Well I was SOOO proud of meself. Built my 4th PC, like I'd done many a time, and everything came together beautifully. Purchased a new MSI motherboard on Amazon (MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WiFi ATX Gaming Motherboard) and had no issues with my FIRST Bios update. But then I attempted using their recommended 'M-Flash' (located as an option when booted into BIOS) to update to the newest firmware and it instantly bricked!

I go on the discussion boards and discover this 'bricking' while updating the Bios is endemic (not 'pan'demic) to the brand. TONS of reports regarding MSI product firmware fails.

MSI Service guy was apathetic, unhelpful, unsympathetic and told me it'd be anywheres from 2-8 weeks to get the board back with the BIOS reset. NO offer for a new replacement (purchased date only 2 months ago!) board - oh no, 'parts shortages' he says. But you can find them new on Amazon no problem so ... right, buddy. Oh and the hoop-jumping just to get an RMA request ... digging out their emails from your SPAM folder ... irksome to no end. Still haven't had the forms sent to me from MSI.

VERY BAD EXPERIENCE.
DO NOT BUY MSI Motherboards ... you will most likely regret it!

PS: Ordered a MOBO from my fave company (never a problem with anything!) ASUS and are hoping for better things. So, uh, anyone want to buy my MSI mobo when they send it back fixed? ... yeah, no? I figured as much.

 

That's why dual bios feature is a must nowadays, wether it's on gpus or motherbords, technically you can fix it with (if memory serves right) a 20 bucks tool that you can physically place on the bios chip and rewrite it.

that being said, all new motherboards have a function that can restore a bricked bios withtout any 3rd party tools but after doing some research it seems you're out of luck, as it is not present on your motherboard... weird.

 

Last edited: Oct 5, 2021

Woah - thanks for the doing that research. Yes, on all fronts, the MSI board has left me SOL, but my wife is a gem - so understanding and said, 'get the ASUS motherboard ... we all make and learn from our mistakes'. The lady's taken boys, sorry! ;-)

 

I rock an msi x99 motherboard and an asus x99 for my main machine, the asus is clearly superior, but the msi is not bad it's pretty solid, but when it comes to software msi is ahead, but still weird how a z490 motherboard which supposed to be high end does not have a bios recovery tool...

 

I stopped taking MSI serious when they were caught scalping 3000 series cards back in 2020 on ebay lol
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pc...scalping-rtx-3080-3090-cards-on-ebay?amp=true

 

I have a MSI B550 A Pro and flashed it 3 times so far also using M-Flash, didn't have any problems so far.

 

No MSI or Asrock for me, (or Toshiba HDDs)
learnt the lesson long ago

I would spend twice and get an Asus,
or maybe Gigabyte, depending on the chipset model etc..

 

I have bricked two mobos: ASRock and MSI after BIOS upgrade. Good thing i always have CH341A at hand haha.
But yes, i think every mobo in 2021 should have dual-BIOS feature

 

MSI has pulled tons of BS. That scalped card news from 2020 is literally a repeat from the last crypto bull run. Lately, the way they handled being calling out by Gamers Nexus for their horrible, unsafe power supplies is just a cherry on top of a long list of douchebaggery.

@Cardamom - If you still have the board, a bricked bios may not necessarily kill the flash utility. If you have not tried booting and pressing CTRL+F5, certainly do so.

If that doesn't work, clear the CMOS. I will post an image telling you how to do that for your board. You don't need a jumper. Just use a house key or car key to connect the two prongs for 10 seconds. This is particularly to reset the bios to default settings, but I bring it up, as most "bricked boards" just need their CMOS cleared and I wasn't there watching exactly what was happening.

 

Never get MSi updates. I updated my bios and my laptop fan broke, it somehow messed with the fan speed and fan speed went above what it could normally tolerate. I even suggest you never think about MSi laptops, they look shiny but once they're broken it is hard to fix them.

 

I've had a very bad experience with MSI and Intel. Now, I only buy ASUS. I've never had a real problem and their support is first class.

 

I stopped [costly] "experimenting" with MB brands a long time ago. Asus, or Gigabyte for me, always. No problems, ever.

Addenum: I think that's shitty. I would like to be able to buy any motherboard with confidence, and I hate monopolies. Except the Korg one.

 

THANKS, but I know of which you speak and then some. Tried it all. The MSI guy, once he heard that there was a solid white light at the top the board knew - beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the MOBO had been bricked.

 

Lucky you ... so far! Maybe yours wasn't made on a Friday. I believe it's the Z series that are the problem.

 

Oh y'all are gonna love this.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?...ards-problem-with-recent-bios-updates.367575/

 

Beyond pathetic. MSI has really been screwing up a ton lately. This is embarrassing news- Especially for Z-series boards that are not cheap. I get why there are no longer many boards with dual BIOS/UEFI, but their flash utility should have been isolated, period. Especially during a generation where BIOS updates can be important, for features like Resizable Bar.

 

It is my understanding that the problem is endemic to the z490 series mobos and that the five and up series are fine because they have a reset switch on their boards for emergencies such as this. As my board is only two months old, I am going to push for a full warranty, money back return, or insist upon an upgrade to the z5-line instead.

 

Pretty sure the Z590 godlike from msi is a bit expansive for you and even for me but check it anyway