X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

[bugi]

Basically, I have had two different problems going with my new PC, though I think the latter problem is merely a weird consequence of the first. And, no, I have not even gotten to overclocking yet, since I always try to get things work perfectly at their specified settings first.

Problem 1:
BIOS settings get reset in certain case after I shutdown from Windows 7. The certain case seems to be that this only happens if the BIOS setting "EuP support" is enabled. When it is enabled, windows shutdown also makes it so "deep" poweroff that even the LED in the motherboard power button gets turned off; this is the only way I've seen it turn off (other than switching PSU off). Also, pressing the power button to shutdown while in the BIOS setup does not seem to cause this settings resetting (and the LED stays on, too).

I haven't done total scientific testing on this, but so far 10+ shutdown/turn on sequences with both EuP enabled and disabled, and settings were always lost if it was enabled, and always kept if disabled.

When the settings reset, it is full reset (including date time), unlike the CMOS reset button which seemed to keep date time the one time I've used it so far.

Problem 2:
After a while of banging away with the settings reset problem (i.e. having the EuP enabled), the startup sequence got some weird hiccups, like it starts a bit on the boot first, but then shutdowns automatically again, and restarts... After this happens, the system will not stay shut down, but restarts automatically in few seconds. This happens whatever way it was shut down (win shutdown, hibernate, sleep; power button; even PSU switch turned off... it will try to restart but of course runs out of juice in a blink, literally (some LEDs blink and then its fully over).

Windows has nothing out of ordinary in any logs, but I didn't expect such either, since this happens even with power button shutdown.

The only way to stop this "mode" is to do CMOS reset, then it works ok again (other than still having the problem 1 around).


System details:
* PSU:Corsair HX850W and Chieftec el-cheapo 550W (tried both, just in case)
* mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7, BIOS version F2
* CPU: i7-920
* RAM: G.Skill 3x2GB kit (F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK; running at 1333Hz 7-7-7-18 1.5V as specified and in its X.M.P profile)
* graphics: cheapest HD5670 I could find/get (while waiting for the bigger brother)
* disk: Samsung PB22-J 128GB (SSD; being used in AHCI mode)
* optical: some LiteON blu-ray/DVD-burner SATA combo drive (also in AHCI)
* USB keyboard and mouse
* OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

All BIOS settings are pretty much the defaults, except these:
* All overclocking/performance enhance settings disabled (even the ones that are enabled by default).
* RAM needs the X.M.P. profile for 1333MHz 7-7-7-18 (instead of running at 1066 CL8 or something)
* Init display first set to PCIE x16-1 (doesn't matter really, I've tried with the default value, too)
* SATA ports are in AHCI/Native, extra SATA controllers disabled, USB keyboard support enabled (USB keyboard doesn't matter, AHCI does, of course)
* all event wake up things disabled, HPET mode 64-bit. (mode doesn't matter)
* (I've also meddled at times with SMART support, full screen logo, quick boot (hah, what a joke), instant-off vs. delay 4sec - none of these affect problems, and work as expected)

The whole system is still only "air assembled", on top of a motherboard box. I always do it first like that so that in case of problems, I don't need to waste couple hours for first removing all the crap from case and then put back in once things are fixed. (Did it two times straight to case back in my younger days, lessons learned).

Otherwise it works perfectly. Once settings are there, no problems during operation. I've installed that Win7 (though not activated or updated yet), installed drivers (and updated them, too) and some test programs. CPU testing didn't give a single problem, neither did Memtest86+, though I only run them for like 30minutes and couple hours, but if a problem in either would be the reason, there would need to be more than few problems per minute. Yes, I've have had my share of badly working RAM before. Graphics testing shows no troubles either (though the FPSes looked a bit low, but then again, I haven't got anything to compare them against and its been like few years since I last used the test program). And WEI scores are sweet, all 7+.

So, I'm mostly interested in the problem 1 since seems I can't get problem 2 without first having problem 1 in effect. I've tried changing various BIOS settings, the other PSU, tried pressing the power button in different ways (just in case it was a mechanical bouncing causing the mobo to think there were multiple failed reboots and thus as a safety measure reseted "overclocked" settings to defaults). I've actually even seen twice the warning about overclocking/-voltage, but I count that for the mobo stupidity for thinking that any bad bootup is due to overcloking/-voltage.

