenly thought that the computer knew which video to use and that I didn't need to turn off the motherboard video.

Now it boots to the bios when I want it to.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.