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Monitor stopped displaying after BIOS corruption

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Joined
Mar 14, 2014
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740
Motherboard
Z97X-UD5H
CPU
i7-4790K
Graphics
2 x R9 280X
Mac
  1. iMac
  2. MacBook
  3. MacBook Pro
  4. Mac Pro
Hi,

I have just had a bios corruption on my Z97X UD5H motherboard. I *think* it was caused by a Windows 10 SSD failing, which made the BIOS think it had a problem and then I compounded the error by pressing Load Optimal Defaults (my stupid fault).

I managed to get the BIOS back to the Gigabyte F8 version for my MB but my centre monitor out of three stops working when the Mac boots. I have three monitors driven off two 280X cards which have been working fine for two years.

When I get into the BIOS, the centre console works fine, but doesn't work when I start up Sierra. I get the Clover boot menu on the centre console, select the right disk (there's only one disk as I've disconnected everything else), Sierra boots up, the centre console goes dark and stays dark, whilst the two side monitors work fine.

I can Remote Desktop into the Mac from my laptop and get to the centre monitor that way. I've moved the top menu and dock to a side monitor whilst I work out whats happening.

If I check the monitor configuration it shows my three monitors and two graphic cards correctly. I can even move the mouse off the left hand monitor across the (black) centre monitor and it appears on the right hand monitor as if the centre one is working.

If I check display preferences I can see that the three monitors are detected and configured as two portrait monitors on the side with a landscape one in the middle. I can Remote Desktop into the centre monitor from my laptop and see it, I just can't see any output.

The bios configuration appears correct, I actually posted all my BIOS screens some years ago for other people to use

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/gigabyte-z97x-ud5h-bios-screenshots-complete-set.171077/

which was really useful. I know the monitor works as I can edit the BIOS. Everything appears plugged in correctly and I know I haven't changed Sierra since the BIOS corruption. I do recall from the screenshots that the BIOS was F6 before and is now F8 but can't believe that is the cause of this. I'm pretty certain I've changed nothing on the Mac side at all, and the Mac was working find before I tried to boot into Windows to correct this debacle.

I've turned off the Internal Graphics Adaptor on the Z97X, I've check the screenshots I posted some years ago and they all match.

Very very confused and would welcome any suggestions as to how to get what has been a reliable system (until now) working again.

My hack has been working for two years now, as per my signature it's a

Z97X UD5H
Dual 280X graphic cards
32GB of memory
Various SSD's though only one is currently plugged in.

Thanks

Rob
 
Last edited:
Booting with -v looks normal. I still get lots of USB enumeration failures, but I recall I got those a long time ago.

No other obvious error message.

The sysdef is 14,2 which its always been.

This is very odd.
 
I've now stripped back the machine to a single 280X card and a single monitor, I've checked the BIOS configuration carefully with the defaults I posted previously and it all looks the same.

I can boot the machine, get to the POST screen of the Z97X, move past the post screen to the Clover boot program, select the disk I want to boot off (there's only one now) and then boot. I get the progress bar running along the screen and then just as I expect a nice blue OS X screen I get a black screen.

I can still remote desktop into the (apparently dead but not really) machine from a laptop so can see that its all there and is to all intents and purposes (bar that of showing a display) working. It has detected my single monitor correctly, a Philips 230C, it finds the graphics card correctly, a 7970 which is what is used for a 280X.

I have never used anything for a framebuffer as this graphics card has never needed it. I have not downloaded or touched OS X or Clover so thats not the issue.

The only change is the upgrade to F8 of the Gigabyte BIOS as I used to be on F6. I cannot easily downgrade it as the fusterclucks at Gigabyte don't allow you to. For that one reason, I will never buy another Gigabyte board again, goodbye Gigabyte, hello any other company.

Anyway, back to the business hand. I can restart the desktop from my laptop rather than just pressing the reset button, I'm now back in the Clover options and trying to see if anything has changed from what it should be.

My first guess is that Graphics Injector is the place to be, but I've never made a single change to Clover EVER since I built this machine 2-3 years ago, so am a loss to suddenly explain why this has happened.

I've removed the injector for the graphics card and lo and behold I now have the monitor working.

However I am 100% certain I have never configured this here (or anywhere else) to my knowledge and certainly not recently.

Now to add the second grahics card in and see what happens
 
Now got it all working again but I habve to manually remove the graphics injector which I've never had to do.

Very, very odd and I can't think why a BIOS change has meant I have had to do this.

Any suggestions welcomed, it does appear that I am writing to a completely uninterested group though.
 
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