Browsed through this forum for few hours...still I have some questions..
(Sorry for the long post..)
I have Gigabyte 8IPE1000 MB with Intel 2.4C CPU, Kingston 256Mbx2 CL3 (dual channel), Gigabyte 6600GT AGP.
I got into this BootBlock situation when I installed two new Dimms of 256Mb into the 2 empty slots of dual channel memory. I noticed (afterwards) that the CL of the new memory modules is 2.5 (when the other 2 are CL3) could that be the reason for the BIOS corruption ?
When I powered up the PC (after the installation of the new memory) I got the "BIOS auto-recovering..." message endlessly
I cleared the CMOS by jumper and battery and removed the new memory dimms, no use..
I disconnected the IDE drives and then I got the following message:
Award BootBlock 1.0"...
"Scanning BIOS Image in Harddrive.".
"Could not find BIOS Image on Harddrive or Diskette"
The CDROM drive LED lights for a few seconds, the floppy drive LED doesn't...
Tried bootable CD with all possible flash programs (awardflash, uniflash and others...), no use
Didnt tried bootable floppy cause I cant create one currently, but since the LED doesnt light I guess that it will not help either...
Does it mean that I need to buy a new MB ?
Do you all BIOS experts have any idea what else could I do ?
Dead Gigabyte 8IPE1000 (BootBlock)
More than 100,000 BIOS strings in my database just now!
http:/ /www.kuriaki.has.it/
http:/ /www.supportbios.info
------------------------------------------
Saludos desde Cancun, Mexico
KURIAKI
http:/ /www.kuriaki.has.it/
http:/ /www.supportbios.info
------------------------------------------
Saludos desde Cancun, Mexico
KURIAKI
It sounds like it is trying to auto-reflash the BIOS.
Can you try just the correct Gigabyte BIOS binary file on an otherwise empty CD or floppy? The floppy may not be doing anything if it can detect there is not a disk in it.
It does not need to be bootable & it does'nt need the flash program.
The file name may need to be something specific, or it may just take the name as it's downloaded & unzipped from the Gigabyte site.
Try it as is when you've unzipped it, e.g. for one board I've been working on was 6wmmc7.f9g
If that does not work, try changing the file extension to
.bio
.bin
and if they don't work try renaming to amiboot.bin & awdboot.bin
There may well be other names, it's down to searching info on the board maker & BIOS maker recovery procedures.
Hope this is some help.
Can you try just the correct Gigabyte BIOS binary file on an otherwise empty CD or floppy? The floppy may not be doing anything if it can detect there is not a disk in it.
It does not need to be bootable & it does'nt need the flash program.
The file name may need to be something specific, or it may just take the name as it's downloaded & unzipped from the Gigabyte site.
Try it as is when you've unzipped it, e.g. for one board I've been working on was 6wmmc7.f9g
If that does not work, try changing the file extension to
.bio
.bin
and if they don't work try renaming to amiboot.bin & awdboot.bin
There may well be other names, it's down to searching info on the board maker & BIOS maker recovery procedures.
Hope this is some help.
Robert Jenkins
Tried all of the above with no success 
Its seems like this the end of this MB !
I was only trying to add more memory, shame on Gigabyte !!
Will not buy anything from them, and I recomend you also to stay away...
Its seems like this the end of this MB !
I was only trying to add more memory, shame on Gigabyte !!
Will not buy anything from them, and I recomend you also to stay away...
The only Gigabyte board I've ever had a problem with is one I have that was rebranded by IBM and has their oddball BIOS in it.. Not even IBMs own BIOS updates will work with the ^$%£ thing!
Other than that, Gigabyte give me less problems than any other make & I use them whenever I can.
--------
At least your board is still trying to do something.
I've just had a look in the Gigabyte site, there are around SIXTEEN variations of the 8IPE1000 with different PCB versions & suffixes, is the BIOS you have the correct one? It will probably be ignored if it does not match the board exactly...
It also says you should not try to update by too many version steps at one go, so if you are on version F1 go to F4 then F8 rather than trying the latest in one jump.
This may mean you must try a version from when your board was manufactured to do a successful restore.
The BIOS name on the floppy should end in .Fnn (F & 1 or 2 digits).
The full update instructions for your board are in this link:
http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Su ... qflash.pdf
Other than that, Gigabyte give me less problems than any other make & I use them whenever I can.
--------
At least your board is still trying to do something.
I've just had a look in the Gigabyte site, there are around SIXTEEN variations of the 8IPE1000 with different PCB versions & suffixes, is the BIOS you have the correct one? It will probably be ignored if it does not match the board exactly...
It also says you should not try to update by too many version steps at one go, so if you are on version F1 go to F4 then F8 rather than trying the latest in one jump.
This may mean you must try a version from when your board was manufactured to do a successful restore.
The BIOS name on the floppy should end in .Fnn (F & 1 or 2 digits).
