Z690 Aorus Elite DDR4 stuck in BIOS after W11 fresh install — Secure Boot greyed out, nothing boots
Specs:
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Elite DDR4 — BIOS F30
- CPU: Intel i5-13600K (13th Gen)
- RAM: 2x Kingston Fury 16GB DDR4
- Storage: WD Black 2TB NVMe
- GPU: MSI RTX 3070 Ti
- Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 Top Flow
Problem:
I did a fresh W11 installation formatting my existing Windows SSD. The installation went fine but after the required reboot to finish setup, the PC will not boot into anything. Every boot lands in the BIOS or F12 boot menu.
What happens:
Selecting Windows Boot Manager (SSD) from the boot menu returns to the same menu. Selecting the W11 USB throws a "bootmgr encountered a security validation or internal error" message.
Secure Boot situation:
Secure Boot is enabled and greyed out in the BIOS. Mode shows Standard, System Mode shows User. Reset to Setup Mode and Restore Factory Keys are also greyed out. Setting an Administrator password did not unlock any of these options.
What I have already tried:
- RAM reseat
- CMOS battery removal
- Rufus USB with Secure Boot and TPM bypass options enabled
- Multiple USB drives including different sizes
- Manually selecting boot entries via F12
Nothing has worked. Still stuck at BIOS and boot menu, cannot boot from any device.
Any help appreciated.