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Z68 Extreme4, updated to BIOS 2.21A, now won't run

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  • Z68 Extreme4, updated to BIOS 2.21A, now won't run

    Hi, I am running an Asrock Z68 Extreme4 (not Gen3) with an i7 3770k CPU, and 32 GB of RAM. Has been working well for many years, but recently has taken much longer to boot into Windows 10 when a discrete graphics card is present. After some online searching, I found a suggestion to upgrade the BIOS. I was at L2.20A, and upgraded to L2.21A using Instant Flash.

    The new BIOS seemed to be installed well. No errors during the Instant Flash process. However, when I reboot, I never get any output on the screen, whether from discrete or integrated graphics.

    I tried removing all components except for the CPU, RAM, a USB keyboard, and a monitor on the integrated HDMI port. No storage drives, other USB devices, or graphics card installed. Still no response when powering on.

    I noticed that the Dr Debug LED's were toggling back and forth between two values so quickly you could not make them out individually (dozens of times per second). Took a video of it with my phone so I could freeze frame, and it looks like it's ping-ponging between codes 03 and 08, both related to north bridge.

    After some more online searching, I decided to try clearing CMOS and hoping it would restore the previous BIOS. I attempted both with the button on the back of the board, and the jumpers on the board itself, but did not succeed. At best, after clearing CMOS and powering up, Dr Debug codes would show some other codes similar to a normal startup, then after about 3 seconds go back to ping-ponging between 03/08 codes. Sometimes the system would power down briefly (< 5 seconds) between the seemingly normal codes and the ping-pong 03/08, but I haven't been able to establish a pattern.

    Next step was to try removing the CMOS battery, which I did for a couple of hours, including flipping the jumper pins. Upon reinstalling the battery and powering up, the same behavior (short sequence of normal codes followed by hyper-fast bouncing between 03/08) happened.

    At no point after flashing the BIOS to L2.21A have I been able to get any output on the screen, nor any response to keyboard presses. At this point I would be happy to go back to 2.20 and live with the longer boot times, but I can't access Instant Flash to do so.

    I've read about swapping two BIOS chips on boards that have a backup, but I haven't been able to figure out whether the Z68 Extreme4 is such a board, nor where the chips are located on the layout. I'd really rather somehow restore the BIOS to the previous version without pulling chips off the motherboard.

    Any ideas? Or is the mobo bricked now? Thanks.
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