Z270 Supercarrier 09/d0, can't go to backup BIOS |
Post Reply | Page <123 |
Author | |
parsec
Moderator Group Joined: 04 May 2015 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 4996 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I found this on the Z270 Gaming K6 board, below the yellow sticker, does it look familiar? We can also see a two pin jumper on the right side of the yellow sticker (covering the BIOS chips) which I assume must be the pins to switch to the backup UEFI/BIOS. I must point out that my Z270 Gaming K6 board is a pre-production model, so the two pin jumper seen above may not be found on the retail versions of this and other boards. You simply shorted those two points on your board temporarily, to change to the backup UEFI/BIOS, correct? But later on you said that did not seem to work, so I'm confused about what happened. When the ASRock Kaby Lake Intel 200 series chipset boards were released, they included a change in the way the dual BIOS system worked. That was apparently related to another situation with the BIOS chips on the new boards. In the past, ASRock used BIOS chips that were socketed DIP chips, that could be replaced by the user if necessary. That style of chips are no longer available from the BIOS chip manufactures. The Intel 200 series chipset boards now use surface mount BIOS chips, no longer in sockets. On earlier ASRock dual BIOS chip boards, the main and backup BIOS chips worked like this, from an ASRock Z170 board manual: This motherboard has two BIOS chips, a primary BIOS (BIOS_A) and a backup BIOS (BIOS_ B), which enhances the safety and stability of your system. Normally, the system will work on the primary BIOS. However, if the primary BIOS is corrupted or damaged, just flip the BIOS Selection Switch to B, then the backup BIOS will take over on the next system boot. Ater that, use Secure Backup UEFI in the UEFI Setup Utility to duplicate a working copy of the BIOS iles to the primary BIOS to ensure normal system operation. For safety issues, users are not able to update the backup BIOS manually. Users may refer to the BIOS LEDs (BIOS_A_LED or BIOS_B_LED) to identify which BIOS is currently activated. This procedure has been changed on the Intel 200 series chipset boards, since we no longer have a dedicated switch to select the main and backup BIOS chips. This is the new description from the Z270 SuperCarrier manual: This motherboard has two BIOS chips, an active BIOS (BIOS_A) and a backup BIOS (BIOS_B), which enhances the safety and stability of your system. Use Secure Backup UEFI to duplicate a working copy of the BIOS files to the active BIOS to ensure normal system operation. Normally, the system will work on the active BIOS. However if the active BIOS is corrupted or damaged, after several failed boot attempts, the backup BIOS will take over. For safety issues, users are not able to update the backup BIOS manually. Users may refer to the BIOS LEDs (BIOS_A_LED or BIOS_B_LED) to identify which BIOS is currently activated. The UEFI/BIOS of the SuperCarrier should have the Secure Backup UEFI feature in the Tools screen. Given this description, why your board did not switch to the backup UEFI/BIOS chip automatically, I don't know. Possibly the number of failed POST/boot attempts was not enough, the Boot Failure Guard feature ASRock boards have set the number of attempts to three in the past. As said in the description, it is not possible to update the backup UEFI/BIOS version. The procedure described by UltimateInternet above seems to be similar to the original dual BIOS chip backup method, initiated manually by jumping pins on this header rather than with a switch. Regardless, we still are pursuing a full official description of how this header works. |
|
Xaltar
Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 22838 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I can confirm that the jumper you mentioned is present on the retail board too Parsec. I am looking at it right now on my Z270 Gaming K6.
I have to be honest, I am somewhat relieved to discover it exists. I didn't like the idea that the procedure had been fully automated in the event of a failure. Knowing this "manual override" option exists has put my mind at ease
|
|
|
|
ultimateinternet
Newbie Joined: 23 Feb 2017 Status: Offline Points: 17 |
Post Options
Thanks(1)
|
I have read all the interest so in the pursuit of information, I have run the following test:
I have gskill trident 3200 8gb x 4 Taichi z270 + 7700k + titan x + 960 pro + 960 pro ver 1.30 bios, everything great -------------------- ok, here goes the testing. upgrade to 1.33, debug codes. bios b2a, bios update remove jumper debug codes remove all ram but 1 + remove evga card no debug codes boot to win add 1 ram back no debug codes boot to win add 1 ram back (3 now) debug codes add 1 ram back (4 now) debug codes go back to 2 ram only (2 out, 2 in) + evga card no debug codes boot to win remove all ram but 1 + remove evga card bios b2a, updates remove jumper NO DEBUG CODES CONFIRMED 1.30 (stock) bios back ------------ it seems that the memory is causing the bios to fail the "backup" so interesting results, I know in no way scientific but there's more for the pile. :) |
|
Xaltar
Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 22838 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Awesome, many thanks for going through all that and sharing it with us
I suspected that may be the issue, RAM corruption = bad flash.
|
|
|
|
Post Reply | Page <123 |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |