ASUS Official X79 Motherboards Support Thread

Raja@ASUS said:
Then roll back to the last BIOS for now and see if it persists.
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It seems that it's not allowed through windows:
asus%20x79%20bios.png


Will it hurt anything to do the process with USB Bios Flashback?
 
I'm having a strange issue with my P9X79 Pro, I just went ahead and updated the BIOS to the 2002 CAP and it went smoothly, but not I can not overclock my i7 3820 multiplier. Prior to flashing it, I was running at 5000mhz (40x125) and it worked great. After I flashed it, I re-set everything the way it was and runnign 40x125 in the BIOS is only giving my 36x125 in windows. Anyone have any idea why it is doing this?

Flashed back to the previous version and now it works fine, I guess I'll skip this latest one.
 
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Raja@ASUS said:
Let me know if that fixes it, if it does I will get HQ to replicate if you can provide a full parts and config list for me to send to them.
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It seems that I can't flash a eariler bios file.
Tried both "SABERTOOTH-X79-ASUS-1203.ROM" and "SABERTOOTH-X79-ASUS-1104.ROM".
Neither are able to flash. The bios flash back light blinks 3-5 times as well as the light on the USB drive then stops blinking and remains lit.

I think this is because the new bios framework is "cap" and not "rom" anymore.
 
Are all of the ASUS software utilities only executable as part of the ASUS AI Suite? I just got done having a terrible time with the Network iControl. Didn't really even know it was installed or running, but damn, did it mess up network performance. Horrible latency problems in web pages, with a lot of multimedia content not even viewable. Absolutely awful crapware. Can Network iControl be uninstalled completely, or would the only way to do that be to uninstall the whole AI Suite? I'm considering that anyway, given my experience with ASUS software so far.
 
Can they be individually uninstalled, or would you have to uninstall the suite, then reinstall it with only the desired modules?
 
JJ Johnson said:
Can they be individually uninstalled, or would you have to uninstall the suite, then reinstall it with only the desired modules?
Click to expand...

Ah... just figured it. The installer through Control Panel lets you uninstall individual utilities.
 
Raja@ASUS said:
Try .ROM, .CAP is for Win 8 BIOSes. Also make sure FAT32 format on the flash drive you are plugging into the white USB port..
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Raja, 2002 is .CAP according to the asus download website:

SABERTOOTH X79 BIOS 2002
1. Improve system stability.
2. BIOS structure changed from .ROM to .CAP for Windows 8 full-functionality.

*If your BIOS version is 1203 or older, please install the BIOS Converter and then the converter will update BIOS to 2002.CAP. The BIOS Converter is available in the BIOS Utilities.
File Size
3,7 (MBytes) 2012.07.30 update
Click to expand...

I followed those instructions a week or so ago and installed the cap converter. Apparently (from what I can tell) I can't go back to a previous bios because the "framework" of the bios has changed.

I've also confirmed that the flash drive is formatted in Fat32.
 
If it will not flash with .ROM or .CAP, you will have to wait for an updated BIOS, or you can advanced RMA the board and swap it out.
 
Just did the 2002 BIOS flash on my Sabertooth x79 using the Recovery Flash procedure, and everything seems to be working fine, though it certainly started out rough. EZ Flash caused my system to go blank on me, so it was the only option left. Here's what I did:

1) rename the CAP conversion file to SABERX79.ROM, put it on a freshly formatted FAT32 flash drive, put the drive into the Recovery BIOS port and press/hold the button (while the system is powered off, but not unplugged or switched off). The light should blink for a good minute if not more. If you use EZ Flash, this file will be recognized as BIOS version 1903.
2) Once the light stops blinking, remove the drive, delete the SABERX79.ROM, and put the .CAP file onto the drive. Start up the computer. If it worked, after the UEFI logo is displayed, it should start an update mentioning the CAP conversion. The computer will restart on it's own at the end.
3) This is the tricky part, and I don't know if this was a glitch, but if you enter the UEFI, and go to EZ Flash, the system should restart itself again.
4) At this point, the BIOS should hold on the "F1 to enter setup" screen, and the system is ready for tweaking.

Now, my big complaint here with all this hassle is that the instructions just gloss over these details, and not in a step-by-step explanation. Listing the steps needed to start the process, and having "your computer will restart twice" as the only highlighted box doesn't really explain when to expect this or how to know it worked in the first place. In fact, I assumed the EZ Flash was working, despite having no image on my screen, and walked away for 10 minutes before I realized something was wrong. So far, in the few months I've owned this board, I've only been able to flash my BIOS on the Sabertooth using the Recovery method. EZ Flash is just plain broken, and I haven't really tried Asus Update through Windows to see if it is any different.

