cant access bios and sound stuttering through spdif

[silky]

Hi,
I built my rig in Nov 2008 and never a problem until now.

I just installed a ozc vertex 3 120gb ssd, latest firmware 2.15.  set bios to ahci. no o/c. installed on blue channel 0, disconected all other hard drives. instaled win7 ult sp1 and all updates. connected all hdd's.   boots up and the os runs fine without any bsod.

problem 1:   pressing del  I cannot enter bios at boot it just loads into windows.  the only way I can get into bios is to clear cmos and then of course I have to re-enter all the settings again.

problem 2:    with sound settings defaulted to hdmi mkv files play back ok.  if I set to spdif output, using optical cable conected to my hi-fi the sound stutters badly.  I have tried  without any hd audio or dcc drivers,  and tried from the original hd audio driver and all versions up to 2.66, they all exhibit the same stuttering with or without dcc x64 2.2.3 installed.

all these problems have occured since installing the ssd and setting ahci,  tried with ms drivers and intel iata-enu 10.8.0.1003 drivers.
previous install with hdd on sata/ide everything worked perfectly.

one last question would i be better off putting the ssd onto the gygabyte controler with appropriate driver than using the intel?  

I hope I've been precise enough, any ideas on correcting these faults would be greatly appreciated as I'm getting balder by the day  

system details;
ga-x58-ud5  bios f13u
i7 920
coolermaster v8 cpu cooler
3x4gb corsair ram
ati 4850 video card 1gb mem with hdmi out
corsair hx520watt from nov 2008 never had a problem with the wattage always stable.
ozc vertex 3 120gb ssd on intel (blue) channel 0
4 x 1.5tb seagate sata 2 7200rpm
1 x 1tb samsung sata 2 7200
all drives are on the intel blue sockets

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome.

Right firstly put your SSD on the SATA2_0 port as it is the fastest port youn have available because of the Marvell screw up. Only use the Marvell controlled ports for backup and optical drives.

Even if your PSU is seemingly coping  it is underpowered and now three years old at least and so has deterioirated even further in it's output performance. You are just lukcky that you bought a good quality one in the first place.

It sounds to me as if your Main BIOS might be corrupt. It would be a good idea to flash over the top of it with the Backup BIOS. Are they both running the same version of the file ?

[silky]

Hi,
thanks for the welcome and reply.

If the bual bios keeps the previously used bios it should be f7 on it.  I'll flash it again anyway using q-flash this time. Are there any known problems with f13u as it's marked only beta and no other details.  I've downloaded f13j it's also a beta but states improved audio.  I have to go out now but will check back here first and then try the reflash.

I gotta say I did spend some time researching psu's and yes it is a very good one. output voltages are still prime and never a problem with it.  I would say that I don't game or stress my pc and that's probably why, but did take that into account when I chose  it   As I know it is not causing my problems I'll let it stay untill it dies or I die first 

many thanks Silky

[MiiCK]

I had the issue of not being able to hit Del and get into my bios, my keyboard wasn't registering on the pc until after post screen, I can't remember if I changed a setting in the BIOS but I did go into the bios, might be worth checking any settings in there, but I have numerous USB ports, blue/black/yellow/red, I switched a few ports and it now works. Try using a PS/2 keyboard too.

With the stuttering..

Try this link.. LINK.

[Gloup_Gloup]

Hi Friends,

Have you any idea about software to find the version of the various filters sounds into the computer?

Gloup_Gloup

[silky]

Hi Guys,

problem solved all back to normal apart from dodgy ssd speed which I'l open a new thread for. I didn't mention earlier that I was using win7 ult 64bit,  so here's what I did.

firstly I redownloaded all the undermentioned drivers and bios afresh from the Gigabyte site.

1:       I droped the bios down to f13u and used q-flash to instal.   how can I get this succesful bios to save in the backup bios chip?

2:       I installed Intel chipset drivers    29-4-2010

3:       I installedintel sata raid irst   22-6-2011

4:        I instaled realtel azalia driver    26-8-2010

5:        I instaled dolby control centre 

sound stuttering gone and enter bios at post working.

From the above sugestions regarding codec packs, yes there are many so choose the ones that suit the media player you are using.  I use VLC exclusivley and it does not need any other codecs to work properly. for anyone who likes to use WMP I found that Sharkeys two codec packs are all that are need for it play back mkv files, first install the 32 bit pack even if you are using 64 bit os, then install the 64 bit pack.  sharkey regularly keeps these packs up to date so check now and again for later virsions.  personaly I found VLC to be the best and easiest to set up the way you want and have easy contol over sub titles and audio channels with a simple right click.

hardware wise I actualy had the ssd on sata 0 and my 5 spinners on the remaining intel blue sockets, nothing on the gigabyte/marvel chip sockets. I also disabled that chip in the bios. I set the bios to ahci, actualy I used all the same bios settings as previous to this problem.  So I'm going to call it a dodgy f13j flash, though it all appeared to flash normaly, or else f13j is buggy as hell.

Thanks to all who wrote me replies and sugestions and I hope my roundup helps others who might have some similar troubles.
Thanks all and I'll check back to see if anyone can tell me how to copy my succesfull bios to the back up chip and answer an questions anyone might have.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi silky,

Good news that you have that problem sorted out now. As for synchronising the two BIOS versions follow these instructions and it should be easy.

If you have a PS2 keyboarrd connect that instead of the USB version as it is more reliable.

From a cold start with the power to the machine switched off press the power button and then enter the BIOS by pressing Del.
 Then when you get to the main screen press F9.
 
This will bring up an extra screen which will display more information about the two BIOS versions. Assuming they are different exit the BIOS and shutdown.

Again press the power button and this time press Alt + F12 where you would normally use the Del key to enter the BIOS. You will find that then your monitor will turn black and you will see:

Press [Enter] to start copying main BIOS to backup BIOS...

When you press Enter more text will appear saying:

Writing BIOS image.... xxxKb OK

Once completed more text will show:

BIOS successfully recovered! Power off or reset system!

Do as it says. Both Main and Backup BIOS chips now store the same BIOS version. You can now reboot as normal.