The full update instructions for your board are in this link:
http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Su ... qflash.pdf
Robert Jenkins
-
zonxar
- Master Flasher
- Posts: 197
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2002 7:26 pm
- Location: Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
I have an 8IPE1000 Pro3 board. Did you go into the Setup as suggested in the link? Press F8 in Setup to access the Dual BIOS/Q-Flash utility screen. Cursor up or down to where is says "Boot From". It should say "Main BIOS" - if not, change it until it does and back out of the utility (F10 Power Off). See if it will boot normally...
I thought I was clear enough..but I dont get pass the POST (the usual "beep" when you power up the PC) the messages I mentioned are showing up prior to that since the BIOS is messed up so I dont get to the BIOS setup screen...zonxar wrote:I have an 8IPE1000 Pro3 board. Did you go into the Setup as suggested in the link? Press F8 in Setup to access the Dual BIOS/Q-Flash utility screen. Cursor up or down to where is says "Boot From". It should say "Main BIOS" - if not, change it until it does and back out of the utility (F10 Power Off). See if it will boot normally...
@rjenkins - first I want to thank you for your help
Regarding my Gigabyte board it is 8IPE1000 (non Pro) rev.1 and I did got the correct BIOS from their site... it seems odd to me that adding a memory to the PC causes BIOS corruption, do a quick search in google for "BIOS auto-recovering" (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2 ... overing%22)and see how many pepole encountered this problem with Gigabyte boards and none of them has recovered from it...nevertheless the Gigabyte FAQ doesn't mention it at all....maybe its only me but, I still think they are crap and everybody should stay away from their HW !
Just found this on the Gigabyte site:
Xpress Bios Rescue – Auto recovers damaged BIOS to its original state!
BIOS Image is stored in your HDD hidden area automatically when system boots up. Bios image is Indestructible by any software or viruses
http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Su ... de_110.htm
Xpress Bios Rescue – Auto recovers damaged BIOS to its original state!
BIOS Image is stored in your HDD hidden area automatically when system boots up. Bios image is Indestructible by any software or viruses
http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Su ... de_110.htm
Robert Jenkins
Yeah its great marketing feature, its noted there that it exist in all boards from May 2004, mine was manufactured at May 2003 !!rjenkins wrote:Just found this on the Gigabyte site:
Xpress Bios Rescue – Auto recovers damaged BIOS to its original state!
BIOS Image is stored in your HDD hidden area automatically when system boots up. Bios image is Indestructible by any software or viruses
http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Su ... de_110.htm
Anyhow I remember that mine also had this kind of slogan of "Xpress" something but as I said it doesnt work, just another marketing gimmick..
See here:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/ ... 201.x).htm
Sorry, I was in a bit of a rush when I made the last posting.
The key bit (if it is the 'Xpress' thing) is that it's trying to recover an image it's saved itself, from the Hard Drive. It looks from the docs that it saves it in the dead space after the boot sector or something like that, it's not a visible file.
That explains why it's scanning the IDE bus & not looking for the floppy drive.
With the original hard drive connected it should (theoretically) be able to restore working BIOS image. Whether it works or not is another thing...
(That link does not work, I think the parenthesis confuses phpbb's url handling.)
The key bit (if it is the 'Xpress' thing) is that it's trying to recover an image it's saved itself, from the Hard Drive. It looks from the docs that it saves it in the dead space after the boot sector or something like that, it's not a visible file.
That explains why it's scanning the IDE bus & not looking for the floppy drive.
With the original hard drive connected it should (theoretically) be able to restore working BIOS image. Whether it works or not is another thing...
(That link does not work, I think the parenthesis confuses phpbb's url handling.)
Robert Jenkins
-
zonxar
- Master Flasher
- Posts: 197
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2002 7:26 pm
- Location: Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
Looking at the BIOS revisions, it appears the BIOS auto-rescue function was added to version F7 (for your board) in mid-July of 2003. Do you recall what version you have - it would seem from what's happening that you do indeed have this feature....
As far as I recall I had the F8 version of the BIOS (Which should have this feature..). As I already said in the original post, when I turn on the PC it seems like it does look for the BIOS image on the hardrive (its LED lights), than its printing the message "BIOS auto-recovering." endlessly for a few seconds and than its stops like it got stuck.zonxar wrote:Looking at the BIOS revisions, it appears the BIOS auto-rescue function was added to version F7 (for your board) in mid-July of 2003. Do you recall what version you have - it would seem from what's happening that you do indeed have this feature....
Nice try by Gigabyte, I hope they got it better in the later versions of their boards..
The problem with them is that for getting an attractive board price they are welding the BIOS chip (as oppose to using socket for it) which obviosly kills the "hotswap" option..
@rjenkins Sorry for the bad link I provided in previous post, you should copy&paste it all rather than just clicking it
-
zonxar
- Master Flasher
- Posts: 197
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2002 7:26 pm
- Location: Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
And here is Gigabyte's response:
Thank you for supporting GIGABYTE products and contacting GBT Tech Support. As to the problem you mentioned, if the motherboard still doesn't work after you clear CMOS, we are sorry to tell you that you will have to contact your supplier and see if they could help you do further testing on the system to find out where went wrong.
If you still have any further question or suggestion about our products/service, please do not hesitate to contact with us directly. We will try our best to help you resolve the problem ASAP.
Best Regards,
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY