Gigabyte DualBIOS

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BecauseScience

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Oct 9, 2005
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Anyone know anything about it? It is like having two bios chips that you can flash with two different bios versions and then switch between them manually?
 
I think its more like if setup an over-clock that fails and you cant boot. It will boot the second or backup bios to make it run and when you adjust your changes it does it on the first bios. If I understand correctly the second bios is like a stock or failsafe.
 
djbess said:
I think its more like if setup an over-clock that fails and you cant boot. It will boot the second or backup bios to make it run and when you adjust your changes it does it on the first bios. If I understand correctly the second bios is like a stock or failsafe.
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That sounds more like BIOS setting profiles. Multiple BIOS setting profiles have been around for a long time. DualBIOS sounds like it deals with the BIOS code itself not the BIOS settings. Gigabyte mentions virus protection in their DualBIOS description. Viruses can infect BIOS code but not BIOS settings.
 
Dual bios is just that two bios chips.

I've only dealt with AM3 boards but on those one you can flash the other you can't. Basically fail safe like djbess said but for a bad bios flash.
 
mastrdrver said:
Dual bios is just that two bios chips.

I've only dealt with AM3 boards but on those one you can flash the other you can't. Basically fail safe like djbess said but for a bad bios flash.
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Can you choose which BIOS is used or does the board decide itself after a failed post?
 
You have two chips, you can swap them, IIRC there is your BIOS main one, if you burn it or mess it up, you can swap to the other one(physically move bios sockets).....i never really looked into it, but thats what i got away from the little reading i did do.
 
A blurb/description from their website "DualBIOS™ is a GIGABYTE patented technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when main BIOS has crashed or failed. Featuring 2 physical BIOS ROMs integrated onboard, GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ allows quick and seamless recovery from BIOS damage or failure due to viruses or improper BIOS updating."
 
kristof said:
Can you choose which BIOS is used or does the board decide itself after a failed post?
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As far as their AM3 boards no you can't choose which one but on the board they are labeled M for main and B for backup. Also you can't physically change them unless you unsolder/solder them but that makes no sense to do.

The backup kicking in is an automatic thing. Updating is also automatic.
 
Yep, it's bios damage protection. They've been doing it for years.
 
mastrdrver said:
As far as their AM3 boards no you can't choose which one but on the board they are labeled M for main and B for backup. Also you can't physically change them unless you unsolder/solder them but that makes no sense to do.

The backup kicking in is an automatic thing. Updating is also automatic.
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I don't trust "automatic."
 
think of it as a backup bios chip incase you fuck up when you are updating the original, if you blow your first bios chip up then the other one kicks in.

There is nothing on the user end you can do, other than blow up your bios chip to make it kick in.

if you do bork your bios you will thankful for the automatic.
 
kristof said:
I don't trust "automatic."
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I had it kick in once, and only once, when I had the GA-M59SLI-S5. It flashed okay and everything but it was unable to recover from OC settings. Worked like a charm. The main BIOS was fine after I cleared it out via battery removal. I was unable to select which BIOS to use as you can with the R3E. It didn't have any selectable feature.
 
stealthy123 said:
think of it as a backup bios chip incase you fuck up when you are updating the original, if you blow your first bios chip up then the other one kicks in.

There is nothing on the user end you can do, other than blow up your bios chip to make it kick in.

if you do bork your bios you will thankful for the automatic.
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I like the idea of a backup bios but I want control.

I would much prefer a jumper on the board to select between chips.

I'd even like a socketed chip on the board and a spare pre-programmed chip included along with the sata cables and such.
 
Hmm, read over on overclock.net that pressing F7 will (I think) update the back up bios. You press it as soon as you boot. Not real sure just seen it mentioned in the 890FX thread. Apparently been this was for a while just never documented.
 
kristof said:
I like the idea of a backup bios but I want control.

I would much prefer a jumper on the board to select between chips.

I'd even like a socketed chip on the board and a spare pre-programmed chip included along with the sata cables and such.
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it makes sense for them to prevent you from borking two bios.

you do have control. Until you fuck up.

I like it that way. I used to wreck bios chips about every 6 months, meant a worthless mobo back then, now, not so much. But, I am not as stupid with settings as I once was.

me thinks you have some control issues, not a bad thing, but it's not a bad thing to let go of either.
 
On my Gigabyte board (forgot the model), I think either on a bad voltage setting or something in overclock or I can't remember, but the first BIOS chip went whack and upon booting up it notified me about the failure/crash, and proceeded to automatically restore/repair the failed BIOS chip from the second one.

Then it was all back to normal (yes, both chips still working). If I only had one BIOS chip (not the dual thing featured in Gigabyte boards), I would have been toast. :eek:
 
kristof said:
I'd even like a socketed chip on the board and a spare pre-programmed chip included along with the sata cables and such.
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I never thought this would be a plus and didn't realize Asus did this until I was trying to get a Asus 890GX board working by replacing the bios. Only then did I realize this wasn't something new for them and was on my P6T6 board.

I had some weird thing go on my 790FX Gigabyte board where it was reflashing the back up while I was working on an overclock and just running memtest 86+ to work out the memory errors. Was really weird but it eventually stop.
 
I'm not worried about bricking boards. There are places to buy pre-programmed chips. I have an smd rework station so I can replace even unsocketed bios chips.

I'd like to flip between two different perfectly working bios's as I wish. It sounds like Gigabyte's "automatic" switching will not allow that.

mastrdrver said:
I never thought this would be a plus and didn't realize Asus did this until I was trying to get a Asus 890GX board working by replacing the bios. Only then did I realize this wasn't something new for them and was on my P6T6 board.
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Do all Asus boards include an extra bios chip?

mastrdrver said:
I had some weird thing go on my 790FX Gigabyte board where it was reflashing the back up while I was working on an overclock and just running memtest 86+ to work out the memory errors. Was really weird but it eventually stop.
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And this is why I'm skeptical about "automatic" anything in a bios. Bios code is not exactly the pinacle of software engineering. It's ususally a mess.
 
The second Bios is just a failsafe setup that allows the recovery from a bad flash, or keeps you from having to do a CMOS reset on a failed BIOs tweak.

A worse case secondary benefit is the backup bios will allow the board to boot if you somehow fry the first one. This way you can keep functioning while waiting on your mobo replacement. (BIOS are hard wired to the board now, so no popping in a new one, unless your really really handy with a low voltage iron)

On my board, it's only reverted to the hard wired rev 1 bios twice, normally it resets to failsafe and keeps the current BIOs rev on failed OC pushes. Both times I reverted were due to bad luck on a BIOS flash (1 power outage, 1 BSOD due to bad ram module).

Probably well worth the miniscule cost to Gigabyte in reduced support calls, plus they get to bill it as a feature.
 
A good number of current Biostar 880 and 890 boards have a socketed bios. I can't say that every Biostar board has it, but all of the ones I've looked at have had it.
 
kristof said:
A good number of current Biostar 880 and 890 boards have a socketed bios. I can't say that every Biostar board has it, but all of the ones I've looked at have had it.
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i was referring solely to Gigabyte brand
 
kristof said:
I'm not worried about bricking boards. There are places to buy pre-programmed chips. I have an smd rework station so I can replace even unsocketed bios chips.

I'd like to flip between two different perfectly working bios's as I wish. It sounds like Gigabyte's "automatic" switching will not allow that.

Do all Asus boards include an extra bios chip?

And this is why I'm skeptical about "automatic" anything in a bios. Bios code is not exactly the pinacle of software engineering. It's ususally a mess.
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True enough about bios code. I've never had a problem screwing up a bios with an overclock but I've never gone subzero so maybe its important there. I think Asus also delays some system clocks until sometime between the bios trade off to the OS which keeps people from messing up the bios with a bad overclock.

Asus doesn't include a new chip, but for your average Joe Schmo, going to Ebay and ordering a new chip is far easier and much more applicable then replacing unsocketed bios chips. I don't have such a station but I've been solder since about 4 and my dad has been doing it most of his life too (working on electronic equipment) and you and myself are more of the exception to the rule.
 
I bought a Gigabyte 880gma uATX after having some bios problems with an Asus 785td-m evo. I think the realtek ethernet failed and somehow cause the bios to get corrupted (though I'm grasping at straws). I ended up getting a new bios chip on eBay after having some intermittent BIOS problems for a week. After that, I decided the Dual Bios was a good idea. It really does have 2 bios chips so you can flash one with the other if you ever have any problems.
 
I don't remember how I did it, but a year or two ago I flashed both BIOS chips on my board in my sig.
 
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