Z68XP-UD3 restart loop before post

[mat2711]

My system is as follows. (Built 2 weeks ago)

Z68XP-UD3 with F3 Bios
i7 2600K
2*4gb g skill F3-17000CL11D-8gbXL 2133mhz
1*Asus 560ti
1tb WD black
60gb patriot SSD
750w Coolermaster PSU

I was changing some settings in the Bios doing some overclocking
Last settings were
Vcore 3.10V
Turbo ratio 44
Line Level level 4
Overcurrent +10%
And the BCLK at 101.6Mhz which i changed back to 100.3 in windows when i saw that the memory was running at aprox 2154Mhz
I also turned XMP off and any acceleration ie. turbo so the ram was running at (1600Mhz)

Saved this config and  the computer rebooted serveral times (restarts before post) which concerned me because it had not happened before. Finally it then decided to bootup and go through to Windows. (With no OC warnings from Bios) I then ran a high level stress test several times (intel burn test) it was fine low temps 60c. I then did a reboot to change the Ram setting to 21.33 with XMP still off and no acceleration.
After this the system was stuck in the same start restart loop with no beeping to indicate post. This will continue to happen until you turn the switch off on the PSU. I have then tried a CMOS reset and removed cmos battery still the same, removing all the ram the system gives a long beep and restarts in a loop as well. Tried one stick at a time in different slots still the same. Then removed video card and sata connections still the same. I have even tried using the reset switch as the power button and using a spare PSU alas still no change.

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Hi


The first thing to try is an extended CMOS clear. This will take a few hours but hopefully will do the job. Please follow these instructions exactly.

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 for at least five 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.

If you still have any problems we will deal with them after you have done this.

[mat2711]

Thanks for your quick reply. I'am in the process of doing this was going to do 1 hour but will try 5 +

What are the chances i have damaged the cpu or ram?

I will keep you posted. Thanks

[mat2711]

Much to my surprise removing the battery for an hour worked.

Any ideas on what caused this?

Thank you

[Dark Mantis]

Not exactly. All we can summise is that something had corrupted the CMOS and by clearing it out and forcing a refresh and a load of the Optimised BIOS defaults put it back to factory mode.

[mat2711]

Well now after running the system not overclocked i can still replicate the restart loop.

When the computer is put in to sleep mode for more than an hour it will turn back on but the screen remains black. I then push restart and then the restart loop starts again.

Also noticed when i downloaded the wrong version of memtest and it locked up when loading (off a bootable CD) after pushing reset got the same loop.

It seems that this board can't handle someone using the reset button and causes you to loose your cmos setting because it assumes it is a OC setting.

From what i have read on other forums people resolve this issue by exchanging for an Asus board.

Are there any new bios versions coming out soon to fix this problem that seems very widespread throughout the GB Z68 range.

[Dark Mantis]

I would say that over use of the reset button can cause corruption of the CMOS and hence the multiple boot scenario.

As for what is in the future for BIOS updates I can't say as I don't have that information. All I can say is that Gigabyte are constantly improving their BIOSes.

[mat2711]

Thanks for your reply.

I would hardly call this over use more like warranted use.
As i said it seems this board shouldn't have a reset button connection if it will corrupt the bios.

I would be tempted to just claim warranty as i have had good experience with GB boards in the past. But as you will see from the 28 page post below i very much doubt it is just my board playing up.

http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/1034724-gigabyte-p67-z68-boot-cycling-problem.html

[Dark Mantis]

I don't recommend the use of the Reset button myself. I prefer to use the power button or even the on/off switch on the PSU if I need to kill the power.

When I said "overuse" before I was actually meaning that the more it is used the greater the chance of a CMOS corruption happening. This is something that is known to happen on other boards not just the Z68.

I should be getting a Z68 motherboard for review/testing shortly and hopefully I will be able to know a bit more after some hands on experience.

[mat2711]

Well, F4 beta bios version came out today and it has fixed all my problems. Including an issue not allowing me to resume from sleep.

I'am very relieved that i now have a working product and don't have to exchange it for another product.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes me too as I could see a lot of faultfinding looming in front of me otherwise! 

[Damo]

I have the GA Z68X UD4 B3 and have suffered the reboot loop problem.
I have narrowed it down to the GSATA setting in the BIOS (integrated peripherals).
If I disable GSATA, I have no problems at all. Re-enable it, and the reboot loop comes back.
Give that a go and see how you get on.
I have tried all of the BIOSes out there, including all of the beta versions with no change to this problem.
I'm not sure what it means in terms of the board (BIOS or hardware issue) as the GSATA and eSATA are controlled by the Marvell chip.
I'm waiting on a reply from Gigabyte re this issue.
Good luck!