Windows 10: New Strix B550-F motherboard leads to Win 10 Pro recovery issues

My upgrade to a Strix B550-F mb from an ASUS Strix B350-F was smooth with no POST issues - even saw my dual channel memory w/o having to start with 1 stick. But, silly me - I forgot to suspend bitlocker on all my drives before installing the new motherboard. It boots into UEFI ok with F2 or DEL but on save and exit it says my PIN cannot be used (too bad - it auto unlocks my m.2 to start Win 10). It asks for my last password instead. I provide it but it will not start. It cannot repair the start up and the SSD's remain locked. If I start over my keyboard often fails when typing recovery keys again.

The ASUS CD packed with the MB is supposed to have the file "asseup" in the BIN folder that will automatically set up the hardware for this MB. No such file exists - the entire disk is just FDOS folders and files. I've never seen that before. I'll call ASUS tomorrow.

In the meantime, I used my laptop to create a USB Win 10 Setup on USB that when booted repeats the same issues. I'll download the drivers to it. as I think I'm left with a refresh or clean reinstall. I have dozens of proprietary business applications as well as Microsoft 365 - it will be awful to reinstall and tweak them all over again. My data is backed up to the cloud and the SSD's..

Sorry for not introducing myself in my first post - will do that once I'm up and running.

Thanks
System:
Windows 10 64 Pro (10.0.19041 Build 19041)
Fractal Meshify Tower
ASUS Strix B550-F Gaming (not WiFi)
Ryzen 5 Ver 3 3600 (not X)
Seasonic 550w Focus 80+ Gold PSU Semi-modular
2 x 8gb GSkill DDR4-2400 15-15-15
Radeon Series 7 200 (I don't game or edit videos)
Samsung 250gb 960 EVO m.2 (Windows and programs)
WD 1tb SSD
SanDisk 480gb SSD
Crucial 550 256gb SSD
Toshiba 2tb HDD

:)

 

ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F Gaming Motherboard Sata Ports 3 and 6 Issue

Hi Rjnagy.

According to manual those are ports 5 and 6

Attachment 174609

Further it comments that these ports will be shared when a SATA / PCIe mode m.2 device is installed.

Attachment 174610

Interesting because when mine is running m2 PCIe those ports are disable. Of course mine is a different architecture.

Not sure if you made a lot of changes to BIOS. What I would suggest, if you know your BIOS settings, remove m2, then load defaults in BIOS, save and see if that wakes them up.

I believe you will have issues if you want your m2 installed as well. Is your m2 Sata or PCIe?

You could contact Asus and confirm with your specific m2 if those ports are disable.

Your manual

https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboa...lpDesk_Manual/


Ken

 

Win 10 Pro OEM activation issue

Hello Larry,

Significant hardware changes such as replacing your hard drive or motherboard may lead to issues in activating Windows 10. To better assist you and provide you with the appropriate resolution, we would like to know a few more information. Kindly answer the
questions below:

• Did Windows 10 Pro came pre-installed with your computer?
• Do you have the Windows 10 Pro installation disc available?
• Are you getting any error messages when trying to key in your activation code?
• Were there any significant hard ware changes done on your computer?
• What were the exact troubleshooting steps you and the MS support teams have tried?

As an initial recommendation, you may check on this article and follow the steps provided to run the Activation troubleshooter:
Using the Activation troubleshooter.

We'll be waiting for your response.

 

AMD ASUS STRIX X470-F STRIX Motherboard Packaging Pictured

Whereas not the sexiest leak one can see these days, the packaging picture of ASUS' upcoming X470-F STRIX is nothing to scoff at. This ASUS motherboard is expected to enter ASUS' lineup in the same positioning as the X370-F STRIX motherboard from the previous generation, offering the same borderline functionality and features, with one or two design improvements thrown in for good measure. As a X470 motherboard, the ASUS X470-F STRIX should offer out-of-box support for AMD's upcoming Ryzen 2000 series of processors in the cleanest, more trouble-proof way possible.

Some small redesigns this X470-F STRIX has had over its X370 counterpart is that the southbridge heatsink has been extended to cover the top portion of the first PCIe x16 port - likely to house a second M.2 add-in slot, since that amount of heatsink over motherboard PCB would simply be wasteful. From the packaging, we can see that there are 3x PCIe x16 slots, two of which are reinforced. Some power delivery improvements have reportedly been done as well. The southbridge heatsink itself has seen a redesign, it seems, abandoning the angular look it had before - a step back, if you'll ask me. Expect this ASUS X40-F STRIX motherboard to be available from the Ryzen 2000 series' launch, on April 19th.