Mobo changing Bios versions

[Saldo]

After having run for 4 days like a dream, sincer yesterday I am having a boot issue.

When booting the pc after a night or after not having used it for half a day , the pc reboots and starts up with a different Bios.
I am using version F9c and than it is using version F5.
The problem than is that when it starts up with vF5 I only see the value of the processor and no other lines are showing.
The pc keeps rebooting.

After I have reset the Bios, the pc starts up and show the Logo, but no repsond to keyboard input.
Then 4 or 5 reboots later suddenly the pc repsonds to the keyboard, I choos my saved Bios profile with Bios F9c and the pc boots up normally.

Now I can do whatever I want and the pc is runnign fine.

When rebooting no issues at all.
But when having used the pc for half a day or again the next morning this issue starts over again.

Help is appriciated.



  Hardware :
I7-2600K @ 4.8 Ghz
z68XP-UD7   latest Bios : F9c
8Gb G.Skill Ripjaws 2133 mhz with fanmodule running at Expert/Extreme setting Timings
Gigabyte GTX580 SO running @ 905 mzh
OCZ 1000W psu
1x  OCZ   60 Gb SSD sata 3
3x  OCZ 120 Gb SSD sata 3
Thermaltake Kandalf case with factory built in liquid cooling system

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Voltages :
Vcore 1.39
Loadline 6
QPI 1.16
System agent 0.965
PCH auto
CPU Pll 1.84
Dram 1.66

Temp  idle  34 C
Temp max  66 C

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

You need to synchronise your two BIOSes so that they both have the same F9c version on them.

If you have a PS2 keyboarrd connect that instead of the USB version as it is more reliable.

From a cold start with the power to the machine switched off press the power button and then enter the BIOS by pressing Del.
 Then when you get to the main screen press F9.
 
This will bring up an extra screen which will display more information about the two BIOS versions. Assuming they are different exit the BIOS and shutdown.

Again press the power button and this time press Alt + F12 where you would normally use the Del key to enter the BIOS. You will find that then 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!

Do as it says. Both Main and Backup BIOS chips now store the same BIOS version. You can now reboot as normal.

[Saldo]

Thanks for the help.
I will do this.

Update :
Copying the Bios worked.
However the reboot and hanging issue still exists.

It happens only hen the pc is off for a long time.
Wnen warm it works perfectly.

Should I contact the vendor ?

[Dark Mantis]

Yes by all means. If you have only recently purchased it then it is not your problem and the retailer should sort it out. Only if you want to but there are many more tests you could do to try and locate the fault.

[Saldo]

If you can tell me what tests I can perform to pinpoint the fault I will do that.
The mobo has been built in behind the hoses of the liquid cooling system and removing the mobo would take some time.

If I am unable to detect the fault I can go to the store tomorrow.
The question however is if another mobo will not suffer from the boot loop issues too.


Ps
After surfing the IN I found out that lost of people Gigabyte mbo's are having the boot loop issue.
I was really shocked.

Here a solution I found to get past it:
1 Switch off the PC
2 Remove the power cable from the PSU and flick the switch on the PSU
3 Remove the 24-pin from the motherboard
3 Remove the CMOS battery
4 Wait 5 minutes

Reconnect all and boot the pc.
It probaby will boot with default settings, so one has to set everything back as desired.

[Saldo]

Yesterday late afternoon I crancked up the system agent from auto to 0.955 and from that moment on the pc is booting up normally.....

Almost all people experincing the boot loop issues where overclockers like me.

Some extra tips I read :
- Never touch the reset button as it might make the mobo load the backup bios
- Make sure the vcore is good to ensure a stable cpu environment , so not just good enough
- Setting the system agent from auto to a higher value 0.955-0.975 might help too ( it looks like for me it did too )
 
 

[Dark Mantis]

Normally adjusting some BIOS settings will help, it is just finding the right ones. I always suggest running at default values for a while until you see if there are any problems before cranking it up and OCing it.

AS you noticed using the reset button is not healthy. It can lead to corrupt CMOS and other problems. Better to do a hard reboot.

[Saldo]

Not had any reboot issues anymore up to know.
Finding the right Bios setings to get it 100,1% stable seems to be the solution.
Just 99,9% stable was not enough

I even tried with 5Ghz ( 1.425v ) and the pc is running like a charm.

Thanks for all the help.

[Dark Mantis]

Glad it all seems to be sorted out for you now. Good luck and keep us posted of any problems.

[Saldo]

After 2 days the boot loop came back.
 
As it only appeared on cold start I found out a simple solution for my system and from that moment up to now it never re-appeared :

I turn on the power switch from the psu and leave it like that for 2-3 minutes.
Several lights on the mobo are on and many parts are getting power.
So after those 2-3 minutes the mobo is not completely cold anymore.
The I press the power switch and the pc is booting normally.

Perhaps for other worth to try if they suffer form a boot loop.

Imho it will only help if Windos is always running stable and never has freezes or BSOD issues.

[Aussie Allan]

   Thanks for the tip! I'm sure to use this recommendation in the future with Boot loop trouble shooting......Much more technical then a hair-dryer!

  Aussie Allan

[Dark Mantis]

   Thanks for the tip! I'm sure to use this recommendation in the future with Boot loop trouble shooting......Much more technical then a hair-dryer!

  Aussie Allan