Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H - Weird Power On Issue + DB Post Error...RMA?

[jaycj]

Yes, I can't even get to the bios now so no o/s load. I wish they had a removable bios chip as well (or at least the backup worked). I used QFlash to try to load F8, but I am really surprised that the backup bios is not working.

The board came flashed with F5 and I was able to get into the bios with that version. However, it seemed like it was running the CPU in turbo mode (said 3.5 GHz on the bios screen vs. 3.1) and the Gigabyte website stated that my chip was only supported above F6. So I flashed to F8 using a USB stick, which did not complete successfully.

Also - I have had the power-up issue since I first powered it up, so I feel like something is not correct with this particular board. Voltages did look correct when I was able to get in the bios the first time.

I'm going to give it a few more tries tomorrow. Thanks for your replies!

[2therock]

Make sure you have the wires installed on the board for the power button?
Plug a wired keyboard in and hold the delete key while powering up?

[barkeater]

First post and just bought my first Gigabyte board. There seems to be several knowledgeable folks here, so I thought I would check here before RMA'ing the UD5H I just bought.

I am having 2 issues:

1. The system is powering on immediately after turning on the power supply (not pressing the power button). I thought there might be a short, so I disconnected almost everything but the power cables and CPU but it still does it. I don't see any bent pins or anything, has anyone ever seen anything like this?
2. Get a "db" error on post now. I was able to post after first putting the board in the case (F5), but haven't been able to after flashing to F8 which failed. Switching to the backup, clearing CMOS, removing the battery, etc - I cannot get the thing to post. I believe I have tried the usual troubleshooting tasks and I have disconnected everything but the keyboard, mouse, power supply, CPU/Cooler and 1 stick of RAM. Any other thoughts on what I am missing or should try?

My specs:
GA-Z77X-UD5H
i5-3450 (Ivy Bridge)
Corsair RAM CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 - 2x4GB (only have 1 stick in during troubleshooting, swapping made no difference)
Corsair AX-850 Power Supply (verified working fine with another rig)
OCZ Vertex4 256GB SSD
Haven't bought a graphics card in yet, but have an Radeon 6850 or old 8800GTS-512 I could put in if necessary (using onboard graphics for now)

Between these 2 issues, I am leaning towards RMA'ing the board. Thoughts? And thanks in advance.

Yes, I can't even get to the bios now so no o/s load. I wish they had a removable bios chip as well (or at least the backup worked). I used QFlash to try to load F8, but I am really surprised that the backup bios is not working.

The board came flashed with F5 and I was able to get into the bios with that version. However, it seemed like it was running the CPU in turbo mode (said 3.5 GHz on the bios screen vs. 3.1) and the Gigabyte website stated that my chip was only supported above F6. So I flashed to F8 using a USB stick, which did not complete successfully.

Also - I have had the power-up issue since I first powered it up, so I feel like something is not correct with this particular board. Voltages did look correct when I was able to get in the bios the first time.

I'm going to give it a few more tries tomorrow. Thanks for your replies!

Bolded added by me.

I'm confused. You say you can't get into your backup bios, then you say you can. If you can get into your backup bios, then the first thing you should do is repair the main bios using qflash. To do this, with the system off, insert your usb drive with a copy of the latest bios on it into a usb port. The latest official bios is F8 but you could also try and use the most current beta. Move the switch to the backup bios position, boot and enter bios. Once in backup bios, move the switch to the main bios position. Now go to qflash and load the current bios from your usb drive. Once you have completed that and it reboots, enter bios and load optimized defaults. Once that is done you should then install OS and drivers.

If all that goes well, move on to addressing the power issue. Take the board out of case and put on cardboard box. Install just the minimum components (i.e., 1 stick of ram, mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc.). For this I would use a known working discrete graphics card. Plug in power supply to wall but do not turn on. Pull cmos battery and install upside down. short the cmos jumpers with a screwdriver for 5 min. Push power button on board and hold for 5-10 seconds. Reinstall cmos battery. turn on power supply and turn on system (power button on board). Enter bios and immediately load optimized defaults. Report back results.

