new bios, no reboot

[crooser6]

Hi,

New to the boards and have a problem. I have the Z77 Extreme6 MB
Intel/Core I7 370K 3.5 Gig 8M R Processor
2 8 Gig Gskill F3-1600C10D-16GAO R RAM

I used the online flash upgrade utility for Version 2.8 and now my computer wont boot.
I then went down a version at a time to 1.1 and it still wont boot.

I don't know where to go from here. It stops booting when the Windows "panes" start to show up, and it stops there on every version the Bios.

Suggestions gratefully accepted.

Rich

[odiebugs]

Re: new bios, no reboot

Have you tried using the F6 instant flash ?

The instant flash is the best way, and there is also the instant flash option under advanced in the BIOS, you just need a FAT32 formatted USB flash drive and use a USB 2.0 port.

Sorry, didn't read your full post. Just flash the newest BIOS, then open the BIOS before booting and go through all the options, all storage and boot options.

If you still can't get windows to start you can try repair or restore, if this doesn't work just reinstall windows.


P.S. Posting the CPU an memory doesn't help, the OS, and if running RAID, would.

[crooser6]

Re: new bios, no reboot

Thanks for the reply odiebugs.

And for any other people willing to respond I am running 7 64 Pro, no Raid.

[Shiari]

Re: new bios, no reboot

If you were running in AHCI (or RAID) before when it was running fine, and now it bluescreens on startup, it means that storage setting has been changed to IDE (which it would after a firmware upgrade) and it'll bluescreen. By default Windows will only load that driver it was configured with in the first place, and changing it requires some registry changes before rebooting. Check your storage settings.

[parsec]

Re: new bios, no reboot

Shiari, what you wrote is true in general, but the default SATA mode for the Intel SATA interface is AHCI on ASRock Z77 boards, and for the ASMedia SATA chipset too. I use an ASRock Z77 Ex 4 board, so I know that is the case. Mobo manufactures finally started doing that on the Intel SB/6 series chipset boards. Don't know about AMD boards.

Regardless, the SATA mode is definitely worth checking, if the OP knows what it originally was when Windows was installed. The symptoms the OP described certainly match the change in SATA mode situation. Perhaps IDE was being used, and the change to AHCI caused his issue. Its been so long since I've used IDE mode, I don't remember if Windows blue-screens on the IDE to AHCI change.

The new 2.80 BIOS seems to have only one change, the "Change Internet Flash server" in the description. It looks like all the Z77 boards (like my Z77 Ex 4) have an identical BIOS update, which makes sense given the change of server.

Given this change in 2.80, etc, that might be the reason for the problem. Consider using a BIOS version prior to 2.80. All those version use the "old" server to provide the BIOS update file for the online Flash method. If ASRock has already taken the old server offline, etc, what happens when the online Flash method is used with a pre-2.80 BIOS? You would hope an error message, but who knows?

That would seem to be an obvious situation to consider when changing servers, but again, who knows? Or have both servers working for a while during the transition, and notify users when the final change will occur. The more I think about this server change, the more I see the need to prevent any side affects. I don't know if this is an actual problem, just a thought...

As Odiebugs said, using the Instant Flash method of updating the BIOS is the best method, IMO. I agree that trying that method with 2.80 is what you should do.

I changed to 2.90 on my Z77 Ex 4 board, the equivalent of 2.80 on the OP's board, and did not have any problems. But I used the Instant Flash method, with the BIOS file on a USB flash drive. I also immediately go into the BIOS after the change, to reset my essential BIOS settings. As usual, the update removed all the profiles I saved, but that is typical.

[crooser6]

Re: new bios, no reboot

Thanks to all who responded.
In the end I reinstalled my OS.

Rich