Requiem for a Gigabyte?

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rironin

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Feb 23, 2009
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I recently built my first real rig, with helpful advice from these forums. Sadly, after about a week of operation, I just rebooted myself into sadness.
Those are the two pieces of hardware I think matter. I was just enjoying myself, running Windows 7 Beta, and decided to restart. During POST, however, the BIOS display gets as far as printing:

Memory Testin

That's not a typo by the way - it looks like it literally is trying to print "Testing" and is interrupted. Then the display freezes for a few seconds, and then the whole process just restarts itself and the BIOS tries again.

I checked the installation of the RAM, but it was highly unlikely that it would get unseated between the time when I shut down and tried to restart anyways.

Any advice? I fear that the motherboard is simply a dud. Should be able to get a replacement from NewEgg, but obviously that won't be fun. Thanks in advance.
 
First thing is to try new ram, see if the same thing occurs. Could also try one stick of ram at a time, if it is the ram, one of the sticks may still be working.
 
Try uninstalling the Gigabyte DES (dynamic energy saving) software that comes with that mobo. You don't really need it, and it's sometimes problematic.

Edit: And if you can't get past the BIOS, try enabling USB legacy support.
 
MisterSparkle said:
First thing is to try new ram, see if the same thing occurs. Could also try one stick of ram at a time, if it is the ram, one of the sticks may still be working.
Click to expand...
Good plan. I tried one or the other stick, but got the same result. Tried using different slots too - there are four slots for two sticks. Sadly, I got the same in every case. It isn't that the RAM isn't being detected - I was curious about whether this message was consistent with no RAM at all - but if there are no RAM sticks in, you don't get any messages whatsoever. Since it seems unlikely that both RAM sticks failed at the same time, they are probably both clean.
 
Lethal said:
Try uninstalling the Gigabyte DES (dynamic energy saving) software that comes with that mobo. You don't really need it, and it's sometimes problematic.

Edit: And if you can't get past the BIOS, try enabling USB legacy support.
Click to expand...
I can't recall, but I think I passed on installing DES from the mobo CD. Can't recall if it was installed already. In any case, I can't get past the BIOS power-on self test, much less the BIOS itself. This means that the BIOS configuration options or any operations in the BIOS aren't available either.

Assuming I would have to enable USB legacy support in the BIOS, this would appear impossible as well. Why do I want to do that, exactly? Thanks!
 
rironin said:
Assuming I would have to enable USB legacy support in the BIOS, this would appear impossible as well. Why do I want to do that, exactly? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Someone I know with the UD3P had problems and couldn't get past the BIOS, nothing worked, couldn't even press the "any" key. Enabling the legacy support gave him back the keyboard, and he was then able to uninstall the DES, which seemed to solve the problem.

Maybe that doesn't affect you anyway. Was just throwing out a couple things that you might not be aware of. :)
 
Oldnugly said:
Have you tried resetting the bios?
Click to expand...

+1

Reset the bios via the jumper or pulling the coin battery and shorting the two terminals. (if you're scared by the word short you should just pull the jumper it's in the manual)

I have this board and it's solid. I do believe it comes with two bios chips so look into booting with the other one if possible.
 
Oldnugly said:
Have you tried resetting the bios?
Click to expand...
Hmm. The mystery deepens. I tried resetting the BIOS using the jumper. I believe that whatever it was supposed to do, it did - when I start the machine now, I see the BIOS splash screen. When I first set up the machine I had disabled the splash screen. So that's something. Unfortunately the splash screen is up for about as long as the POST info was up before (I assume the same POST is going on in the background) before the whole thing resets again - just like before. As before, I cannot seem to hit Del to bring up the setup menu. Part of me wonders if the keyboard is being detected - I had been messing with keyboard drivers before the restart, but the changes I made while Windows was running didn't seem to affect keyboard performance in any way. Still, the timing of the reset matches the timing before, so I suspect that it's just the "Memory Testin" error all over again, only this time I can't see anything because of the splash screen.

I would be interested in trying to make sure my keyboard is working, but I don't even know if I'm reaching that point in the process before the machine is restarting, so that might be moot.

In any case, thanks for the advice - seemed like a good plan, but I don't know where I'm at now really. Thoughts?
 