Also, and this is a question directly for Raja, but there's a new sound coming from the board that started happening after I installed a 3rd GPU. When I start up my computer, I hear a very audible "click" when it transitions from Boot to Windows Load, which results in the connection to my USB keyboard and mouse being dropped during the transition. Also, this click happens when do a warm restart on my computer. Is this something I should be concerned with?
 
Raja@ASUS said:
If it will not flash with .ROM or .CAP, you will have to wait for an updated BIOS, or you can advanced RMA the board and swap it out.
Click to expand...
In that case I'll just wait it out. I'd ratheir keep the board because it's working just fine other then the sleep issue I mentioned earlier in the thread. That's not a feature I HAVE to have. This is more of a very minor issue (for me anyway) to a otherwise rock solid board.

DarkAngel_ZERO said:
<Snip>
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Does sleep work for you with the 2002 bios?
 
Raja, can you answer a question for me - will the x79 boards, specifically the Asus P9 x79 WS, support Secure boot, and when if you know and can tell?
 
devil22 said:
Raja, can you answer a question for me - will the x79 boards, specifically the Asus P9 x79 WS, support Secure boot, and when if you know and can tell?
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The boards will be updated with Win 8 UEFI builds if they have not been already. The secure BOOT feature should be in X79 if we have it on Z77. The WS BIOSes have a far longer qualification process than other boards, so all I can say is it will come when it is ready.
 
DarkAngel_ZERO said:
Also, and this is a question directly for Raja, but there's a new sound coming from the board that started happening after I installed a 3rd GPU. When I start up my computer, I hear a very audible "click" when it transitions from Boot to Windows Load, which results in the connection to my USB keyboard and mouse being dropped during the transition. Also, this click happens when do a warm restart on my computer. Is this something I should be concerned with?
Click to expand...


That sounds like a relay from your PSU (unless you have a soundcard plugged in). Should be fine, but make sure the PSU is properly spec'd to handle the load.
 
@pwruser

No you cant go from .cap back to .rom
The 1203 bios has no way to strip the Win 8 stuff during flash.
Not having overclocking options is classic symptom of partial/corrupted bios flash
You only have to do the rename thingy for backflash mode
You can just put the converter.rom AND the bios 2002.cap on same USB32 bios stick and do not shorten the name - just leave them as is
Flash the converter first - takes about a minute, then REBOOTS TWICE!!
THEN flash the 2002.cap file (cant hurt anyways)
Since you already did the convert, you should be able to get away with flashing the .cap in EZ Flash 2

Notice how the site info makes absolutely no sense:

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I still do not know if I am supposed to flash both files, or it was because pwruser didnt reboot and wait for both auto reboots that he had incomplete flash, not allowing overclocking options. I do know that my R4E does both bios chips in one session.

In other words, am I done if I use the converter.rom and manual reboot and wait for two auto reboots. Or is the second step the by itself "actual update" with the cap file also?
 
Looks like I got my answer - you DO have to do both!!

Both files on USB not renamed, EZ Flash 2

Posted:7/26/2012 8:42:00 PM

What I did was using the Asus EZ Flash 2 to flash the Rampage-IV-Extreme-CAP-Converter.ROM (w/o renaming). Once update complete you prompt to reboot. Once system reboot, you will come to the screen showing the bios is updating and veryfing. Next it will auto reboot and you need to wait for fews minutes to boot to screen again. This time your all your bios setting will reset to factory default. I let it boot to Windows login screen and reboot again to boot into the bios page, go to EZ flash 2 and select the Rampage-IV-Extreme-ASUS-2003.CAP and flash it again. Reboot, on the windows login screen and shut down the system. Clear CMOS thru the
buttons build in with the board. Restart the system and start setting on the bios. I am not sure if my method was correct, but so far everything seems right and aida64 shown I am on bios 2003.

Thanks to borntowin
 
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cisco guy, pretty much what I did for my WS, I flashed the converter, let it reboot and flash the other things I didn't even know were flashable that it needed to flash, then reboot again and flashed the WS CAP. But I'm confused, the CAP was the same size as the converter roughly, but the CAP flashed in about 1 second and the converter took about 1 minute.. Seems to work good though, and ended my crashes in Windows 8 when power features like C-state and EIST are enabled.
 
@devil22
Thats interesting
That suggests the converter did the update and the .cap did nothing
It would appear having both files on USB stick at once and letting it do its thing - there is no indication thats somethings happening at certain points - and using EZ Flash, begets success

I am still trying to nail this down, and I will get to the bottom of it.
I have sent a support ticket to ASUS
Lets see what they say

At this point it appears as one of two things:
>The converter is all thats needed, people with no boot or no video or no overclock options just didnt do all the steps needed, stopped too soon or didnt reboot (sound familiar?)
>The .cap file must be either on same stick, or used after converter to assure good complete flash. Obviously running the .cap cant hurt anything
 
Raja, sleep worked today. Left my computer on before I went to bed and found my computer asleep when I woke up. tapped the mouse and it came to life without issue.

*shrugs*

Still on BIOS 2002
 
cisco guy said:
At this point it appears as one of two things:
>The converter is all thats needed, people with no boot or no video or no overclock options just didnt do all the steps needed, stopped too soon or didnt reboot (sound familiar?)
>The .cap file must be either on same stick, or used after converter to assure good complete flash. Obviously running the .cap cant hurt anything
Click to expand...

When I flashed my Sabertooth X79 the only file I used was the cap converter.

This is under "bios utilities" in the download section for my board:
SABERTOOTH-X79-CAP-Converter
1.The file contains the BIOS Converter utility and The BIOS Converter User Guide for X79 series.
2.The utility converts the BIOS structure from .ROM to .CAP for Windows 8 full-functionality.
3.The utility converts the BIOS directly to BIOS version 2002.CAP.

*If your BIOS version is 1203 or older, please install the BIOS Converter first before you update the BIOS.
Click to expand...

Note what number 3 says above ;)
 
DarkAngel_ZERO said:
I noticed that as well, but strangely enough, when I tried loading the file in EZ Share, it said the BIOS version was 1903.
Click to expand...

Indeed, that's exactly what it said in "asus update" from AI suite in windows.

That said, after flashing from windows the computer rebooted a couple times I went into the BIOS and checked the version... 2002 :cool:
 
Raja@ASUS said:
Depending upon hwo your PSU handles the power rails when ErP is enabled you might be able to switch off those standby LEDs. Go to Advanced>APM and enable ErP. On the Corsair AX series this works, not sure about other PSUs.

-Raja
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Raja, just wanted to say this worked perfectly! Thank you so much. I have a Seasonic 860 Platinum and can verify that it works on this PSU as well.
 
I have a new question for you guys. My P9X79 Pro onboard audio seems to have died. It only puts out a squealing noise from all ports (front and back) until the machine is powered off. Even in the BIOS it does this, so it would have to be the hardware itself, correct? I tried with multiple different speakers and headsets, and it still does it even with onboard audio disabled in the BIOS. I put in a support request to Asus asking about it but I don't know how long it will be before they respond.
 
Sounds like hardware. If you are USA based, then you may request an X-ship once the RMA team get back to you, in order to minimize downtime for an otherwise working system.
 
Raja@ASUS said:
Sounds like hardware. If you are USA based, then you may request an X-ship once the RMA team get back to you, in order to minimize downtime for an otherwise working system.
Click to expand...

I'm not worried about downtime, I already have a different board on the way. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy and it definitely had to be hardware related. Thanks. :cool:
 
pwrusr said:
***EDIT***
I just stepped away from my computer for a couple of hours after putting it to sleep. Still asleep. however when I woke it up it didn't wake up completely. A hard reset didn't work, Had to hard power (by holding power button for 5 seconds) it off then on again.

When it powered back up it said "overclocking failed press F1"... I haven't overclocked this computer at all since I put it together.
I'm using BIOS version 2002 if that makes any difference at all.
Click to expand...

I've had similar problems. Random blue screens on wake from sleep on an Asus P9X79 WS and [email protected]

I just assumed it was my overclocking causing it though, and was planning on tweaking my settings further to see if I could fix it. I haven't tried running at stock clocks for any extended period of time, and since it is intermittent, it hasn't occurred during th eshort period of time I've had it at stock clocks.

For now, I have disabled sleep mode in Windows.

My problem started occurring after I updated my BIOS to the latest revision. (I do not recall which revision was on it previously)
 
Hi Raja,

Is it true that X79 uses the same PWM design as the ROG boards per this chart?
http://sinhardware.com/images/vrm.jpg
It is strange to see the 'budget' X79 has beefier VRM than the Pro and Sabre! And the Sabre does not seem to use "armor" quality circuitry as it has the same components as Pro?
The Gene = Formula = Extreme for the power delivery? Makes Gene a good buy if one is not into Tri Gpu-ing
 
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Hello!

So I was using my computer, suddenly it goes dark. I try and boot it back up, fans spin etc, but that's it. MB is stuck at Q-code 00 and the CPU_LED is glowing red. I've detached all extra HW, and getting the same result.

So I guess it's down to PSU, MB or CPU.

Any clues? I really have no idea. Computer is fully water-cooled, so I don't see overheating as an option.

Specs:
- ATI 6970
- Intel 3820
- Asus p9x79 pro
- 4x 3gb Dominator
- Corsair 1200w

Unsure of the importance of further details, as the error was the same with all but the CPU disconnected.

I also get NO POST, or any beeps what so ever. Boot up -> stuck at 00 and red CPU_LED. That's all.

Thanks in advance :(
 
Just wondering though is there any way to speed up POST? Having 32 GB and three GTX 680s takes a long time.
 
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