Prebuilt [SFFn] ASRock's DeskMini A300 - Finally!

gustav

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 18, 2020
193
90
Ok, I bought it back in january already but not from the german Alternate site (local version .nl instead of .de) and mine came in a little blue antistatic box (but at the time you got the wraith stealth cooler with it as well for free). Had about 20 bent pins, if not more, but managed to straighten them out. But luckily you didn't get this packaging ...

Oh boi, glad you were able to figure it out! - Now I understand why you're asking!
It's kinda shame the retailer did not think well about that "trivial" part. I know also those blue packages, but the black underneath should "fill out" the bottom. And it's suitable for Intel Socket 775+ CPU's which are without PINs unlike Ryzen.

This is how mine was packed;
 
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Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
Ok, I bought it back in january already but not from the german Alternate site (local version .nl instead of .de) and mine came in a little blue antistatic box (but at the time you got the wraith stealth cooler with it as well for free). Had about 20 bent pins, if not more, but managed to straighten them out. But luckily you didn't get this packaging ...

IIRC mine arrived in similar packaging, though it had a softer foam pad above the chip as well. The hard foam on the bottom worked well to keep the pins protected, with the softer foam keeping things from jostling around. The IHS is heavy enough that I could easily see things getting damaged without that though.
 
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apis29

Cable Smoosher
Jul 31, 2020
9
0
IIRC mine arrived in similar packaging, though it had a softer foam pad above the chip as well. The hard foam on the bottom worked well to keep the pins protected, with the softer foam keeping things from jostling around. The IHS is heavy enough that I could easily see things getting damaged without that though.
Yes it did also have the softer foam on top to keep things in place but I feel they should've have put the soft foam on the bottom instead to protect the pins. Seems there was perhaps still some room to slide but it is also very possible they already had it beforehand (someone else posted a review on the website as well with the same complaint about bent pins).
In any case, I managed to solve it and glad I got my hands on it locally (still have to set up my video editing workflow so not really put it to the extreme test yet. Been some years since I last did it as well ...).

Packaged combo with Wraith Stealth
 
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Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
Yes it did also have the softer foam on top to keep things in place but I feel they should've have put the soft foam on the bottom instead to protect the pins. Seems there was perhaps still some room to slide but it is also very possible they already had it beforehand (someone else posted a review on the website as well with the same complaint about bent pins).
In any case, I managed to solve it and glad I got my hands on it locally (still have to set up my video editing workflow so not really put it to the extreme test yet. Been some years since I last did it as well ...).

Packaged combo with Wraith Stealth
That sounds like either the pins got bent beforehand or someone was too heavy-handed pushing the pins into the foam. I can definitely see how that might damage things if one isn't careful - that foam is pretty hard. I don't think the softer foam would work beneath the chip though, as the pins might compress it rather than poke into it, risking that the pushback from the foam might itself bend pins over time. Those plastic trays actually designed for holding CPUs would definitely be better, but this should also be safe if done correctly.
 
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apis29

Cable Smoosher
Jul 31, 2020
9
0
That sounds like either the pins got bent beforehand or someone was too heavy-handed pushing the pins into the foam. I can definitely see how that might damage things if one isn't careful - that foam is pretty hard. I don't think the softer foam would work beneath the chip though, as the pins might compress it rather than poke into it, risking that the pushback from the foam might itself bend pins over time. Those plastic trays actually designed for holding CPUs would definitely be better, but this should also be safe if done correctly.
Yeah I guess if they stored them like this then it would factor in (didn't seem like it was pushed into the hard foam, it just laid on top of it. Also received it within 24 hours of ordering).
The latest buyer review posted had no problems so they've probably changed the packaging here as well by now. (out of stock in any case but always worth keeping an eye out for any prospective buyers. They do have the 4750G in stock right now I see).
 

A300

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jul 13, 2019
96
14
Since I upgraded to 4650g, Sleep Function does not exist in Windows 10, BIOS 3.60S.

Is there any way to get back that Sleep function? Kind of need it.
 

gustav

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 18, 2020
193
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HydrAxx747

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Feb 23, 2021
96
111
New Bios file for X300 Rom v.1.58 - March 26th, 2021, Source ASRock

https://botflakes.github.io/ASRockWiki/beta_bios/beta_bios_consumer/beta_bios_deskmini.html

=>
Thanks!!! Excellent, very thanks!!!!

