» Home » uncategorized » MSI Z170A Gaming M5 F2 & F9 Fix

MSI Z170A Gaming M5 F2 & F9 Fix

This error can occur after a failed BIOS flash/update.

F2 is the board looking for a BIOS Recovery Image to restore the faulty BIOS by attempting an automated flash!

0xF2 Recovery process started
0xF9 Recovery capsule is not found

  • Make sure you format a USB 2.0 drive to FAT32 and then copy the same BIOS file as the failed update to the flash drive. You can copy multiple BIOS files to the root of your USB if you are unsure of which BIOS you were trying to update to. The system will select the correct BIOS.
  • Plug your flash drive into a USB 2.0 port at the rear of the PC, one of the black ports.
  • Unplug all SATA devices and any extra peripherals
  • Turn on your PC
  • You should see the F2 display and your USB should be flashing, indicating activity. Leave it for up to 30mins and hopefully, it will succeed in recovering the BIOS.
  • If it cannot find the correct file it will give you an F9 error

If that fails you’ll need to find someone with an “SPI flash programmer device” or send it in to an MSI service centre.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.