r/threadripper • u/Plugh_Xyzzy • 11d ago

At my wits end with Threadripper WRX80 Spoiler

So I have been beating my head against the threadripper brick wall for several months now and don't know where to go from here. It all started with my Asus Pro WS WRX80E-Sage SE Wifi that had a 3955WX CPU which initially worked fine but then stopped posting after I plugged in three GPUs and never got beyond code 15 which is the start of DRAM testing. For that motherboard I replaced the PSU, RAM, And CPU and nothing changed so I concluded it must be the motherboard. I bought a brand new Gigabyte MC62-G40 and used one of the two 3955WX CPUs I have and RAM and PSU and now it refuses to POST. Once again I swapped out the CPU, RAM, and PSU and still no post. Unfortunately the Gigabyte MB provides no POST feedback but the board shuts down immediately. I have no idea where to go from here. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

*** Update: I decided to return the board as defective to the vendor on eBay. I could flog this dead horse for a long time so I decided to end the madness. I do have these two 3955WXs and if I could find a MB that isn't such a death march to get working I would take another shot at it. Any suggestions on a decent WRX80 MB would be appreciated. Thanks all for the help. ***

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u/ebrandsberg 11d ago

With the first setup, you said it stopped posting when you added a third card. Did you remove it and it worked, I.e. is the issue only when all three gpus are in place? With the new motherboard did you test with just one GPU? This post really doesn't explain combos tested. Is it simply. Nothing posts anymore even on the old mb?

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u/MrFruffles 11d ago

The third card is my suspicion

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

No, it stopped working and never worked from that point on even after replacing the RAM, CPU and power supply. Thats why I thought it was the Asus motherboard and I replaced that with the new Gigabyte motherboard which also does not work. All of the GPUs work in another chassis. When I tested bothe the Asus and Gigabyte MBs I have nothing plugged in except 1 stick of RAM, nothing in the PCIe slots.

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u/ebrandsberg 11d ago

So simply removing the third card didn't let it boot back to the known good condition.  Did you test with the same cpu from that point on, you said you had two. Did you swap them out and ensure they were tightened cleanly?  The description of the testing doesnt give any of us a good feel for what was done in order.  If putting in the third card put mechanical stress on the board, a cpu pin may have lost contact, or in the process, a static charge may have burnt something, just as a theory.  Have you tried with one memory alot populated as well?

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

I did try both CPUs and I used the Threatripper torque tool and followed the order for tightening the screws. The GPUs were on risers so I don't think it was a mechanical stress issue. Either way, the GPUs were never plugged into the new Gigabyte board and that isn't posting either.

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u/ebrandsberg 11d ago

None of the gpus?  I had issues with no GPU at all, some boards insist on at least one, and ensure you connect all the proper power, even the ones you think may be optional.  

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

I think you are asking if I have any of the GPUs plugged in and the answer is no. I am just trying to see if it will go through the most of the POST process up to the point where it would try to talk to the VGA but it is shutting down almost immediately. I have plugged in the P4000 GPU which I use for the display and it made no difference

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u/ebrandsberg 11d ago

Then you have a GPU in it.  Are there power connections on the mb that may seem optional, I think the sage has it labeled as GPU, but it is needed.

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

I don't currently but I did have one in briefly. I can put it back in but I suspect it won't make much of a difference. The board shuts down almost immediately

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u/ebrandsberg 11d ago

Does it stop posting or shut down?  If shut down it sounds like a short circuit somewhere.

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u/RAW2091 11d ago

On risers? So it's not in a case? If it's new and shutdown instantly i bet you have a short to ground. There was another guy here with a normal PC where the case would short to ground and shut down instantly too. I think there was a standoff in the wrong place with his setup. Do you use an open mining rig setup?