You have to make sure that your ram volts and timings are all correct. Search the forums, I have the UD3R and love it but it took a while to get the ram setting right so that it would get past the bios.
 
caniba said:
You have to make sure that your ram volts and timings are all correct. Search the forums, I have the UD3R and love it but it took a while to get the ram setting right so that it would get past the bios.
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Are you sure this is applicable? First off, the machine was running fine for over a week until last night when it failed to restart. Is this consistent with voltage/timing issues? Secondly, I can only imagine that setting the voltage and timing for RAM is something that you do in the BIOS. I think I've been pretty clear on this point: I cannot get past POST - I have zero access to the BIOS settings and configuration. Thus far the only thing I've been able to do to the BIOS has been to reset it physically on the motherboard, and that hasn't helped.

While these possible solutions may help, it's pretty clear that step #1 is getting to the point where I can even configure the BIOS. I need suggestions on how to get past POST - or I need to know if the failure to do so after resetting the BIOS is an indication of an insurmountable hardware issue, like a dead motherboard. Thanks!
 
Sorry for your luck Rironin. It's my experience thus far that the QC on these Gigabyte boards is absolute trash. I've had a UD3R come out of the box and never get to the POST screen. Would only boot if I had 1 stick of RAM in slot 1, any other combination yielded lots of beeping and rebooting. Three sets of RAM by two different vendors changed nothing. After an RMA, I got a UD3P instead. Worked fine for about a week, then I restarted after a windows update and it did the exact same beep a lot and reboot ad infineum. Once again, memory in slot 1 only would allow operation as normal, any other combination was non postable. Took that back to Fry's, got a second UD3P, and it does the exact same RAM crap as the first two. Using 2 sticks of G.Skill DDR2 800 (2 x 2gb), and also tried 2x1GB of G.Skill DDR2800, and 2x2GB of DDR2800 Corsair XMS, all of them do the same thing. I've swapped every piece of hardware out I can find and can't change anything, it's just a terrible quality control issue.

I have no doubt that this is a great motherboard, the benchmarks and reviews speak volumes, it's the finding one that works part that sucks.

Edit: I will tell you that I'm using that exact same set of RAM and having similar POST issues. It's possible, but unlikely, that this board just doesn't agree with that RAM selection. I do know several people that are using the G.Skill PI DDR2 800 2 x 2GB sticks in theirs just fine, and really can't see why there would be a difference between the two in terms of compatibility, but it's something to consider.
 
Toronado97, What you went through sounds exactly like my situation when I got this board. I don't live in the USA so RMA is a long and difficult process. I could get into the bios if I disconnected the power for a little while, not sure why buy it worked. Then with a lot of googling and in my case searching of the OCZ forums I found RAM bios settings that finally work and now everything is great, but it did take a whole weekend.

rironin, You either have the same problem I had, a bad set of ram, an incompatible set of ram (doubt it), or a bad cpu (doubt it), the only way to check is to try with different hardware, if you don't have that the RMA the board and see if it works then if it doesn't the the ram and so on. I is a pain in the ass I know but I don't see many other options at this point.

BTW, please check your PSU before doing all of this, it can at times be the source of weird things like this even with a good brand.
 
Can you try another PSU maybe?

Remount the HSF, unplug everything aside from maybe 1 HD, try without HD/CD drives etc...maybe an IRQ conflict? Have you tried with no ram?

Kinda sounds like a bad board...is it maybe grounding on anything? Have you tried it outside of the case?
 
I know in my case I just purchased a Corsair TX650 and Antec 300 to use when I get the last attempt at a good UD3P out of Gigabyte. If this one chokes it'll be Asus P5Q Pro time I imagine.
 
Since I lack the extra parts to do much more investigation on my own, I've started the RMA process. However, like an idiot I decided all was well with my machine last Wednesday, and I tossed the original packaging. I have everything else. I read elsewhere on these boards that NewEgg shouldn't get in a huge tiff over this. Anyone know if that's true with regards to missing packaging? Thanks!
 
rironin said:
Since I lack the extra parts to do much more investigation on my own, I've started the RMA process. However, like an idiot I decided all was well with my machine last Wednesday, and I tossed the original packaging. I have everything else. I read elsewhere on these boards that NewEgg shouldn't get in a huge tiff over this. Anyone know if that's true with regards to missing packaging? Thanks!
Click to expand...

