11TNKv5 TXE boot loop

[GenuineJakob]

Dear Intel support,

if you:

- Buy a new NUC11TNKv5

- Install Windows on SSD

- Install drivers

- Enable Intel TXE in BIOS

the NUC will power on, black screen for 2-4s, power off, and repeats this.

I have experienced this with two different NUC11TNKv5, one had BIOS 

TNTGLV57.0062.2021.1203.1050

and the other

TNTGLV57.0064.2022.0217.1533

You can escape this power cycling loop by removing the BIOS jumper, booting, power down, insert jumper. After that the system works properly again. Maybe put a big warning on the Enable TXE option.

Kind regards,

Jakob

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello @GenuineJakob

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

We understand that you have installed the drivers before trying to enable Intel® Trusted Execution Engine (Intel® TXE) on the BIOS.

Just to make sure, did you also install the Intel® Trusted Execution Engine Driver for NUC11TNKv5? If you haven't installed it yet, could you please give it a try and let us know the outcome?

If the behavior persists, could you please confirm the following details?

1- When you said:

• "You can escape this power cycling loop by removing the BIOS jumper, booting, power down, insert jumper. After that the system works properly again."

Did those steps disable Intel® TXE and that is what "causes the NUC boot normal again"? (We mean, as the steps that you are actually taking are like resetting BIOS to defaults...)

2- Does the behavior "the NUC will power on, black screen for 2-4s, power off, and repeats this" happen 100% of the times you try to reproduce it?

3- Besides enabling Intel® TXE, have you changed any other "default" setting(s) on the BIOS? If yes, could you please provide more details?

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[GenuineJakob]

Yes I installed all available Windows drivers for the NUC, including Intel® Trusted Execution Engine Driver for NUC11TNKv5.

1. Did those steps disable Intel® TXE and that is what "causes the NUC boot normal again"?

No, these steps only got the NUC out of the loop. I removed the jumper, it boots into the recovery screen where you could reset BIOS settings. Since I now could see a display output, I assumed this was enough and did not pick any of the options. I powered it down, put back the jumper in and it now boots without any issue and TXE still enabled.

2. Does the behaviour "the NUC will power on, black screen for 2-4s, power off, and repeats this" happen 100% of the times you try to reproduce it?

I only bought two devices, one with bios 62 and another with 64, it happened on both of them. I need those in working condition and can't risk to brick them. On reddit people say the get refunded for their bricked devices, due to low supply. I am sorry, but I didn't try to reproduce it.

3. Besides enabling Intel® TXE, have you changed any other "default" setting(s) on the BIOS? If yes, could you please provide more details?

I enabled "AMT provisioning through USB" and enabled "show add-in card expansion text" and "low power" energy mode.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello GenuineJakob

Thank you for your response and for all the details. Please allow us to investigate this further and we will be posting back in the thread once we have more information available.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello GenuineJakob

To investigate this further, we would like to know if you could try the following steps:

First, please set BIOS to defaults:

1. Access the BIOS for the Intel® NUC (press F2 during POST)
2. Press F9 to restore default settings.
3. Press F10 to save the settings and exit.

Then, the idea is to start enabling one feature at a time to see if the issue persists.

1- Activate the Intel® TXE option and check if the behavior remains. If no issue is observed, then proceed to step 2.

2- Enable the "low power" energy mode and check the behavior. If everything is fine, please try step 3.

3- Enable the "AMT provisioning through USB" option and let us know the outcome.

If you have any additional concerns/questions, please let us know.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[GenuineJakob]

The NUC worked fine with options 2 and 3. Here is an update to the original instructions I followed:

- Buy a new NUC11TNKv5

- 2 Enable the "low power" energy mode and check the behaviour.

- 3 Enable the "AMT provisioning through USB" option

- Install Windows on SSD

- Install drivers

- Enable Intel TXE in BIOS

These are the steps I took on both NUCs, and both were stuck in a 4 second boot cycle after enabling TXE.

I tried to follow your steps and enabling them step by step, unfortunately my NUC is now bricked.

Power button is lighting up, fans are running, machine gets hot, no output to display even with removed recovery jumper.

Please close this thread, I can no longer help you to diagnose the issue.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello GenuineJakob

Thank you for your response and for the clarification about the order on how you enabled the features. Also, we are sorry to know that the Intel® NUC is now experiencing further issues and is unable to boot.

We noticed that you also contacted Intel Customer Support via an internal web support ticket for warranty assistance, and based on that and as per your request, we will proceed to close this thread now.

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

It has been a pleasure to assist you.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician