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GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

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  • GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

    I have read over the forum and I noticed that this issue is kind of common for other boards (I think I have seen it happen to two other mobos) but no one has posted about this board yet: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2

    Also, I have a couple of different things that happened during this too.

    Well here is my tale:

    Here is a little background to the story. I had a Nvidia 680i MB for about a year and then it died and I replaced it with the GA-P35-DS4 about 3 weeks ago. I reinstalled Windows VISTA (clean install), updated the BIOS version via the utility (sorry I do not recall the BIOs version I updated to and I can not go in and check it but it would most likely be F8 as I updated on Dec 2 or 3rd 2007) and everything was fine, there were no errors nor any odd behaviour for three weeks. (The Nvidia 680i had odd behaviours and various bluescreens of death before it finally died so I knew that something was going on in that case).
    <o:p> </o:p>
    Up until 2 days ago I was using my PC normally and there have been no errors or issues of any kind since I swapped out the old Nvidia for this mobo. I turned it off for the evening as normal and all was fine with the world. Next day I get up and turn it on. The PC turns on and starts to boot, the fans start to turn on and then suddenly it powers off automatically and restarts to reboot. This continued on and on and the motherboard did not post (there was no activity of any kind nor error messages on the screen except one:
    <o:p> </o:p>
    Award Bootlock
    <o:p></o:p>
    <o:p>
    </o:p>
    "BIOS autocovery starting........ "


    (something like this, I do not recall the exact message).
    <o:p> </o:p>
    This recovery never finished as the PC started to reboot again automatically. This message happened twice and both times the PC auto restarted before it finished recovering the BIOs. There were no other messages nor errors nor "beeps" of any kind. In fact I never got as far as to see any activity on the screen at all except that BIOs recovery message.

    I tried to get it to work again and hope that the BIOs recovery would happen but it did not and that message never came again. I could not get into the BIOs to make changes nor anything. The last thing I did on the PC before this issue started was simply sending email and browsing the web. I have not updated nor changed any drivers of any kind since the Windows Vista install of 3 weeks ago when I bought the board and rebuilt my PC.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    The problem is that the PC is continually rebooting and restarting much like the issues noted here. I have taken out the CMOS battery and left it out for a few minutes, I have tried to clear CMOS but shorting the pins as the manual suggests and others on this board have tried. I took out the memory and just put in one stick (I had 2 sticks of 1GB) and swapped the sticks around thinking that one of them might have died. I went as far as to buy two more sticks for a total of 4GB and tried the fresh ones in the board. Nothing has worked and nothing resolves this. I just keep getting an endless cycle of power up and power down without getting the MB to post. <o:p></o:p>It looks like somehow the BIOS is corrupted but the backup is also not working.


    <o:p> </o:p> How can I fix this issue?
    <o:p> </o:p>
    Thank you.


    System Specs:


    2.4 GHZ Intel 6600
    4 GB 1066mhz Corsair Dominator RAM
    GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2
    Nvidia GTX 8800
    700W PSU (can't recall brand now and I am at work so I can't check)
    Windows VISTA 64 bit.
    No overclocking of any kind.

  • #2
    Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

    It mean your main BIOS Broken, please clear CMOS and try to update it.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

      Thank you for the prompt reply. I did attempt to clear CMOS I took the CMOS battery out and left if out for a good 10-15 minutes. I put it back in but no change. The same issue still happens. I tried all these:

      1) take the CMOS battery out and put it back in
      2) reset CMOS with the two CMOS pins on the mobo
      3) change the positions of the memory DIMMS, rearrange them to see what happens.
      4) use only 1 memory DIMM for boot up.
      5) use two, then three, then 4 memory DIMMS for boot up
      6) bought new memory, brand new for a test
      7) put in Windows VISTA DVD into drive to try to see if it would boot after disconnecting the hard drives to see if they might have been the issue.
      8) put BIOS update disk in drive to see if I could get into the BIOS to try to update it (never worked, never had the chance)


      All this did not change, I still have the same issue.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

        can you try one more thing?
        get into bios press f8 buttom
        use flash update your bios

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

          Janus,

          Thanks I will try that but the issue is that I can not even get the BIOS to come up on the screen. I will try pressing F8 as soon as the PC boots and for as long as it continues to boot which is only a few seconds, hopefully this will work. Is this what you mean?

          Basically what happens is (like in the other cases), I turn it on, the fans start to move and then it reboots before getting to the BIOs. There is no chance to get into the BIOs, no splash screens or anything like that... no visual activity at all.

          Thanks again for the help.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

            Janus,

            Last night I tried one other final possible solution. I installed a stick of plain vanilla Samsung 667mhz 512 MB that I know works at 1.8V and that was working in a friends machine. I actually had two sticks of plain vanilla RAM and I tried them both in all the slots and in combinations of memory slots. Nothing worked... I still have the exact same problem:

            1) PC powers on.. fans spin then it powers off only to power up again by itself and then continue the same cycle over and over.

            So thus far I have tried the following (this is not the order that I tried it in, just the things I tried out):

            1) take the CMOS battery out and put it back in after waiting 20-30 mins
            2) reset CMOS with a paperclip via the two CMOS pins on the mobo
            3) change the positions of the memory DIMMS, rearrange them to see what happens.
            4) use only 1 memory DIMM for boot up.
            5) use two, then three, then 4 memory DIMMS for boot up
            6) bought new memory (Corsair 1066mhz Dominators) to test it out
            7) put in Windows VISTA DVD into drive to try to see if it would boot after disconnecting the hard drives to see if they might have been the issue.
            8) put BIOS update disk in drive to see if I could get into the BIOS to try to update it (never worked, never had the chance)
            9) used two plain vanilla 1.8v 667mhz ram sticks to see if that would work instead of the Corsair Dominators.

            I am planning to take this motherboard back to the dealer and exchange it. Failing that I may have to RMA it. If I RMA it what happens? Will I be able to get a refund? I will be buying a new motherboard tonight (I think that I will give this same type one more try) simply because I can not wait 1-2 months for an RMA to work out. I need to use the PC for work.

            Thank you.
            Last edited by mgreen481; 12-26-2007, 06:09 PM.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

              Originally posted by mgreen481 View Post
              Janus,

              Thanks I will try that but the issue is that I can not even get the BIOS to come up on the screen. I will try pressing F8 as soon as the PC boots and for as long as it continues to boot which is only a few seconds, hopefully this will work. Is this what you mean?

              Basically what happens is (like in the other cases), I turn it on, the fans start to move and then it reboots before getting to the BIOs. There is no chance to get into the BIOs, no splash screens or anything like that... no visual activity at all.

              Thanks again for the help.
              I am having the same issue with similar RAM (Corsair XMS2 800MHz) and the same motherboard. There is nothing on the screen, and my machine does not beep on startup.

              I have tried the following:

              - three different video cards (two PCIe x16, one old PCI)
              - two different monitors
              - two different power supplies
              - running without any RAM (it beeps and beeps but does not give me a screen)
              - moving the RAM to different slots

              I will try the CMOS fix, and if that does not work I will make a post with more detailed information. (I am at work right now)

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                Maus,

                Welcome to the club, your membership pass is in the mail!! I assume that you have the same board as I.... GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2?

                I do not know what to say man except that I have no idea what to do anymore. Did you come across the "BIOs autorecovery starting....." message? This is the only message (visual message) I saw during this issue. I saw it try to recover the BIOs twice and both times it was stopped as the PC auto powered off and auto powered up again during this. I have not managed to get this auto recovery to happen again. This was the only glimmer of hope I had in this as I was so hoping that the BIOs would auto recover and end my pain (as it is supposed to have a backup after all!).
                Last edited by mgreen481; 12-26-2007, 07:09 PM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                  Well, I have found the solution to this issue. It is actually quite simple and it was staring me in the face the whole time.

                  BUY A NEW MOTHERBOARD.

                  In all seriousness, this is about the only thing that does work. I bought the same version MB (simply because it does what I want and has what I want). I got home and popped it in and it was fine... no issues of any kind on the first boot. No issues of any kind and I have been through a couple of boots and I am writing this via that PC instead of work like I have been up until now. I just hope that it stays that way from now on. Now, I did not use the Corsair Dominator RAM yet. I just bought a couple of GBs of cheap 1.8 volt 667 mhz RAM because as some others on this forum suggested this is the safest play for a first boot, for use after a BIOs update etc.

                  Janus,

                  As for the old board? What can I do to get my $$ back?

                  Thanks
                  Last edited by mgreen481; 12-27-2007, 07:27 AM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                    dear mgreen481 - i share your anger - had the same problems, hope i will get my funds back this week.. if not the board learns to fly in that shop where i bought it - believe me! and if people like Yanus Yeh are not even really reading what you are reporting - i have even a more bad feeling about gigabyte...

                    Well this board brought my nerves these days to it's limit! Really! I bought this board and thougt for myself - let's give gigabyte a try as i hat bad issues before with the abit p35...

                    but it got even worse! as the rig was built together i pushed the button and the board welcomes me with this boot-loop - i had again a bad feeling about that board, even more as my nerves were already stressed with that abit p35 (at that point i was still calling it "booard" - later then " **'n piece of crap")

                    i removed instantly the other 6GB of highly valuable Patriot RAM and left a single 2GB bar in it.. well after some resets and clear cmos it finally booted - but wait - the same failure messages as mgreen had!

                    it was a fight i can tell you untill i was finally able to set up the OS then...
                    i was not able at all to run my RAM at DDR2-800 speeds.. only DDR2-666 was the max - otherwise... boot-loop (i think also that P35 chipset is crap.. i will wait now for 780i to come out and get back to my favorite manufacturer EVGA)

                    then the os was up and running but had anger with the raid0 also... hmm... i set up the past at least 10 rigs myself, built them together and configured them without any huge problems - but these days were gone i realized... i was always thinking "i must be doing somethin wrong - but wait everything was fine and should have worked but didn't"

                    finally yesterday the board was ****ed up... endless bootloop - no way to get it out of that... reset the cmos almost 20 times and tried again... went out and bought a DDR2-553 piece of ram to try to boot with it... no way!

                    well that board is now really dead i think and it will go to hades now... and for myself gigabyte will never get any chance by myself... i go back to EVGA and ASUS - there you know what you get...
                    Last edited by barcode; 01-08-2008, 07:09 AM.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                      barcode,

                      I feel your pain I really do. I went out and bought a new board (this will be my third now this year, the EVGA frist which died then the GA P35 DS4 which also died).

                      I have not seen any suggested solution to this from Gigabyte and indeed support (I initially contacted then before I found this board and posted here) told me to reset CMOS and if that fails sent the board to them! I guess that is the final answer on this.

                      Cheers and best of luck with your board. My new one is working but I am not able to get the DVD drive to work in VISTA even though it appears in the BIOS.. again... that issue is for another board!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                        hehe, thanks for your empathy

                        unfortunately the EVGA 780i is on backorder - i guess they have had problems because Intel did not communicate properly to nvidia what changes the penryn cores will bring.

                        i am currently not sure if i should try once ASUS again - perhapps the "maximus formula" or the "p5e3" - p5k has a vcore drop that is too high...

                        i red good things about the Foxconn "Mars" IP35 but there we are again at the IP35 Chipset - on the other hand no users complain in the threads about that board.. and foxconn seems to be a new manufacturer on the market and will pay attention to gain a good reputation at the users (which btw. gigabyte is loosing when they have to make 3 attempts to get a mobo stable / rev 1.0, rev 1.1 and finally rev 2.0 - which is still not fixed obviously)

                        you know it is not actually the money that i loose that angers me ... it's my lifetime that i waste with that crap... i could do other things meanwhile instead of this - if you know what i mean, i could be already working with a stable running system if i've had made the right choice...
                        Last edited by barcode; 01-08-2008, 07:08 AM.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                          yess! the Foxconn MARS IP35 runs great! no problems at all ... as i expected they dont dare to release such crap like gigabyte...

                          cheers and good luck!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                            I have this board, and the BIOS (doesn't matter which BIOS revision you're running) doesn't properly detect optimum memory voltage when set to auto.

                            The board will run the memory at 1.8v in Auto no matter what.

                            A lot of the higher performance memory right now is running at ~2.2v. What I recommend is to go into the BIOS and manually set the voltage gain on the memory. This board's reference voltage for memory is 1.8v, so if you are running 2.2v memory, then you need to set for a +0.4v gain in the BIOS. Not sure why Gigabyte can't get their BIOS to properly detect memory voltage. I am running memory that is listed in its supported memory list too.

                            If your board is not running memory at its proper voltage, it will endlessly try to post, rebooting over and over. Clearing the CMOS by unplugging the machine, then yanking the CMOS battery for a few minutes, then put it back in, should allow the board to post and allow you to get into the BIOS to make the needed adjustments.

                            Good luck!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: GA-P35-DS4 Revision 2: Endless Reboot Issue

                              I notice the Chinese woman stopped answering you way back on page one. Not a good sign. I just bought this board at Newegg and I'm hoping I don't run into the same issues as you guys. tigerspy, thanks for the tip. I will add that to my growing list.

                              Comment

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