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[GUIDE] Forcing backup BIOS on Gigabyte motherboards.

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I got an update, right now my situation is as follows:
I did the recovery BIOS trick again. For me the trick works different. I got no seperated power switch on the back. I pull my power cabel and then hold my power button after some seconds I put the cable in again, keep holding the button and then it starts but shuts down almost instantly, after 2-3 seconds. After that it does stay off. Then I wait some seconds and hit my power button and then it tries to boot but goes off after 3,4 seconds and then again but after maximal 3-4 times of automatically powering on and off I get the recovery screen. Just another possible method that you might wanna add to the guide if somebody has no seperate power switch on the backside of his/her PC.
Anyway my current situation is that my PC is actually booting after shutting off. The thing is after recovery I checked my BIOS Version and even got the newest BETA one F14 from Gigabyte H77M-D3H rev. 1.1. , olthough I never installed the new one. Anyway after recovery I went to BIOS and left it "without saving", got to windows shut my PC off. After that when hitting the power button it actually boots but now I always get to the BIOS screen that asks me: Load defaults and then boot/Load defaults and then reboot/ Enter BIOS. I have hit "enter BIOS2 the last two times and left BIOS without saving and got to Windows. Now I am kind of afraid and don't know what to pick or if I actually should pick any of the other two options. I picked loading defaults and then boot two months ago when I already had struggled with that problem and then I got back into the loop where I do not wanna end up again. Maybe somebody can tell me what to pick and maybe knows also the reason why even after recovering my BIOS has its flaws. Apparently it is working right now, at least the last two times I shut my PC off, but I am not quiet optimistic that it will work tomorrow evening :screwy:
 
Holy Christ it is working. You were probably right. always these stupid small RAM sticks. I got now both inside. Probably a slot is broken. When I tried it with the other two slots for dual mode it worked and is still working :))) I am so happy right now :D
 
Holy Christ it is working. You were probably right. always these stupid small RAM sticks. I got now both inside. Probably a slot is broken. When I tried it with the other two slots for dual mode it worked and is still working :))) I am so happy right now :D

Don't through out the possibility of a bad RAM stick or sticks, if you have further problems. Glad the PC is working for you.:)
 
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I'm a bit late for this thread but i had this problem too, fixed it with method #2.
My problem is, every time i shut down my PC i have to do the thing again to get it working, tried manually flashing an old bios version and had no success.
Is there a way or anything i could do to make my backup bios into my main? Or the backup is used only to reflash the main? I'm getting tired of having to do method 2 everyday to get my pc to boot.

Sorry about my bad english.
 
I'm a bit late for this thread but i had this problem too, fixed it with method #2.
My problem is, every time i shut down my PC i have to do the thing again to get it working, tried manually flashing an old bios version and had no success.
Is there a way or anything i could do to make my backup bios into my main? Or the backup is used only to reflash the main? I'm getting tired of having to do method 2 everyday to get my pc to boot.

Sorry about my bad english.

Did you try running one stick of memory at a time?
 
Old thread, but Method #3 with pins 1 and 6 worked for me. I had to whip out the manual to see which one M_BIOS was. I held pin 1 and 6, booted, and the machine kept power cycling (no beeps) about 2-3 times. I finally gave up and let go to see what happens, and upon next boot I heard a beep and saw the BIOS recovery run. The machine then power cycled twice and booted up and asked for optimized defaults. Thanks!!

FYI, Pin #1 has a blue or red dot. Pin #6 you have to count counter-clockwise from Pin #1, so for me if pin #1 is the bottom-left, pin #2 is on the top and second from the right.
 
Update: Fixed it. Q-Flash (END or DEL->F8) flashes the main and backup. QF'ing F6 didn't help, F21 corrected the issue.

I have a handful with a system and just came across this. Easiest way to explain the situation is the post created last night.

An H170M-D3H with a custom firmware version (via Gigabyte's own toolkit, minimal alterations: PC Health max temps., enabling SATA ports, etc.) F5 in the main and backup BIOSes had utilized the Gigabyte Firmware Update utility, believing it to be an Intel M. E. I. firmware update utility. The software updated the system and rendered in non-POSTable. It had worked well for many months. It was a brand new installation of Windows 10 and a new S. S. D., which should have otherwise ruled out virus interference or any other type of problem during the flash. Had the understanding been it was a Windows-based automatic firmware updater, it would have been avoided. The damage is done.

The computer will now start only if the power button is held until the system powers then shuts off (it would appear this boots from the backup BIOS). Normal startups do not beep or initialize the video. It would appear the GFU utility corrupted the main BIOS and flashed it to the new "unable to flash back to previous versions" Kaby Lake updates. It is unclear if incompatibility with previous versions or some other problem is causing the issue.

I spent some time today attempting to flash backup to main and was unable to utilize any key combination to do so. Main to backup (CTRL+F10) would not function either (tested for reference). I was using a PS/2 keyboard. As this was unsuccessful, I would assume I can either: a) utilize a flash drive and a recovery flash via holding INS / CTRL+HOME / CTRL+PGUP or PGDN during power-on (IIRC), or b) same as (a) with a USB floppy drive, or c) some sort of pin short on the primary BIOS chip as documented on a few enthusiast sites (if someone is knowledgeable). It may be none of these will succeed as having attempted several combinations of CTRL+* with AMIBOOT.ROM on a flash drive did not yield results (the floppy is out as the firmware is much larger).

