ASRock Extreme9 debug code A2

[mhommer]

Trying to help my son build his first PC and after connecting all the components, it will not boot beyond displaying A2 debug code. There is no video connectivity either so I'm not sure where in the load process it is. We have tried removing all components except the CPU and memory and still get the same error code. We have tried clearing the CMOS, different keyboards and mouse combinations as suggested by similar error for other motherboard versions but no luck.

Intel i7 3820
EVGA GTX 660 Ti
ASRock Extreme9
NZXT HALE90 850W power
ADATA 64GB SSD
Hitachi 750GB SATA drives

[Kornivsky]

Some user had similiar problem...

I checked out the Dr. Debug Led display on the motherboard & I get the code A2 - which according the manual means 'IDE Detect'.That's doesn't make sense to me tbqh, since I don't have any IDE devices, what I have are 3 sata devices, namely a dvd-rw drive, samsung 830 ssd and seagate barracuda 2Tb hdd.

I've been on some other forums and tried various things suggested such as plug out other sata drives apart from dvd & ssd, and starting up pc again with 1 or 2 ram sticks , rearranging all the ram sticks, holding down the 'clear cmos' switch (while disconnected from power), but all so far to no avail?

Can I try anything else, or am I unlucky enough to just have a dud board?


user named " parsec " wrote:

First, just because the term "IDE" is used, don't take that literally, it likely refers to an issue with any type of drive. It also does not mean the drive is bad.

What kind of keyboard are you using and where is it connected? If it's wireless, it will not work. The first time you start a PC, you likely will need a directly connected keyboard, USB or maybe even the old PS2 keyboard connector. I bet you simply are not getting any signal from your keyboard to the PC. I must use a PS2 keyboard on another mother board I have, when I clear the BIOS, and it's only a year old.

If it's a USB keyboard, don't use the USB ports that are outlined in blue, use the grey outlined ones on the boards I/O panel, and directly connected, no USB hubs. The blue ones are USB 3.0, and may not work until their special driver is installed.

A newly built PC has no drivers for devices, since no OS is installed yet, and what the UEFI/BIOS can recognize after being cleared is limited in many cases. You need to get into the UEFI to set the boot order for the OS installation, set to your optical drive of course.

Are your drives connected to the Intel SATA ports? The two top ones are for the ASMedia chipset, which most likely won't work on a first boot and before it's driver and an OS is installed. The six darker colored SATA ports are the Intel ports, use those mainly, they are also much better performance-wise than the ASMedia.

When installing your OS, only have your DVD Optical Drive (OD)and your SSD connected to the board. Your SSD should be in one of the first/top Intel SATA ports, and the OD on one of the Intel ports at the bottom. Check the boards manual, which you can download from ASRocks web site page for your board. The manual is essential to read to understand how to use it, I've built PCs for years, and I would never think of not reading the manual, or at least the portions I need to check to get connections correct, etc.

[Kornivsky]

Also,make sure your GPU is seated correctly!!!!
Another option is to try another monitor,maybe something changes.

[mhommer]

Some user had similiar problem...

I checked out the Dr. Debug Led display on the motherboard & I get the code A2 - which according the manual means 'IDE Detect'.That's doesn't make sense to me tbqh, since I don't have any IDE devices, what I have are 3 sata devices, namely a dvd-rw drive, samsung 830 ssd and seagate barracuda 2Tb hdd.

I've been on some other forums and tried various things suggested such as plug out other sata drives apart from dvd & ssd, and starting up pc again with 1 or 2 ram sticks , rearranging all the ram sticks, holding down the 'clear cmos' switch (while disconnected from power), but all so far to no avail?

Can I try anything else, or am I unlucky enough to just have a dud board?


user named " parsec " wrote:

First, just because the term "IDE" is used, don't take that literally, it likely refers to an issue with any type of drive. It also does not mean the drive is bad.

