Motherboard Group Buy/Crowdfunded Modded BIOS for the Asrock A300m (Deskmini A300)

[Hammerfest]

Because that's a known buggy beta BIOS, and lacks the clock and voltage adjustments of the X300?

Uhhh wut? Known buggy it is not.
There is one person who said they had an issue with XMP profile, but XMP profiles are hardly cross platform friendly.
No issues for myself or countless others in the forum who have flashed it so far.

 

[W4RR10R]

Why would someone do that when we have the BIOS 3.60N that supports Renoir APU ?

Because that's a known buggy beta BIOS, and lacks the clock and voltage adjustments of the X300?

Correct.

 

[W4RR10R]

So I still haven't tried it, but "X3MSTX_1.40" UEFI isn't recognized by the instant flash update tool, it doesn't even show up, but if you change the X to an A, A3MSTX1.40 it shows up as an option, but I haven't clicked the "update" button.

 

[fadsarmy]

I wanted to throw out some positive virtualization news with the new BIOSes.
I currently have 3.60H on my A300W with 3400G and the USB passthrough to KVM windows 7 guest works perfectly just like on my other Asrock AM4 machines.
The back USB and side USB ports are 1 controller, the 2 front USB ports are a separate controller that I tested passthrough.

Also I haven't had any trouble yet detecting/booting the ssd with my Silicon Power 512GB NVMe drive. (note that on my other machines with 1TB and 2TB versions of this model, they have no trouble handling 101BLCK, even when I RAID0 4 of them together with PLX card on X370 :-))

However I have had 2 issues with the unit so far.
When I boot with at least certain flash drives plugged into the front ports (example exfat formated usb3 drive), when I enter the BIOS the mouse and keyboard don't work. I have never encountered this issue on other Asrock mobos.
It boots so fast it is hard to get into the BIOS menu half of the time.

Disable fast boot.

 

[johnyb0y]

It boots so fast it is hard to get into the BIOS menu half of the time.

AsRock has a "Restart to UEFI Tool" which you can use to get into the Bios as well. On the A300 page under Downloads:

ASRock DeskMini A300 Series

AMD AM4 Socket CPU, - Picasso, Raven Ridge, Bristol Ridge, bis zu 65W, - Unterstützt CPU-Kühler mit maximaler Höhe ≦ 46mm<br />Hochgeschwindigkeits-DDR4-Speicher, - DDR4-2933MHz (Ryzen), - DDR4-2400MHz (A-series)<br />Dual Ultra M.2 (NVMe), - M2_1 M.2 (2280) – PCIe Gen3 x4, - M2_2 M.2 (2280) –...

www.asrock.com

 

[gustav]

So I still haven't tried it, but "X3MSTX_1.40" UEFI isn't recognized by the instant flash update tool, it doesn't even show up, but if you change the X to an A, A3MSTX1.40 it shows up as an option, but I haven't clicked the "update" button.

Very odd, their Flash tool decides for compatability, wheather the file starts with an A... Untrustworthy

 

[catawalks]

Very odd, their Flash tool decides for compatability, wheather the file starts with an A... Untrustworthy

It's probably not whether is starts with just an "A" or not, but rather it's looking for a specific filename format for this specific motherboard model. It most likely won't recognize any file unless it starts with "A3MSTX" and then it will do more checks from there.

 

[gustav]

Yea, I mean it's BIOS they could have used a header in the file itself. Or somehow do a CRC computation, which value is also provided in the .hex to compare

 

[catawalks]

Yea, I mean it's BIOS they could have used a header in the file itself. Or somehow do a CRC computation, which value is also provided in the .hex to compare

Those checks are most likely there. The above poster didn't actually try to apply the BIOS. Most likely when the BIOS is actually applied those checks will run. But the first step before the other checks are run is to make sure the filename starts with the appropriate name for the board.

 

[takisha_wan]

Those checks are most likely there. The above poster didn't actually try to apply the BIOS. Most likely when the BIOS is actually applied those checks will run. But the first step before the other checks are run is to make sure the filename starts with the appropriate name for the board.

There is a report from Hong Kong stating that just change the file name is not sufficient. The Instant Flash tool would give a invalid response.

 

[yuusou]

Would be interesting if someone with a flasher could try doing so directly, if that would effectively change the board to an X300.

 

[takisha_wan]

Would be interesting if someone with a flasher could try doing so directly, if that would effectively change the board to an X300.

I do have AFUWIN windows flash application. But now I'm using A300 as my work machine and I don't have other spare PC around, so I can't take the risk of brick my work machine.
If there are any brave (and reckless maybe?) souls, here is the AFUWIN application with X300 BIOS file. Caution! I haven't tried to flash this before, so do it on your own risk. I'm not responsible for damage of loss caused by any user try to do this and brick their machine.

 

[takisha_wan]

A Brave from Hong Kong did the unimaginable - flash X300 BIOS on A300 board. It's possible, but according to his statements, most BIOS functions and options are dummy. And the system as a whole is unstable.

