Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Boot Menu issues - strange

[xmudslingerx]

Hi all. First time on these forums.

I have Z68 Extreme3 Gen3. It boots up fine and my system runs like gravy...HOWEVER

...I need to boot from my DVDROM for the 1st time since I built this system. When I either attempt to select the boot menu choice from the splash screen, or when I go into the BIOS setup and select the boot menu "button", the BIOS locks up. This happens time and time again - no way for me to reach the boot menu much less boot from my DVDROM. Also, if I make any change in the BIOS (other than the boot menu I can't get to) and select save and exit, the BIOS locks up again.

Again, the system auto boots into Windows 7 fine. The DVDROM (reading and writing) as well the entire system run perfect once I am in the OS.

I have BOIS P1.00 but not sure if updating will really make a difference or cause an even bigger problem.

Any thoughts?

[parsec]

It sounds like you have a corrupted BIOS to me. Updating it should be a priority for you, since that is much simpler than it was in the past, and much safer.

If you really have BIOS P1.00, that is so old, the oldest BIOS listed for your board now is 2.10. You must test if you can run the Instant Flash update tool, which is in the BIOS itself, or can be selected by itself by pressing F6 during POST. Just see if you can get into Instant Flash either way, and if so you can download the latest BIOS version, copy it to a USB flash drive, and follow the instructions on the BIOS download page.

Another option which may be actually better for you, or if you cannot get into Instant Flash, is requesting a new BIOS chip from ASRock. It's possible given the weird way your BIOS works (incorrectly) that the chip itself is bad. A new chip will have the latest BIOS version on it. Do you think you can swap the chips yourself? It's just an unplug the old, plug in the new operation, but the chip is small, you can see it on your board, it has a label on it that should say P1.00, given what you said above.

[xmudslingerx]

A corrupt bios were my thoughts exactly. And yes the BIOS is really old but I generally don't mess with them unless an update is required or something is wrong with BIOS itself. In this case, the latter seems to be the case

I will go ahead and flash to the latest BIOS and let you know how it goes (It won't be until next week). If i recall correctly, aren't there special instructions/steps to flash from a USB?

Also, I don't see why I couldn't swap the chips if needed. Some quick instructions would nice though. I have built several PCs but never messed with the BIOS chip itself.

How much to those chips cost from ASRoc anyway?

[xmudslingerx]

FIXED

Flashed to the latest BIOS using the flash utility via USB. Everything works properly now.

Regards