Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

[salvichi]

To begin - I understand I should not have attempted to update the BIOS. To make it worse I tried using Internet flash from within UEFI but I guess when its destined it just happens. So to brief here's the situation:

Yesterday I assembled my first desktop PC using Asrock z87 Extreme6 Motherboard with i7-4770K processor. After assembling the PC, I was able to get the PC booted into UEFI in the first try and may be in that excitement I decided to update the BIOS from within the UEFI using Internet.
One of the reason was I wanted to attempt installing Hackintosh and people have been able to do that using 2.20 BIOS hence wanted to do that. Interestingly it seemed everything was going through fine and then the dreadful happened - the BIOS kept displaying the debug codes F2 / F9.

At that point I was completely lost and after waiting for 10-15 mins. I could not get anything so I shut down the PC and tried to search for information.

This is what I have tried so far:
1. I saw a similar post on this forum and tried to attempt the USB boot by putting the Instant Flash BIOS zip file on the USB drive and using the USB port on the board. But no luck.
2. I also have contacted Asrock support and they told me to toggle between BIOS 1 and 2 and I tried that but no luck there as well.

Now the PC does not power on. I am hoping that this is all due to BIOS and nothing else.

So now completely stuck and no clue what to do next. Hence requesting for any direction I can get from the experts. Again I know I have dug myself in the pit and have not stopped to this point repenting on my mistake - although in all honesty the way Asrock advertises Internet Flash, they make it sound very simple and reliable and therefore I fell to the temptation. Not justifying but looking for HELP - PLEASE !!

[- wardog -]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Hello and welcome to TweakTown ........

It's not powering on with either BIOS A or B "engaged' ?

Are there ANY signs the MB or peripherals are powering up? LED's, HDD or CPU fan begins spinning up?

[salvichi]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Hello and welcome to TweakTown ........

It's not powering on with either BIOS A or B "engaged' ?

Are there ANY signs the MB or peripherals are powering up? LED's, HDD or CPU fan begins spinning up?

Merry X'Mas and thanks for taking the time to respond.

Nope the system is not powering on with either BIOS A or B. None of the startup LED's / HDD or CPU fans spin.
The only indicator I have seen is the Orange light on the Ethernet port.

[- wardog -]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

I'll throw this out here but I don't believe it'll be of help at this point. Have you tried clearing the backup B BIOS by the long method?

The following assumes you have not discovered and performed or attempted to flash BIOS B. AFAIK this is not possible for end-users w/o physically pulling the BIOS chip B from the MB. Which I am not promoting here.

Note:
Follow the below steps on the BIOS choice you did NOT bad flash 2.20 to. If the results of your not having a bootable machine occurred while performing the bad flash the BIOS switch was in the A position please set the BIOS switch to the B position FIRST before proceeding further. DO NOT MISTAKENLY CLEAR THE BIOS OF THE ONE YOU BAD FLASHED.

Clear the BIOS the long method. Unplug power from wall, wait 1 minute, remove CMOS battery, jumper CLRCMOS1 and let it sit this way for about half an hour. Or overnight. Then reverse the order to get it back to bootable, and retry.

Below is what I am aiming for should the B BIOS maybe might recover itself after the above steps:

From the online manual, pg. 33

This motherboard has two BIOS chips, a primary BIOS (BIOS_A) and a backup BIOS (BIOS_
B), which enhances the safety and stability of your system. Normally, the system will work
on the primary BIOS. However, if the primary BIOS is corrupted or damaged, just flip the
BIOS Selection Switch to “B”, then the backup BIOS will take over on the next system boot.
After that, use “Secure Backup UEFI” in the UEFI Setup Utility to duplicate a working copy
of the BIOS files to the primary BIOS to ensure normal system operation. For safety issues,
users are not able to update the backup BIOS manually. Users may refer to the BIOS LEDs
(BIOS_A_LED or BIOS_B_LED) to identify which BIOS is currently activated.

[salvichi]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Thanks again, Can you please confirm if I got the steps correct or misunderstood them?

1. Set the BIOS switch to the B Position.
2. Unplug power from the wall.
3. Wait for 1 minute
4. Remove CMOS battery.
5. Remove Jumper CLRCMOS1
6. Let the MotherBoard sit this way for half an hour or overnight.


Then -


1. Insert the Jumper CLRCMOS1
2. Insert the CMOS Battery
3. Wait for a minute and connect the power cable.
4. Keeping the BIOS at position B - start the Computer.

[- wardog -]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Thanks again, Can you please confirm if I got the steps correct or misunderstood them?

Close

1. Unplug power from the wall.
2. Wait for 1 minute
3. Set the BIOS switch to the B Position
4. Remove CMOS battery
5. Jumper CLRCMOS1 to pins 2-3 (Clear CMOS posiition)
6. Let the Motherboard sit this way for half an hour or overnight


Then -


1. Jumper CLRCMOS1 back to pins 1-2 (Default run position)
2. Insert the CMOS Battery
3. Connect the power cable
4. Keeping the BIOS at position B - start the Computer - Hopefully ......

