BIOS logo freeze after failed Insider update and EFI rebuild

Question

BIOS logo freeze after failed Insider update and EFI rebuild

Batuhan Cansın Özer 5

I got problem chains cause me motherboard logo stuck on my main nvme win 11 ssd but when i move it on other older pcs can boot even os but for my main froze at mb logo not even let me in bios when remove pc fine but when in wont.

Heres copilot summary

❌ Problem Summary

Windows 11 Insider Preview (26220.9022) update failed with 0x80070002.
Upgrade attempt with Insider ISO (26H1) failed with 0xC1900101‑0x20017 in SAFE_OS phase.
Tried EFI /all create → restart caused boot blow‑up.
On server PC, SSD ran chkdsk, then crashed with Insider GSOD (HYPERVISOR_ERROR), then booted again.
On main ROG PC, plugging SSD caused BIOS logo freeze (firmware hang).
Disabled ASUS services + uninstalled Bitdefender Endpoint to clear update path, but OS still unstable.
sfc /scannow ran clean (no integrity violations).
DISM /RestoreHealth triggered GSOD due to old FX‑9950 hardware.

🛠 Steps Taken

Ran chkdsk → filesystem repaired.
Ran sfc /scannow → no violations.
Attempted DISM → GSOD crash.
Reset BIOS boot order, checked EFI entries via Ubuntu (efibootmgr).
Secure Boot confirmed enabled (mokutil --sb-state).
Tried manual EFI rebuild → instability worsened.

📌 Current State

Ubuntu boots fine.
Windows Insider build unstable, update fails with 0xC1900101.
Mainboard logo freeze when SSD connected directly.
Plan: use NVMe‑to‑USB box, back up via Ubuntu, then nuke and reinstall Insider 26H1 clean.

✅ Lessons Learned

0x80070002 → update cache corruption.
0xC1900101‑0x20017 → driver/bootloader conflict in SAFE_OS phase.
EFI rebuild during failed update → destabilized boot chain.
DISM on FX‑9950 → triggers hypervisor GSOD, unsafe on old hardware.
Best fix → backup externally, wipe SSD, fresh Insider install with proper EFI keys and drivers.

Heres Gemine summary

Here is a summary of the full sequence of hardware and software issues encountered during this troubleshooting process:

Initial Symptoms & Primary Rig Freeze

Symptom: The main PC (ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero, 192 GB RAM) froze indefinitely at the BIOS/ROG logo during cold POST when the 4TB Samsung 9100 PRO NVMe SSD was installed.
Initial Troubleshooting: Resetting the motherboard CMOS and running initial disk checks did not resolve the POST hang.

Multi-Drive & Duplicate Bootloader Chaos

Discovery on Server PC: Moving the 4TB drive to a secondary server PC (via a PCIe-to-NVMe adapter) revealed a heavily cluttered boot map in the motherboard's boot priorities.
Conflicting Entries: The boot menu listed duplicate Windows Boot Manager instances linked to different drive serial numbers (a Samsung 980 PRO and the 9100 PRO), alongside redundant Ubuntu and generic UEFI OS partitions.
Root Cause (BIOS Side): The older server motherboard ignored the invalid/orphaned EFI GUID entries and booted, but the strict early-POST enumeration on the X870E platform hung while attempting to map the conflicting NVRAM variables.

Hypervisor & Architecture Crash (HYPERVISOR_ERROR)

Chkdsk Trigger: Attempting to boot into the 4TB drive on the server PC automatically triggered an interrupted chkdsk scan due to a "dirty bit" flag set from previous forced hard resets.
Blue/Green Screen Crash: During startup, Windows crashed with a HYPERVISOR_ERROR (0x20001) stop code.
Root Cause (CPU Side): The server PC was running an older AMD FX-9590 CPU. The Windows installation on the 4TB SSD was configured for modern Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) / Hyper-V, which relies on hardware features (like Nested Paging) absent on the FX architecture, causing an immediate kernel panic during boot.

Bypassing the Hypervisor & Persistent POST Hangs

Workaround Attempted: Safe Mode and disabling SVM/Hyper-V routines were recommended to bypass the VBS crash on the server PC to run sfc, powercfg /h off (to clear the Fast Startup hibernation lock), and disk repairs.
Adapter Isolation: Testing confirmed that even when using a PCIe-to-NVMe adapter card on the main rig—or attempting repair scans on other systems—the 4TB drive continued to freeze the main PC during initial POST hardware probing.
Hardware Incompatibility/Corruption: The underlying issue was isolated to either low-level NVMe controller PCIe Option ROM handshake issues with the AM5 platform, or corrupted partition tables (GPT/EFI) that trigger early POST timeouts before the OS layer can load.

Final Resolution Strategy

Outcome: The most reliable path forward is backing up critical data via an external USB-to-NVMe enclosure connected to Ubuntu (bypassing motherboard PCIe/NVMe POST probing entirely), running a full dd wipe on the partition header to destroy orphaned EFI tables, clearing the main rig's CMOS, and reinstalling/formatting the drive fresh.

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Answer 1

Vikki-T 11,350 Microsoft Harici Personeli Moderatör

Please note that this is Turkish Q&A Forum, any threads should be posted in Turkish. However, I will still provide an answer on English based on your initial response.

