Unusual boot problems following a BIOS upgrade.
Unusual boot problems following a BIOS upgrade.
Hello everyone. 2 years ago, thanks to this video "How to build a PC, the last guide you'll ever need!" it inspired me to build my first computer(gamer) all by myself. Was an awesome experience and this video was just brilliant. Everything went smooth and the PC was working fine until I decided to update the BIOS. (GCC stopped recognising all my components although everything was working fine except all RGB light being off. And stupid me thought it could be because I had a bios version with over 2 years) So, I went to the gigabyte website and downloaded the latest available bios version, F22b, I unzipped and transferred to a usb flash drive. I turned off and, on the PC, so I could enter the bios, and went to the q-flash option to install the new version. Selected the the bios update file and pressed enter. The PC started doing the update from F7a (November 2022) -> F22b(Feb 2024) (I read a lot now and I shouldn’t have done this) The PC did some reboots and went back to the bios automatically displaying it was doing the update and finally displayed updated succeeded and needed to reboot. It rebooted automatically but it never came back to life again (All RGB lights where working now), I left it for +-15min and it did not boot. I noticed that the DRAM light was on. I Started to panic and wanted to rollback the BIOS version immediately, But the gigabyte website the oldest version was F7 (March 2023). Well without any other option I download that version, transferred to my USB drive, and renamed it GIGABYTE.BIN and used the board Q-flash option. I was relived because it looked like it was working the light was blinking and it took about 5-7m until the light stopped, but even after the light stopping all my fans where still working and DRAM light was on. I waited another 15min just in case before switching the power supply off (long press on the power button wasn't working, the board switched from DRAM to CPU light and as soon I release the power button, it goes back to DRAM) After turning it back on, I was able to enter the bios and the version was F7, So I guess the "rollback" worked. I proceeded to try to boot my windows but almost immediately got a blue screen. I did some more attempts and even after opening the windows recovering option to boot in safe mode, I got blue screen (always with different blue screen errors, MEMORY MANAGMENT | IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL | KMOD EXCEPTION | list goes on) From this moment one I did lots of things. Install other BIOS versions, cleared CMOS, attempt to boot with only 1 RAM (almost worked, it manages to boot windows and I could login, was happy for 60s until blue screen and DRAM light on the motherboard) Used memtest86 with both rams and with each individually and in different slots , always got to many errors and memtest86 could not finish. I do not have XMP/EXPO enabled or any other overclock settings (never had) I always used the defaults. I don't have any other spare component’s (only have this PC). Is it possible the BIOS update fried my RAM? Or could it be that the Board is having some issue, and I should just buy a new board? My full Specs: Motherboard: ATX Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-5600MHz CL36 CPU: Ryzen 7 7700X GPU: Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6800 XT SE 16GB GDDR6 OC PSU: Fractal Design Ion+ 2 860W Platinum Sorry for the long post, But I don't know what else I can do, any idea what component could be at fault? Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Begin with caution. Your motherboard comes in various versions and the BIOS updates differ. Verify the revision at the provided link. Follow the correct page before installing the oldest BIOS. In this case, I’m using rev. 1.0/1.2. Download F8 (which resolves voltage problems). If you received F7, just copy the BIOS to a USB drive formatted for FAT32—no renaming required. Remove any SATA drives and clear all USB ports from the PC back panel. Initiate the flashing process. Pause when the lights cease flashing. Q-flash instructions: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/M...b8df5071f1 Mobo manual: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/M...dbe27ae0d4
Thank you for your update. I didn't verify the changes properly (unaware of that). I inspect the motherboard and see it's REV: 1.0. I reviewed my history and downloaded the BIOS from rev 1.0/1.2 versions in previous tries. However, just in case I tried the F8 mode (I wasn't sure about that before). Today the q-flash plus method isn't functioning, neither with the original name nor with the GIGABYTE.bin file. Despite entering BIOS and updating F8, after reboot it didn't come back online. After 30 minutes I forced shutdown and it started working correctly, logging into Windows. This time after about 15 minutes with Windows open and no blue screen, I ran the memory diagnostic tool—it reported needing a reboot. The PC screen went dark, the DRAM red LED lit up, and I loaded MemTest86 to check for errors. It showed some issues, which is concerning since it was over 1900 errors before the crash. Should I suspect faulty RAM? Thank you again.
Just an update in the mean time. My Friend had some new G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000MHz CL32. I tested those today after cleaning CMOS and still same issues. I guess I will have to buy a new board. Will try to buy a new one this weekend, hope it workes
I purchased a new motherboard (Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WiFi). All components were installed and it booted fine. I had to reset my Windows PIN because the system thought something was off. The LAN driver didn’t work at first. Thanks to the built-in Wi-Fi, I connected after installing an antenna and reset the PIN. After logging in, I downloaded the LAN driver and it functioned perfectly. It seems the recent BIOS update on my Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX might have caused issues—possibly due to upgrading from a 2022 to a 2024 BIOS version. The problem is resolved, and I’m back to gaming.