And from what I can see via verification of the SMU of this bios v1.58, it seems perfectly and fully compatible with Cezanne APUs (Zen3 APU - 5xxxG) and must be normally under AGESA v2 v1.2.0.1 for that, but this remains to be verified of course. In any case, really thank you for sharing this friend!


 
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gustav

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 18, 2020
193
90
Very interesting news, what wonders me now is question whether any Cezanne-based APUs are announced or about to come?
 

ramalhais

Trash Compacter
Nov 15, 2019
36
36

limsandy

Average Stuffer
Jul 3, 2020
71
31
Thanks!

I tried flashing that on my A300 using AFUWINx64, but bricked it :\
Luckily, i had bought a CH341A programmer, grabbed my laptop, and after a few hours i was able to recover it and flash X300 1.58.
Memory seems more stable and i have no USB audio dropouts so far.
Let's see...

Any luck for us who has a A300 and doesn't have access to a CH341A programmer but wants to flash X300's BIOS 1.58 ???
 
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The_Bavarian

Efficiency Noob
Mar 27, 2021
5
5
@ramalhais: May I ask which APU you are using? As far as I know only apu's up to the 3400G are able to work with the X300 bios on A300 where you can permanently store the bios settings. With the Renoir apus 4350G and above the change of bios settings in X300 bios on A300 are not saved after reboot as far as I read from alles_alles in a German forum.

@limsandy:
Perhaps flashing the new agesa based X300 V1.58 directly over the A300 old agesa 3.60S is a too drastic version gap. Flashing the A300 with an older X300 e. g. 1.46 and then updating to 1.58 could be successful. As I do not either posses a CH341A programmer and my A300 is my productivity system, I cannot try this procedure.

Have a nice weekend.

Tom
 

ramalhais

Trash Compacter
Nov 15, 2019
36
36
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ramalhais

Trash Compacter
Nov 15, 2019
36
36
@ramalhais: May I ask which APU you are using? As far as I know only apu's up to the 3400G are able to work with the X300 bios on A300 where you can permanently store the bios settings. With the Renoir apus 4350G and above the change of bios settings in X300 bios on A300 are not saved after reboot as far as I read from alles_alles in a German forum.

@limsandy:
Perhaps flashing the new agesa based X300 V1.58 directly over the A300 old agesa 3.60S is a too drastic version gap. Flashing the A300 with an older X300 e. g. 1.46 and then updating to 1.58 could be successful. As I do not either posses a CH341A programmer and my A300 is my productivity system, I cannot try this procedure.

Have a nice weekend.

Tom
I'm using a 3400G. I'll try 5800G when they come out. If this BIOS had come out sooner, i would have been able to buy an engineering sample from hong kong :(
 

ramalhais

Trash Compacter
Nov 15, 2019
36
36
Any luck for us who has a A300 and doesn't have access to a CH341A programmer but wants to flash X300's BIOS 1.58 ???
So, i bricked my A300 again using afuwin, but found a way to flash any bios.
Do this at your own risk.

EDIT: WARNING!!! You will not be able to flash any other BIOS after this, unless you have a flash programmer!

Download this file, unzip it, follow the instructions in notes.txt
flashrom-dos-ryzen.zip

EDIT2: You may be able to flash another BIOS after all, by loading an UEFI shell in BIOS and using afuefix64 A3MSTX_3.70 /P /B /N /K /L /X and answering "E"
 
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Ldthxv

Cable Smoosher
Jul 27, 2020
11
7
So, i bricked my A300 again using afuwin, but found a way to flash any bios.
Do this at your own risk.

Download this file, unzip it, follow the instructions in notes.txt
flashrom-dos-ryzen.zip
I tried this. Was able to boot after flash. Booted into setup. Removed core boost and changed fan settings and rebooted. But then it failed to show anything on screen. Power off. Waited a while. Power on. But now the Led will not even turn on. So it is bricked.

Will now try and get a CH341A programmer to bring it back to life again :-)

Was on 3.60S with 4750G.