Help with resetting BIOS on AsRock z97 K1ller

[Greenlepricon]

So I have been running this system for the past few months with an Intel g3258, and everything worked perfectly. I recently ordered a 4690k to replace this, but the system would not start. After some digging around, I came to the conclusion that the BIOS was not updated for whatever reason, and proceeded to download it onto a usb and use the quick flash in the BIOS.

The part where things get iffy are that it may or may not have lost power during this process, or it may have not flashed correctly. Either way, now the system won't start. There is a jumper for a backup BIOS on this system, but I also can't get my system to POST or much else using either BIOS or cpu. Resetting CMOS according to the manual also doesn't appear to help unless I'm doing that wrong as well. If someone could help or walk me through some troubleshooting I would appreciate it SO much. I haven't called tech support yet but if there isn't anything obvious that's my next plan.

Thanks to anyone who can help at all.

 

[F-5]

Pages 18-19 in the manual deal with the steps needed to get up and running. Did you try moving the jumper cap to pins 2 and 3 on the BIOS selection jumper? It sounds like clearing the CMOS may have compounded the issue but maybe not. Page 19 has the steps laid out nicely so I hope it helps you get past this issue.

 

[Greenlepricon]

Pages 18-19 in the manual deal with the steps needed to get up and running. Did you try moving the jumper cap to pins 2 and 3 on the BIOS selection jumper? It sounds like clearing the CMOS may have compounded the issue but maybe not. Page 19 has the steps laid out nicely so I hope it helps you get past this issue.

Yep tried it with both cpus and followed the manual exactly and it didn't work :/ I realize the CMOS clear was probably a bad idea but I was just getting desperate. If I understand correctly though the backup BIOS should just boot up as soon as the computer starts?

Do you know if it's possible that it's running V1.00 rather than 1.10 or higher, which added support for the g3258? If that were the case it may explain why I still can't get it to boot. Unfortunately I don't have any other CPU to test this with. I think my last resort will be to take it to a local shop to see if they will do it for me, or just order a new BIOS ROM.

Thanks for the help.

 

[F-5]

I sure hope the flash didn't brick things, but if it were me I'd stick with the G3258 for all troubleshooting, since it worked fine until the issues started. With the backup BIOS it should start and allow you to get back into the BIOS so you can have a look see at the situation. Is the BIOS version from the factory listed on any labels on your mobo box? One would assume it's v 1.00 coming from the factory, but it could be higher based on production date. What happened with the power during the flash if you recall? You could remove the CMOS battery but I bet you already tried that. I wish I was there beside you to lend a hand. :thumbsup:

 

[Greenlepricon]

I sure hope the flash didn't brick things, but if it were me I'd stick with the G3258 for all troubleshooting, since it worked fine until the issues started. With the backup BIOS it should start and allow you to get back into the BIOS so you can have a look see at the situation. Is the BIOS version from the factory listed on any labels on your mobo box? One would assume it's v 1.00 coming from the factory, but it could be higher based on production date. What happened with the power during the flash if you recall? You could remove the CMOS battery but I bet you already tried that. I wish I was there beside you to lend a hand. :thumbsup:

Well I had someone over at the time and I'm pretty sure they ended up hitting the reset or the surge protector I have my PC hooked up to. But yeah I tried taking out the battery as well and still nothing.

I'll be sure to check the box in a little while. If I need to get an older Haswell chip then it's kind of an inconvenience. I was hoping all of the BIOS chips would be the most up to date (1.60), but seeing as how the primary BIOS wasn't for whatever reason I don't have much hope for the backup.

With it being finals week and all I haven't really had much time to mess with it and have been using an older computer. Thanks for the advice though and I'll let you know if I figure it out!

 

[F-5]

This might be reaching, but in the times you've removed the CPU to swap it out during your troubleshooting is it possible you didn't get it reseated just right and might need to double check that it's squared away? According to the AsRock site the BIOS V1.30 contains the microcode for both the G3258 and 4690K, so I would assume it's at least at v1.30 in order for the G3258 to have worked.

What does it do when you hit power on? Is it completely dead or fans spin up type of thing, or it hangs before POST?

 

[Greenlepricon]

This might be reaching, but in the times you've removed the CPU to swap it out during your troubleshooting is it possible you didn't get it reseated just right and might need to double check that it's squared away? According to the AsRock site the BIOS V1.30 contains the microcode for both the G3258 and 4690K, so I would assume it's at least at v1.30 in order for the G3258 to have worked.

What does it do when you hit power on? Is it completely dead or fans spin up type of thing, or it hangs before POST?

