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

[jaycj]

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.

[wazza300]

what does db error mean in your manual? does it list it?

tried long cmos clear by leaving motherboard battery out for 30mins or overnight if that doesnt work?

[jaycj]

Thanks for the reply. "DB = Flash Update is Failed" in the manual. It cycles to this code on the LED, then restarts.

I tried a long CMOS clear overnight last night, didn't work. I will try again overnight tonight.

[wazza300]

keep trying with the back up bios after another long cmos clear,cant think what else you could try

[Conners]

IDK could possibly be a corrupt OS. Might try a windows repair, running chkdsk /r and so on.

[jaycj]

Thanks wazza300, will give it a few more tries after tonight (battery is out now, along with power unplugged).

Thanks Conners, haven't gotten quite that far yet to even load windows. Given it won't post yet, I don't have a hard drive plugged in.

[Conners]

Oh mb, so you saying you've never had this board load the OS? Or Be at a point to load the OS or install it?

[2therock]

Pull the battery with the psu unplugged and then short the battery terminals for a few seconds. some like to hold the power switch in for a few seconds too. Its just making sure any static energy is not being held anywhere.

Good luck.

[wazza300]

It seems f8 BIOS is either buggy or its a bad/corrupted BIOS flash,he can't even boot into BIOS screen,gigabyte should have pullout BIOS chips like asus/asrock do,then it would be a case of pulling out bad BIOS chip and plugging a new one in,loads on ebay

You might manage to get the back up BIOS chip to kick in if you keep trying

What did you flash BIOS with? Qflash?

[Conners]

IDK man you may have a shorted board. I know its PITA but you might consider removing the MB from the case and testing...,