Msi gtx 1060

[didi79]

I'm diagnosing a MSI GTX 1060 AERO ITX 3G OC.
No shorts. When powered all voltages are there, cpu is getting hot. But PC does not detect te card and obviously no image output.

PCB is in real good condition, visual inspection gives no clues: no missing caps on the PCI-E lanes, no coloration on the chip. Resistance on the PCI-E lanes is good. So I'm assuming the chip is fine.
I also see no signs of previous repair attempts.

Not sure now what else the problem could be. Any ideas what to check next ?

[SMDFlea]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Have you checked pin 11 reset plus the AND gate voltage (assuming there is an AND gate)

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Have you checked pin 11 reset

Good tip. It should be high when powered, correct ?

[SMDFlea]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Good tip. It should be high when powered, correct ?

Yes.The AND gate will have 2 inputs and 1 output usually.

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

schematic is this one: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...60#post1063932

Page 3 and 36 show there is only one 0 ohm resistor between the slot and the chip.
When powered, I have 3.3V on PEX_RST (on both sides of the resistor, that seems correct.

One last thing I'll check is wether I can read the BIOS. After that, I can't think of anything else :/

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Hm, whenever I clamp my USB CH314 programmer on the BIOS, the programmer disappears from device manager. If I remove the clamp, it's back.
This could indicate a short in (or near) the BIOS chip, in fact shorting the programmer (and shutting it down).

I happen to have a donor board with exactly the same BIOS chip. I can read that one out just fine, so the problem is not the programmer.

I know what to try next ;-)

[zefrench]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

What bios programmer do you use ?

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

cheap USB programmer (that type https://www.banggood.com/CH341A-24-2...650183533.5781) with voltmod. Has been working great so far.
As for the software: AsProgrammer

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

I desoldered the BIOS. I hooked it up to the programmer and I was able to read it.

The BIOS chip sits right next to the 1.8 VRM. In fact the only thing between the BIOS Vin and the 1.8V buck converter (RT7296) is a coil.
Remember: I have 1.8V and all other voltages, yes even VCore and VMem. But when I measure resistance between GND and 1.8V it reads only about 0.5 ohm (multimeter minimum is 0.1 ohm) or almost short. That does not make sense to me. If it were a short, I would probably not be able to measure the 1.8V.

I guess that (almost) short is what made the BIOS unreadable when on the PCB (it shorted the programmer out). And the short is definitely not in the BIOS.

Again, I don't know where to go from here

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Little help?



I have 1.8V on the coil where the red arrow points to. The LDO generating it is to the right of the coil.
Notice the BIOS chip is desoldered to the left of the coil.

From the coil to ground, I have about 1 ohm resistance. GPUs usually have very low resistance... coincidence or not?

If I inject a low (safe) voltage on the coil, the only thing that gets slightly warm after a while is the GPU itself (front, not back of pcb).

Is it normal for cards like these to have 1.8V going directly to the chip?

[supertype]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Bios runs on 1.8v

on the programmer use a meter and measure pin 1 voltage make sure its not dumping 5v or 3.3 on the chip it needs 1.8 or you could damage the bios.

I had someone point this out to me on a card I am working on and had to get a daughter board to drop the voltage down because I was damaging the chips when inspecting them and write/read.

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Bios runs on 1.8v

on the programmer use a meter and measure pin 1 voltage make sure its not dumping 5v or 3.3 on the chip it needs 1.8 or you could damage the bios.

I had someone point this out to me on a card I am working on and had to get a daughter board to drop the voltage down because I was damaging the chips when inspecting them and write/read.

Hey you're right. I actually totally ignored the fact that it's a 1.8V chip even tho I know it's on the 1.8V line and the datasheet clearly states it ). Then again when desoldered, I could actually read it (with my CH341-modded-to-3.3V-adapter). So while the chip probably can take a higher voltage, another component on the card may not.

Next investment: https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesa...v-adapter.html

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Adapter is in. BIOS chip is readable, but I suspect some garbage content.

Now I have to find the BIOS dump... Techpowerup does not seem to have one for this particular model: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...ze=3072&since=

I'll try with a similar one (eg https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...60-3072-161223) since the clocks pretty much seem the same and it also supports Samsung memory...

[SMDFlea]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Adapter is in. BIOS chip is readable, but I suspect some garbage content.

Now I have to find the BIOS dump... Techpowerup does not seem to have one for this particular model: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...ze=3072&since=

I'll try with a similar one (eg https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...60-3072-161223) since the clocks pretty much seem the same and it also supports Samsung memory...

Found one on the MSI forums https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?t...equest.301014/

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Found one on the MSI forums https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?t...equest.301014/

Great find, thanks!

[didi79]

Re: Msi gtx 1060

Still not detected. I will have a look wether the card actually tries to read the chip, using oscilloscope.