[jaycj]

Thanks all. barkeater - I was able to get in the bios the first 2 times I booted up on Saturday with F5, but once I flashed to F8 I was unable to get into the backup bios either. I have done all of the steps suggested with results below. FYI, Gigabyte support responded with the cardboard box suggestion that you mentioned as well.

1. bios and cmos clearing - I was able to get into the backup bios by clearing cmos with the battery removed for a while as suggested by people here; I have been holding delete for good measure as I turn on as it seems to go very fast. I tried re-flashing to F8 using barkeater's exact steps, but had the same problems as before. I cleared cmos again, removed the battery, waited a while then I tried to flash to F9d which appears to be successful. I believe I am stable on that version on the main bios now as I can boot every time into the bios now.

2. Power issue - the power issue remains even with everything on a cardboard box with or without a discrete graphics card. With a discrete graphics card (8800 GTS-512), it wouldn't post but I am going to try again. Also of interest, it will not power down without turning off the power supply. Holding down power for 4+ seconds does nothing except dark the monitor and the bios lights flash back and forth between main and backup. I am going to load Windows as well to see how that behaves with the power issue.

Thanks everyone for the help so far!

[barkeater]

Glad to hear that you were able to successfully get F9d loaded and you are able to boot. Did you load optimized default settings after loading the new bios? Good luck installing your OS and post back. Also, seems strange that the graphics card would prevent the computer from posting. Did you try it in a different slot?

[jaycj]

Yes I loaded optimized default settings per your instructions. OS installed fine (Win7 Home Premium 64-bit). So now onto the power issue:

• Restart from Windows or the motherboard directly works fine.
• Shutdown from Windows doesn't turn off the motherboard: LED is off, CPU fan is on, BIOS light blinking between main and backup. If I try to restart from this state, it will not post with a "db" error ("flash update is failed"). Long clearing of cmos, going into bios, and loading optimized defaults makes it stable again until shutdown again.
• Sleep puts the system in a similar state to Shutdown (fan on, LED off, bios lights blinking), but it does appear to recover from sleep strangely enough back into Windows.

I tried a discrete graphics card again. In Slot 1 (closest to CPU), it does post now; I didn't realize at the time what was happening in bullet #2 above that Shutdown was putting it into a bad state. Slot 2 (middle), it posts to an "A6" state which is waiting for user input but the screen doesn't turn on. Slot 3 (farthest from CPU) does post and will load Windows. The power properties as described above remain the same with the graphics card in either slot 1 or 3.

I am 99% sure my power supply works as I used it to test my old ASUS Striker II board before I bought this board. Should I try a different power supply (have a Corsair 620 I think in my old computer)? Or any other things to try?

Thanks for your help so far!

[profJim]

Test with your Corsair psu to see if this helps.
Unplug the front panel on/off switch from the motherboard header and carefully turn your system on or off by momentarily connecting the two motherboard pins.

[2therock]

Should I try a different power supply (have a Corsair 620 I think in my old computer)? Or any other things to try?

Thanks for your help so far!

Sounds like from all your posts a RMA is in your future.........
Try calling Gigabyte tech support. Surprisingly the hold time was shorter than I anticipated a week ago. I did call in the AM though. I think they are on EST. 626-854-9338.

[jaycj]

profJim - I had already disconnected everything from the case (no headers, fans, etc). Again, it powers on immediately after turning on the power supply - not pressing the power button on the motherboard directly nor shorting the header pin. No bent pins as far as I can tell.

2therock - thanks for the phone number, I may try them in the morning. I have already traded notes via their online support system; similar suggestions as what everyone has suggested here (cardboard box, not in case; swapping components).

I'll try the other PSU if the other system isn't too labor intensive to take apart. If nothing but an RMA comes of this, I've at least learned a bit more about Gigabyte boards / bios. So thanks to everyone here!

[jaycj]

FYI for anyone interested - I isolated the problem to my power supply, specifically the 8-pin connector on the Corsair AX850 (in any configuration). Very odd, since the AX850 4-pin connector works on my older board which is part of the 8-pin cable. I tried the older Corsair HX620 PSU I had in my old system and it works fine on the Gigabyte board. The AX850 was not new (about 1 year old), so I am not going to troubleshooting it further.

Thanks everyone for your help getting to that point!