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A word of warning about f8b

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  • #16
    Re: A word of warning about f8b

    NO, there is NOT 2 chips there is ONE. The Dual BIOS is virtual. The documentation is a right out lie. You can look at your board and see the ONE chip

    DQ6 HAS 2 Chips though for sure, anything not DQ6 has one. And as you see that is a lie as well really, DQ6 is supposed to be quad, but it like the other has virtual. So 2 real, 2 virtual.

    Show me on your board, there is only ONE chip. And also shown in the manual

    P35-X (One chip, Dual Bios)



    P35-DQ6 (2 Chips, Quad Bios)


    *EDIT*

    I do see what you mean on the boards though, it does have two chips there, but I think if it actually used them there would be FAR less RMA due to Bad BIOS.

    I actually just seen there is 2 chips on my DS4, but I cannot switch to the other as you can in a DQ6 so I think it is disabled and not actually used AT ALL again otherwise there would be less need for RMA due to bad BIOS

    But who know, and from what I have read from others, and Ga responses they do not want to directly answer this

    Who knows, as there is also MANY DQ6 RMA's due to bad BIOS as well.

    I think a better solution GA needs to implement 2 actual PLLC chips that can be replaced by the end user if need be. Ga would actually save money in the end by doing this instead of needing to RMA so many boards due to the solution they use now
    Last edited by Lsdmeasap; 04-16-2008, 11:03 PM.

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    • #17
      Re: A word of warning about f8b

      My EX38-DS4 has 2 BIOS chips. The manual says if the main BIOS is corrupted or damaged then the backup BIOS will take over on the next system boot and copy the backup BIOS to the main BIOS. I assume this is all supposed to happen automatically. It also says that for the sake of safety users cannot update the backup BIOS. This also inidicates to me that this is all supposed to happen automatically.

      Like you said, from the number of RMAs, it appears not to work the way I'm sure it was intended to. The fact that Gigabyte don't seem interested in answering any questions on this (and other issues) makes me feel like sending this board back right now.

      I'd sure like to know if this works but I don't want to destroy my board testing it. Anyone else up for the challenge. Maybe someone can ask Gigabyte for a board to test this on. Maybe you Lsdmeasap.
      (1) Gigabyte 3DAurora chassis - Gigabyte Ex38-DS4 - Xeon 3110 - Zalman CNPS9500 LED - 2x1GB PC2 8500 Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2.0v (BL12864AL106A) - ThermalTake Cyclo RAM cooler - 2xMSI Radeon HD4670 - Corsair HX 620W - WD 36GB Raptor - Seagate 250GB (ST3250310AS) - Asus DRW 2014LIT - XP Pro SP3 (32bit)
      (2) NZXT Apollo chassis - Gigabyte EP45-UD3P - E8400 - Xigmatek S1283 Red Scorpion - 2x2GB PC2 8800 G.Skill 1.9v (F2-8800CL5D-4GBPI) - Gigabyte GeForce 9600GT - Corsair HX 520W - Seagate 250GB (ST3250318AS) - LG DRW GH22NP20 - XP Pro SP3 (32bit)

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      • #18
        Re: A word of warning about f8b

        Well yeah that would be nice to have a board to kill in testing, but I think it has already been proven thru Many RMA's that it does not work as intended!

        I think you will be fine to flash, just be sure your absolutely stable and then do the flash Via Qflash w/USB or floppy and you should be fine.

        I used to use @bios and had no issues, but have since read a few more board deaths because of it and now only do Qflash myself

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        • #19
          Re: A word of warning about f8b

          On another forum I post I've had one report so far of an X38-DS4 (not sure if it was EX38) recovering from failed flash and the backup kicking in. Unfortunately whenever he flashes his BIOS it always fails for some reason and the backup recovers it each time.

          Maybe it's hit or miss (mostly miss) with this feature of the board too. I'll make sure I always use USB for update rather then @BIOS, just in case.
          (1) Gigabyte 3DAurora chassis - Gigabyte Ex38-DS4 - Xeon 3110 - Zalman CNPS9500 LED - 2x1GB PC2 8500 Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2.0v (BL12864AL106A) - ThermalTake Cyclo RAM cooler - 2xMSI Radeon HD4670 - Corsair HX 620W - WD 36GB Raptor - Seagate 250GB (ST3250310AS) - Asus DRW 2014LIT - XP Pro SP3 (32bit)
          (2) NZXT Apollo chassis - Gigabyte EP45-UD3P - E8400 - Xigmatek S1283 Red Scorpion - 2x2GB PC2 8800 G.Skill 1.9v (F2-8800CL5D-4GBPI) - Gigabyte GeForce 9600GT - Corsair HX 520W - Seagate 250GB (ST3250318AS) - LG DRW GH22NP20 - XP Pro SP3 (32bit)

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          • #20
            Re: A word of warning about f8b

            Hey, ya know that could actually be the Hidden one in the HPA on the disk (We just had a still unproven/unanswered Thread on this here somewhere).

            Can you ask that user to verify that he is not using RAID? It could just be the disk backup if he isnt using raid, and the only way to test that would be for that user to disconnect his disks when he is in the cycle and see if it actually recovers the bios from the chip or not

            I think the only REAL way to test this would be to setup a RAID only on a new system that had never had either disk connected to the board otherwise and then cause a BIOS failure purposely and see what happens

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            • #21
              Re: A word of warning about f8b

              Another "Dual Bios" failure due to Windows Flash, Proving that I believe the Backup is crap! Sorry Gigabyte, but this scares me more and more everyday!
              http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/ga-p35-ds3r-fails-post-after-failed-flash-26428/

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