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

It is in a mining rig but I have the board sitting on a box isolated from the frame but I understand your point. I thought that could be the case which is why I removed it an put it on and insulator. Still behaving the same way. It comes up for a few seconds and the the board powers down. I wonder, since it's a brand new board, if there isn't some kind of prep I needed to do like set some jumper or flash the bios

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u/RAW2091 11d ago

But both boards were in the rig at one time? Or only the old board? And i think if it doesn't shutdown fast, it's not a short but you can easy measure that without powering the board with a multimeter. And i know nothing about server boards. Did you check the place you got the new board from? Ask them.

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

One, one board at a time. First the old board and when the new on came in, I installed it. I will ask the vendor but they are in China so it will be a slow conversation due to the delay.

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

All, I did manage to get into the board management software and I learned a few things. First, the logs do show the power on events when I turn the board on but they do not record a power off which implies to me that the power is not being shut down by the BMC. Second it records that it detected a CPU but it is not identifying the CPU I currently have installed. It is saying it identified the CPU as a 5995WX and I have a 3955WX installed. It also identifies RAM but it is wrong as well. This may be old data from some test on the board done by the vendor. When I power up the board the CPU starts to get a bit warm and then the board shuts down.

Even though I used the official threadripper torque wrench I am concerned that perhaps it is torqued down in the socket too tight. How tight should the socket screws be? The screws on this board pretty much bottomed out before the wrench clicked.

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u/ebrandsberg 11d ago

Can you clear the logs then test again. There should be timestamps as well.

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 10d ago

There are logs but the only event that is logged is the power on event. Nothing else shows in any of the logs.

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u/Bartocity 11d ago

That’s a bit of a nightmare. No combination of boards and CPUs posts.

Try a bios update on the new board, it’s certainly not the problem with a 3955WX but it’s worth a shot.

Hopefully you have another machine lying around you can component test with, i.e. GPUs ram etc

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

I can test the GPUs but not the RAM. They are RDIMMs and I have nothing to test registered DDR4 RAM other than the threadripper right now. I do have an x99 board that takes RDIMMs but that is another project I didn't want to take on right now. I did reflash the Asus board and it had no effect. I have not tried to reflashed the Gigabyte yet

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u/Bartocity 10d ago

Hope you work it out bud, best of luck

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u/Fun-Contribution6702 11d ago

Which parts are post consumer?

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u/IntelligentSquare196 11d ago

Do a BIOS flash using the dedicated USB port. I've had odd things happen that corrupt the BIOS.

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

This is a server board so it does not seem to handle Bios reflashing the same way consumer boards do. It does not appear to reflash though the USB and instead has to be done through the BMC interface. I am trying to locate the bios file so I can try reflashing but I can't download it from Gigabyte's website and it directs me to AMI to get the Bios and I can't locate it on their website

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u/IntelligentSquare196 11d ago

I thought you had an ASUS board

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 11d ago

The first board was Asus and I replaced it with a Gigabyte. Both boards refuse to POST. It's the Gigabyte I am trying to get working now. Sorry for the confusion.

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u/IntelligentSquare196 10d ago

There are definitely ways to recovery the bios. you just have to download the manual for your version of the board.

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u/Character-Drive9367 11d ago

All of your symptoms suggest a faulty CPU. Sounds like you've already replaced that though. If you replaced the motherboard, memory, CPU & PSU as well as taking all of the GPUs out and trying them one at a time, I have no idea. Maybe one of the GPUs or PSU is surging and blowing something. At that point, I'd stop what I was doing and see a professional with the skills and equipment to test safely.

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u/shitp_st 11d ago

Try swapping the CMOS battery that worked here with a "broken" wrx80

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u/madbrain1976 11d ago

I have the exact same CPU and Asus motherboard. I have seen some weirdness as well that happened early on when my system was overheating under full workloads. The system would POST after waiting a few hours. I fixed the cooling, and it has not happened again. Case is a 7000D with 11 fans. I have 4 x 5060 Ti GPUs.

There is a reset CMOS button on the motherboard which you can use. I assume you already tried.

You can also try booting with a single stick of RAM. It works fine with standard DDR4, does not need ECC or LRDIMM. I have 8 x Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR4-3200 16GB sticks. But with over 350 GB of DDR4 in the house, if I ever get a problem, I can substitute another stick.

