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

[absic]

Thanks.

in the CMOS Setup Utility screen in the pictures your Date and Time are wrong reset these to the correct time/Date and see if that helps.

[sc4s2cg]

Set time and date, still stuck at DMI

[absic]

Well this is proving to be a right pain in the a*** isn't it?

Looking through the BIOS images you posted I really can't see anything wrong with the other settings so I think we need to go back over a few steps just to make sure we haven't missed something simple.

Try setting the Onchip SATA type to IDE rather than AHCI and leave the Onchip SATA 4/5 type set to "As SATA Type"  Leave all other BIOS settings as they are and see if this gets you past the Verifying DMI stage.

[sc4s2cg]

Ha, sure is.

I set the Ochip SATA type to Native IDE, but that also changed the SATA 4/5 type to IDE as well. http://i.imgur.com/vblE1.jpg

Figured since I'm taking pictures, might as well show you what's going on. The error: http://i.imgur.com/MOUxg.jpg

Edit: When I changed to IDE, saved, rebooted, it asked me if I want to change to AHCI. I said no.

Edit: To any readers, we went on Skype. If a solution is found I will post it in this thread.

[Dark Mantis]

Just to but in here but are you saying that you get the message "updating DMI Data" when the system is booting up ? If so that is perfectly normal and you can't do anything to stop it.

[absic]

The problem is that the system gets to the verifying DMI Pool Data stage it then hangs and is not progressing beyond this point.

[Dark Mantis]

Absic after our chat on the phone I remembered something on an Intel system from some time ago which was similar. I have dug around my archives and come up with this:

DMI or Desktop Management Interface (pdf) is a layer of abstraction between system components and the software that manages them. The System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) is an extension of the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) that formulates and delivers this information to the operating system. The pool data is the information. In short, when the BIOS is "Verifying DMI pool data" it is verifying the table of data it sends to the operating system (Windows, etc.). If it isn't sucessful, it should return an error. Wait a reasonable period of time for it to finish. It may make take some time or it may be stuck. Possible fixes:

1. If you changed the hardware just before this problem occurred (e.g., installed a new hard disk drive), unchange it.

2. If you installed a new hard disk drive, set the motherboard CMOS Setup to Auto for the drive type. You may have to disconnect the drive first.

3. Enable "Reset Configuration Data" (may be "Force Update ESCD" in some CMOS Setuups) in the motherboard CMOS Setup PNP/PCI configuration. (Rebooting will automatically disabled it after it has done its thing.)

4. The CMOS may be corrupted. Clear it.

5. Disconnect all drives not required to boot the computer. If this fixes it, reconnect one at time.

6. The floppy drive may be bad or not connected properly.

7. Reseat all expansion boards.

8. Pull all boards not required to boot the computer.


Hope it helps somewhat.

[sc4s2cg]

Alright, so, a couple things:

• Got the scare of my life after all of a sudden the monitor wouldn't receive signals from the PC. This happened after I reconnected all previously unconnected hard drives and RAMs (except one 2gb stick). This is when I left the whole thing out of frustration and ignored the server out of spite. Today,I fixed it by unconnecting everything again, adding a new graphics card, turning it on. It didn't work so I removed the new graphics card, left everything unconnceted, and tried the default one again. For some reason the monitor started receiving signals. reconnected all things again and monitor still worked
• I got the Ubuntu 12.04LTS OS to boot up tonight. Everything was connected, it didn't boot up. Then I tried to plug it all back exactly the way they were before. And boom, it worked.

For the record, this is how everything is plugged in:

SATA1: CD/DVD drive
SATA4: Seagate Barracuda ST31000528AS (OS)
SATA3: Seagate Barracuda ST2000DL003 (Storage 1)
SATA2: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS (Storage 2)
SATA0: Western Digital WD20EADS (Storage 3)

Now that I got the exact configurations down, I'll do some testing with switching cables around. Then by adding the IDE hard drive. I'll update my results here.

[sc4s2cg]

Hello. Here is what I did so far:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TKcrPKUdqeR5TjKidhoKdD4RQNJa34jY8bXn62yzuPo/edit

Top chart says what ports the hard drives were in (and what type of hard drives they are) when the server worked. I obviously didn't try all combinations, but so far the results are weird.

• I found out that my OS is on the 2tb samsung hard drive, not 1tb. Whoops.
  
  If I have the OS hd in SATA3, and any hd in SATA1 or 2, I get the DMI hang.

Does anyone know what this means?

[Dark Mantis]

Always try and put the boot drive(with the OS on) on the SATA0 port. Best to leave all other drives disconnected until the OS is finalised.

[sc4s2cg]

Yes, that is the way it is now.

Is there anyway to make the OS be on the IDE port and storage drives in the SATA ports?

[Dark Mantis]

Although some boards have the capability still to connect via IDE (PATA)  and SATA at the same time it is usually better not to. More often than not some problem will arise and the fact that PATA ports are not as efficient anyway is good reason for steering clear of them. Apart from that I don't see why it should not work as you describe.