gigabyte MA785GM-US2H and BIOS F12A

[rtalcott]

I will flash F6 tomorrow and see if that works...and I'm suspecting that it will. Then I will get all the links and whatever explanations & documents together and see if I can get someone's attention at Gigabyte. I greatly appreciate those links you gave me because that adds a bit of weight to my argument that this isn't some setup error on my part. I really like these boards...$59 from NewEgg with free shipping and I run Linux so I expect them to have a long operational lifetime as I'm finding the alpha of Ubuntu 12.04 to be significantly faster than the previous versions...I don't need new hardware every few years to stay current...but it will be an inconvenience if I cannot boot from a usb device...

I'll document how this comes out....I have my doubts about getting any satisfaction from Gigabyte...this has to be a bit of a weird problem because it appears as if not everyone has this issue.
rt

[profJim]

I'll document how this comes out....I have my doubts about getting any satisfaction from Gigabyte...this has to be a bit of a weird problem because it appears as if not everyone has this issue.

Keep in mind that this might be an issue with specific brands or models of of usb memory.
See if you can test with different usb models.
Gigabyte has been good with providing a modded bios for current or recent motherboard models.

[rtalcott]

Glad to hear there may be hope for help from gigabyte...I do like their boards and had made a mental note to only buy gigabyte for a number of reasons...as for memory I've tried PNY, Adata and Kingston all with the same result.....I am unfortunately starting to think that this is not me...so tomorrow's flash to F6 will be interesting but I still have to wonder how something like this could get out and not have many people screaming...that's what makes me think it may really be my problem but there is that thread you pointed me to which makes me doubt the it's my fault theory...I guess I don't know at this point...need to dig into it...one of the advantages of unemployment is that I have the time!

Again...I greatly appreciate the suggestions and input!
rt

[profJim]

Make sure that you downloaded the correct bios version from the appropriate motherboard version web page.
There might be a different bios for each motherboard version, even if they "share" the same bios name.

MA785GM-US2H
CPU support lists:
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM2+ - AMD 785G - GA-MA785GM-US2H (rev. 1.0)
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM2+ - AMD 785G - GA-MA785GM-US2H (rev. 1.1)
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM2+ - AMD 785G - GA-MA785GM-US2H (rev. 1.3)
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM2+ - AMD 785G - GA-MA785GM-US2H (rev. 3.3)

You're welcome, glad to help.

[rtalcott]

Yes indeed...I was 100% anal about this...I went to the web site and downloaded the specific BIOS for each rev. of mobo..in my case 1.0, 1.1 and 1.3...going to flash the 1.3 board back down to F6 in a few hours and IF that works I'll do the other 2...if they all come back to life it almost has to be a gigabyte problem...a weird one because not everyone gets bit but more than likely their issue but of course I have to deal with it.
rt

[profJim]

Maybe more people don't get bit because they don't boot from a usb drive.
I still use flopsy drives for bios flashing haven't needed to use a bootable usb.

Anal? naw.
Anal would be downloading every bios version from each MA785GM-US2H web page for each mobo version and then doing a binary compare of each bios file that has the same bios file name extension.

[profJim]

going to flash the 1.3 board back down to F6 in a few hours

Oh no you don't!!!
There is no F6 bios for the 1.3 motherboard.
F8 is the first bios release for the 1.3 motherboard!

[rtalcott]

Booo on F8....guess I'll flash one of the 1.1 boards with F6...

Since I am 100% Linux/Unix I like being able to boot from usb when I try a new OS version...it's much more convenient than burning cd's...so this is a HUGE convenience issue for me..

On to the gigabyte web site...
rt

[rtalcott]

on the rev 1.3 board F8 works and unlike the F5 bios on the rev. 1.0 board the flash drive does show up under the hdd's...I think this is progress....I need to see which cpu's work with F8...F12A gave me the 6 core cpu's and a number of others...and I am assuming the appropriate bios is required to recognize the cpu.....yes? no?
thanx
rt

[profJim]

An unsupported cpu might appear to work, but there will probably be stability "issues" or additional needed cpu/memory bios settings that won't be available with the unsupported bios. Newer bios versions frequently have undocumented bug fixes and performance enhancements. An unsupported cpu might not boot at all.

Your best bet is to work with Gigabyte tech support and prove your problem by taking photographs of your bios settings and boot screens if necessary.
One board done and two to go.