S3000AH won't boot after BIOS update

[BLee43]

I upgraded a S3000AH motherboard from BIOS v46 to latest v54. The update appeared to be successful and prompted me to power cycle to complete. I did, but now the board won't boot. No video activity and diagnostic LEDs cycle as (minus a few that cycle too fast for me to read):

A A A A (initialize?)

R R R - (Started dispatching an PEIM)

R R R G (Completed dispatching an PEIM)

- - - A (Reading configuration data from memory (SPD on DIMM))

- G R G (Configuring memory parameters in the memory controller)

R A R - (Entered EFI driver execution phase (DXE))

A A A A (initialize?)

(repeats ad nauseam)

I cleared CMOS. Same thing. I tried BIOS recovery mode using both a bootable CD and a USB (since the BIOS files are too big to fit on a DOS floppy). My boot CD didn't work and did same LED cycling. The USB made it farther--LEDs cycle differently (don't have the codes), turns on a blank video screen, but then hangs on:

A - - R (Resetting the mouse)

I have repeated several times and even left it on overnight just to ensure I was giving it long enough to flash. Alas, in the morning, still hung on A - - R. Seeing as how it allegedly hangs on the mouse, I have tried with no mouse, with a PS/2 mouse, with a USB mouse, and with both PS/2 and USB mice. Still hangs. Same with PS/2 and USB keyboards.

Any clue how to get the board bootable again?

[idata · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Please make sure you are covering the BIOS recovery steps described on the Technical Product Specification page # 63:

http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s3000ah/sb/d72579003_s3000ah_tps_1_4.pdf http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s3000ah/sb/d72579003_s3000ah_tps_1_4.pdf

If the issue persists, try to clear the CMOS battery again and make sure to power cycle the system also by disconnecting the power cable and then pressing the power button for 10 seconds. If the issue still persists, the board got corrupted during the firmware update and needs to be replaced.