I'm pretty sure V1.10 supports the pentium but Devil's Canyon came out later. So my theory is that this came with 1.10. The system powers on fine but it hangs and the peripherals don't get power. I'm positive the cpu is inserted correctly so I'm leaning towards the BIOS either being defective or old.

 

[F-5]

I found a couple of other reports of borked BIOS updates on this model over at Tom's Hardware. I also heard a couple of AsRock guys saying they ran the G3258 on the original version 1.00 from the factory with nary a problem. Sorry this isn't solved yet for you...

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

That's why you buy Asus..............RMA time

 

[denis280]

I'm positive the cpu is inserted correctly

Are you sure??? double check for bend pins.also did you try the old cpu back in

 

[Greenlepricon]

Are you sure??? double check for bend pins.also did you try the old cpu back in

Yep checked probably a dozen times switching out cpus. Insterted correctly and no bent pins.

This is one of those cases where I wish I had gone asus or gigabyte, although I've never had any problems with ASRock in the past. I was trying to save a couple of bucks and got it on sale. It has been great to me otherwise, but this little hiccup is more frustrating than anything I've experienced with a mobo before. A new chip is on its way, so on the plus side I'll hopefully have my pc back up in time for Christmas!

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Yep checked probably a dozen times switching out cpus. Insterted correctly and no bent pins.

This is one of those cases where I wish I had gone asus or gigabyte, although I've never had any problems with ASRock in the past. I was trying to save a couple of bucks and got it on sale. It has been great to me otherwise, but this little hiccup is more frustrating than anything I've experienced with a mobo before. A new chip is on its way, so on the plus side I'll hopefully have my pc back up in time for Christmas!

Google how to save a bricked motherboard, does AsRock use the Bupdater too? Where you have to convert the file, once you insert it with part of the bupdater? Or if the have a removable Bios chip go on flee bay, someone here has a link. Cheap then RMAing it.............

 

[Greenlepricon]

Google how to save a bricked motherboard, does AsRock use the Bupdater too? Where you have to convert the file, once you insert it with part of the bupdater? Or if the have a removable Bios chip go on flee bay, someone here has a link. Cheap then RMAing it.............

Nope AsRock uses something called instant flash. Pretty much the easiest thing to run ever. Just put everything on a drive and it finds it and updates automatically. I ordered a chip already and it's on it's way, so hopefully that fixes all of this. I did everything that I could think of between the backup bios and the CMOS, and there doesn't seem to be many other ideas out there. I'll post an update if I get it back up and running in the next week or two.

 

[Shmee]

Sorry this is a bit late, but afaik, all Z97 boards should support Devil's Canyon out of the box, no BIOS update needed. It is usually the previous gen 1150 boards (Z87 etc) that require bios updates.

 

[Meghan54]

That's why you buy Asus..............RMA time

LOL! You most certainly do NOT want to buy Asus if you ever contemplate RMA'ing anything to them. Worst company I've ever had to deal with using their RMA. The returned items were worse than what was sent out.

 

[Greenlepricon]

Sorry this is a bit late, but afaik, all Z97 boards should support Devil's Canyon out of the box, no BIOS update needed. It is usually the previous gen 1150 boards (Z87 etc) that require bios updates.

Yeah that's what I had thought too... Do you think the problem could have been elsewhere? I had tried two separate i5s and neither would POST. Upon further research it appeared that the launch BIOS and it's following update didn't support Haswell's refresh, so that's where I assumed I was having problems.

I just helped my friend with his build using an H97 board, and so I can test the CPUs in there. I can't ever recall getting a broken CPU though, much less 2 in a row. If you have any other ideas as to what it could be I'm happy to test them. I haven't been in the pc building game for all that long and am afraid I possibly missed something simple. I'm just not sure what it might be.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Yeah that's what I had thought too... Do you think the problem could have been elsewhere? I had tried two separate i5s and neither would POST. Upon further research it appeared that the launch BIOS and it's following update didn't support Haswell's refresh, so that's where I assumed I was having problems.

I just helped my friend with his build using an H97 board, and so I can test the CPUs in there. I can't ever recall getting a broken CPU though, much less 2 in a row. If you have any other ideas as to what it could be I'm happy to test them. I haven't been in the pc building game for all that long and am afraid I possibly missed something simple. I'm just not sure what it might be.

You're not going to get a "bad CPU" from a company who rigorously tests them three times before putting them in retail-box packaging.

Here are two thoughts as I quickly scanned through the posts here.

First, when changing out processors, ALWAYS clear the CMOS before restarting the system with new processor.

Second, it something gets borked like this, I would think just from prior experience that a "failure to post" situation and the sorts of shenanigans you described with incompletely flashed BIOS can be fixed if the BIOS chip on the board fits in a socket -- not soldered to the board.