Has anyone else with somewhat similar setup experienced either of the problems, or have some more ideas to test? I'm hoping to find out if it just my particular motherboard, or if it is all these motherboards, or if it could get fixed with BIOS update, or do I just have to live without the EuP power saving support (I mean, if it saves sooo much energy that it even cuts the cmos battery off its tiny load... j/k).

[VidTweaker]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Have "Problem 1" precisely. "full reset (including date time) after shutdown with EuP enabled". I can reboot as much as I like. but after shutdown next morning it all gets reset. In my case it gets really bad since I loose my RAID config.

Any news on how to make EuP working?

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Are you sure you are 100% Stable otherwise, if so then it may just be a buggy error still in the BIOS. How are you testing stability and for how long?

Check your RAID before you start windows, if it is not set to RAID set it, reboot and then move array to top of your boot list. Then you should not mess your array up when this happens.

[bugi]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

"Any news on how to make EuP working?"

Nope. No responses other than yours to this thread and no private messages. I guess my wall of text scared all the readers away, or, maybe more likely, since this is a "tweak" forum, everyone has such nasty BIOS tweakings in their rigs that they do not want to risk losing them on testing such an ignorable setting as this. (After all, most overclockers seem to propose simply turning off most or all power saving settings... for energy companies' wider smile.)

After my first message, I've been using my system with the EuP support disabled, and not a single problem since. I cleaned away the previous win7 install and reinstalled it, activated and updated it etc. (That resulted in the SSD's WEI score to drop to 5,9 (huh?!), but it works just the same as before.) Otherwise my system has been 100% stable, though I haven't rerun torture tests or such. I've enabled back the default intel CPU turbo thing (whatever, BIOS bootup display shows 2,8GHz instead of the nominal 2,66GHz) Didn't expect this from a Windows 7 system, but I guess once in a decade M$ can produce something that works right at least for a while.

Been surfing, watching movies, playing 3 different games... The only thing I can notice to be unoptimal is that SSD WEI score and something making weird chirpy noise occasionally. That noise goes away for a while if I press the CPU cooler down gently or bend the motherboard ever so slightly near the CPU, so I think that is just "mechanics" that should solve itself once I get it installed into the case.

I haven't tried to enable the EuP support again, though I could try it to see if the updated Windows would behave better. But I doubt anything has changed; it doesn't sound like OS problem (imho, the hardware/chipset/BIOS should handle the shutdown procedures at that low level, not the OS).

And I can live without that EuP support. All the other power savings work and seem to do a decent job, and with SSD this thing turns off and back on so quickly that I don't even bother with hibernate. Heck, a few times the hibernate has actually taken longer to cycle than full shutdown and power on. I do use the sleep mode at times (especially as "forgot the PC on when the movie started" auto-sleep).

Note that I do not have any RAID stuff, so can't say anything about how the settings reset would affect them on my system.

[VidTweaker]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Are you sure you are 100% Stable otherwise

I haven't changed anything related to overclocking (bios version is F5). Haven't had any crashes. just default parameters. I run I7 920. Feels like stable after whole 12h day of work (80% code writing, 20% 100% cpu load test runs).

Temps feel also stable. I run Noctua D14 (silent mode). and it idles ~40 and maxes around 70 (without fan even beginning to rotate full speed.). all other temps do not go above 50.

power supply is Antec CP850 and case is Antec P183

Oh, yeah, one weird issue I had once that I couldn't shutdown/hibernate at all. I press shutdown. Everything going down (hdd, coolers, all). and several seconds later whole new cycle of booting starts again. That I I solved by pressing bios reset button on the back. and it never came back.

But this bios reset issue keeps coming back. I probably should just disable that extra power saving EuP mode.

Check your RAID before you start windows, if it is not set to RAID set it, reboot and then move array to top of your boot list. Then you should not mess your array up when this happens.

I run win from SSD (and it is on top of the list), RAID is just for data, so loosing windows and not booting is not the issue here. the issue is that every time this bios reset happens, intel ICHR switches to IDE mode. windows starts, sees several additional disks (which used to be in RAID) and just gives me a message that it is going fix it for me. after "fix" even if I reboot with setting RAID in bios again this time ICHR refuses to realize that all those drives used to be my RAID0 drive.

oh, this reset issue really cost me quite a pain and time wasted. at least the issue is narrowed down. but it would be really nice to know a fix

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

I can test it for you guys if you like, but you are right I am an overclocker too so I have that and all others disabled. I have no problem testing for you guys though, let me know what/how you would like me to test and I will try to get a few tests in here tonight

I would also ask that you send in a support ticket on this, both of you if you don't mind. This could just be a know, or unknown, BIOS bug and the more reports the better so they can start trying to find a solution.
GIGABYTE - Support&Download - Technical Service Zone

Since this is a brand new feature, I would suspect that is the problem. It will likely take several BIOS revisions before they get it working properly, and really most people do not use this and it is disabled by default, so it is very likely the amount of reports sent in is very small if any and the BIOS engineers may not even be aware there is an issue.

