no post on occasion

[Trypt]

Hey there, I'm at my wits end..

I used to have this problem where my system wouldn't post, no BIOS, no nothing, I had to restart a few times, and get lucky.. Then I upgraded the video card and had nothing plugged in the USB and everything was peachy. Last week I bought an external HDD (My Book 6TB) and now again, if it's plugged into the USB (I have three other things plugged and no problem), the system won't restart, it will just sit there on blank screen (no, it's not trying to boot from the HDD). I tried to unplug it, restart, and the monitor comes on and everything is fine, and then I can get into windows, plug the drive back in and all is ok.

I tried to plug the drive into a USB slot while in BIOS and the computer froze.

Any ideas?

And b. I think my new external is not going to sleep, is this possible? The way I can tell is that when I try to access it even after hours of not using, it's instant, it doesn't take a while like my internals when they are asleep.

 

[EarthDog]

Does it do this with other ports? Does this external device cause problems on other pcs? That will tell you if its the device or a usb problem. Is 4 devices the tipping point?

 

[trents]

Have you tried going to Gigabyte's website, downloading and installing the USB 3.0 drivers for Windows 7. I find that not infrequently new drivers that come with Windows 10 updates are buggy and the original ones work much better.

 

[Trypt]

I'll try the above and get back to you.. Also, I have tried different ports and same thing, but actually I haven't tried the USB 3 ports yet, so I don't think that's the issue, first it was plugged into a USB extension and it froze, then I tried a regular port and it froze, now I just unplug if I need to restart.

What about the not going to sleep bit, anything on that?

 

[trents]

I take back what I said about the driver. If as you say this problem manifests itself even before you get into Windows then it's not a driver issue. More than likely, it's a compatibility problem with the drive's USB to SATA interface. I had the exact same problem with a certain USB hard drive when I was running an ASUS P8P67 PRO motherboard several years ago. But that drive would work fine on another computer and other USB hard drives would work fine on the P867 Pro. Just a compatiblity quirk in the days when USB 3.0 was not a fully mature standard yet.

You might consider pulling the actual drive out of the enclosure and putting it in a universal enclosure like this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...rd_drive_enclosure-_-0VN-0003-000W8-_-Product

or if it is a 2.5" hard drive something like this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...rd_drive_enclosure-_-0VN-0003-000H1-_-Product

Changing to a different USB controller like that may solve your issue. Did you do what ED suggested and plug the drive into another computer to see if may have a problem in general?

Those universal enclosures are very handy since you can make an external USB backup drive out of any old working hard drive.

Also, is there a newer bios for that motherboard available from gigabyte that might fix USB problems?

 

[Trypt]

Update: No post in any USB slot, the monitor will not even come on. I set it up now on an USB hub with a power off feature so that when I have to restart I don't have to pull the cable every time, it works.

I do see the drive inside, is it possible to remove it and just use it as an internal drive? Or does it have to be external?

As far as BIOS update how would I go about finding out which BIOS I have, what its features are and what new versions are available and what they offer as far as updates?

Thanks everyone.

 

[EarthDog]

You can see the bios version in the bios or in cpuz.

Bios notes are found with the bios at mobos webpage.

Did you try your external device in another pc?

 

[Trypt]

I haven't tried it on another PC, I only have laptops besides my main rig..

That being said, is there any way to find out the Revision of my mobo without looking inside the system, and if not, where will I find it (ok, I can google that)..

In CPU-Z besides the model, it says x.x for revision, and under that for the AMD chipset it says revision 02 but I doubt that's it.

The reason I'm asking is that it seems each revision has different BIOS, or that's the way it seems on the GB site.

 

[trents]

It should work no different in a laptop than it would a PC. Try plugging it into one of your laptops.

Yes, you can pull the drive out of the enclosure and use it like any SATA drive.

Search for the revision indicated by CPU-z on the Gigabyte website. Yes, the revision can make a difference in what bios is appropriate.

 

[Trypt]

Here is what CPU-Z says under mainboard tab

Manufacturer: Gigabyte Tech Co. Ltd.
Model: 990FXA-UD3 x.x
Chipset: AMD RD9x0 Rev. 02

after that it's about southbridge etc...

So, if you say cpu-z tells me revision, x.x means nothing and it is revision 2 under chipset? Just don't wanna kill my bios..


Thanx in advance

 

[EarthDog]

The board also has it printed on it I believe...you can also reach out to giga with your serial number.

.....so.....what happened when you plugged it into the laptop????

 

[trents]

Generally, the model number of a motherboard is found on the topside of the board alongside the main PCI-e slot. Or as ED said, contact the company with the serial number if there is not more specific info elsewhere on the motherboard.