What kind of keyboard are you using and where is it connected? If it's wireless, it will not work. The first time you start a PC, you likely will need a directly connected keyboard, USB or maybe even the old PS2 keyboard connector. I bet you simply are not getting any signal from your keyboard to the PC. I must use a PS2 keyboard on another mother board I have, when I clear the BIOS, and it's only a year old.

If it's a USB keyboard, don't use the USB ports that are outlined in blue, use the grey outlined ones on the boards I/O panel, and directly connected, no USB hubs. The blue ones are USB 3.0, and may not work until their special driver is installed.

A newly built PC has no drivers for devices, since no OS is installed yet, and what the UEFI/BIOS can recognize after being cleared is limited in many cases. You need to get into the UEFI to set the boot order for the OS installation, set to your optical drive of course.

Are your drives connected to the Intel SATA ports? The two top ones are for the ASMedia chipset, which most likely won't work on a first boot and before it's driver and an OS is installed. The six darker colored SATA ports are the Intel ports, use those mainly, they are also much better performance-wise than the ASMedia.

When installing your OS, only have your DVD Optical Drive (OD)and your SSD connected to the board. Your SSD should be in one of the first/top Intel SATA ports, and the OD on one of the Intel ports at the bottom. Check the boards manual, which you can download from ASRocks web site page for your board. The manual is essential to read to understand how to use it, I've built PCs for years, and I would never think of not reading the manual, or at least the portions I need to check to get connections correct, etc.

Saw this thread earlier and followed all these tips, no luck.

[mhommer]

I have tried changing out all connection, drives, cables, re-seating the video card and nothing has worked. Tried different combinations of mouse and keyboard, video connections (DVI and HDMI) and drives (SSD, HDD, neither, both). Connected the monitor to my laptop to verify that it works.

How do I determine if it is a bad motherboard or bad video card or both or neither?

[- wardog -]

We have tried removing all components except the CPU and memory

How do I determine if it is a bad motherboard or bad video card or both or neither?

Pull the CPU and inspect the socket for bent pins.

[parsec]

Do you have a power cable connected to the eight pin CPU power cable at the top of the board? That is required these days, and particularly for an X79/socket 2011 CPU system. Also be sure that you are not using a six or eight pin cable that is labeled "PCIe" in that connector, which are for use with video cards only, that cable will not work properly for CPU power. What type of power supply are you using?

The codes you see on that display are POST codes, Power On Self Test, which happens before you can go into the BIOS, and before the OS boot process begins. The code displayed indicates the last POST check that was run, and did not finish, meaning it failed. Those codes are usually accurate at indicating the problem, yours being the "IDE Detect", which refers to an issue with drive detection.

It is essential that you use the Intel SATA ports for ALL drives, including DVD drives, connected to the PC at this time. Check the power connections to the drives.

[mhommer]

Double checked all the power connections, all correct. Using an NZXT HALE90 850 Watt modular supply. Have also tried just using an SSD drive as the only drive. Also have tried just an HDD drive as well as a combination of one drive and the optical drive. No dice.

[parsec]

Just to check, your drives must be connected to the SATA ports that are labeled in the manual as 19, 20, or 21, the Intel SATA ports. Those are the four black ports, and the two dark gray ports next to the black ones. They are the only ones you can use when starting the board/PC for the first time, none of the Marvell ports, the light gray ones below the Intel ports, will work before their drivers are loaded in Windows.

Check the SATA data cables for correct fit, tight and straight in the ports.

Is the memory you are using listed in your boards memory compatibility list? If not, it likely will not work. This cannot be ignored. Also, you must use the correct slots, check the manual for instructions, that is also essential.

[Gahzirra]

@Mhommer Any luck resolving this? I have the exact problem have tried everything like you still A2 error. Video card came from my other built computer so I know it works.
Asrock Z77 Extreme 4, 3570K

1) Checked every RAM stick in every slot
2) Checked with all drives connected, then no drives connected
3) Reseated GFX card, tried no GFX card and switched to onboard GFX
4) Moved around Keyboard/mouse different USB's
5) Clear CMOS
6) Triple checked ALL connections

Tried everything I could think of or other fixes I saw from A2 error threads, nothing has work so far.