They might want it for the UPC. They get pissy if it's missing the UPC or you don't have it. Mail in rebates.
 
I havent read 100% of your thread, but I know you can update/downgrade your bios using a usb flash drive on most of gigabytes boards, albeit mine has quad bios..

Ive had my GB board do alot of weird shit on me since ive owned it but it always provided me with a way to fix it and has been the best piece of hardware i've purchased in my lifespan of 25 + years.

I know you mentioned you tried different vendors of RAM, (i am not too familiar with this boards default ram voltage) .. and this is mentioned above.. but make sure your voltage is set properly, I would get RAM that runs at default voltage for your mainboard. most good ram runs higher then what your mobo will default to upon bootup. I.E: My mushkin is rated at 2.1 v... however my bios defaults to 1.8 , this caused me the same issue you had, however i could almost get halfway into windows. Another thing (mentioned above, but i had a familiar occurrence) your HSF needs to be seated properly, make sure its warm to the touch after having it on for a few seconds, if the heatsink isnt warm, you aren't making good contact with the IHS on the processor.
 
from another thread:


caniba said:
I just got a P6T that came like that and it is already in RMA.

The UD3R is a fantastic board, I love mine but it is very picky on the RAM settings. It took me a while to get it right and when it is way off I would get no post. So I would wait - reseat - Restart and hopefully get it to work long enough to change the settings in the bios.

In the end it worked and now super stable.
Click to expand...
 
Wow, well, I am pleased but perplexed to report a happy ending to this story. NewEgg rejected my plea for an RMA due to my loss of the packaging, so I called Gigabyte to try the process through them. First, though, they insisted I follow their troubleshooting procedures to make sure the board was really at fault.

Although I had already reset the BIOS using the CLR_CMOS jumper, the rep I spoke to insisted that I do the same thing by removing the battery, with the RAM sticks out of the machine. Then she recommended adding just one stick of RAM, disconnecting every device and trying them bit by bit. Until now I had the machine still up and hooked up, and I honestly didn't suspect that any devices like my hard drives or optical drive were causing trouble. But I complied just to go through the motions.

Removing the battery, which is a huge bitch if you've got a GPU with a fan, miraculously appeared to do the trick (or so I thought). I had the BIOS! I then added the other devices until I had all of the internal components hooked up, with no troubles. Windows started, and miraculously all was well. I plugged everything in now (the stereo cable, ethernet cable, and USB devices) and rebooted the machine for one final test.

And the problem came back! Luckily there were very few options at this point, although they were all pretty weird as far as I know. Finally, I isolated the problem:

My Gigabyte Motherboard cannot get through POST if there is an old Apple Ipod Shuffle plugged into one of its USB ports. After narrowing it down to the Shuffle, I tested it in various ports. It's not a bad port - it's most definitely the Shuffle itself. I do not understand what part of the POST tries to mess with USB ports, or why it should do anything but initialize them or detect them or something, but whatever it does, the presence of an Ipod Shuffle makes this part of the POST very upset.

Plugging in the device while Windows is running is fine - Windows appeared to recognize and deal with it without any troubles. I wonder if perhaps the Firmware is old or something, but I haven't bothered. I haven't used the Shuffle in a long time, and I dislike iTunes so much that I just unplugged it and put it in a drawer rather than try to get it working.

So, there you have it. I will never again underestimate the range and silliness of things that can make a Gigabyte motherboard flip out. If anyone else is having problems like this, well, check your USB ports! Thanks to everyone who helped me out with this!
 
rironin said:
My Gigabyte Motherboard cannot get through POST if there is an old Apple Ipod Shuffle plugged into one of its USB ports.

..If anyone else is having problems like this, well, check your USB ports!
Click to expand...
Well, enabling the USB legacy support might have helped, who knows.

But I'd say never test a new system with any unnecessary devices connected.
 
Lethal said:
Well, enabling the USB legacy support might have helped, who knows.

But I'd say never test a new system with any unnecessary devices connected.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is the ultimate lesson. My hubris was punished. I will never be so haughty as to assume that "nah, that couldn't possibly be causing the problem".
 
Glad you found an easy workaround. Unfortunately I didn't have any extraneous USB devices to disconnect for the miracle save. :)
 
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