Hi Batuhan Cansın Özer,

Thank you for taking the time to document and share this troubleshooting journey in such exceptional detail. The information you provided about the failed Insider update, EFI reconstruction, boot behavior across different systems and the steps you have already tried may also be valuable to other community members who encounter a similar situation.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. My role here is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests or ideas.

Since this involves a Windows Insider Preview build and an update failure, I would also encourage you to submit the issue through the Feedback Hub so that the Windows Insider team can receive the report and any available diagnostic information. You can open Feedback Hub by pressing Windows key + F, select Report a problem, and include the affected Insider build, error codes, hardware configuration and the troubleshooting details you shared here. If similar feedback already exists, you can upvote it and add your experience instead.

You can find additional guidance here: Provide feedback in the Feedback Hub

Thank you again for sharing such a clear and comprehensive account of the issue.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Batuhan Cansın Özer 5 Saygınlık puanı

2026-08-08T15:18:59.56+00:00

Will reopen in eng q&a and feedback i thought its global

Also problem getting odder this isnt my first time deal this boot lock back in day ubuntu crash destroyed headers of my 4tb data hdd cause but this time main os ssd boot lock. And this cause so big problem and need nvme ssd box to after boot diognostic because i fixed hdd boot lock via usb to chckdisk.
Vikki-T 11,350 Saygınlık puanı Microsoft Harici Personeli Moderatör

2026-08-11T10:26:03.11+00:00

Hi Batuhan Cansın Özer,

Thank you for the update.

Since the affected NVMe SSD contains your main operating system and important data, using an external NVMe-to-USB enclosure is a sensible way to access it without triggering the same POST freeze. If the drive becomes accessible, I would strongly recommend backing up any important files before running CHKDSK or making further changes to the partitions or EFI configuration.

I hope you’re able to recover the data safely. Thank you again for sharing the additional background and your previous experience with this boot issue.
Batuhan Cansın Özer 5 Saygınlık puanı

2026-08-11T12:41:18.2433333+00:00

Yep got nvme ssd box today odd thing this ssd lock my main but when i moved to other older pc boot os.

But when i put my 22 tb hdd sata to other pc back up same boot lock backed.

This is bit odd but will back up nuke disk than proceed to 26h1 insider beta but will plug out ubuntu 26.04 ssd to not mix efi.
Vikki-T 11,350 Saygınlık puanı Microsoft Harici Personeli Moderatör

2026-08-12T09:22:23.51+00:00

Hi Batuhan Cansın Özer,

Thanks for the update. Disconnecting the Ubuntu SSD before the clean installation is a sensible precaution to avoid mixing EFI boot files. Please make sure the backup is complete, then install Windows with only the target drive connected. Once Windows is running properly, reconnect the other drives one at a time to check whether any of them causes the boot freeze again.

Batuhan Cansın Özer 5

Well when I backing up with ubuntu near to finish I noticed on my c:\ there is EFI created via wrong command on cmd to try fix SAFE_OS update problem I forget to type letter cause bootlock

C:\Windows\System32>bcdboot C:\Windows /s C: /f ALL

Boot files successfully created.

this created C: EFI instead of S: and double EFI cause bootlocked. After delete C EFI win boot than I move into recovery partion reagentc and bootrec fix etc.

net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
rd /s /q C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution
net start wuauserv
net start bits

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow
chkdsk /scan

diskpart
list vol
select vol 3        :: the 499 MB FAT32 EFI for Windows
assign letter=S
exit

bootsect /nt60 S: /force
bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd


mkdir C:\mount
dism /mount-wim /wimfile:E:\sources\install.wim /index:2 /mountdir:C:\mount

copy C:\mount\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim R:\Recovery\WindowsRE\

dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\mount /discard


robocopy C:\ R:\Recovery\WindowsRE Winre.wim /R:0 /W:0 /NFL /NDL /NP /NS /NC

reagentc /setreimage /path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE
reagentc /enable
reagentc /info


takeown /f R:\Recovery\WindowsRE /r /d y
icacls R:\Recovery\WindowsRE /grant administrators:F /t

bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

reagentc /setreimage /path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target C:\Windows
reagentc /enable
reagentc /info

Maybe there could be more but yeah thanks to Copilot we made good duo to diagnoise and fix.

Now finally I am on 26220.9022 insider enjoying finally added I long time waiting feature resize to smaller taskbar icons like win 10 this looks just perfect.

Vikki-T 11,350 Saygınlık puanı Microsoft Harici Personeli Moderatör

2026-08-15T14:22:40.2566667+00:00

Hi Batuhan Cansın Özer,

Thank you for the detailed update. It is great to hear that you identified the incorrectly created EFI boot files and were able to restore the proper EFI and recovery configuration. Your explanation of what caused the boot lock and how you resolved it may be very helpful to others who encounter similar boot behavior.

Since EFI partitions, volume numbers and drive letters can differ between systems, anyone referring to these commands should carefully verify the correct Windows, EFI and recovery partitions before making changes.

I’m glad to hear that the system is now running Windows Insider build 26220.9022 properly and that you can finally use the smaller taskbar icons you had been waiting for. Thank you again for returning to the thread and sharing the solution.