z77extreme4 boot problems

[dukesdad]

I just put together my system yesterday, and everything seemed to be working fine. Installed software, multiple reboots etc, no problems. Then I started playing with AXTU, the overclocking software. Had it at 4.6 ghz, all was fine. Pushed things further, and the screen froze. Hit the reset button on the front of the case, and it started to reboot. Foolishly, I hit the clear CMOS button on the I/o ports on the back. When it rebooted, I tried getting into the BIOS by tapping the delete key with no luck. Dr. Debug showed error A6 (SCSI detect) and stopped there. Tried letting it reboot, and it stopped on error A2 (IDE detect), but if I hit the delete button, it would flash A9 (Start of setup) for about half a second, then back to A6 where it would stay. Tried many times, all with the same result. Tried the clear CMOS button on the back, and using the jumpers. Did these the proper way, unplugging the power, waiting 15 seconds, then moving the jumper, and still keep getting the A2 and A6 errors. Any ideas? Not sure of the BIOS version, but bought the board new January 23, so it should be fairly recent. Any help greatly appreciated.

[dukesdad]

Sorry folks, I thought this would have carried over from my registration.

Intel 2600k
XFX 6850
8 gb Corsair Vengeance 1600

Corsair force3 120gb ssd, 750 gb WD black, Windows 8 pro. I moved everything from an ASUS z68 LX board and it all worked fine, no reinstalls needed. Loaded some of the drivers from the Z77 cd.

[parsec]

So you can't get into the BIOS due to the POST error(s). The CMOS clear set all the BIOS settings to default, which may be related to the POST errors.

I suggest you check the cables to your drives, which may have been disturbed when you used the jumper to clear the CMOS. Or, disconnect power from all your drives except the OS drive, and try to boot. You could also disconnect all the drives, which might stop your errors, and allow you to get into the BIOS to set things correctly, and then connect one or more of your drives again. What settings did you use for SATA modes, AHCI? Using the Intel SATA ports, and not the ASMedia?

[dukesdad]

It's working now. I did check all the cables and plugs, and moved the drives to the second set of sata plugs, with no results. What did get it going was unplugging the XFX 6850 video card power plug, 6 pin. It is still seated in the MB. I don't understand, the card should be compatible.

[dukesdad]

This board sure seems buggy. Everything seems to be working, then boom. I plugged in my video card and all seemed well, so I checked in the BIOS and the display is set for PCIE. Move the monitor cable to the back of the video card, and won't post again. Gets so far and Dr. Debug goes blank. Put the cable back on the M/b socket and try again. Windows starts to load, then Automatic repair starts. System restore takes it back before any of the Asrock software is installed, but it seems to run fine. Starting to seem like the video card may be a problem, but all I know for sure is it worked in the ASUS board 2 days ago. And no, I don't have another computer with a large enough power supply to test it.

[parsec]

The Dr Debug display goes blank when POST is completed, that is normal.

The BIOS version that is on your board can be seen on a sticker that is on the BIOS chip, on the lower part of the board, just above and a little to the right of the Dr Debug display. You can also see it when you are in the main page of the UEFI/BIOS. AXTU displays the BIOS version. CPU-Z shows the BIOS version on its Motherboard tab.

It seems that certain video cards have problems with this board. Newer BIOS versions have added video card compatibility. Your use of the OS drive from your Z68 system may work Ok, depending on what new drivers you've installed. The Intel IME software being very important. Personally, I would not use an OS installation from another PC, particularly with a different chipset.

I use two of these boards, one with a Sandy Bridge CPU, the other an Ivy Bridge CPU. A different video card in each one. They've worked perfectly for me.

[dukesdad]

After doing a fresh install, things are all working. My BIOS version is 2.50 and is running an XFX 6850. I've read some posts on here saying the newer Bios aren't too good for PCIE 2.0 cards. I just have 1 more question. What is the best SATA 3 slot for the boot drive? The manual is a bit confusing, I think it should be A_0, and some posts on here say A_2. Thanks for your help so far.