[salvichi]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Close

1. Unplug power from the wall.
2. Wait for 1 minute
3. Set the BIOS switch to the B Position
4. Remove CMOS battery
5. Jumper CLRCMOS1 to pins 2-3 (Clear CMOS posiition)
6. Let the Motherboard sit this way for half an hour or overnight


Then -


1. Jumper CLRCMOS1 back to pins 1-2 (Default run position)
2. Insert the CMOS Battery
3. Connect the power cable
4. Keeping the BIOS at position B - start the Computer - Hopefully ......

Great - thanks for clarifying. Will give it a try and hope that this revives the system.

[- wardog -]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

This is what I have tried so far:
1. I saw a similar post on this forum and tried to attempt the USB boot by putting the Instant Flash BIOS zip file on the USB drive and using the USB port on the board. But no luck.

To use the "ASRock Crashless BIOS" feature the Instant Flash file should first be unzipped to a dir on the HDD, then only the files themselves transferred to the root of an empty FAT32 formatted USB stick and the stick placed in a USB 2.0, not USB 3.0, port at the rear I/O panel.

Online manual, pg. 8:

ASRock Crashless BIOS
ASRock Crashless BIOS allows users to update their BIOS without fear of failing. If
power loss occurs during the BIOS updating process, ASRock Crashless BIOS will
automatically finish the BIOS update procedure after regaining power. Please note
that BIOS files need to be placed in the root directory of your USB disk. Only USB 2.0
ports support this feature.

[salvichi]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

To use the "ASRock Crashless BIOS" feature the Instant Flash file should first be unzipped to a dir on the HDD, then only the files themselves transferred to the root of an empty FAT32 formatted USB stick and the stick placed in a USB 2.0, not USB 3.0, port at the rear I/O panel.

Online manual, pg. 8:

ASRock Crashless BIOS
ASRock Crashless BIOS allows users to update their BIOS without fear of failing. If
power loss occurs during the BIOS updating process, ASRock Crashless BIOS will
automatically finish the BIOS update procedure after regaining power. Please note
that BIOS files need to be placed in the root directory of your USB disk. Only USB 2.0
ports support this feature.

Thanks for clarifying. I will put the actual Z87Ex62.20 file to the root of the USB file instead of the zip file. I was using the USB port on the motherboard itself. I guess I need to use the rear panel USB 2.0 port. Also I am assuming that the BIOS switch has to be A. Just worried and so do not want to make any more assumptions.

[- wardog -]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Also I am assuming that the BIOS switch has to be A. Just worried and so do not want to make any more assumptions.

Well, I'm out on a limb somewhat in my assumptions being made here.

Yes, if you're going to try the Crashless recovery/savior switch it to the A BIOS.

[- wardog -]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Probably best to reformat the stick to FAT32 prior. That clears any doubts.

[salvichi]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Probably best to reformat the stick to FAT32 prior. That clears any doubts.

Wardog your suggestion around trying to go with removing the CMOS battery has got me started.
I have now started with BIOS switch on B and now I get the Debug code of A2.

I think this is encouraging. Although now trying to figure out debug code A2.

[salvichi]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Wardog your suggestion around trying to go with removing the CMOS battery has got me started.
I have now started with BIOS switch on B and now I get the Debug code of A2.

I think this is encouraging. Although now trying to figure out debug code A2.

I am able to get into UEFI menu. Performed the secure backup UEFI from B->A. It was successfully completed and now I am going to attempt to start PC using BIOS A.

[- wardog -]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Although now trying to figure out debug code A2.

Rather cryptic, in that this(A2) can mean/relate to a whole bunch of things:

pg. 34

A0 - A7 Problem related to IDE or SATA devices. Please re-install
IDE and SATA devices. If the problem still exists, please
clear CMOS and try removing all SATA devices.

Do you have only your supposed boot drive connected or disconnected? I'm guessing all are disconnected for the A2 to show.


Otherwise so far a good showing. Thanks for the updates.

[parsec]

Re: Asrock z87 Extreme6 - Failed Internet Bios Update

Wardog your suggestion around trying to go with removing the CMOS battery has got me started.
I have now started with BIOS switch on B and now I get the Debug code of A2.

I think this is encouraging. Although now trying to figure out debug code A2.

Don't forget that these codes are really POST process codes, and not really error codes. Whatever code you see displayed is the POST process that did not complete for some reason. Yes that usually indicates an issue with that process, related to your drives at this point.

But since you don't have an OS installed yet, or any kind of bootable or OS installation media connected to the PC at this point, you are bound to be stuck at that point. A2 may always be displayed while you are using the UEFI/BIOS interface, I can't recall now but I don't see it as a problem.

Given the above, there is nothing more that can happen until some type of bootable media is available. IMO you are fine, nothing is wrong given your description.

My advice now is to look through the UEFI/BIOS screens, and configure anything that you need.

Are any drives you have connected recognized in the Advanced - Storage Configuration screen? If so you're fine.

You might want to configure the fan speed control in H/W Monitor so the CPU fan is not running full blast all the time. Also check the CPU temperature on that screen to confirm your CPU cooler is mounted and working correctly.

You probably want to disable all the Windows based features that do not exist in a Hackintosh installation. Check the network setting in Chipset Configuration, to be sure they are correct.

I suggest not setting any over clocking of the CPU and memory at this point, you don't need potential instability during an OS installation. I know nothing about Hackintosh installations, good luck with that and let us know how it goes.