 

[duha21]

Looks they're available for purchase in the europe as well - https://www.techradar.com/news/amd-ryzen-4000-desktop-apus-are-now-available-from-retailers

They went on sale the day after the presentation. In Ukraine, Belarus, here in Estonia:

Protsessorid (CPU) - Arvutitark

Osta arvuti targalt, Arvutitargalt!

translate.google.ru

Russia: ~$337 https://www.coxo.ru/catalog/protses...ega_8_12mb_with_wraith_stealth_cooler_multip/

 

[TomHC81]

I bought tray 3400G for 75€ and can't find a good reason to spend ~200€ for 6C/12T which I basically don't need badly (except the fact, it would be nice to have). Maybe a x-mas gift? ?

 

[johnyb0y]

I'm on a 2400G right now and the only reason I'd want to upgrade to Renoir is for AV1 software decoding. With dav1d as a software decoder the 2400G (and probably also 3400G) cannot consistently decode 4K@60fps.
Other than that I also have no real reason to upgrade and I probably won't.

 

[gustav]

So, today I've tested the 3.60N with 2400G. Successful boot. But stability issues running RAM@XMP (3200). (Against the SoC voltage, which you are not anymore able to change)


Rolled back to 3.60K. Same behavior with RAM@XMP but I'm able to adjust SoC VID. Stability recovered. Staying @3.60K.
3.60K still reporting errors in IOMMU and dmesg on Ubuntu 20.04.

Hoping to be able to adjust SoC VID in official AGESA v2.

Update on 3.60R: Working very good on 2400G and 3200MHz RAM. Due to added SoC VID selection (in version before) I can now run RAM@XMP without stability issues (SoC VID=1.11875 (VID=1.12500 even better/less artifacts)). Vega has additionaly ~3-4fps more. (See Screenshot) All-in-all very good support, very good revision! In terms of flexibility. Gonna stay on 3.60R

With VID=1.125V under full load (FurMark + 5 threads CPU burn-in) the SoC VID breaks down to VID=1.031V - which functions well. No stability issues right now. Renoir can come. Thanks @ASRock System !!

@TomHC81 @johnyb0y I wanted to add, that the CPU performace of the 4650G(~210€, German Store) is about 40-50% higher compared to Ryzen 2400G (see Cinebench R15, R20). It seems to be worth of an upgrade. ( My opinion )


If you want to run it yourself:

Render:	Direct3D11
Mode:	1920x1080 fullscreen
Preset	Custom: API DX11, Qualy: Low, Stereo 3D off, AA off
Quality	Low

 

[bowylechat]

Update on 3.60R: Working very good on 2400G and 3200MHz RAM. Due to added SoC VID selection (in version before) I can now run RAM@XMP without stability issues (SoC VID=1.11875 (VID=1.12500 even better/less artifacts)). Vega has additionaly ~3-4fps more. (See Screenshot) All-in-all very good support, very good revision! In terms of flexibility. Gonna stay on 3.60R

With VID=1.125V under full load (FurMark + 5 threads CPU burn-in) the SoC VID breaks down to VID=1.031V - which functions well. No stability issues right now. Renoir can come. Thanks @ASRock System !!

@TomHC81 @johnyb0y I wanted to add, that the CPU performace of the 4650G(~210€, German Store) is about 40-50% higher compared to Ryzen 2400G (see Cinebench R15, R20). It seems to be woth of an upgrade. ( My opinion )


If you want to run it yourself:

Render:	Direct3D11
Mode:	1920x1080 fullscreen
Preset	Custom: API DX11, Qualy: Low, Stereo 3D off, AA off
Quality	Low

Thanks for your return !
I've tested 3.60R with ddr4 3200 pushed to 3266 with ryzen 5 3400G and VID:1.125.
Everythings were fine.
Waiting for Renoir too.

 

[gustav]

Thanks for your return !
I've tested 3.60R with ddr4 3200 pushed to 3266 with ryzen 5 3400G and VID:1.125.
Everythings were fine.
Waiting for Renoir too.

Thanks for your kind words, I had to bump up my VID to 1.13750V. My system hung during a game.
Afterwards I remember - and I suggest to anyone - to benchmark the system using FurMark CPU Burner with 5 Threads, start it, and afterwards UNIGINE Valley.
System does not hang anymore. 39-40 fps with 5 threads @ 100%.

Othe method is the built-in GTA V benchmark. It's about conccurency on the Memory I/O due to access by the CPU and APU simultaniously.
The load is very specific, but it is indeed overall stability check.

This may also be the improvement in terms of the Memory I/O of Ryzen 2000G vs 3000G Series. Yours is fine with less VID, since it's like Revision 2. Very nice. I wonder about Renoir.

Update #1: There was one time my system did BSOD on VID=1.13750V. I added one increment in the voltage, but since this is way too much, I returned instantly back to VID=1.13750V. No crashes so far. Just wanted to let you know, maybe my 2400G is not the best sample

Also, if I'd like to got with the new Gen. Renoirs, then the 4650G would be the right fit in terms of CPU power. But we are on A300, and only the 4750G can provide the full Vega-Experience. Damn... I think I will go that way. As of today, you can buy the 4650G without any troubles here in EU/GER.

 

[blackreaver]

Does anyone know what the exact changes were from BIOS 3.50 to 3.60 on the A300?
ASRock site only says "Improve system compatibility" .

Having a couple of issues with occasional random crashes and peripherals not being recognised on boot and wondering whether a BIOS upgrade will solve.

Running:

Linux Mint 20 Ulyana | DeskMini A300 with A8-9600