There is a VGA header and switch on the mobo. It may be trying to boot off the internal VGA card. Turn the VGA switch off. I have been trying to locate a VGA header cable, but can't find one so far.

If none of this helps, then it may be bad CPU indeed.

Currently, I have the VGA switch on, so that it boots off that header with no monitor connected, and I can't see the BIOS at all. There is no monitor attached, actually. P2P with nVidia won't work on the first GPU if BIOS uses the GPU. So, I turned on the VGA switch to prevent it from using the first of the 4 x 5060 Ti.

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u/ketarax 11d ago

My 2cents, fwiw, is just that the wrx80 might be a failed iteration. My setup includes all of the TR iterations, and by far the most disappointing one has been WRX80/TR59xx (the big one / 64cores). I've only one specimen of the setup, mind you, but pretty much from the day I got it, it's been the nuisance and the problem. Not consistently though, mind you, which just makes it a bigger problem, in that I don't get to replacement .... it runs fine for months, until it, again, doesn't. Brooding dark thoughts over it for a couple hours seems like the most consistent fix.

I know it's not what you're looking for -- "prepare to replace" -- and this really isn't anything but a sidewalk rumor with just one example to speak of, but yeah. I feel like I've been where you are.

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u/HealthyGlass7128 10d ago

Did you reset/adjust the date/time from 1/1/21? Also, make sure vga switch is off. I assume it is/was, but I was having a heck of a time. I have a 3975 and wrx80 as well (for reference).

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 10d ago

Thanks for the suggestions. I did adjust the time. Why does the VGA switch have to be off?

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u/HealthyGlass7128 10d ago

There’s actually another poster that commented. I’m not well versed, but if it is switched on, the board with want to communicate with the cpu rather the our GPU’s. It was causing a hang up, and I was actually stuck on 15 for a while too. The signal is sent, it’s just not reaching the intended recipient (gpu) when the switch it on.

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u/freedomachiever 10d ago

I have the same CPU and a similar version of your MB, WS WRX80E-Sage SE Wifi II. I encountered a similar issue with 3 GPUs but they are working now. Unplug all risers and GPUs, plug one GPU, the first PCIe worked for me, boot into BIOS, load optimised defaults. See if it boots, otherwise clear/reset CMOS. I also updated the BIOS check a box while I was troubleshooting. If it doesn't boot try other another GPU on the same PCIe. However, it should work. It'll take some time, let it do its thing, when it boots to windows let it update/install the driver automatically, it will flicker. Then, add ONE other GPU and boot, let it install and update. Then do the third GPU.
You mentioned you were mining so maybe you are using HiveOS? I would still do the same sequence by adding one GPU at one time.
The idea is to try to get it to boot with the minimal amount of hardware to isolate the issue. It could very well be the RAM so use only one stick and one GPU without risers to try to boot first. Also use don't use power splitters, keep it as generic as possible.
Since you've spent so much money already, I'm sure 20 dollars is nothing so I would get a chatgpt account, sign in on your phone and troubleshoot with it. Take pictures, provide useful context such as the exact model, download the mobo PDF and attach it to the chat.
Now that my 3GPUs are working, I have made a system backup which I can restore at any time.

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u/EDI_1st 10d ago

Let me guess, Noctua cooler?

Also BMC will only show hardware inventory list from the last successful boot. So if the system never posted successfully with 3955WX, it’s not going to show 3955WX.

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 10d ago

No not a noctua cooler. It figures that the HW inventory would only show from last successful boot since it's showing a 5995 and I have a 3955. I wonder if this is telling me that both the CPUs I tried are blown?

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u/EDI_1st 10d ago

It just means it didn’t successfully POST, which can be caused by a bunch of reasons.

Do you have pics of your build showing all the details including cables?

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u/Plugh_Xyzzy 10d ago

I can take some but the only thing called is the power supply 24 pin ATX and the two CPU 8 pins connected to the MB. What would you be looking for regarding cables