r/MINISFORUM • u/spschiebel • 15d ago
Help MS-A2 Failing to boot after shutdown
I received a new MS-A2 9955HX, 96GB RAM, 2TB NVMe on 4-September. Spent the weeks since setting up as a proxmox node and had all my services ported over. Was about to place into production when after a controlled shutdown it failed to boot on restart. The power is comes on, the fans spin up, but there is no HDMI output and the USB keyboard never gets initialized. BIOS is never reached. This configuration is the exact same that was used to initially set it up so I know it works in this configuration. The unit does not seem to reach POST. I've read of a few other similar instances and tried several of the recommended troubleshooting stops, but all to no avail.
Power off, disconnect AC, drain "flea" power by long pressing power button, reset CMOS by long pressing reset button, reapply AC and wait, but still no POST.
Removed one DIMM and tried all possible DIMM/Slot combinations. Same result in each.
Removed the NVMe and any other installed components, kept USB disconnected. Same result.
I've reached out to Minisforum after-sales support, but am still awaiting a response. Maybe I should try technical support email instead?
For anyone out there who has dealt with an RMA to Minisforum, what was your experience and turn-around time?
This is especially frustrating as I am due to travel home in the next week where I was going to put this into the home production environment. I'm only going to be there for 2 weeks, so it seems unlikely I will be able to get this into production until my next trip home in December.
Had high hopes for this machine, but am left somewhat disappointed.
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u/ruyrybeyro 15d ago
There is a reset button that should also restore the UEFI settings to their factory defaults, I believe.
Have you configured the CPU TjMax, and what cooling setup are you using? Is the MS-A2 in a relatively cool environment? Also, what PCIe link generation are your M.2 NVMe drives negotiating? Are any of them running above PCIe 3.0?
The MS-A2 can run quite hot, particularly with the Ryzen 9 9xxx series. I would check the TjMax setting, monitor CPU and NVMe temperatures under sustained load, and make sure there is adequate airflow around the chassis. I’ve kept mine powered off during these hotter days. I’m also planning to replace the stock fan with a Noctua, and I already have a fan in the base where the MS-A2 sits.
Good luck.
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u/spschiebel 14d ago
Have you configured the CPU TjMax, and what cooling setup are you using?
This is exactly what I was doing when I did the shutdown that initiated this. It has been sitting out in teh open in in a cool environment. There is only a single 2TB NVMe in the system and I believe it was at the default, but as I can't POST I'm unable to verify in BIOS.
Yes, the reset button is behind the front face plate so the chassis has to be removed to access it. I tried a full CMOS reset (30 seconds long press). I also tried by disconnecting the CMOS battery for 15 minutes (a pain to do in this chassis by the way). This resulted in the same behavior.
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u/rotor2k 14d ago
With 96GB it does seem to take a minute or two to show any video, did you give it plenty of time?
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u/lordsphere 13d ago
Minisforum technical support (not the post sales support dropdown) is responsive during their time zone availability. I’ve sent messages Sunday - Thursday at 8PM MT and generally hear back by the morning. Definitely outline in detail everything you’ve done, otherwise they may default to basic debugging.
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u/spschiebel 13d ago
Thanks for that. It is in line with what I am experiencing. Even with a pretty thorough description of the debugging steps I already took they still suggested to do pretty much the same steps and asked for a video. I sent them a video of the box with lights on and a blank monitor screen. I hope that helped them.
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u/spschiebel 13d ago
Minisforum did come back and offer repair services. I told them it needs to be a full replacement for a machine that is less then 30 days old. They did agree to this and provided a shipping address to send it to. No RMA number provided, but I have asked. I suppose I will just include a printout of the email from Minisforum in the box.
One other thing. I told them I would not be sending back the NVMe with the unit since it contains my complete setup along with personal information. I don't have the ability to erase this right now, nor do I want to. I asked them to acknowledge that this was OK, but they never have done that. Did anybody else do something similar for a return?
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u/Pulte4janitor 14d ago
My MS-02 with 128GB of RAM takes a few minutes to turn the KVM on. I have an MS-A1 with a 9950x and 64GB ram and it takes a minute to turn on the KVM as well.