GA-990FXA-UD7 Rev 3.0 won't boot with any USB device connected

[moopig]

I have a GA-990FXA-UD7 motherboard, revision 3.0.  I've had it for several months but it was only a couple of days ago I tried to install it.

The problem I'm having is that with any device connected to a USB 2.0 port the board won't POST.  The boot process halts as soon as the USB device is accessed (judging by a brief flash of the activity light on a USB flash drive), and the LED diagnostic code is 0x92, which the manual says is "PCI Bus initialization is started".  If I boot without any USB devices connected the machine starts properly, and I can navigate the BIOS settings using an old PS2 keyboard, but it freezes as soon as a USB device is plugged in.  It doesn't matter whether it's a mouse, keyboard or flash drive.

I'm using an FX-8350 CPU, Kingston KHX2133C9AD3X2K2/4GX RAM, Thermaltake TPX-1475M PSU, EVGA GT-640 graphics card, Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler to get me going and flash the BIOS from FB to FC (I have an FX-9590 waiting to go in, which needs FC).  All of these components are borrowed from a GA-990FXA-UD7 Rev 1.0 system so I know they all work.

I have tried fiddling with the legacy USB settings, disabling everything which isn't being used, running with 1, 2 and 4 sticks of RAM, resetting the CMOS, booting from cold, booting from warm - nothing seems to work.

I have all three power supply connectors inserted, including the SATA power connector.  Apart from the graphics card and cooling fans nothing else is plugged in (no PCI cards, no hard discs).

Does anyone have any idea what's going on and how to fix it?  Or have just been unlucky and got a bad motherboard?

 - moopig

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Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7, Rev 3.0, BIOS FB
CPU:  AMD FX-8350
CPU speed:  BIOS defaults
RAM:  2GB, 4GB or 8GB, using Kingston KHX2133C9AD3X2K2/4GX (2x2GB, DDR3 2133MHz HyperX Kit, CL9, 9-11-9-27, 1.65V)
RAM speed:  BIOS defaults
PSU:  Thermaltake TPX-1475M (1475W total power output)
CPU cooler:  Noctua NH-D14
Graphics:  EVGA Geforce GT-640 2GB
PCI cards:  None (apart from graphics card)
Hard discs:  None
Optical drives:  None
Operating system:  None
Keyboard:  PS2
Mouse:  None
USB devices:  None (that's the problem!)

[dmdilks]

Have you tried this.

Halt On
 Allows you to determine whether the system will stop for an error during the POST.
 All Errors Whenever the BIOS detects a non-fatal error the system boot will stop.
No Errors The system boot will not stop for any error.
 All, But Keyboard The system boot will not stop for a keyboard error but stop for all other errors.  (Default)

If that doesn't work you might have a bad board.

[moopig]

I can't find a "Halt on..." setting in this BIOS.  It looks very different from the settings on the rev 1.0 motherboard.  But even if I could find it and turn it on, what it usually does is stop the booting and go to the BIOS setup screen.  The problem I have is that the machine locks up in a completely unresponsive state if I boot with a USB device connected or if I plug one in when I'm in the BIOS setup.

As an experiment I tried booting with the optical drive plugged into a SATA connector (and no USB devices connected).  It got as far through the POST as displaying the Gigabyte logo and showing the menu keys (delete for setup, etc.) before it locked up.  This time the diagnostic code on the LED display is 0xA3, which is "Activated all currently connected IDE devices".  Warm boot and cold boot both fail.  It doesn't look good.
 

 - moopig

[dmdilks]

Have you try This

Boot Mode Selection
Allows you to select which type of operating system to boot.
UEFI and Legacy Allows booting from operating systems that support legacy option ROM or UEFI option   ROM. (Default)
Legacy Only Allows booting from operating systems that only support legacy Option ROM.
UEFI Only Allows booting from operating systems that only support UEFI Option ROM.
    This   item   is   configurable   only   when   CSM Support is set to Always.

[thexfile]

If you have a multimeter check your PSU. On Newegg a lot of people are having issues with Thermaltake TPX-1475M.

[moopig]

I returned the motherboard to the supplier.  They tested it, found it to be faulty and sent me a replacement.  The new board works fine.

Thanks for the warning about Thermaltake PSU reliability problems, thexfile.  I didn't check mine because I'd sent the motherboard off before I saw your post, but it sounds like something to check if I have other problems in the future.  My PSU is massively overrated for my present system so hopefully it will be OK.

The four sticks of Kingston KHX2133C9AD3X2K2/4GX RAM (two 2 x 2GB kits) which gave 8GB at 1833MHz and ran reliably for 2+ years on a rev 1.0 board with FX-8150 and FX-8350 CPUs wouldn't work at that speed on the new rev 3.0 board with an FX-9590.  I tried 8GB with two sticks of Corsair CMX8GX3M2A2000C9 (one 2 x 4GB kit) and that seems to be running happily at 1833MHz, but four sticks of the Corsairs wouldn't run at 1833MHz either.  It does seem to be a bit of a lottery whether or not your FX CPU + motherboard can run the RAM at high speed with all four slots occupied.