SOLVED ASUS Prime Z270-A Won't Accept Windows Install

cabbie19

Hi fellow AVF'ers, looking for any help or ideas regarding Windows 10 install Problems.

Set-up details
Asus Prime Z270-A motherboard
Intel Core i5 6600 (non k)
2 x 4Gb Team Vulcan T-Force DDR4 3000MHz
Samsung PM951 M.2 PCI-e x4 SSD
Onboard Graphics
BeQuiet 630w psu (from my working pc).  

Issues
When i try to install Windows 10 the loading files bar runs from left of screen to right, then the circle of dots starts to rotate. after no more than 2 full revolutions the system crashes to BSOD, with a variety of different fault descriptions (different every time).
I have been able boot into Ubuntu from a USB stick although it sometimes scrolls loads of info up the screen instead of going into Ubuntu. Once into Ubuntu, i get occasional system error messages, but it doesn't crash.
This list of issues is not exhaustive, but representative of what generally happens.

What we have tried.....
Memtest86 has been run on each memory module individually without any errors (8 passes on each module)
320gB 2.5" hdd, clean formatted to ntfs   install failed  bsod
1Tb 3.5" hdd, clean formatted to ntfs      install failed  bsod
500gB 2.5" HDD CLEAN FORMATTED TO NTFS, Then installed with Windows 10 in my sig rig, removed once basic install complete.   Booted to home screen, then locked up 1st time, 2nd time booted to home screen then BSOD.
2280 m.2 drive    install failed  bsod
BIOS updated to latest version
BIOS re-set to "optimised defaults"  each time
Tried in both "other o/s"  and "uefi windows" modes
Each memory module tried individually in each of the 4 dimm slots

MA3STRO who i bought the board off has been on video link all afternoon helping with ideas and support, so he will add info to this post when he can.

All questions / suggestions very welcome

Jamie

mjn

Looking like a hardware error. And by the testing you’ve done, CPU or motherboard.

cabbie19

I am currently running memtest86's cpu tests, don't know how thorough they are?
Does anybody know of a good cpu test that runs without windows?

mjn

Prime95 is the best, but it runs inside Windows. If Windows doesn’t run, definite hardware issue.

Do you have another CPU you cpuld try?

cabbie19

Sadly not, my other pc's are 3rd and 4th gen

MA3STRO

Thanks for your help with this @mjn.

I chatted with Jamie for a long time today and we were both going through each possibility one by one (and Jamie had did many of these previously). Jamie set it up in many different ways for us to troubleshoot, but hopefully someone else can give their perspective as none of the suggestions we went through appears to be resolving the issue.

Jamie was using an anti-static wrist band at all times when working on the setup.

I have another motherboard there so if we cannot get it working, we can exchange them, so that is not an issue; however I was not sure if the motherboard was the issue for a few reasons:
No error messages/beeps are posted by the motherboardIt posts to the bios fineUbuntu runs fine from the USB flash drive I bought about 4 or 5 of these motherboards a year ago. Whenever Windows wouldn't boot for any reason, the motherboard would normally beep an error message. It was normally something simple such as a cable not plugged into the PSU fully, but it did always beep. Of course, not beeping does not mean the motherboard could not be causing an issue.

We didn't test the CPU. I wasn't too concerned about it today because (1) CPUs can fail, but the failure rate is very low compared to other components, and (2) The setup posts fine to the bios and runs fine on Ubuntu; and there wasn't any bios error messages or motherboard beeps etc.

Because Ubuntu was working fine from the USB drive, I kept going back to the idea that it was either the hard drives, Windows, or a combination of both.

Just to summarise what Jamie noted in the first post:
Setup posts to bios every time with no errorsNo motherboard error beep messages at any pointUbuntu works fine from the USB flash driveUbunutu from USB flash drive creates errors and does not boot if M2 SSD is also attachedUbunutu from USB flash drive works fine when 1TB 3.5" spindle drive is connected (though cannot be mounted because it is formatted as NTFS)We were unable to check the m2 drive to see if it does indeed work (as it was bought second hand), but when Ubuntu worked fine with the 1TB 3.5" HDD, I thought it would work with Windows.

Unfortunately, the same thing happens. Each time you attempt to load it throws up a different BSOD error message.

When you search online or what could be causing this, most people say it's a RAM issue or driver issue; however memtest is showing the RAM is OK and if the drive is formatted it shouldn't be a driver issue.

Jamie also noted the Windows install USB flash drive works fine with his other PC, so I doubt it's the install tool.

As noted earlier, we did not test the CPU, but I keep going back to the same issue with Ubuntu working etc.

Doesn't the fact Ubuntu works fine from the USB flash drive suggest all components are working correctly: PSU, motherboard, RAM, CPU, etc. The only thing not being tested in that situation is a hard drive.

Again, I do appreciate your help and I'm sure Jamie does too

mjn

I’ve built over 1000 PCs and repaired hundreds of enterprise class servers, i’ve seen PCs and servers pass all kinds of diagnostics with faulty hardware.

I would change CPU. But before then, maybe upgrade the motherboard BIOS? Strip all other hardware from the PC.

MA3STRO

Very good point. You're right. I've had seen the same thing with HDDs dying. No errors whatsoever and then BAM...goodbye data.

Jamie showed me the bios version and it was the most up to date. He reset the settings to default for me as well.

EndlessWaves

Does it always work fine? Cabbie's post suggested it wasn't consistently working.

Although it doesn't rule out the motherboard as it could be something like an SATA controller error that's used by the drives but not the USB ports.

mjn

I assume you’ve tested the PSU? Checked all the voltages are correct?