You can order a custom-flashed BIOS chip for a particular board like this. I have paid between $7 and $20 for the service. Even so, I've noticed that the number of businesses which do this sort of thing has declined.

There's an outfit in New Jersey that does it-- I'd just have to do the same web-search to find it. ASUS maintains their own "e-store," and you can order BIOS chips by BIOS version and motherboard. Unfortunately, that e-store web-site is very buggy at the moment, and frustrating for that fact. ASUS tech support noted my remarks about the e-store and said they'd "get right on it" a couple weeks ago. I didn't lose my purchase, though, and the "person" behind the e-store (at least for BIOS flashes) is still the same person of a few years back -- an Andrea Moorman.

I'd had a couple boards "go south" in the manner you describe, and replacing the PLCC chip pre-flashed with a preferred BIOS version did the trick. I would think all the functionality for future BIOS updates and other things will simply come back.

I say think about this because you'll pay postage to have the board-maker do the same thing, although they won't be specific about what they'd done. And except for waiting for a fast-traveling envelope in your mail with the PLCC chip in it, you'd likely reduce the delay.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Here -- try these guys. [I never have, so far, but they're likely pretty reliable]:

http://badbiosflash.com/

There used to be a one-man business at www.BIOSMan.com, but he's "out of the country" and his website -- still available -- is mothballed with notices to this effect.

I think if you search the web for a while, you should find a few more of these services. I had used one up in No. California/Bay-Area just a couple years ago, but I don't know what happened to them. I should've stored the web-site in "favorites."

 

[Greenlepricon]

You're not going to get a "bad CPU" from a company who rigorously tests them three times before putting them in retail-box packaging.

Here are two thoughts as I quickly scanned through the posts here.

First, when changing out processors, ALWAYS clear the CMOS before restarting the system with new processor.

Second, it something gets borked like this, I would think just from prior experience that a "failure to post" situation and the sorts of shenanigans you described with incompletely flashed BIOS can be fixed if the BIOS chip on the board fits in a socket -- not soldered to the board.

You can order a custom-flashed BIOS chip for a particular board like this. I have paid between $7 and $20 for the service. Even so, I've noticed that the number of businesses which do this sort of thing has declined.

There's an outfit in New Jersey that does it-- I'd just have to do the same web-search to find it. ASUS maintains their own "e-store," and you can order BIOS chips by BIOS version and motherboard. Unfortunately, that e-store web-site is very buggy at the moment, and frustrating for that fact. ASUS tech support noted my remarks about the e-store and said they'd "get right on it" a couple weeks ago. I didn't lose my purchase, though, and the "person" behind the e-store (at least for BIOS flashes) is still the same person of a few years back -- an Andrea Moorman.

I'd had a couple boards "go south" in the manner you describe, and replacing the PLCC chip pre-flashed with a preferred BIOS version did the trick. I would think all the functionality for future BIOS updates and other things will simply come back.

I say think about this because you'll pay postage to have the board-maker do the same thing, although they won't be specific about what they'd done. And except for waiting for a fast-traveling envelope in your mail with the PLCC chip in it, you'd likely reduce the delay.

So when you have had problems in the past, have you had experiences both sending the board for a repair and also changing the chip yourself? I'm just curious as to which is easier, as this is something I have not done before. I looked into it after this incident though, and have a new chip on the way from some ebay company that only cost me $13. It looks easy enough but I'll see how it goes. Plus it should be flashed to the must up to date version, so I'll let you know if it solves all of the problems or not.

I want to avoid buying a new mobo if possible but if this gives me any more trouble I'll probably just buy one and build a new system out of spare parts once I figure out how to get this board up and running.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

So when you have had problems in the past, have you had experiences both sending the board for a repair and also changing the chip yourself? I'm just curious as to which is easier, as this is something I have not done before. I looked into it after this incident though, and have a new chip on the way from some ebay company that only cost me $13. It looks easy enough but I'll see how it goes. Plus it should be flashed to the must up to date version, so I'll let you know if it solves all of the problems or not.

I want to avoid buying a new mobo if possible but if this gives me any more trouble I'll probably just buy one and build a new system out of spare parts once I figure out how to get this board up and running.

I can only say that what you described is the sort of thing a new PLCC chip fixed for me.

Usually, if you buy it from one of the outfits I mentioned, they send you a plastic "chip-puller" -- a cheap but specialized item that is essentially a spring-loaded tweezers with small hooks on the ends. Just ground yourself, make sure the machine is unplugged, locate the socket with the old chip, pull it out, and push in the new one. If you don't have the chip puller, tweezers and a small screwdriver should allow you to lever it out without problem.

