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Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with Intel processors => Topic started by: fidoX on November 19, 2016, 04:29:28 pm

Title: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on November 19, 2016, 04:29:28 pm
Hi there !

I have installed latest Bios for my motherboard model GA-Z170-D3H version F20.
I have setup everything back like it was before update and this version makes my computer slower and unstable.
Before i had version F20b which was perfectly fine and no problems at all.
Is there anything i can do or downgrade to previous version ?

Thanks in advance,
Matej
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: dmdilks on November 19, 2016, 09:17:49 pm
Quote
Before i had version F20b which was perfectly fine and no problems at all.

If you were not having any problem then why did you update it.

You could try to make a bootable flash drive. Put the bois on there and see if you can do it that way. Doing through the bios might not work.

https://rufus.akeo.ie/
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on November 20, 2016, 07:14:37 am
Thanks for your reply !

Well, i thought that, cause previous version was beta , that official version will be even better :)
I have do some tests later and figure out, that i must leave enable Intel turbo boost technology option,
which it was disabled in F20beta version (for better audio producing stability) and worked fine.
So the only change is that if turbo boost is enabled it works fine, but in F20beta despite being disabled that option also worked fine.
If this is disabled now in this bios version i have problems, mentioned in my first post.

Best
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on November 20, 2016, 07:15:54 am
Oh, i can't update bios like you mentioned, cause it writes me , it's not allowed and you must update to newest version.
So, i'll leave now like it is.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on November 20, 2016, 12:05:10 pm
ok, i found a way to downgrade to previous version, so works fine now ;)
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: dmdilks on November 20, 2016, 03:32:01 pm
ok, i found a way to downgrade to previous version, so works fine now ;)

You could share it how you did it. So other people with the same problem can do it.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on November 20, 2016, 03:37:06 pm
you need FPT Z170 Tool for DOS (with bootable USB)....
https://www.mediafire.com/?p66jhts7cfi26y8
-download this first.

-then make bootable usb stick with , in my example "rufus".
-copy those files from link above to usb stick + bios file you want to downgrade.
-i have used backup file (saved old bios bin) which is already named "bios.bin", otherwise rename original downloaded bios file to bios.bin.
-boot from usb (bios settings)
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Believerguy on November 25, 2016, 07:55:16 am
you need FPT Z170 Tool for DOS (with bootable USB)....
https://www.mediafire.com/?p66jhts7cfi26y8
-download this first.

-then make bootable usb stick with , in my example "rufus".
-copy those files from link above to usb stick + bios file you want to downgrade.
-i have used backup file (saved old bios bin) which is already named "bios.bin", otherwise rename original downloaded bios file to bios.bin.
-boot from usb (bios settings)

It didn't work for z170x gaming 7

Can u provide detailed information

I have booted my usb

I extracted the file,

I have downloaded F8 bios , and renamed it to bios.bin


Add it with with the file and copied it to the usb 



Is there something I did wrong? 
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on November 25, 2016, 01:48:52 pm
Hi !

My motherboard model is : GA-Z170-D3H

I have first created usb bootable stick , with Rufus,
then copied files from fpt_DOS-Z170 to bootable usb stick
+ version of bios you want to downgrade (renamed to bios.bin)
In bios settings - boot from usb and my downgrade started automatically.

That was all i have to do and it was ok.
Best
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Believerguy on November 25, 2016, 01:49:45 pm
you need FPT Z170 Tool for DOS (with bootable USB)....
https://www.mediafire.com/?p66jhts7cfi26y8
-download this first.

-then make bootable usb stick with , in my example "rufus".
-copy those files from link above to usb stick + bios file you want to downgrade.
-i have used backup file (saved old bios bin) which is already named "bios.bin", otherwise rename original downloaded bios file to bios.bin.
-boot from usb (bios settings)


When I reatart my pc

F12 , boot settings to usb

This is what I get : (




https://s18.postimg.org/5akeab78p/IMAG0079.jpg (https://s18.postimg.org/5akeab78p/IMAG0079.jpg)
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on November 25, 2016, 01:53:12 pm
I see,
the only difference was that i have copied bios.bin to usb stick, which was created before upgrading to newer version,
so, it was saved-backup file of older bios which was already named bios.bin.

Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Believerguy on November 26, 2016, 06:55:20 am
I see,
the only difference was that i have copied bios.bin to usb stick, which was created before upgrading to newer version,
so, it was saved-backup file of older bios which was already named bios.bin.


Never mind

It actually worked.  I am an idiot  ::)


What was wrong? 

I have copied FPT_DOS-Z170  Document. This is why it didn't work

I removed the document,  I only copied the files inside the document.  And it worked

Thank u. 




Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: wigiloco on December 11, 2016, 03:33:45 pm
I tired to downgrade bios F20 and now my PC won't bout..

I did the steps but was it right to put f5 file I wanted to flash to bios.bin, or should I put f20 to bios.bin? Really shouldn't play with these settings..
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fidoX on December 11, 2016, 03:47:05 pm
I tired to downgrade bios F20 and now my PC won't bout..

I did the steps but was it right to put f5 file I wanted to flash to bios.bin, or should I put f20 to bios.bin? Really shouldn't play with these settings..

Hi !

After you have created bootable USB stick with , in my example Rufus,
copy all files inside FPT Z170 Tool for DOS directory to USB stick , then copy also bios version you want to install.
For example if your bios version is named "Z170D3H.F20" rename it to bios.bin
If you want to downgrade to F5 version , then rename Z170D3H.F5 to bios.bin and put this file to USB stick where are also other files located.
This is example for my motherboard model.
Then boot from USB stick and downgrade should start automatically.

You still have option to install F20 version back in BIOS , if computer won't boot.
But ofcourse you'll need that bios file on your USB stick to do that or if it's located elswhere (external hdd...)
I mean original downloaded file, for example Z170D3H.F20.

I hope it helps.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: wigiloco on December 11, 2016, 06:04:02 pm
I tired to downgrade bios F20 and now my PC won't bout..

I did the steps but was it right to put f5 file I wanted to flash to bios.bin, or should I put f20 to bios.bin? Really shouldn't play with these settings..

Hi !

After you have created bootable USB stick with , in my example Rufus,
copy all files inside FPT Z170 Tool for DOS directory to USB stick , then copy also bios version you want to install.
For example if your bios version is named "Z170D3H.F20" rename it to bios.bin
If you want to downgrade to F5 version , then rename Z170D3H.F5 to bios.bin and put this file to USB stick where are also other files located.
This is example for my motherboard model.
Then boot from USB stick and downgrade should start automatically.

You still have option to install F20 version back in BIOS , if computer won't boot.
But ofcourse you'll need that bios file on your USB stick to do that or if it's located elswhere (external hdd...)
I mean original downloaded file, for example Z170D3H.F20.

I hope it helps.

Yeah, everything worked as wanted! Now I have F5 bios and everything is working as should.. I just had to take few DIMM sticks out and set memory to 2133 instead of 2400Mhz, then It booted. MB or CPU don't like to run 2400Mhz when all 4 DIMMs are in use..
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: hammed41 on December 16, 2016, 04:28:09 pm
I followed the guide, and everything went ok. It works perfectly. I did the downgrade by F20 F5 (ga-gaming z170x 5). Thank you.   :) :) :) :) :)
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: nzhuk98 on December 22, 2016, 04:45:18 pm
Confirming that this works for GA-Z170-HD3. Downgraded from F20 to F6.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Brutus on January 18, 2017, 09:58:03 pm
When I try to run the usb, I get error: 201 fpt.exe cannot run on current platform, contact your vendor.
I'm currently on f21 and want to downgrade to f3

Does anyone know what to do now
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: lapioks on January 20, 2017, 07:15:56 am
Maybe you downloaded wrong version. You should choose exactly your mobo version. It worked for me Z170x- gaming 3 eu downgraded from f21b to f6.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: SiuL on February 15, 2017, 04:18:11 pm
Work in Z270?
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: wingman99 on February 17, 2017, 06:53:38 am
Confirming that this works for GA-Z170-HD3. Downgraded from F20 to F6.
I have a GA-Z170-HD3, what problems did you have with F20? :o
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: yujjek on February 27, 2017, 07:24:32 pm
https://gyazo.com/85251079da1840410f766b9abdde0bdf
The F8 file will be renamed to bios.bin ofcourse , but I want to double check before im flashing my bios.
I have F20 and a z170x Gaming 7 1.0
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: wh173 on February 28, 2017, 06:21:41 am
Gigabyte needs to get their s*** togheter so people dont need to keep downgrading the "undowngradeable" bios.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: PCmastarace on March 01, 2017, 05:35:21 am
GA-H110M-Gaming.3

the one i bought with F1 bios had no issue
the other with F20 have several "hang" after gaming

i have zero understanding about PC, but how do i simply downgrade F20 into F1 bios?
is there any type of a single bios at all like beta or whql??
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: robbinbanks on March 05, 2017, 04:46:57 pm
ok, i found a way to downgrade to previous version, so works fine now ;)

Thank you so much man, I upgraded my motherboard and it was extremely unstable, eventually got it to be stable but then the onboard thunderbolt wouldn't work. I downgraded to my F3 bios from F21 on my Gigabyte Gaming 6 and it works  flawlessly again. Thanks again man :) :) :)
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: EpicSurvivor on March 07, 2017, 01:49:30 am
I am very new at this. I also flashed to F20 BIOS because I thought "Newer is better" but now my CPU Temperatures are very hot.

I have some confusion following the Steps you gave to Downgrade BIOS back to Different Version. The ftw_DOS-Z170 file has a folder inside of it named "Boot" Do I take files from that folder and paste with the other files or leave the "Boot" Folder alone?
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: EpicSurvivor on March 07, 2017, 08:48:41 pm
Guys I got a BSOD yesterday due to High Temps on F20 BIOS with Skylake CPU.
(https://s3.postimg.org/ez9t1ux2r/20170306_160731.jpg)
and then this happened! I can't downgrade the BIOS from F20. Its not letting me. I Get error message. Can someone do a Video or something?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DQ_RbJ0ap4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DQ_RbJ0ap4)
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: EpicSurvivor on March 08, 2017, 01:00:35 pm
Never mind. It Worked! I was able to Downgrade BIOS from F20 to F8!!!

Thank you very much!
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Sandokan on March 13, 2017, 09:56:50 pm
Warning! Pay attention, in my experience using FPT you will wipe your Intel NIC MAC address. I suggest to you to write on a sheet your MAC address before to flash bios with FPT.
After flashing BIOS with FPT you can verify if MAC address is 88-88-88-88-87-88. In this case your MAC was overwritten with a generic one and you need to recovery the original one. You can do that using an HEX editor to edit the BIOS and find and replace 88 88 88 88 87 88 with your real MAC address.

Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: sono on March 16, 2017, 02:17:22 pm
I mentioned in a different thread that some Gigabyte motherboards have main bios and backup bios.  You can select which one boots with a motherboard switch (change the switch position with the system powered off!)

So if you update the main one the backup should still be at the previous version.  This means you can easily check if you have a problem caused specifically by the new bios easily. 

I have used this feature on GA-Z270X-Gaming 7 Motherboard and it works very well.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: forlani101 on March 26, 2017, 05:38:14 am
how do you do the hex edit on for the Nic to get original Mac address back?. Could someone who has knowledge do this for me. i can handle using fpt tool and flashing but i don't know about Hex editing is little in the danger zone for me.  i been having a time with the newest F22 bios for the Gigabyte z170 UD5. I was on F5 and it worked fine besides hiccups getting ram to run at rated speeds but now on the new bios my whole system feels sluggish. the new bios look and feels sluggish and very amateur and my ram which is rated at 3000mhz is set to 2800mhz when i set the XMP profile. If i set the values manually i can't get it to boot at all or one stick will register at 3000mhz and the other stick the system won't even recognize even though it's plugged in. i would rather have the old plain blue bios like the old days. If this bios doesn't get situated i'm selling this whole system off for something else. very shameful to be a gigabyte customer at the moment.

Also can Gigabyte provide me with a older bios i can flash like F5? I shouldn't have to hex edit to get things back to normal.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: shadowsports on March 26, 2017, 03:47:09 pm
These are the official BIOS' available for the Z170x-ud5 (including F5)

http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z170X-UD5-rev-10#support-dl

Others might be available on Tweaktown.

https://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/

Are you saying your MAC, UUID, Serial Number, etc has changed since flashing to F22?  This usually happens when you replace a BIOS chip...  not when you upgrade via flash.  As mentioned by sandokan there is increased risk when using a hex editor on your BIOS. 
 