[bugi]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Temps feel also stable. I run Noctua D14 (silent mode). and it idles ~40 and maxes around 70 (without fan even beginning to rotate full speed.). all other temps do not go above 50.

Sounds a bit high max temp, though difference may very well be that my system is still "on the table", yours might be in closed case.. My top temps during torture were around 64C, using the default cooler that came with the CPU.

Oh, yeah, one weird issue I had once that I couldn't shutdown/hibernate at all. I press shutdown. Everything going down (hdd, coolers, all). and several seconds later whole new cycle of booting starts again. That I I solved by pressing bios reset button on the back. and it never came back.

This sounds like the problem number 2 in my first post. I haven't had that problem either, after leaving EuP disabled.

[bugi]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

I can test it for you guys if you like, but you are right I am an overclocker too so I have that and all others disabled. I have no problem testing for you guys though, let me know what/how you would like me to test and I will try to get a few tests in here tonight

Simply, record all your current settings (of course, since they'll be gone if this test will be "successful"). Then find the EuP support setting and enable it. My current theory is that it should not matter what the other settings are. Then boot couple time to BIOS (i.e. power on, immediately to BIOS setup, power off via power button or ctrl-alt-del, repeat) and see if BIOS settings are kept, and if the problem #2 would appear (probably preceded by a warning about overclocking instability and/or failed boot), and if the blue LED under the motherboard's power button turns off at any point. (For me, the LED stays on always when shutdown/rebooted without going through windows).

Then boot to windows 7, and then use normal "shutdown" from there. Keep an eye on the that blue LED under motherboard power button.. If it goes off after shutdown, there is a good chance the BIOS settings are gone. Power back on and go to BIOS setup... are settings still intact? (E.g. check date/time and/or some other obvious settings, like ACHI/IDE mode - whatever you have changed from the default value). Might need to repeat this some times, perhaps with a bit of delay before turning back on... no idea.. though iirc, in the latest tests I made with the EuP enabled, delay didn't matter.

An interesting side-test might be to boot into some other operating system (XP, Linux, ...) and see how the shutdown would work there. I've still to get enough extra time to start figuring about installing a linux.

I would also ask that you send in a support ticket on this, both of you if you don't mind.

Will do, though may take a day or two before I get the time to dig into there.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

OK, I just tested quick and dirty for you as I was waiting to hear back from you.

1 minute powered down fully and 1 minute S3 sleep.

Give me a second, and I will edit into this post my full current settings and hardware, ect.

No issues resuming or powering up here though or loosing BIOS settings or profiles, but my tests may have not been long enough yet?

One sec, I am editing in settings/hardware, findings. Sorry, using Vista here though but I doubt that matters as this is not a software issue I don't think but I suppose it could be?



Power down fully, no issues starting again or keeping BIOS settings and profiles. Onboard power button is shut off (No LED), this is likely be design

S3 sleep instated, no issues going to sleep. Onboard Power Button remains enabled/lit

Resume from S3, no issues aside from the normal resume from S3 CAS register issue affecting all X58 chipsets (Intel issue they were supposed to address with the revision, they did address it as it changed from CAS 7 to CAS 4 now on resume (Some apps still show 7, others 4) - non issue/cosmetic)

CPU = Intel 965 EX ES
Motherboard = GA-X58-UD7
BIOS Version = @ F6a BIOS (This is something you guys did not mention, what BIOS are you using?)
Ram = 6GB Mushkin 998679
PSU = Ultra X3 850W ULT40312
OS = Vista x64 Business SP2

[B]Advanced CPU Features:[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [25x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled] 
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]


[B]Uncore & QPI Features:[/B]
QPI Link Speed .............................. x44 *
Uncore Frequency ..........................  x22
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]


[B]Standard Clock Control:[/B]
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ..................... 168
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

[B]Advanced Clock Control:[/B]
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]


[B]Advanced DRAM Features:[/B]
Performance Enhance ...................... [Extreme]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [x10] 1680
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Manual - Expert]

