MA785GMT-UD2H: stuck at 'AMD Data Change...Update New Data to DMI!' message

[sc4s2cg]

So I've previously had this problem when I added new SATA hard drives to an old one, all I had to do was switch hard disk priority to the one I wanted to boot from. But that's not working right now.

Error message: AMD Data Change...Update New Data to DMI!
Specs:

• Motherboard: Gigabyte MA785GMT-UD2H
• Four SATA hard drives, three 2tb and one 1tb
• One IDE hard drive, 160gb
• 6gb RAM
• Everything else is the default

What happened: I had an Amahi home server running on this PC with Ubuntu 12.04LTS as the OS. It was using the four SATA hard drives and everything was running smoothly. Then I read that it's easiest to have a setup where the OS/Amahi is installed on one small hard drive while the large hard drives are used to keep the files on, this makes it easy to update the OS without worrying about the files. So today I installed Ubuntu 12.04LTS on an old IDE 160gb hard drive that I had laying around, which would be perfect to use since there is exactly one IDE port on the motherboard.

I disconnected all hard drives, connected the IDE, installed Ubuntu, and rebooted. I got a "AMD Data Change...Update New Data to DMI!" message.

What I tried:

• Have the IDE be given priority over other hard drives.
• Connecting all the hard drives back, with and without the IDE hard drive. Same message.
• Disconnect all hard drives, connect IDE, and set BIO to opimised defaults. Same message.
• Disconnect CD drive with only IDE attached, same message. Reconnect CD drive, same message.
• Disconnect CD drive with only SATA attached, same message. Reconnect CD drive, same message.
• Disconnect CD drive with SATA and IDE attached, same message. Reconnect CD drive, same message.
• Just IDE connected, mess with the peripheral settings by changing "OnChip SATA Type" to ATHCI, RAID, or IDE. Tried this with "As SATA Type" and with "IDE" set for the port4/5 type
• Just IDE connected, disable SATA controller
• Disconnect IDE, reconnect original hard drives. I still get the same DMI message.
• Attempt to boot from the SATA hard drive that has Ubuntu on it, using each of the SATA ports.
• Update BIOS to F10B, disabling the "Remember DMI" option. I reconnected all hard drives and the CD drive (the pdf said the 'system' will redetect all devices). Now I got the "AMD Data Change...Update New Data to DMI! Update Success" message, still hanging there. Rebooted, now it's the original message.
  

I've been Googling for 3-4 hours now to no avail, so I am at a loss. Any suggestions?

Edit: there were many suggestions to try clear the CMOS, however that didn't seem to help the posters. I haven't tried that, but if people suggest I should then I will do so tomorrow.[/list]

[Dark Mantis]

Hi,

Firstly I think you should do an extended clear of the CMOS memory and the load Optimised BIOS Defaults. Hopefully this will put you back on track. Follow these instructions please :

Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery overnight  or for at least 5 hours before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Optimised BIOS Defaults.

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self like disabling the floppy drive, disabling the full screen logo and making the HDD the primary boot device and then press F10 to save and exit.

[sc4s2cg]

Thanks for the reply!

I disconnected the battery for 6 hours and loaded optimized defaults. It didn't work. I also tried setting it to AHCI, that didn't work either.

The current message is at "Verifying DMI Pool Data".

[absic]

Hi there,

I assume from your specs that you are running 3x2GB sticks of RAM in this system.

Try removing all but one of the sticks of RAM, also disconnect all other drives and peripherials except for the keyboard (basically a stripped down system). See if you can get past the DMI Pool Data screen with this minimum setup.

[sc4s2cg]

Hi there,

I assume from your specs that you are running 3x2GB sticks of RAM in this system.

Try removing all but one of the sticks of RAM, also disconnect all other drives and peripherials except for the keyboard (basically a stripped down system). See if you can get past the DMI Pool Data screen with this minimum setup.

Hey, thanks for the reply!

I disconnected all hard drives and hard drive cables, also took out the RAMs (turns out it's 8gb, 4x2) except for one 2gb. CD drive is disconnected, only keyboard and monitor are connected now. New message "AMD Data Change...Update New DATA to DMI! Update Success" and then right after that "Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter".

Next I added just the IDE hard drive, it was then stuck at "Verifying DMI Pool Data". Left it there for a couple minutes, still there.

Next I removed the IDE, and added just the SATA hard drive that has the OS on it. Message was "Verifying DMI Pool Data" even after a couple minutes.

[absic]

Well I would think that would indicate that the problem is with the way the BIOS is reading the drive(s) rather than a complete failure of the system.

What BIOS version were you running before you updated to the F10b?
Have you tried flashing back with the F9 BIOS or the version you were running before the update?
Have you tried synchronising the BIOS versions by flashing the back-up chip with the same version which is on the Main BIOS chip?

[sc4s2cg]

- I am not sure about the previous version
- I have not. If by flashing you mean installing, I can try installing the F9
- No, how do I do this?

