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

[ToraSapphire]

has anyone been able to flash an A300M-STX back to the A300 BIOS after crossflashing an X300M-STX BIOS? I'm not able to do so using the MSI utility I used before because I get a secure boot violation error, and changing any BIOS settings causes a soft brick where I have to unplug the CMOS battery to reset it. I have a 4700G in mine and went from A300 BIOS 3.60S to X300 BIOS 2.00.

I figured it out: I had to downgrade from X300M-STX P2.00 to P1.70 to disable Secure Boot, and then use the MSI utility to re-flash A300M-STX P3.60S. Took several hours of brainstorming to come up with that idea. It's super un-intuitive, but it worked for me.

 

[Dr. Nick]

I can not recommend P2.00 or P2.10, both mess up Curve Optimizer and Boost Overdrive, thus P1.90 is recommended for the time being.
With it secure boot works ok, to boot UMAF to change BIOS settings.

 

[HyphenK]

Hello everyone.
My 5600g+A300 with 3.70E BIOS does not fully work - it could enter BIOS setting but was unable to enter Ubuntu.
I had to downgrade to 3400g and now it works fine with 3.70E.
I need some advice from anyone installed 3.70E.

 

[HyphenK]

So I bought the CH341A and flashed X300 P1.70 to my A300 and now it can enter Ubuntu, but I need to clear CMOS everytime when I reboot my system. Interesting...

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

So I bought the CH341A and flashed X300 P1.70 to my A300 and now it can enter Ubuntu, but I need to clear CMOS everytime when I reboot my system. Interesting...

So it doesnt save the settings anymore? CMOS battery gone kaputt?

cu, w0lf.

 

[HyphenK]

So it doesnt save the settings anymore? CMOS battery gone kaputt?

cu, w0lf.

yeah I can't.
If I boot without CMOS clearing, the A300 cannot find any boot disc, so it keeps looping in the BIOS. The only way to resolve is CMOS clearing, and it boots normally just one time. Another reboot then stuck again. I can't understand why this thing is happening...

 

[HyphenK]

yeah I can't.
If I boot without CMOS clearing, the A300 cannot find any boot disc, so it keeps looping in the BIOS. The only way to resolve is CMOS clearing, and it boots normally just one time. Another reboot then stuck again. I can't understand why this thing is happening...

and it seems it is not a cmos battery problem, since i didnt have any problem before updating to p1.70 and 5600g, and i heard nothing about relationships between broken cmos battery and non-detected boot disc

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

and it seems it is not a cmos battery problem, since i didnt have any problem before updating to p1.70 and 5600g, and i heard nothing about relationships between broken cmos battery and non-detected boot disc

if it doesn't save the settings / starw, then the boot disk disappears after reboot. and not being able to save the state, aside of some bios bug, could also point to a hw problem. hence CMOS battery as the easiest option.

 

[HyphenK]

if it doesn't save the settings / starw, then the boot disk disappears after reboot. and not being able to save the state, aside of some bios bug, could also point to a hw problem. hence CMOS battery as the easiest option.

maybe i need to re-flash p1.70 or flash p1.90 again... i'll try it later

 

[HyphenK]

so the second try... this time i used p1.90 and it didn't resolve the error, but i found that this is caused by not properly flashed bios. it kept fail to pass the validity check. maybe i need to try instant flash, or buy another ch341a or bios chip?

 

[Dr. Nick]

so the second try... this time i used p1.90 and it didn't resolve the error, but i found that this is caused by not properly flashed bios. it kept fail to pass the validity check. maybe i need to try instant flash, or buy another ch341a or bios chip?

Did you try to re-flash P1.90 via "Instant Flash" in BIOS?

 

[Figl]

I can confirm that the firmware from x300 is the source of the problem with starting after saving the cmos settings. I tried flashing it back in 2023 with ch341 and xgecu t48. These are not just problems with starting. If you measure the voltage on the capacitors in the power circuits at this point, they will be very different from normal. This problem will persist even if you update the bios later via instant flash. I also found that if you do not enter the bios, there will be no problems. I think that the bios from x300 is configured to save data in cmos differently. Or there is an incompatibility of the knoll activator chip firmware

 

[Robotica72]

I know its been a while since this thread had activity, but Im hoping someone has an idea....

I have an a300 and Im upgrading the CPU to a 5700G. Ive tried a few BIOS' from the post, the only one I can get to POST is the 3.70E for the A300. As others have said, I can get it to POST but any changes in the BIOS causes it to go into a soft brick mode. So I need to clear the BIOS at that point to get it to post/boot again. Overall, its not a huge issue for me - but as I build the system out for my purpose, I may need to change a few settings.

Is there any known fix for this??

 

[Robotica72]

I know its been a while since this thread had activity, but Im hoping someone has an idea....

I have an a300 and Im upgrading the CPU to a 5700G. Ive tried a few BIOS' from the post, the only one I can get to POST is the 3.70E for the A300. As others have said, I can get it to POST but any changes in the BIOS causes it to go into a soft brick mode. So I need to clear the BIOS at that point to get it to post/boot again. Overall, its not a huge issue for me - but as I build the system out for my purpose, I may need to change a few settings.

Is there any known fix for this??

I rephrase that its not a big deal - it is - Every reboot requires interaction for the UEFI defaults warning... so that will be annoying on reboot / etc...

 

[Dr. Nick]

I know its been a while since this thread had activity, but Im hoping someone has an idea....

I have an a300 and Im upgrading the CPU to a 5700G. Ive tried a few BIOS' from the post, the only one I can get to POST is the 3.70E for the A300. As others have said, I can get it to POST but any changes in the BIOS causes it to go into a soft brick mode. So I need to clear the BIOS at that point to get it to post/boot again. Overall, its not a huge issue for me - but as I build the system out for my purpose, I may need to change a few settings.

Is there any known fix for this??

With 3.70E you should be able to use UMAF: https://github.com/DavidS95/Smokeless_UMAF

I'd recommend to flash 3.60S and official X300 P1.90 though, which still enables the usage of UMAF. Do NOT use 3.71A though!

 

[Robotica72]

With 3.70E you should be able to use UMAF: https://github.com/DavidS95/Smokeless_UMAF

I'd recommend to flash 3.60S and official X300 P1.90 though, which still enables the usage of UMAF. Do NOT use 3.71A though!

Thanks! Ill give that combo a shot after my new NVME comes in - do the work in one shot. Hopefully the X300 BIOS will work this time, I have yet to have it boot off a X BIOS. I should have mentioned that Im using a CH341a programmer - Just more comfortable that way (Electrical Engineer).