GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 boot loop and BIOS

[draken182]

I just wanted to write this to see if anyone else had done it.

I have my sig rig, plus another clone with a few different parts (nothing major) that both use the GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 R 1.3 BIOS 10 and i had a boot loop error on one that i guess gigabyte boards are notorious for. I couldnt find much help other than trying to narrow down the culprit. I stripped everything down to a breadboard (motherboard on MB box and PSU, CPU, HS, one stick of memory, keyboard and monitor only) and no luck. replaced the battery. Reset Bios. Nothing. I used a multimeter to test the PSU. its fine. tested it all, its the MB.

I read about the 11 BIOS update that fixes this problem, but i was too late for me.

The Problem: It basically will start fine, at POST it says "Waiting for ME ready" and then followed iusually with a countdown...9...8...7 etc. It will then shutdown. If you are lucky, it comes back on just fine. i was not. I had a boot loop. it wont do anything besides show the splash logo, reboot, etc.

The Fix: There is no work around that i could find beside RMA'ing the board. Trust me i looked ALL over! It seems like (according to Gigabyte's website) that the new BIOS 11 fixes or at least helps with this problem. On the new build i just created with the same parts in my sig rig (close enough) it did work fine. Flashed BIOS to 11 no problem, I even used the DSDT from the database here that is for BIOS 10, and it worked fine.

The Catch: I don't have this new rig overclocked. From what i've read, that can give some of the problems with the boot loop. I will get my new MB later today and test with my Sig Rig (which is OC'd) and let you know if it is all okay.

Hope this helps someone else with this problem, even though it doesn't relaly seem to be a fix, but at least an answer.

BIOS

 

[Gordo74]

You have to flash the backup BIOS too (guides on google) and then you wont have the loop.

 

[draken182]

Do you mean flash the backup bios with 11 also?

 

[Gordo74]

Yes.

 

[draken182]

1: Use a FAT formatted thumb drive.
2: Place the new bios on thumb drive.
3: insert thumb drive into usb port on motherboard.
4: flash your bios with the new version (pressing END on post screen)

when it is done, reboot with thumb drive still in usb port and immediatly press ALT+F12 spam the F12 repeatedly. It may take a try or two to get the timing, but it will run and work.

Alternately if you need to overwrite your current bios with the backup, its the same except CTRL+F12 to use the backup bios in case of an emergency.

 

[magnumjoe]

Hi draken182,
I have a simular setup as you, and received most of my parts today. I'm still waiting on my graphic card XFX Radeon 5870 Dual Fans and another Seagate TB Drive for my OS/X install.

Anyway, my motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-BD the BIOS is F10. There is a BIOS update to F12 that I haven't updated/flashed yet. I was doing some research and came across this post and wondered if you may have installed everything on the CD shipped with your motherboard. I did not install the display drivers, and wondered if you did?

Here is the post.

I ran into a similar issue, where my GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3(rev. 1.3) worked great for 2 months and then developed a boot loop issue. Turned out to be the intel display driver supplied by Gigabyte. Do NOT select the "install all" option on the drivers disk. After the Windows install, check the device manager and only install drivers for devices marked with yellow. Also, if you are using the onboard video ports, be sure and disable the pci video options in the bios settings. As for why my problem waited 2 months to surface, I don't have a clue; unless maybe it was triggered by a Windows automatic update?? I thought those were turned off but....

Also and this is a question for everyone, should I update the BIOS to F12 and use F10 from DSDT database then install OS/X.
OR
Don't updated the BIOS which is currently F10 and use F10 from the DSDT database install OS/X and after it's installed updated the BIOS to F12?

Thanks,
Joe