Question Ryzen 3600 error on Tomahawk MAX

[tinpanalley]

I was just going through the relatively basic steps of setting up my new Ryzen 3600 in my new MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX. I plugged in only the CPU, the heatsink, and the motherboard to the PSU. But when I go to boot, I get the Tomahawk's CPU error LED. I mean, I literally have done nothing that could have caused this.

PLEASE, any ideas??
Thanks.

 

[Markfw]

I was just going through the relatively basic steps of setting up my new Ryzen 3600 in my new MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX. I plugged in only the CPU, the heatsink, and the motherboard to the PSU. But when I go to boot, I get the Tomahawk's CPU error LED. I mean, I literally have done nothing that could have caused this.

PLEASE, any ideas??
Thanks.

Flash the bios to the latest ??? Maybe its an old bios.

 

[tinpanalley]

I can't get to the BIOS to do the flashing.
Ok, I just took the CPU out altogether.
I still get the red CPU error LED on the motherboard.

 

[UsandThem]

Did you plug in both 4-pin CPU cables here?:

 

[Markfw]

I can't get to the BIOS to do the flashing.
Ok, I just took the CPU out altogether.
I still get the red CPU error LED on the motherboard.

Doesn't that have the Mflash that does not require a CPU ????

 

[bbhaag]

I can't get to the BIOS to do the flashing.
Ok, I just took the CPU out altogether.
I still get the red CPU error LED on the motherboard.

Use the mflash feature that mark mentioned. Use a VERY small USB drive(32gb,64gb ect are to large) and make sure it is formatted to mbr/fat32. Also make sure to insert the USB stick into the correct USB port on the back of the mainboard. The one in yellow should be the correct one for your mainboard.

 

[tinpanalley]

Ok, feeling really dumb, I hadn't powered the CPU. Fine.
But now I'm getting the VGA LED lighting up??

 

[Markfw]

Ok, feeling really dumb, I hadn't powered the CPU. Fine.
But now I'm getting the VGA LED lighting up??

Well, you did not say you have put a video card in it.... It has NO onboard video in that CPU

 

[bbhaag]

Well, you did not say you have put a video card in it.... It has NO onboard video in that CPU

Indeed, if you have a gpu installed don't use the video outputs on your mainboard use the ones on your gpu.

 

[tinpanalley]

I have my GPU plugged in but I dont have it powered.
And it does have a DVI output. Is that not for onboard video?

 

[Markfw]

I have my GPU plugged in but I dont have it powered.
And it does have a DVI output. Is that not for onboard video?

You have to have the power cables attached to the video card. The DVI output is for the monitor

 

[bbhaag]

Then power your gpu and use the dvi output on it to plug into your monitor.

Like Mark already mentioned that particular cpu does not have a built in video card so the video ports on the back of your mainboard will not work with it. You need to use the ones on your video card.

 

[tinpanalley]

Ok. Now with my GPU everything is fine. Well, at least it booted into the BIOS. I just assumed that the DVI port implied some form of onboard video. So theres nothing. Ok. So when the GPU card goes, I wont even have basic display?

Alright well at least now I can rest easy and do this BIOS update. Whew... for a sec before I realised I was a moron I thought the CU was defective.

 

[bbhaag]

You're not a moron you just don't do this very often. You are correct about what happens if the gpu fails. Since your cpu does not have a video card built in you will need to replace the video card in order to use your computer.

Remember to just take your time on flashing the BIOS and don't rush. Only bad things happen when you rush through things.

 

[UsandThem]

Remember to just take your time on flashing the BIOS and don't rush. Only bad things happen when you rush through things.

Also don't forget to thumb through the motherboard manual as it will help you out on issues like you've had so far.

 

[tinpanalley]

Is there a particular format the USB drive has to be in?

 

[bbhaag]

Fat32 is usually the preferred format. It also might be helpful to use a smaller drive like one less than 32gb.

 

[UsandThem]

Is there a particular format the USB drive has to be in?

Page 39 in your manual.

 

[tinpanalley]

Page 39 in your manual.

View attachment 12161

Hmmm.. My printed manual must be older. It doesnt specify.
but thank you.

 

[UsandThem]

Hmmm.. My printed manual must be older. It doesnt specify.
but thank you.

If it is an older version, you can get the current one here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK-MAX#down-manual

You don't have to read every single thing in it, but it will help you from committing common mistakes. It should also help you keep the stress down on your first build in a long time.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just woke, seems that I'm late to the party, but you're in good hands, @tinpanalley . Glad that you got it to POST. (Yes, Ryzen CPUs, need a GPU, and they all need to be plugged into the PSU.)

 

[tinpanalley]

You guys are all 100% correct. I do know these things but in my defense you can read over the manual a lot (which I did) but it's not until you get into the thing itself that you start to see how out of date it is and how bad the diagrams are. I still don't know where my onboard sound plugs in, and where to plug in the second fan. But maybe the PDF has a better diagram.
Also have to look into why it wont boot from my SSD. The BIOS doesn't seem to give me the option to boot from that drive though it recognises that it's there.

 

[Campy]

MSI's new "MAX" version motherboards ship with compatibility for all Ryzen CPUs including 3000 series right out of the box.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Also have to look into why it wont boot from my SSD. The BIOS doesn't seem to give me the option to boot from that drive though it recognises that it's there.

Did you get that sorted yet? If not, I would like to assist, if possible.

 

[tinpanalley]

Did you get that sorted yet? If not, I would like to assist, if possible.

What happened was that with the Tomahawk Max you need to first boot it ONLY with your C drive in. Then on next boot, you can add your other drives.
I stil haven't tried plugging in my Windows 7 drive. I've been told by some that it will be fine once it gets equivalent drivers, I've been told the drive won't work at all. Major problem first off with the known USB issue is that I don't have any PS2 mice or keyboards.