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Sandokan on March 26, 2017, 07:48:50 pm
These are the official BIOS' available for the Z170x-ud5 (including F5)

http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z170X-UD5-rev-10#support-dl

Others might be available on Tweaktown.

https://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/

Are you saying your MAC, UUID, Serial Number, etc has changed since flashing to F22?  This usually happens when you replace a BIOS chip...  not when you upgrade via flash.  As mentioned by sandokan there is increased risk when using a hex editor on your BIOS.

Intel NIC MAC address change when you downgrade BIOS with FPT (this is also written in the readme file). The only way to correct the MAC address it to edit the BIOS with an hex editor and flash it again (with q-flash).
Actually FPT is the only tool to downgrade from a Kabylake bios to a Skylake bios.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: forlani101 on March 27, 2017, 03:47:08 am
     I think i got my UD5 system stable now with the F22 bios. Main problem was with my ram, i could not for the life get it to accept 3000mhz. i would punch in 30 for the multiplier and reboot to bios and it would keep saying 2800mhz. Something is not right with the ram portion of this board. I think i'll stick with F22 because at this point i feel like this board will break down if poked at too much. Be nice to have the option to officially downgrade the Bios to a older version. The look and layout of the F20's Bios looks terrible and i'm a person who likes to tinker and it's really cumbersome when i have to go into the Bios and mess around. Anyway......

     The ram voltage readings are off software wise. My ram is spec at 1.35v but when you type that in it will go to 1.36v and will not let you put in 1.35v. When you reboot it will say 1.368v in the Bios. When i checked with meter it said 1.344v Luckily i can check that stuff out with my digital multimeter on the boards read points. Another thing if i leave Vccio on Auto with my ram set at spec 3000mhz it will pump 1.296v which is way tooooooo high. I set it to 1.150v for stability on the ram while also being safe. The offset system for cpu is wonky as hell too. for $179 i feel scammed with the lazy bios implementation. Seriously quit with trying to copy other manufacturers uefi bios because it's terrible. I just want functionality.

Please someone relay this to the top dogs at Gigabyte to look into why this ram is such a hassle in my UD5 board and my other complaints. My ram is listed as being supported on Gigabytes product page for the UD5 board. I been using Gigabyte boards since 2007 and i've seen a steady decline in quality but that can be said about everything with big business, maximize those profits eh!?


Ram:  Vengeance® LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Memory Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15) 
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Marcop on April 13, 2017, 01:39:30 am
Hi, FidoX!!

I'm having the same issue, but on a GA-Z97X-SLI motherboard also from Gigabyte.
Can you tell me where did u get the FPT for your motherboard model?
I'm trying to find it for my Z97X-SLI, but to no avail until now!
I thank you very much in advance.
If you want to, you can email me at marcop2011@gmail.com
Hope to hear from you.
Best regards,
Marco.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: helpplease on April 19, 2017, 04:51:18 pm
Hi guys, I'm having the same exact problem but with a Z270 board.. is there any new update that will work with this board? the FPT tool listed in this thread is not working with my z270 board and is saying its the wrong version.

If you want some backstory, this is the hell I've been going through:
https://www.reddit.com/r/kotk/comments/66awcx/kotk_huge_performance_issue_after_bios_update/
Please help if you can.. thank you.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Jacmac on April 20, 2017, 12:39:30 am
Hi there !

I have installed latest Bios for my motherboard model GA-Z170-D3H version F20.
I have setup everything back like it was before update and this version makes my computer slower and unstable.
Before i had version F20b which was perfectly fine and no problems at all.
Is there anything i can do or downgrade to previous version ?

Thanks in advance,
Matej

I had the problem where updating the BIOS as suggested by the Gigabyte SIV on my z170 Gaming 7 MB basically bricked the computer. This was in conjunction with the Windows 10 Creators update, big mess... Anyway I was able to downgrade the BIOS by creating a bootable usb key with rufus (fat32). I used fpt_DOS-Z170(.zip); copy the file to the new bootable key. Copy the bios data file onto the key and rename it as bios.bin. When the key boots, it will autoexec straight into flashing the old bios. The computer rebooted a few times, but afterwards, I had the BIOS successfully downgraded to F8.

