[New Overclocker]

So sometimes when I start up my computer, things will load up to the Gigabyte splash screen, and then it'll shut off, and a few seconds later, boot up again, and everything's fine. This time, something came up to the effect of "Fix ME firmware data," and I'm becoming increasingly worried. All I could find on Google was this http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1671018, and I'm not really sure how to update my BIOS, and I've heard it's dangerous. Are there any other solutions I could try first, or will I just have to bite the bullet?

 

[badatgames18]

it's a common problem with gigabyte p67 boards... just flash to the latest bios which should be f3 atleast for the ud4 b3.

Download the file and put it on a usb stick... make sure you extract the file first before you put it on the usb stick or else it won't get read during q-flash.

Go to your bios... press f8 and update the bios from the usb stick... power off and restart. You might also want to sync your main bios with your back up bios by pressing alt-f12 during post... do it very quickly or else it won't work... if it works properly it will ask you if you want to copy your bios enter yes etc...

Then you should be set

 

[Firehawk]

Gigabyte boards all have a backup BIOS. Don't worry about flashing the update, if you screw up you can restore from the backup. I've flashed mine countless times and never had a problem yet.

 

[New Overclocker]

Uh, checking CPU-Z, it says that the BIOS version is already F3. Oddly, I bought the motherboard when it had just come out, though, and I never updated the BIOS. I'll check the site and look around.

Is any USB stick good to go?

EDIT: Okay, the newest for UD3 is F6. I'll download that.

 

[badatgames18]

yes any usb stick is good.... weird i thought all gigabyte boards came with f2 out of the box

EDIT: is it a b3 board?

 

[lsdmeasap]

I think he has a B2 board, sounds like it and his signature doesn't say B3?

We'll find out if he gets BIOS ID mismatch error

Here's my guide for flashing Gigabyte BIOS with Qflash or DOS
http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/27576-bios-flashing-how-qflash-guide.html

 

[New Overclocker]

It is, in fact, a B2 board! Uh, so, anything I should do differently?

 

[badatgames18]

nope... just find the newest bios out for your board and do the samething

 

[lsdmeasap]

Yep, just flash to the latest for your board. We host the latest Beta and final BIOSes at the forum I linked above.

You should probably also go ahead and setup a RMA for a B3 board, let me know if you need info on getting that started

 

[New Overclocker]

Ugh, I can't find the right page. There's a page for Rev. 1.0 P67A-UD3, one for Rev. 1.1, and a page for P67A-UD3-B3 Rev. 1.X, but no B2-specific page! Argh!

Edit: I think I got it.

Okay, so, step-by-step, what I do is:

Put p67aud3.f6 onto the USB flash drive.
Restart the computer.
Go into the BIOS and do the following:
To use USB in Qflash you need "Legacy USB Storage Detect" Enabled in the Integrated Peripherals Page of the BIOS. You also need to leave the USB drive plugged in when you reboot to Qflash.
Then reboot and select Qflash.
Select the file.
Reboot?

 

[lsdmeasap]

Where? At Gigabyte';s site you mean? If so you need to look up the board via google without B3 (Or B2) in the name. Here is the official page 1.0 (Rev. 1.0/1.1 is just a codec change, your revision is printed on the corner of the board by the PCIE slots)
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3651#bios

BIOSes are the same for either though, so it doesn't matter, and see below - we host latest BIOS anyway

At our forum we host them all in one spot, here ya go F7e is the latest for P67A-UD3
http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/28441-gigabyte-latest-beta-bios.html

Since your BIOS is F3, you will need to update in windows with @BIOS, please uninstall the version you have installed if you have one installed, and install the latest version from here
http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/30530-latest-overclocking-programs-system-info-benchmarking-stability-tools.html

 

[badatgames18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by New Overclocker;13068335
Ugh, I can't find the right page. There's a page for Rev. 1.0 P67A-UD3, one for Rev. 1.1, and a page for P67A-UD3-B3 Rev. 1.X, but no B2-specific page! Argh!

Edit: I think I got it.

Okay, so, step-by-step, what I do is:

Put p67aud3.f6 onto the USB flash drive.
Restart the computer.
Go into the BIOS and do the following:
To use USB in Qflash you need "Legacy USB Storage Detect" Enabled in the Integrated Peripherals Page of the BIOS. You also need to leave the USB drive plugged in when you reboot to Qflash.
Then reboot and select Qflash.
Select the file.
Reboot?

follow lsdmeasap... he knows what he's talking about

 

[New Overclocker]

Sounds good, thanks for the help! Just curious, is the @BIOS program dangerous? From your post, I'm guessing it's necessary (due to it being F3), but, uh, I guess I'm just wondering what the odds are of bricking my board. (Unless I'm misunderstanding something!)

Oh boy. As you suggested, I should RMA anyway, but setting up everything in the first place was frightening enough! Should something go wrong, though, I guess that's good incentive to get it done with, heh.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, regarding the RMA. I got my board in a combo deal from Newegg. The problem is, the invoice number, when I use it to search up products under "Purchased Products," only brings up the CPU! Would that be a problem, and should I contact Newegg at some point?

EDIT #2: Okay, duh, I have a physical invoice and the invoice from my email. New question, though: Is this really a big issue? I mean, @BIOS sounds frightening, and taking my computer apart to RMA the board sounds even *more* frightening. Will continuing to operate as-is be dangerous, though?

 

[lsdmeasap]

No, it will be fine it has been updated a lot recently and is a bit better now, it's just not suggested to use every time.

You will need to use @BIOS, or DOS for this flash because of the Qflash changes in the new BIOS.

Just use @BIOS in windows, you will be fine. Then after you reboot go into the BIOS and load optimized defaults and save/apply/reboot once more. On the next reboot go into the BIOS and set your SATA/Disk settings to what you need then F10 apply again, then on the next reboot hit ALT + F12 to flash a copy of the MAIN BIOS into the Backup BIOS. This sometimes takes a try or two until you get it timed just right, if you end up at the boot menu screen reboot again via esc or ctrl+alt+del and try it again.

Here is a video of Dino explaining how to do this
http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.com/2011/02/video-guide-how-to-update-your-backup.html

You can use that invoice number on your RMA, all they really want is the board creation date which is in the serial number. RMA's will be processed regardless anyway for B2 boards, here's how to get started
http://event.gigabyte.com/intel-6-series-swap-request/

 

[New Overclocker]

Okay, sounds good. Thank you very much for your time!

 

[lsdmeasap]

Good luck, and let us know how you get along with everything!

 

[Falkentyne]

I'm going to just add onto what Lsd said:

After you've updated the BIOS, you will need to do the following, depending on which program you used to update.

This is VERY important, especially when you are installing a new BIOS with major code changes.

If you used FLASHSPI to update, then after the flash is completely done, POWER OFF the computer, without restarting it. Then turn off the PSU switch so all the lights on the board go out, then clear the CMOS (instructions are in your manual) by moving the clear cmos jumper to the "Clear" position for 30 seconds, then move it back to the default position.

If you used @bios or another program that automatically restarts the computer, (I've never used @bios so I don't know if it asks you to restart or power down...if it does ask you to power down, then power down and clear cmos as explained): let it restart and then go into your BIOS. Once you're fully in, then power off the computer, and repeat the clear CMOS instructions again.

Then power the computer back on, go into your BIOS, set your favorite settings, make sure to disable stuff you don't need (like the 1394 chip, and the Azilea sound chip if you don't use the onboard sound (Otherwise keep it at auto)), press CONTROL-F1 while you're on the main screen to unlock spread sprectrum (it's recommended to turn SS off) and PCI latency, set your settings, save and exit. BTW it's HIGHLY recommended you go to advanced options and TURN OFF the full screen logo! That logo is best for a computer being run by grandma or something :/

When your computer restarts, BEFORE the CPU ID string appears at the top.
hold down ALT and F12, and hold it down until you see the computer "Freeze" at the CPUID screen with the RAM count. If it stops at the RAM count, then it should load the backup tool and will copy the main bios to the backup BIOS.

Copying main to backup makes the board much more stable and far less likely to say overclock failed and try to restore the backup back over the main.

Hope this helps you some.

If you ALREADY updated (and you probably did), its STILL best to clear the CMOS anyway, even if you updated hours ago. There are issues that can happen if you don't clear the CMOS after a major BIOS change. Issues that are hard to find, like options being whacked or your PCIE suddenly running at X8...

 

[New Overclocker]

Actually, I just got back to my room, so I haven't done anything yet. I'll be sure to do that, thanks!

 

[New Overclocker]

Okay, uh, so I opened up my computer to scan for the CMOS Jumper (the manual's illustration was not particularly helpful). Found that. But then I noticed something regarding my new video card (recently put in a GTX 460). Uh, basically, that I had cables go every which way, and some of the ends of unconnected cables (my PSU isn't modular, which I assume means you can take some off) were touching metal parts of the case. So, uh, I cleaned that up, made sure I firmly plugged in the PSU's power cable, turned it on, and no double boot. Tried it again, and once again, no double boot. Both times I pressed tab to bring up the POST screen, and nothing seems to be wrong.

I still intend on updating my BIOS (I AM NOT PROCRASTINATING OUT OF FEAR), albeit I think I'm gonna get the help of a computer friend to do it (apparently I need to, uh, touch the pins of the CMOS clear ... thing with a screwdriver, for example, which scares me), and so long as it continues not to be a problem, I'll keep testing things out.

The interesting thing is that this problem started occurring *after* I installed the 460 and moved a bunch of cables around haphazardly, so I suspect that maybe that was the issue. (Maybe it was causing an electrical issue?) In any event, I just wanted to let you guys know, since I don't want to leave you hanging.

EDIT: Blah, I thought I was in the edit screen, sorry for the double post.

 

[Falkentyne]

There should be a jumper cap over the CMOS buttons, and that jumper should be pre-set to the "normal" position. Every board I've owned has always had that jumper on. Usually, the jumper is on blocks 1 and 2, which is "normal." To clear the CMOS, you power the PSU off then move the jumper to blocks 2 and 3 for 30 seconds.

Presto.

And no need to have a friend over to do it.

If your CMOS pins do NOT have a jumper, go look in your motherboard box--it should be in there. if you STILL can't find it, you can look for a jumper elsewhere on the board and just use that

As long as it covers pins 2 and 3, it will clear the CMOS. Just replace the jumper back if you borrowed it from a different part of the board.

I'd be VERY shocked if there was not a jumper cap available. Jumper caps are usually red, blue, or green, but sometimes white.

Anyway go look for one. There really SHOULD be one available, either elsehwere on the board, or in the box somewhere.

If your board is totally MISSING the jumper cap, call Gigabyte and tell them your board didn't come with the CMOS jumper cap and they'll send you one.

The screwdriver trick does work, but I hate putting screwdrivers over jumper blocks. But it's always an option. Just make sure the PSU is unplugged.

Anyway, dont be afraid about flashing the BIOS. It's quick and easy. Just DON'T flash while you're overclocked. (I flash mine at 4 ghz but I don't really consider 4 ghz much of an overclock on a 2600k).

Everything will be just fine.

Personally, I always make a USB flash drive bootable (you can use the HP format tool, and windows 98 MS DOS boot files, VERY easy), and copy FlashSPI on it, and the BIOS file image, and flash it in DOS. Since, that way, the flash reports finished right in front, and just sits there waiting for you to power off.