GUIDE: GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 UEFI BIOS - ALL WORKING, DSDT not required!

[jjc777]

Thanks for the guide, I have the same motherboard and will definitely refer to it when I upgrade to ML in the near future!

I do have one question about the UEFI upgrade: what is the advantage of UEFI over the older BIOS? It seems like a few people have had trouble with the upgrade, and I'm trying to decide if it is worth the effort for this n00b!

 

[karacho]

I do have one question about the UEFI upgrade: what is the advantage of UEFI over the older BIOS? It seems like a few people have had trouble with the upgrade, and I'm trying to decide if it is worth the effort for this n00b!

Please read the OP's (memmerson) 1st Posting....

+ UEFI BIOS: Speedier boot times. Native power management. No DSDT required.

 

[dimosaaaa]

Hello!!
I have tried to update bios (mobo:ga maz68-d2h-b3(ver 1.3)) many times with no luck. I had F9 bios version and i updated to F10 about 2 mounths ago. Now i am trying to update to U1B. When i use q-flash utility (file in usb flash drive) and try to update a message says: bios id check error. When i try to do this through @bios it says : bios vendor is not correct. In this program also i tryied the option: update bios from gigabyte server, and the pop-up window shows wrong specifications(ie shows that i have version 1.0 and i have 1.3.
So, i decided to go back to F9 bios and do it again,but the same result, i can't update bios .
Could anyone tell me what to do in order to update bios???
mobo: ga maz68-d2h-b3 , cpu:core i7 2600

 

[karacho]

Hello!!
I have tried to update bios (mobo:ga maz68-d2h-b3(ver 1.3)) many times with no luck. I had F9 bios version and i updated to F10 about 2 mounths ago. Now i am trying to update to U1B. When i use q-flash utility (file in usb flash drive) and try to update a message says: bios id check error. When i try to do this through @bios it says : bios vendor is not correct. In this program also i tryied the option: update bios from gigabyte server, and the pop-up window shows wrong specifications(ie shows that i have version 1.0 and i have 1.3.
So, i decided to go back to F9 bios and do it again,but the same result, i can't update bios .
Could anyone tell me what to do in order to update bios???
mobo: ga maz68-d2h-b3 , cpu:core i7 2600

-> http://www.gigabyte.de/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3855#bios

1. UEFI BIOS
   (When updating from legacy to UEFI, use only the utility attached to your BIOS file)

(Note) Some GIGABYTE utilities are not supported under UEFI BIOS architecture. Please remove Smart6, Dynamic Energy Saver, Smart TPM, and Touch BIOS utilities before updating the BIOS.

 

[ttb1263]

Hello!!
I have tried to update bios (mobo:ga maz68-d2h-b3(ver 1.3)) many times with no luck. I had F9 bios version and i updated to F10 about 2 mounths ago. Now i am trying to update to U1B. When i use q-flash utility (file in usb flash drive) and try to update a message says: bios id check error. When i try to do this through @bios it says : bios vendor is not correct. In this program also i tryied the option: update bios from gigabyte server, and the pop-up window shows wrong specifications(ie shows that i have version 1.0 and i have 1.3.
So, i decided to go back to F9 bios and do it again,but the same result, i can't update bios .
Could anyone tell me what to do in order to update bios???
mobo: ga maz68-d2h-b3 , cpu:core i7 2600

Hi,

There are some issues reported on web about flashing BIOS to UEFI. Therefore, there is a RISK !!!!
I flashed my board and have no issue but maybe I'm just lucky. Anyway, if you're still insisting then below are the steps I used:

1. Download the following from the web (google it) :
- HP USB Disk Strorage Format Tool (the one I found was HPFlash1.zip)
- Windows 98 System Files (the one I found was win98boot.zip)
- The UEFI BIOS file from Gigabyte site .Make sure you choose the correct one for your board sine they have both rev 1.0 and rev 1.3

2. Extract them all using winrar.

3. Run the hpflash1.exe to install the tool

4. Insert your thumb drive into your system (usb-2 port and the drive should be less than 4 GB - I used my old 256MB drive)

5 Open the installed HP tool program from "Start menu -> All Programs -> Hewlett-Packard Company" and run the program with the following options:
- Choose your thumb drive in Device:
- FAT32
- Create DOS startup disk
- Check "using DOS system files located at" and point it to the extracted win98boot directory

6. Click start and let it finish formatting

7. GO to the extracted BIOS file and copy FLASHEFI.EXE, Z8MAD2H3.U1B and autoexec.bat to the root directory of your thumb drive.

8. Restart your system and choose F12 to boot with your newly created bootable thumb drive.

9. The flashing should start automatically. Follow direction on the screen (shutdown the system for a few seconds..blah blah ;-) )

10. Shutdown your system, unplug the power cord. Plug the cord and start it in a few seconds

11. Go into BIOS and MAKE SURE you load the optimized default setting and savve it (F10)

12. Change your BIOS setting accordingly and hit F10 to save the changes.


I think that was all I did to flash BIOS. I then followed the guide below provided by an awesome hackintosh (thanks a ton to Memmerson) to get my system working .

GUIDE: GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 UEFI BIOS - ALL WORKING, DSDT not required!

Good luck !!!

If I miss any steps here, can someone help providing input ..thanks to all those who make hackintosh much easier ;-)

 

[ttb1263]

Oh, I forgot to mention that on Windows 7 side, I did experienced "blue screen of death" at login randomly ;-) and it took me about 2 hrs to re-install everything fresh ;-) . It's up and running much faster now with UEFI and new drivers from Gigabyte. I rarely boot into Windows since I have ML and parallels, so the pain was worth it .

Cheers !!!

 

[maclachlan]

Update: Used Lizard to enable Graphics Injection and now I don't lose video signal anymore.
There's only two more things to have the system running real smooth: I have to manually set IP, DNS and Router in my Network Controller to have internet access. Is that some kind of incompatibility with my router (D-Link DIR300)?
I noticed that the audio is a kinda low compared to Windows.

Does anyone know how can I solve those 2 problems?
Thanks!

 

[cadrian007]

Awesome guide dude! It did work at a 100%, sound, Ethernet, graphics ( USB 3.0 not working though ) Now it boots faster and better interface in the bios!

 

[memmerson]

There are some issues reported on web about flashing BIOS to UEFI. Therefore, there is a RISK !!!!
I flashed my board and have no issue but maybe I'm just lucky. Anyway, if you're still insisting then below are the steps I used:

Great guide ttb1263!


For those that don't have Windows available or would prefer to use OSX, you can make a bootable USB key using this method:

Get a preprepared FREEDOS boot image from here, download the freedos.img.zip image.

Open Terminal and type:

diskutil list​

Output similar to the following is displayed:

/dev/disk0​

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER​

0: GUID_partition_scheme *120.0 GB disk0​

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1​

2: Apple_HFS Mountain HD 119.7 GB disk0s2​

/dev/disk1​

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER​

0: FDisk_partition_scheme *4.0 GB disk1​

1: DOS_FAT_32 UNTITLED 4.0 GB disk1s1​

You need to determine the location of your USB key. From this example you can see that /dev/disk0 is my main hard disk and /dev/disk1 is my 4GB USB key. On other systems the output will vary so make sure you correctly identify your USB key, a mistake could be catastrophic!

Next we unmount all volumes on the USB key with:

sudo diskutility unmountdisk /dev/disk1​

Next, assuming the FreeDOS boot image you downloaded earlier is located at ~/Downloads/freedos.img then you write the image to the USB key with the following command:

sudo dd if=~/Downloads/freedos.img of=/dev/disk1 bs=4096​

This might take a minute or two. When it completes you can check the contents in Finder, you should see the USB key mounted as FREEDOS and with the files: autoexec.bat, command.com, fdconfig.sys, kernel.sys and a folder named fdos. Delete the autoexec.bat & fdconfig.sys files.

Next, download and extract the UEFI BIOS files from the Gigabyte website. You can use Stuffit Expander to extract the files.

Copy the extracted files: autoexec.bat, flashefi.exe and z8mad2h3.u1b to the FREEDOS USB key.


That's it! The USB key is now bootable and should automatically update your BIOS to EFI when you boot to it.


DISCLAIMER: I accept no liability for any bricked motherboards, this is done at your own risk!!!

 

[dimosaaaa]

Oh, I forgot to mention that on Windows 7 side, I did experienced "blue screen of death" at login randomly ;-) and it took me about 2 hrs to re-install everything fresh ;-) . It's up and running much faster now with UEFI and new drivers from Gigabyte. I rarely boot into Windows since I have ML and parallels, so the pain was worth it .

Cheers !!!

Thank you very much for your help.
I will try it the next few days