GA-890GPA-UD3H with AMD Phenom II x6 1100T CPU

[Traveller]

Thanks Dark Mantis/absic.

[Traveller]

Hi All.

I have decided that I am going to try the CPU with the motherboard first and see if it works before attempting to update BIOS. As I will be using several parts from my old pc, if I do have to update BIOS and I am unsure about anything, I won't have Internet access in order to ask for any help, so I would like to ask a few questions before I dismantle my pc. Firstly, I would prefer to use the Q-Flash method as recommended in this thread, however, the motherboard manual doesn't mention things that appear in other general online instructions, such as clearing CMOS completely or removing batteries or anything like that. Am I to carry out ONLY what is mentioned in the motherboard instruction manual and nothing else? Also, I realise that the motherboard has a dual BIOS and the backup would kick in if anything were to go wrong, however, I would like to manually backup the main BIOS anyway to a USB/floppy disk. Is it just a case of choosing 'Save BIOS to Drive' via Q-Flash, as in the image below?

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/248/img0284mc.jpg/

Another thing that I'm unsure of is if BIOS is updated to the latest one successfully, does the back-up BIOS of the Dual BIOS system update to the latest one or does it remain as the original version? In either case, how can one go back to having the original BIOS version as the main BIOS after updating?

If there's anything else that I need to know that's not in the manual, I would appreciate any of that info.

Thanks.

[absic]

Hi again,

I have doubts that you will be able to get the motherboard to work with the 1100T CPU without having the correct BIOS onboard. If you do try this don't be surprised if nothing happens.

Let's answer the easy question first. If you update the BIOS version to, for example FGf and you wish to go back to an earlier version you can do so in exactly the same way that you go from an older version to a newer one. Using QFlash makes this very easy to do.

Flashing the BIOS with QFlash is fairly simple and is not something to get too stressed over. If you follow the steps in the FAQ here: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2441.msg13929.html#msg13929 then everything should be fine. When you flash the main BIOS the back-up chip will still have the original version in it and it isn't updated automatically. There is a method to flash the main BIOS to the Back-Up chip which is basically pressing the "Alt & F12" keys at the same time during the POST stage of booting in the same way you would press the "Del" key to enter BIOS. It is not something that you need to do straight away and in fact, it is a good idea to leave the back-up BIOS alone until you are happy that the main BIOS is functioning correctly.

I have never backed up the BIOS using QFlash as I have never had a need to do so but I will check this out and post back in a few minutes once I have had a chance to experiment.

EDIT: Just tried backing up the main BIOS using QFlash and it seems fairly easy to do and it saved the BIOS to a USB pendrive without a problem.

[Dark Mantis]

Don't forget that you can always get hold of us here through a Internet Cafe or the local Library as they have internet access on their computers. I would just advise making a note of the forum address and your logon details in case you need them.

As absic said there is not much chance of the board working with that CPU if you don't update the BIOS first.

[Traveller]

Hi absic/Dark Mantis.

'I have doubts that you will be able to get the motherboard to work with the 1100T CPU without having the correct BIOS onboard.'

So do I!! Haha. I realise that it may or may not work. The only reason I want to try it first is that it worked for someone with an even older revision board than mine (2.0), so this gives me some hope. Maybe it'll be good for me to gain some experience in removing and replacing CPU/cooler/thermal paste!! Haha.

Going back to the customer's experience with this motherboard and CPU, they had the exact same revision as I do (2.1) and, as mentioned before, the latest BIOS did not work for them, however, FGA worked fine. I have read a user guide for Q-Flash from the following link, which states "With Q-FlashTM utility, please do not cross too many BIOS versions at one time if your current BIOS version is rather old. For example, do not cross from F1 to F12, but to flash from F1 to F4 and F4 to F8 and so on." Maybe this is why the latest BIOS didn't work for the customer as the latest version is the sixth one after the original.

http://www2010.gigabyte.com/Support/Motherboard/HowToReflashBIOS.aspx

Anyhow, thanks for all the advice, help and support, it has really been appreciated. I'm think I'm going to stop asking anymore questions (you'll be happy to hear! Haha) and just do it!

[absic]

The advice about not going from a BIOS version F1 straight to F8 for example is good advice and it is always better to update the BIOS in smaller steps if you can.

[Traveller]

Ok, absic, if I did that, then I would definitely go to FGA first, as it has been known to work as mentioned before, and then onto FGF only if necessary. Maybe my next post will be from my new pc!.....or the library! Hahahahaha.

[Dark Mantis]

Good luck anyway and it will be a good learning curve whatever.

[Traveller]

Thanks Dark Mantis!

[Traveller]

Ok this my LAST question. I have three differing instructions and was wondering which is the correct/preferable one.

1. Extract and save all three files onto the USB drive.

2. Extract and save the whole folder containing the three files onto the USB drive.

3. Extract and save only the BIOS file onto the USB drive. (This is the one in the manual and the how to guide at the link in my earlier post.)

Thanks.

[absic]

Would you believe me if I said all three methods will work!

The easiest is of course to just copy the BIOS file straight onto the pendrive as you don't have to do any navigating to find it! 

[Dark Mantis]

You just beat me there absic

I was just going to say the same but that I would go for the third option as it is least likely to get confusing.

[absic]

Erm? Isn't that what I said DM.....

The easiest is of course to just copy the BIOS file straight onto the pendrive as you don't have to do any navigating to find it! 

[Dark Mantis]

Er, yes! I was just agreeing with you absic. Just poorly worded I guess.

[absic]

Don't worry DM, just sit back in your chair and we'll plug it in later!