Just make sure the new one goes into the socket the way it's supposed to. The sites I mentioned also provide instructions.

I had inclined toward the habit of ordering one or two of these chips for more than one new motherboard I bought. It seemed like a good alternative to flashing, but flashing should be reliable enough except for the mishap you described.

Also, they recycle and re-use those chips, so you should be able to get a discount if you send in the old one.

 

[F-5]

I'm glad you have a new chip coming to solve the issue. One last thought came to mind after reading this again. I hope you removed the USB flash drive from the system before troubleshooting and attempting the new startup post BIOS update failure. If not, it should be so as not to cause issues with where the system is booting from.

 

[mikemcc]

So when you have had problems in the past, have you had experiences both sending the board for a repair and also changing the chip yourself? I'm just curious as to which is easier, as this is something I have not done before. I looked into it after this incident though, and have a new chip on the way from some ebay company that only cost me $13. It looks easy enough but I'll see how it goes. Plus it should be flashed to the must up to date version, so I'll let you know if it solves all of the problems or not.

I want to avoid buying a new mobo if possible but if this gives me any more trouble I'll probably just buy one and build a new system out of spare parts once I figure out how to get this board up and running.

Those of us who used the old DFI Lan-Party "sistas" used to pull BIOS chips all the time since there were probably 8 or 10 BIOS versions floating around out there that all did different things. I even had one of those gizmos that let you have two BIOS chips installed at the same time and then you'd just flip a little switch to determine which one you wanted to use. As long as your chip is removable, taking it out is really easy. I never used those plastic tong things because I could never get enough leverage with them. My tool was a paper clip that I straightened out and then put a 90-degree bend at the very end that was about an eighth of an inch long. (So the paper clip looked like an "L" with a really long top part and a very small bottom part.) I would put it under one side of the chip and pull until it loosened. Then I'd put it under the other end of the chip and pull until it popped out.

I know you are having problems and I hope the new BIOS chip gets them straightened out. But this thread also brought back memories of the "old days" when I used to be able to fart around like that. In fact, I have two of my sistas laying around here somewhere. I like the plug-and-play and the turbo for OC ease of today, but I also miss the constant tinkering of days gone by.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

LOL! You most certainly do NOT want to buy Asus if you ever contemplate RMA'ing anything to them. Worst company I've ever had to deal with using their RMA. The returned items were worse than what was sent out.

That's why they have bios flash back on all upper tear Asus boards, the board is brick proof. Of course with 5K posts you knew this...................

I have a few Asus boards, when one fails to post I pop in a chip from a similar board make it boot(hot swap the original chip back) then flash. All boards should be made this way, but some company's make there money off RMA'S. That said @OP if the chip don't work, you are covered by RMA.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

That's why they have bios flash back on all upper tear Asus boards, the board is brick proof. Of course with 5K posts you knew this...................

I have a few Asus boards, when one fails to post I pop in a chip from a similar board make it boot(hot swap the original chip back) then flash. All boards should be made this way, but some company's make there money off RMA'S. That said @OP if the chip don't work, you are covered by RMA.

Nothing missing with that!

I sometimes buy lower tier or "budget" boards for fam-damn-ily builds. Or sometimes they get better than that as a hand-me-down. [We're swimming in desktop computers here! And . . . Parts!]

You quickly find out certain things about the lower, mid and upper tier boards. The higher-priced boards -- beginning in the mid-range -- tend to have better recovery features built in if you have a failed overclock and BSOD.

Take this ASUS Z77-A I'm playing with at the moment. I'd changed the BIOS to disable hyperthreading, and tried to get 100Mhz more in the clock speed, but I was a bit timid about adding voltage. When I got it to reboot, I re-enabled HT and dropped the speed to stock, but it kept booting to show no HT and 4.6 Ghz. I finally cleared the CMOS, then flashed in the latest BIOS, and all was well again.

That's the sort of thing we do among forum members. You have to accept the risks. Budget boards can be good for mainstream desktops that don't get "experimental" tweaks put to them. And what I find with this Z77-A board, you can even get a decent overclock from a board with a 4+1 phase-power design -- relatively anemic. But the less you spend on the motherboard, it pays to be more cautious.

 

[Greenlepricon]

Sorry for bringing this one back, but I just wanted to update that I got the chip and replaced it, and now everything is working perfectly! Thanks everyone who commented in this thread. It was interesting hearing everyones experiences with changing out chips/bricking motherboards while I waited to get this up and running again. At least now I know what to do in the future if this sort of thing happens again.