GA-880GM-USB3 Won't boot.

[bnpavey]

Hi All,

I need some help recovering from a cock-up.

My system is:
GA-880GM-USB3 v3.1 BIOS version FFa
On board gfx
AMD FX-4100
4GB RAM
WD 500GB SATA drive
Win XP Pro 32 bit

The system was all up an running beautifully, until I started to fiddle.....

I bought an eSATA cable with a view to making use of some spare IDE drives plus IDE/SATA adaptor as external storage.

On first connection, nothing happened. So, I read the instructions and noted that I had to set the onboard SATA to AHCI mode before I could enable the eSATA port.

When I did this, the computer got into a boot, OS, BSOD, boot .... cycle that I couldn't break out of. Pressing delete during the boot would not enter BIOS setup so I could change AHCI back to Native IDE. Tried USB and PS/2 keyboards - no difference.

Then, and don't ask me why I did this (it was late Friday night and I was panicking) I followed the instructions to invoke the backup BIOS.

Now the machine is totally unresponsive. With the PSU power switch on, pressing the case power switch powers up the hardware (I can hear the disc spinning and the CPU fan "twitches" periodically) but no sign of life on the display.

Pressing and holding the case power switch four 4+ seconds has no effect, and the only way to power down is to switch off the PSU.

I have a horrible feeling that I might have switched to a blank backup BIOS, but I don't know.

Does anyine know how I can recover from this situation?

Thanks in anticipation,

Brian.

[absic]

Hi Brian,

when you kicked in the backup BIOS you probably lost support for the CPU and the only way of getting things back up and running, will be to use a supported processor and reflash the BIOS with the latest version. Check here for supported CPU's: http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3809

If you don't have a CPU that will do the job then the best bet would be to take it to a local PC repair shop and see if they can reflash the BIOS for you. They will charge for this (in most cases) but it should get you back up and running.

When running XP in IDE mode it is very difficult to get the PC running in AHCI mode, as you have found out and it is often better to do a clean install of the OS in AHCI mode.

[bnpavey]

absic,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I hadn't thought of that. The setup came as a motherboard bundle, with BIOS FE loaded. I guess there's no reason the backup BIOS would be the same if they had to update for the FX cpu.

I'll see what I can do to get hold of another processor.

Thanks again.

BNP

[absic]

It's the only reason I can think of that things have gone belly up.

If you can get the BIOS reflashed to the latest version and everything is back up and running  then I would recommend that you flash the back up BIOS with the Main BIOS so you don't encounter the same problem again.

To do this you need to shutdown the PC then when you power up, press the "Alt & F12" keys together in the same you you press the "Del" Key to enter BIOS. It may take a few attempts of shutting down the PC and restarting before the keystrokes are registered but when they are you will be asked if you want to copy the Main BIOS to the Backup chip. Just follow the on screen instructions to do this. Once the process has completed shutdown the PC completely and wait at least 30 seconds before starting up again. Copying the Main BIOS to the back up chip will not alter any of the settings you have made to BIOS so you should be able to restart the PC as normal.

[bnpavey]

absic,

Good advice! I was thinking the same myself (re updating the backup), so the instructions you've provided will hopefully be useful.

The only AMD processor I have in my "box of bits" is socket 939, so I've had to bite the bullet and order a cheap(ish) Sempron 145.

Hopefully it will arrive Tuesday, so there will be some tension after work.......

I'll let you know how I get on.

Regards,

BNP

[bnpavey]

absic,

So, the Sempron 145 arrived yesterday (a day late) and I dashed home to try it out.

Fitted the Sempron into the MB and switched on.......... and the system booted, Windows up and running, all is well, the theory appears confirmed.

Then I checked the System Information, which reported BIOS version FFa in use. A puzzle, and slightly disturbing - does this mean my FX-4100 is dead? Does this indicate that the BIOS swap failed, as I would have expected the backup to be FE at the latest?

Just in case I re-flashed the BIOS at FFa anyway, and replaced the Sempron with the FX.

Switched on - and all is fine again.

So, problem solved although it's not entirely clear why/how. Is it possible that it was only necessary to remove/replace the CPU to fix the problem?

One slight anomaly to note, when Windows booted the first time with the Sempron, it reported Found New Hardware "PCI Bridge" or similar. I don't know if that is relevant or not.

Anyway, many thanks for your help. When (if) I get a chance tonight I'll try the Alt-F12 procedure.

Regards,

BNP

[absic]

Hi ,

pleased you are now back up up and running even if it has raised a couple of questions.

The main BIOS might have become corrupted when you tried to invoke the back-up BIOS which is why you couldn't get the PC to fire up until you fitted the Sempron and reflashed the BIOS. I have experienced this myself so now how disconcerting this can be.

The reason you got the message in Windows is because the OS had been installed with the FX Processor and Windows recognised that a different CPU was now being used and reconfigured the drivers to allow it to run properly.

Now everything is back-up and running I would make it a priority to copy the main BIOS to the Back-up BIOS Chip to prevent any issues arising in the future.

[bnpavey]

absic,

Yes, I will be attempting to backup the FFa BIOS tonight. However, I am a bit sceptical about trying to use it in the future given this recent experience. It's only any use if I can successfully swap to it - which didn't seem to happen this time. Hopefully the need will not arise.

Having had time to think this all through, the correct action while I was in the boot-BSOD-boot cycle would have been to clear the CMOS. I think this would have got me back to the defaults and prompted the first time "set up AHCI" question. The lesson is to stop and think, maybe even sleep on it, rather than trying every trick you've heard of in a panic. Ahhh, hindsight.

Although I've parked the eSATA idea, I would be interested to know why SATA0-3 have to be set to AHCI (or RAID) to allow SATA4-5 to be enabled.

Having typed that sentence it occurs to me to investigate the RAID setting for SATA0-3 to get me an eSATA port.............. I foresee more problems ahead if I pursue that thought so I'll try and control myself.

Thanks again for your help.

BNP

[absic]

If you synch the back-up BIOS with the main BIOS then any problems in the future will be easier to resolve. Also, it can often help if both BIOS versions are the same with everyday use.

Yes, I understand how things can happen when panic mode kicks in and clearing CMOS first may have solved your issue. But hey, it's all a learning process and we have to make mistakes so we know not to do the same thing again. I wish I had a pound for every mistake I had made with computers, I would be a multi-millionaire now! 

I don't use e-SATA devices so I am afraid I can offer no practical advice on this subject. The only time I did try, was several years ago and it was not very successful. Nowadays I use a USB3 SATA docking port which I have found much easier and more reliable.