[B]Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:[/B]
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ...................... 6
tRCD ....................................... 8
tRP ......................................... 6
tRAS ....................................... 20


##Channel A-C Advanced Timing Control##
All Auto as of now

Command Rate (CMD) ................ 1

##Channel A-C Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ................... Auto


[B]Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU[/B]
Load Line Calibration ................. [Level 1]
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.43125
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ............ 1.415
CPU PLL 1.800v ....................... 1.8

[B]MCH/ICH[/B]
PCIE 1.500v ........................... 1.5
QPI PLL 1.100v ....................... 1.22
IOH Core 1.100v ..................... 1.22
ICH I/O 1.500v ....................... 1.5
ICH Core 1.1v ........................ 1.14

[B]DRAM[/B]
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. 1.66
DRAM Termination 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]

EuP ............................... [Enabled]

If you need me to test further, please explain what you would like me to do and I will try to get it done for you tonight. Win7 I can install but would rather not as it would have to be on a IDE as my drive is full now so I can't setup a dual boot to test with.

Hey, you said "if it aint broke don't fix it".. You are saying it is broke, so time to fix it :)

[bugi]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Power down fully, no issues starting again or keeping BIOS settings and profiles. Onboard power button is shut off (No LED), this is likely be design

Yes, agree, I'd expect it to turn off, too; just, that way (with the EuP enabled) has been my only way to see it go off (other than using PSU power switch), and thus also indicated settings reset for me.

BIOS Version = @ F6a BIOS (This is something you guys did not mention, what BIOS are you using?)

Oh, but I did mention it :) the mobo came with F2, and I didn't start updating it since the typical instructions say that do not update unless you have to (or want to boldly go where...), and so far there was not enough information to decide whether this issue is BIOS or hardware design, or even OS problem.

If you need me to test further, please explain what you would like me to do and I will try to get it done for you tonight. Win7 I can install but would rather not as it would have to be on a IDE as my drive is full now so I can't setup a dual boot to test with

For me, that is enough for your part. It would be more useful to have simply more testers (different setups, other pieces) to get better touch of the problem. I'll probably try BIOS update soon(tm), sounds like a good difference to eliminate next.

And I'll read the other parts of your setup a bit later when I get my work out of the way.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Ya, it's the only time I have ever seen it go off too except via PSU shut down. This is likely by design of course though to cut power. No reset here of CMOS, but like I said I may need to test it longer, or is it an instant thing for you?

Ahh, missed that I suppose. For sure update your BIOS, I'd suggest F6a or F6x, both available here (Current final F6 is buggy, please use one of the beta's mentioned)

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/gigabyte-latest-bios-28441/

It may just be your BIOS, F2 is pretty old in terms of fixes and improvements and this may have already been addressed since F2 as it works for me so far without issue.

I can test more later or differently if you want, but I suspect you may have no problems once you update to a newer BIOS.

Well good luck on your testing, if you need me to do more to compare let me know

[DaKo]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

I have the exact same problem when activating EuP support. The BIOS settings are then deleted on every start. I alread reported this to JZ on the German Gigabyte forum a few weeks ago. He collected the system specs of users having this problem and sent it to the BIOS developers so that they can maybe reproduce it.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Are you using the latest BIOS or at least F6a or above? That is what I tested on so just wondering

[DaKo]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

I've made several tests with different BIOS versions since I have the board and they all gave/give the same result. Currently I'm using F6a (I used F6 until yesterday, but F6a is much faster at detecting IDE devices and thus much faster at booting), but I haven't tested it with it yet. I'll maybe try it in the next days, but I doubt that something has changed as there wasn't anything listed about this in the changelogs.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: X58A-UD7 settings reset after shutdown from Win7

Well please do test with F6a, it is the only BIOS I tested with/have used.

When you test, are you doing longer tests than what I did? Just wondering still if my tests were too short?

Also, are you stable otherwise to resume from S3? You may or may not be with older BIOS so just checking as I know this is often an issue for many people and older BIOS often do not work properly for this. I know F6a works fine when you are stable, I have resumed many times at 4.0-4.3Ghz 168-220Bclk.

Often times things corrected or added do not get mentioned in a change log unless many people were complaining about it, so they may have just silently fixed it. I know it works here but I may need to do longer tests possibly?

Maybe JZ's data collection can help Gigabyte narrow down the cause as it may be a certain piece of hardware or a certain type of setup/install, ect causing this and not the board or BIOS itself?