GA-P67A-UD3 , PCI plug in card with PCI-PCI bridge prevents BIOS start

[Julian]

I already posted much of this information at http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,4157.0.html but didn't get a reply after a few days.

I'm using a GA-P67A-UD3 rev 1.1, updated to the most recent release BIOS, F6.

The system is not overclocked and otherwise very stable.

When I insert a Kworld PI610 DVB-T & 1394 card, the system goes into a similar boot loop to that previously described. The system never comes up with the BIOS screen, but seems to power down after about 10 seconds or so, then tries to power up again, repeat forever.

When I insert a gerneric 1394 card, or other PCI cards without a bridge, the system boots fine.

These cards also work fine in an old Dell Optiplex 755 which is based around the IntelQ35/ICH9, but I don't want to use that anymore.

I'm sure that this isn't a PSU problem as I have two video cards installed, one PCIeX16 and the other PCIeX4. If I remove one of the video cards, the system still won't boot.

So, some more detail about the cards...

The working 1394 card is 3v3 and the main component is a TI TSB12LV23 chip, which is compliant with the PCI 2.2 specification.
The card which upsets the P67A-UD3 is also 3v3 and has a PLX PCI6140 PCI-PCI bridge chip. On the far side, there is a TSB43AB22A (PCI 2.2) and an NXP SAA7131E (PCI 2.2).

I believe that the GeForce 9400 and 8400 (mentioned in topic 4157) are basically PCIe based GPUs and that the PCI versions of these cards use a PCI-PCIe bridge.

My best guess as to what is happening is that the BIOS isn't expecting to see another PCI-PCI bridge, so can't allocate space for the BARs in the devices on the far side and just gives up.

I'd like some confirmation that the BIOS has a soft limit on the depth/span of bridges that results from this configuration. I'd really, really like a BIOS update which would fix this.

Thanks,

Julian

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

I am not familiar with this type of card but even so it is obviously made to work with these motherboards I guess.  I take it is compatible with your hardware and OS ?

Does the card have a firmware base that you can update ? If so I would suggest that should be your first job. Also make sure that you have the latest drivers for the card.

If you are not using the latest motherboard BIOS then also download and insytall that but not with @BIOS use QFlash which is much safer.

[Julian]

Hi Dark Mantis,

I believe that the motherboard should be able to work with the card. It is spec'd to support PCI v2.2 at 3v3.

The drivers for the card download the firmware to it once the OS has booted, but this machine is getting nowhere near that far. The BIOS screen doesn't even appear with the card inserted, which is why I suspect a BIOS problem. It is meaningless to talk about the latest drivers for the card when the OS doesn't even boot.

Thanks,

Julian

[Dark Mantis]

Are you running the latest BIOS version ?

[Julian]

Sorry, the 6A bios makes no difference. Have there been any changes to it that meant you might have expected an improvement?

Thanks,

Julian

[Dark Mantis]

Not as far as I know but Gigabyte are fairly lax when it comes to noting exactly what has been altered in the updates.

[Lsdmeasap]

Does it boot if you set all the hard drive controllers in the BIOS to IDE mode, then boot shut down and try the card installed?   You may need to boot to windows to properly apply the settings change, or at least let it get to the windows loading attempt before you shut it off, so the BIOS settings are saved.

You might need to get your board flashed over to the B3 BIOSes, so you can use newer better BIOSes.  To do that, you'll need to flash the following BIOS:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/12/20/2696817/p67aud33.f31.zip

Then once you've done that, load optimized defaults and then save/apply/reboot to back to the BIOS and set your SATA settings, then boot to windows and shut down.   Then reboot again and flash the backup BIOS to match the main BIOS, using the following guide.  You may need to use a PS/2 keyboard to do this, or a USB to PS/2 adapter
http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.com/2011/02/video-guide-how-to-update-your-backup.html

Then once you are done with all of that, go find the latest GA-P67A-UD3-B3 BIOS and update to that, then do the same optimized dance as mentioned above and then the same backup BIOS dance.  Then try the card again, if no luck try what I suggested with the SATA control modes and tell us the outcome.

Latest P67A-UD3- B3 BIOS is here, please flash with Qflash or DOS after you have done the above
http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/BIOS/mb_bios_ga-p67x-ud3-b3_f8.exe

Now, why did you not RMA your board for a B3 version?

[Julian]

Sorry for the delay, this isn't actually my PC, I was just trying to help a friend out.

Does it boot if you set all the hard drive controllers in the BIOS to IDE mode, then boot shut down and try the card installed?   You may need to boot to windows to properly apply the settings change, or at least let it get to the windows loading attempt before you shut it off, so the BIOS settings are saved.

Windows was installed in IDE mode, so it needs to be in IDE mode to boot Windows, which it is. The failure happens before the BIOS splash screen appears, so is actually nothing to do with Windows.

You might need to get your board flashed over to the B3 BIOSes, so you can use newer better BIOSes.

I've done that now and am running the F8 BIOS which you pointed me to. This behaves is exactly the same way. I say again, I'm convinced that the problem is to do with the BIOS enumeration when it finds a bridge on the PCI plug in card.

Now, why did you not RMA your board for a B3 version?

Apart from the fact it isn't my board, the SATA150 ports aren't in use and are never likely to be, so it isn't a big deal in this instance.

Thanks again for your help.

Julian