At the present the system has a brand new Samsung 850 EVO drive and Windows 10 x64 installation and is unable to boot without the hold until on then off sequence completes. It would appear sleep or hibernation causes a deeper problem as attempting to wake the system tonight was met with complete lack of power until a CMOS clear was completed. Any suggestions are welcome. The assistance is appreciated.

P. S. If the worst is feared I am willing to attempt something to the tune of these posts, if someone is familiar with the chips in these newer boards: How to fix "dead" dual BIOS motherboard if flashing failed.
 
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Ran into some problems today so I've decided to make a guide on how to kick-start the backup BIOS.

Method #1:
1. Shut your PC down (if you're reading this guide, than your PC isn't working anyways)
2. Hold the power button until the PC starts and shuts down again
3. Press the power button again, your backup BIOS should kick in now and should re-flash the main BIOS if there's anything wrong with it.

Method #2:
1. Shut your PC down
2. Hold the power AND the reset button for about 10 sec, than release.
3. Backup BIOS should kick in anytime soon now.

Method #3:
Had to use this one in order to get my 990FXA-D3 working again. Backup BIOS kicked in using method #2, but I was back to the good ol' no signal state once the procedure finished..
1. Short out pins 1 and 6 on the main BIOS chip (pin #1 should be marked with a red dot or whatever)
2. Tell a friend (or a relative) of yours to press the power on button
3. Remove the ghetto-like jumper you're holding between pins 1 and 6 as soon as you hear a beep.
4. Backup BIOS should kick in again and everything will (hopefully) be fine.

Uhm yeah, that's about it, I guess.
P.S Please bare in mind that the 3rd method should only be used if you have the following options:
Option #1 Follow my dumb advices.
Option #2 RMA the board.
My board won't turn off for me to try the different methods
 
Ran into some problems today so I've decided to make a guide on how to kick-start the backup BIOS.

Method #1:
1. Shut your PC down (if you're reading this guide, than your PC isn't working anyways)
2. Hold the power button until the PC starts and shuts down again
3. Press the power button again, your backup BIOS should kick in now and should re-flash the main BIOS if there's anything wrong with it.

Method #2:
1. Shut your PC down
2. Hold the power AND the reset button for about 10 sec, than release.
3. Backup BIOS should kick in anytime soon now.

Method #3:
Had to use this one in order to get my 990FXA-D3 working again. Backup BIOS kicked in using method #2, but I was back to the good ol' no signal state once the procedure finished..
1. Short out pins 1 and 6 on the main BIOS chip (pin #1 should be marked with a red dot or whatever)
2. Tell a friend (or a relative) of yours to press the power on button
3. Remove the ghetto-like jumper you're holding between pins 1 and 6 as soon as you hear a beep.
4. Backup BIOS should kick in again and everything will (hopefully) be fine.
Hi all,
I realise this advise is a bit old but it is still very relevant. I just had the Dualbios boot loop problem on a GA-Z68AP-D3 rev 2.0 board with the typical symptoms and could not get the backup bios to kick in. I tried Method #1 and Method #2 several times each with no success. I was reluctant to go to Method #3 since on different sites I found 3 different pin combinations to short out. MMMMMM?????

I was about to give up on the board and I just went for broke and really worked the main bios. I did Method #1 repeatedly 3 or 4 times over in quick succession, followed by Method #2 straight after and the repeated the whole thing again. Hey Presto. Backup Bios kicked in and flashed the main bios.
 
in step 2 could someone please tell me where the reset switch is located?

It is usually just on the front of your computer case if it is a desktop PC. You will have your power on / off button, some LEDs that light up for power on and flash for HDD activity and then there will be the Reset button. The electrical wires for all of these usually attach to the same header group on the Motherboard.
 
Guy i have used method 1 and 2 both did not worked for me and you tell me how to perform method 3 with paper clip and which pin i have to short my motherboard is gigabyte h97m d3h
 
I can't help you with that because even for my exact motherboard I found 3 sites that gave 3 different Pin combinations to short out. Read my original post (4 posts above yours) and see how I used a combination of methods 1 and 2 repeatedly for several cycles through and really over-stressed the main BIOS. This worked for me right as I was about to bin the board.
 
Follow the two wires from the power switch. They plug in to the two pins you need to briefly [BRIEFLY] short. Just a quick connecting of the two will work.
 
Varun yadav is asking which pins on the Primary BIOS chip to short out. The OP said pins 1 and 6 in method 3 but as I say, I found 3 different pairs listed on 3 different sites which is why I avoided performing this procedure.

The wires from the power switch don't go to the BIOS chip. They go to a header for the connection sockets.

He could try pins 1 and 6 but it may do damage if they are the wrong ones. Someone with better knowledge of the pinouts for his particular board's BIOS chips may have a definitive answer.
 
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