UEFI issues on the ASUS H110 motherboard typically stem from incorrect boot media creation, Secure Boot conflicts with legacy drivers, or disabled CSM settings. Verify your installation USB is formatted correctly for UEFI, check that the BIOS detects the drive in UEFI mode, and ensure your graphics drivers support the current firmware version to resolve display and boot failures.
Verifying Boot Media Compatibility
The most common reason users report that "UEFI does not work" is actually a mismatch between the bootable media format and the motherboard's expectations. The ASUS H110 series supports both UEFI and Legacy BIOS modes, but modern Windows installations (Windows 10 and 11) require a specific setup to trigger UEFI booting. If you create a bootable USB using older tools or incorrect partition schemes, the system may fall back to Legacy mode or fail to detect the drive entirely. To ensure your installation media is UEFI-compliant, you must use the official Microsoft Media Creation Tool or Rufus with the correct settings. When using Rufus, select the target USB drive and look at the partition scheme option. It must be set toGPT for the target system type if you intend to install in UEFI mode only. If you select MBR, the resulting USB will be Legacy-compatible and might not appear in the UEFI boot menu, leading to confusion about whether UEFI is broken.
Additionally, the file system on the USB stick must be FAT32. While NTFS can hold larger files, the UEFI firmware on the H110 chipset often lacks native NTFS drivers for the pre-boot environment. This limitation means that even if the drive is detected, the firmware cannot read the bootloader files if they are stored on an NTFS partition. Always verify that the root directory of your USB contains standard EFI folders like \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI. If these folders are missing, the media is not configured for UEFI booting.
For more details on how UEFI handles partitions during installation, see our guide on Does UEFI require an EFI partition to boot?.
Configuring BIOS Settings for UEFI Boot
Once the media is verified, the next step is ensuring the motherboard’s firmware is configured to prioritize UEFI devices. On ASUS H110 motherboards, this involves navigating the Advanced Mode in the BIOS. PressF7 to enter Advanced Mode, then go to the Boot tab. Here, you will find the CSM (Compatibility Support Module) setting.
If CSM is enabled, the system attempts to support Legacy BIOS booting alongside UEFI. For a pure UEFI experience, especially when installing Windows 10 or 11, it is often recommended to disable CSM. However, disabling CSM requires that all components, including your GPU and storage drives, support UEFI. If you have older hardware that only supports Legacy VBIOS, disabling CSM may result in no video output until the OS loads, a symptom described in our article No video output until system boots.
Within the Boot tab, also check the Boot Option Priorities. Ensure that your USB drive appears with a prefix like UEFI: SanDisk rather than just Sandisk. The UEFI: prefix confirms that the firmware recognizes the device as UEFI-capable. If the drive lacks this prefix, return to the previous section and recreate the boot media.
Another critical setting is Secure Boot. While Secure Boot is designed to prevent unauthorized software from loading during startup, it can sometimes interfere with driver installation if third-party signatures are not recognized. On some H110 boards, you may need to enable Secure Boot to force UEFI-only mode, but if you encounter driver signature errors, you might need to switch to Other OS mode in the Security tab to allow unsigned drivers during installation. Note that enabling Secure Boot does not fix a broken UEFI implementation; it merely enforces strict validation.
Troubleshooting Display and Installation Failures
If you successfully enter the BIOS and select the UEFI boot option but face a black screen or installation hang, the issue likely lies with hardware compatibility or firmware bugs. The H110 chipset is older, and early BIOS versions had known issues with certain NVMe drives and newer CPUs. Updating the BIOS to the latest version available on the ASUS support page can resolve these initialization glitches. When updating, ensure you download the correct file for your exact model suffix (e.g., H110M-K, H110M-A). Flashing the wrong BIOS can brick the motherboard. Use the EZ Flash utility within the BIOS to update from a FAT32-formatted USB drive. Avoid using operating system-based flashing tools as they can be interrupted by background processes. If the installation proceeds but you lose access to the UEFI interface after rebooting, check the Fast Boot setting. Enabling Fast Boot skips many hardware checks, which can sometimes hide the boot menu or cause the system to bypass the USB drive entirely. Disabling Fast Boot gives the firmware more time to initialize all devices and present the boot selection screen reliably. Finally, if you suspect the BIOS itself is unstable or crashing during new builds, refer to New build, BIOS crashing, can't install Windows nor Linux for deeper diagnostic steps regarding power delivery and component compatibility.Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't my USB show up in the UEFI boot menu?
Your USB drive is likely formatted with the MBR partition scheme instead of GPT, or it uses an NTFS file system that the UEFI firmware cannot read. Re-create the bootable media using Rufus with GPT partition scheme and FAT32 file system to ensure UEFI detection.
Can I install Windows 10 in Legacy mode on an H110 board?
Yes, the ASUS H110 motherboard supports Legacy BIOS via the CSM feature. However, Microsoft no longer officially supports Legacy installation methods for Windows 10 updates, and you will miss out on UEFI-specific security features like Secure Boot and faster boot times.
Does enabling Secure Boot fix UEFI not working?
No, Secure Boot is a security feature that validates bootloaders, not a mechanism to enable UEFI functionality. If UEFI is not working due to configuration errors or incompatible media, toggling Secure Boot will not resolve the underlying detection or boot issues.
What should I do if I get no video after enabling UEFI-only mode?
This usually happens if your graphics card has an older VBIOS that does not support UEFI GOP (Graphics Output Protocol). You may need to temporarily re-enable CSM in the BIOS, install updated drivers, or replace the GPU with one that supports UEFI video output.
How do I reset BIOS settings if I break UEFI boot?
You can clear the CMOS by removing the coin-cell battery from the motherboard for five minutes or by shorting the CLR_CMOS pins. This restores all BIOS settings to factory defaults, including default UEFI/Legacy configurations, allowing you to start fresh.