BIOS auto recovering and keep restarting

[toofat]

Hi,

I'm new to here and hopes you all can understand my bad english.
Below are my PC spec:

Mainboard: Gigabyte EP43-DS3
CPU: Intel C2Q Q6600
Memory: 4GB DDR2
HDD: Samsung 1.5TB Sata
Graphic: Nvidia 8600GT 256mb

Yesterday I was testing an automatic driver updating software and its provide bios update function as well.
The software found I got some outdated driver which are Sound, LAN and Bios. I double checked on Gigabyte official website and found my existing drivers were truly outdated. Hence I choose to update those drivers using that softaware but I carelessly choose to update bios as well.(I know it is better to update Bios using QFlash because i used to).
I found my PC unable to boot into OS after update the bios. (Bios has been updated to version F10b)
I found some tutorial in this forum to auto recover the bios, I've tried booting with bootable usb drive with stable version of bios and boot with cd with bios in it but both give me no luck.
I found some post here which teach to recover the bios by shorting pin 4 and pin7 on the bios chips. I managed to get into Qflash utility and turn off "Keep DMI data" and successfully update to another version of bios (ver. F9).

After rebooting, it shows:
Warning: Main bios checksum error!
Retrieving recovery source from HPA...
HPA bios unavailable!..
Retrieving recovery source from backup BIOS...
Bios Auto Recovering...........

During the auto recovering process, the system turn off automatically and reboot and keeping reboot at same place.

Any one of you encounter this before and managed to get over this?
How if I try to desolder the bios chip and replace the main bios chip with the backup bios chip?

any helps and opinions from you all are much appreciated.

[MadMax2911]

Well first all the required information needs to be stated up front. I think you have this covered except for the MOBO revision which should be 1.0 correct?

Did you buy this motherboard new or used?

How long have you been using the board with previous Stable BIOS (if you have had a stable BIOS operation of course).

I have confirmed tha you have a Dual BIOS if its the 1.0 revision of the mobo. So I am wondering about the constant auto recovering, if thats whats happening?

What brand of RAM is it that you have? Also need model number or a link to your RAM s website as well.

Max

[profJim]

Your initial goal is to be able to get into the bios where you will immediately load OPTIMIZED bios settings and save settings and exit.

The Minimalist Boot:

With your computer off, turn off the power to the psu by using the psu's on/off switch and unplug the external power cord from the power supply or the wall outlet.
Disconnect everything that isn't required to boot, including:

• Hard Drives, floppy drives, cd/dvd drives, network cable, etc.
• Mouse
• All USB devices including the mouse and keyboard
• All add-in PCI cards.

You want to boot only with your cpu and heat sink, PS2 keyboard, video card and only 1 memory module. That's it.

Your initial goal is to be able to get into the bios where you will immediately load OPTIMIZED bios settings and save settings and exit.
If this is successful, power off your machine and install your floppy or cd/dvd drive so that you can run Memtest86+ test #5, version 4.x on the single memory module for10 full passes. If there are no errors, you are ready to use QFlash to manually flash using the most recent bios version from the Gigabyte web page for your motherboard. You want to disable Keep DMI data in QFlash before you flash the bios.
When Memtest86+ starts testing, press the following keys to run the #5 test: c 1 3 5 enter 0 (0 = zero key)

If the problems remain:

1. With your computer off, turn off the power to the psu by using the psu's on/off switch.
2. Unplug the external power cord from the psu.
3. Press and hold the computer case's on/off switch for 15 seconds.
4. Remove the motherboard battery.
5. Put a jumper block on the CLEAR_CMOS pins.
6. Leave your computer in this state for 15 minutes or longer.
7. Remove the jumper block and re-install the motherboard battery.
8. Hook everything back up and turn on your computer.

Sometimes a longer cmos clear is needed for several hours and sometimes for 12 hours or longer.

[toofat]

Thanks profJim and MadMax 2911 for the quick reply.

Yes, my mobo is rev. 1.0 and I bought this mobo as new mobo since 2 years ago (2010). Warranty period for this mobo has ended I think.
I'd been using this board since 2010 and it is stable all the time before the incident happen.
The bios auto recovering did invoked but the system will shutdown automatically during the auto recovering process.
I am using 2x Kingston 1GB RAM (KVR1066D2N7/1G), I've tested both of the RAM using Memtest86+ with another mobo and passed all the test.

I've send my mobo to a friend and ask his help to switch both bios chips (means replace the main bios chip with the backup bios chip) and see will it helps. I'm going to take the mobo this evening and test again. I will update the information here.

Thank you for all your suggestions and helps.

[profJim]

The following information is from Gigabyte RMA USA:

Warranty Effective On Date of Manufacture

GIGABYTE determines warranty based on the manufacture date. The manufacture date can be verified by the serial number found on the product.
The first four digits after "SN" determine the year and week of manufacturing date. For example:

"4719331822101 SN082540084966" represents the 25th week of 2008

-----
You will need to confirm how long your warranty coverage is where you live.
Replacing the bios chips will probably void your warranty.

If you want to replace the bios chips, you might be able to buy pre-flashed bios chips from an online specialty supplier.
A web search using: bios chip replacement gigabyte should provide links.
Some links you can check out:
Gigabyte LGA775 BIOS Chips
PC BIOS reprogramming, replacement, recovery
BiosFixDepot.com : BIOS Replacement Service

Let us know how things work out.

[toofat]

YES!!

I just took back my board from my friend, I asked him to help me replaced the M_BIOS chip with B_BIOS chip.

I power on the board with only single RAM and VGA card attached, the board is able to turn on until the "no bootable device" message shown on screen.

After that I put on all my hdd, ram and try to turn on again, yes, another successful boot and able to boot into OS.

My problem is now solved. My advice for those who face the similar problems, please try another methods before you try my method because this will void your warranty!!

Thanks for profJim and MadMAx for their advice and suggestions again!!

[profJim]

You're welcome.
Glad to hear that your motherboard is working.
It helps a lot when you have a friend that knows how to replace bios chips.
Thanks for the update.