I only tried to update the BIOS because the SIV stopped working properly after the Windows 10 Creators update. But updating the BIOS caused an endless cycle of "can't locate the boot partition". This was strange, because in the command prompt (advanced recovery option) all of the drives were there with all of the data. I assume the F21 BIOS simply screwed up the partition location as far as the boot manager is concerned, Don't know, but downgrading the BIOS got me back into Windows. SIV is still broken, but it's better than not being able to boot at all. About 8 hours of work just to recover, hope it helps save someone else the time, then it isn't a total loss. You are never a total failure if you can be used as an example of what not to do. Don't upgrade your BIOS unless you have to.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: Gforce2562 on June 05, 2017, 05:19:04 pm
Just wanted to say this was extremely helpful to me.  I have a Z170X-Ultra Gaming and made the fatal error of upgrading F4 bios to F22.  What a nightmare.  Fortunately I found this thread - very helpful.

One thing to note for my situation:  I could not boot from rufus USB when at F22 bios.  What worked was to flash F20 bios version from the Gigabyte console and then the PC booted from the USB and updated backwards to F4 which I had renamed and loaded on the stick per instructions in this thread.  Saved me countless hours of aggravation.  Thanks to all.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: fadsarmy on October 27, 2017, 04:33:31 pm
I'm about to downgrade F22f to F8 on z170x gaming 7. Do I need to worry about FPT wiping the Intel NIC MAC address?
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: shadowsports on October 27, 2017, 06:23:57 pm
Yes, on your board the downgrade will change the MAC on your Intel NIC to 88-88-88-88-87-88.  It will not effect your killer E2400.  I have an Asus board this happened to after a bricking.

The MAC address is usually on a small sticker on the board.  It can be located near a AGP/PCI slot, near a corner or on the back of the ethernet port itself.  A magnifying glass or pic taken with your mobile device is usually helpful.  Of course looking at the adapter properties and/or IPCONFIG /ALL will also give it to you.  It has to be hex edited and flashed if you want to retain the original.   
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: brouhaha on December 31, 2017, 01:00:38 pm
I just updated the bios from 7f to 20f and I have lost my stable OC of 4.5MHz to 4.4Mhz (not yet fully tested). I tried to dual bios switch on my z170X G1 mobo, but sadly that is now also bios 22f. Not sure whether it is worth me trying to downgrade back to 7f. I have no idea how to do the hex editing etc. Not very impressed with the bios of Gigabyte. Will make me think twice when I next upgrade.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: shadowsports on December 31, 2017, 02:24:32 pm
Greetings,
After F7, F21 remains the most stable BIOS for this board.   

The downgrade is usually a two step process. Flash to downgrade, then reflash with hex edited file to "fix" the MAC.  You can probably go to F21 safely.  100 Mhz is nothing.  No decrease in performance or frame rates. If not already done, perform a CLR_CMOS and attempt the OC again with 22f.  If you are running UEFI RAID you will lose the array doing this, so image the system before resetting the BIOS. 
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: brouhaha on December 31, 2017, 05:51:23 pm
Greetings,
After F7, F21 remains the most stable BIOS for this board.   

The downgrade is usually a two step process. Flash to downgrade, then reflash with hex edited file to "fix" the MAC.  You can probably go to F21 safely.  100 Mhz is nothing.  No decrease in performance or frame rates. If not already done, perform a CLR_CMOS and attempt the OC again with 22f.  If you are running UEFI RAID you will lose the array doing this, so image the system before resetting the BIOS.
Thanks, I did manage to get stable 4.5mhz in the end. Will test further.
Title: Re: Downgrade Bios
Post by: shadowsports on January 01, 2018, 04:25:58 pm
Cool.  Then stay where you are at. 

I just flashed a Z370 board from F3 to F5 (Intel ME Update).  BIOS is fine (stable), 3200Mhz memory running at 3192Mhz. XMP.  I don't OC my stuff, never needed to.  Gigabyte appears to be working on maintaining tighter tolerances in recent BIOS revs which is helpful for folks like you who OC.