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Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with AMD processors => Topic started by: Arith on February 10, 2012, 02:32:56 pm

Title: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: Arith on February 10, 2012, 02:32:56 pm
I have a FX8120 on the GA 970A UD3 and had to return it to the vendor to update the BIOS to F4. I thought F4 came out last year but never mind about that, I noticed that my backup BIOS is F1 still, how do I get it to F4 since if I get wobbly BIOS on a Bulldozer the whole lot is gonna die?

Also I set optimum defaults and got CAS 11 1333Mhz with CAS 8,8,8,24 1600Mhz memory, and after reading about phenoms I thought maybe I shouldn't have set the timings manually to show manufacturers specs.

My old pc has latency 4,4,4,12 at 800Mhz which is probably faster than the above at 1333Mhz :-\
Title: Re: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: autotech on February 11, 2012, 04:22:51 am

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,6244.msg49263.html#msg49263

That link follow it and look for a post by dark mantis he is showing you how flash the back up bios.

Depends on what you want your ram at alot of 1600 ram has to be manually set because default is 1333.

Search forum for post from absic or dark mantis about bios flashing they have some excellent post about what program to use to flash it with and links showing you how to do it.
Title: Re: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: Arith on February 11, 2012, 09:47:49 am
I've seen it, alt + f12, does it work on an AMD, will it hurt to try  ;D
Title: Re: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: absic on February 11, 2012, 09:59:01 am
Hi,

it works on AMD but it might take a few attempts before it actually registers the keystrokes.

Best advice is to start the PC from cold (not a reboot) and, if possible, use a PS/2 keyboard. When the Alt+ F12 is registered you will get a message on screen about copying the main BIOS to the Backup chip. DO NOT turn the PC off whilst this process takes place. Once the copying has been completed you can restart as usual.
Title: Re: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: Arith on February 11, 2012, 11:44:15 am
Cheers; I haven't got a PS/2 keyboard: I give it a try on a USB  just was confused about this in the handbook, since it is dual bios and AM3+ but bulldozer doesn't work at all with F1.

Quote
Motherboards that support DualBIOS have two BIOS onboard, a main BIOS and a backup BIOS. Normally, the system works on the main BIOS. However, if the main BIOS is corrupted or damaged, the backup BIOS will take over on the next system boot and copy the BIOS file to the main BIOS to ensure normal system operation. For the sake of system safety, users cannot update the backup BIOS manually.

I must say the shop I got it from is very unhelpful; they knew about this problem because the technician even sniggered about it over the telephone, a £1 a minute call, then took it back to update without updating it properly. :o
Title: Re: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: Arith on February 11, 2012, 06:39:21 pm
Yes it worked; and switching cables around go express 2 to work, Then I left it on idle just playing a movie for several hours but was shocked to find some odd temperatures, fan speeds and voltages.

http://arismetique.com/downloads/HWMonitor.txt (http://arismetique.com/downloads/HWMonitor.txt)
Title: Re: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: autotech on February 12, 2012, 12:52:12 am
Sounds like you are getting it sorted my main advantage is reading and i have always found if you search a forum you can find a post close to yours. If you see Absic or Darkmantis posting then you getting  known good info. You might want to read Absic's post about memory and am3 chips.
Title: Re: GA 970A UD3 how to update backup BIOS
Post by: Arith on February 12, 2012, 02:16:04 pm
Seen it and it was a very good read; I've got phenom in this but memory was a tad more expensive then so I got 800Mhz DDR2 .

Glad I didn't spend a lot more and run into those probs. :)