[absic]

OK, first thing I would do is try flashing the BIOS with the F9 version to see if that helps. Use QFlash not the @BIOS utility for this and remember to once again disable the "Keep DMI Data" Option on the QFlash homescreen before running the update.

When you have updated the BIOS shutdown the PC and disconnect the power. Wait about 30 seconds (longer if you are patient) and press the power button on the PC (with the mains power still disconnected). This should clear any residule power in the system.
Restart the PC and hopefully you will be able to get into BIOS
On the BIOS homescreen press the F9 Key. This should bring up a dialogue box with basic system specs and here you should find the Main and Backup BIOS versions shown. It will read something like F9/F4 The first number is the Main BIOS version the second one the Backup chips BIOS version. Press "Esc" to exit this screen (after noting the BIOS versions) then load Optimized Defaults, save and exit.
Reboot the PC, go back into BIOS and make the changes you need for your HDD's and other peripherals. Save & exit. When the PC reboots, if everything is working properly you should get the "Disk BOOT Failure" message. Do not panic, this is normal and indicates that there are no HDD's attached.
Shutdown the PC and disconnect the Power supply.
Reconnect the DVD/CD drive to the  SATA port that you usually connect it to then power up the PC.
If the system goes through POST and you get the "Disk BOOT Failure" message great. Shutdown and reconnect your IDE drive and go through the reboot  process again.
If the system hangs at the "Verifying DMI Pool Data" stage, shutdown the PC disconnect the IDE Drive and attach one of the SATA HHD drives and try again.
What happens?

[sc4s2cg]

Recording everything that happened:

- BIOS: F9/F5
- Only thing I changed after the reboot is OnChip SATA Type to AHCI and Ochip SATA Port4/5 Type to As SATA Type
- Disk BOOT Failure message happened
- Not sure which SATA port the CD was connected to, but I did get the BOOT Failure message. Not sure what "POST" is.
- IDE + CD, hangs at Verifying DMI Pool Data
- SATA + CD, hangs at Verifying DMI Pool Data

[absic]

OK the next logical step would be to synchronise the BIOS versons to eliminate one possible cause.

To synchronise the two BIOS versions I recommend using a PS2 keyboard if you have one rather than a USB version as I have found this more reliable.

From a cold start (disconnect the main power from the PC for at least 1 minute)

Start the PC and press the "Alt" & "F12" keys simultaniously in the same manner that would normally use the "Del" key to enter the BIOS. You should find that 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!"

Once this screen appears shutdown the PC, wait 30 seconds and then reboot. You two BIOS chips will now be synchronised and you can confirm this by once again entering BIOS and pressing the "F9" key on the BIOS homescreen and checking the System Specs.

When you have done this power down the system. Connect the DVD/CD drive to the SATA 4 port and the SATA HDD to SATA 0.
Reboot and go into BIOS and set the SATA Port Controller to AHCI and the SATA Port4/5 to IDE save and exit.

POST is the Power On Self Test that the motherboard goes through prior to the BOOT phase. This is where the system will stall and give the Verifying DMI Pool Data message.
If it goes through this phase OK you will then get to the BOOT phase and, if your HDD is not installed or an OS (Operating System) can't be found, then you will get the Disk Boot Failure message.

[sc4s2cg]

- BIOS successfully recovered
- BIOS chips are F9/F9
- DVD/CD to port 4, SATA hdd to port 0
- Set to AHCI controller and IDE Port4/5
- It hangs at Verifying DMI Pool Data (waited around 30 minutes)

I see. So the POST is big chart that comes up before the verifying DMI pool data message.

EDIT: I did use a PS2 keyboard, as suggested.

[absic]

Right, now that you have synchronised the BIOS chips lets see if we can track down the wee beastie that is causing your system to hang.

In BIOS under Standard BIOS Features set Drive A to None. This will disable the Floppy Drive
Then go to the Integrated Peripherals page of BIOS and disable the OnChip IDE Channel and also the Onboard Serial Port & Onboard Parallel Port. This will disable these features also and doing this will help narrow down the possible cause of the problem.

Once you have made these changes to the BIOS reboot. Does the system get past the Verifying DMI Pool Data message or does it still stop there?

[sc4s2cg]

- Disabled Floppy
- There was no setting for OnChipIDE channel, only SATA. The only setting with IDE selected was the Port4/5 so I rebotted with and without SATA type.
- Disabled Serial and Parallel ports

No, still the verifying DMI Pool Data message.

Edit: Just want to remind that we are testing this with the SATA hdd and the DVD/CD drives plugged in to the motherboard, and one 2gb RAM stick.

[absic]

Sorry to be a pain but as I don't actually have your motherboard I am trying to work from memory and the manual. Could you post some BIOS screen shots for us? One of the Integrated Peripherals page, one of the Standard CMOS Features and one of Advandced BIOS Features. Thanks.

And yes, I do remember that, at the moment, we are still using just the basic components.

[sc4s2cg]

Sure.

I took a picture of each menu in the BIOS: http://imgur.com/a/PFrQv#0