Start-up BIOS/POST Screen Message(s) Too Fast to Read

[sonomaman]

ASUS M5A88-V EVO mobo
AMD FX4130 CPU
W7 Pro 64-bit
AMI BIOS

On boot-up, the AMI POST screen flashes by so fast there's no way to read it.

I have tried various BIOS Quick-Boot, Full Screen Logo, Force BIOS settings, together with mashing the keyboard's Pause/Break key. The 'del' key only takes me into the BIOS itself!

None of these work. I see the red and blue (I think?) AMI boot screen for about 1-second then it's gone followed by a normal W7 boot.

How can I read those start-up POST messages? I know this is a common problem, but has anyone ever solved it? Taking a video of the monitor screen during boot-up doesn't count as a solution!

 

[gregrocker]

Is there a newer BIOS update? Try setting to defaults after taking note of SATA settings. Then see if disabling quick boot helps. What other settings choices?

 

[AddRAM]

Go into the bios, look for the diagnostic screen timeout, set it to as long as it will go. 5, 6, 7 seconds etc.

 

[sonomaman]

Is there a newer BIOS update? Try setting to defaults after taking note of SATA settings. Then see if disabling quick boot helps. What other settings choices?

Yes, there is a newer BIOS version available. Considering a too fast start-up screen message is the only problem I've have right now, I don't want to take the risk of a BIOS update.

What do you mean by "taking note of SATA" settings?

There are other BIOS settings, and I've tried changing all that pertain to BIOS. The too fast fleeting startup message always appears. I even tried rebooting with a keyboard key constantly down during boot (to simulate a stuck key) in hopes the boot message would halt to inform of a stuck key condition. The start up message still flew by too fast to read.

Seems like I'll just have to live with this.

 

[sonomaman]

Go into the bios, look for the diagnostic screen timeout, set it to as long as it will go. 5, 6, 7 seconds etc.

Unfortunately, my AMI BIOS version 0707 does not have this feature.

 

[gregrocker]

Waiting for reply to the steps I gave you which you appear to have skipped.

Once you reply there will be more steps if necessary. This is how we work here.

 

[sonomaman]

Waiting for reply to the steps I gave you which you appear to have skipped.

Once you reply there will be more steps if necessary. This is how we work here.

See thread post #4 for my reply.

 

[gregrocker]

Strange I didn't see that reply earlier.

The SATA controller setting would be IDE or AHCI. If you installed as is best in AHCI mode and the default it IDE it would need to be changed after resetting BIOS to defaults.

You can download the latest BIOS update and read in its ReadME or Info file what changes it offers. These may also be on the download page.

Sometimes a BIOS reset or update will resolve anomalies like this. Other times its a hidden BIOS setting that isn't quite obvious. But your one-time BIOS boot menu key should always work or needs an adjustment similar to what is suggested. On Asus that's F8 which must be triggered before BIOS passes to the OS when it becomes instead the key for Advanced Boot Options

 

[sonomaman]

Strange I didn't see that reply earlier.

The SATA controller setting would be IDE or AHCI. If you installed as is best in AHCI mode and the default it IDE it would need to be changed after resetting BIOS to defaults.

You can download the latest BIOS update and read in its ReadME or Info file what changes it offers. These may also be on the download page.

Sometimes a BIOS reset or update will resolve anomalies like this. Other times its a hidden BIOS setting that isn't quite obvious. But your one-time BIOS boot menu key should always work or needs an adjustment similar to what is suggested. On Asus that's F8 which must be triggered before BIOS passes to the OS when it becomes instead the key for Advanced Boot Options

I'll see if there is a ReadMe for for AMI's 1801 BIOS.

I'm not familiar with a "one-time BIOS boot menu key". Please explain what this does. How does it differ from using the delete key to get into the BIOS setup? On this ASUS mobo, the delete key pressed before transition to OS has worked to get me into the BIOS setup, but does NOT allow me to read the AMI POST screen(s) which is what I'm after.

 

[gregrocker]

Almost all OEM's have a one-time BIOS Boot menu key, aka BIOS interrupt key:

Asus - F8
HP/Compaq - Esc
Sony - F2
Acer - F12
Gateway - F10
eMachnes - F10
Toshiba - F12
Dell - F12
IBM/Lenovo - the blue Thinkvantage button

 

[sonomaman]

Almost all OEM's have a one-time BIOS Boot menu key, aka BIOS interrupt key:

Asus - F8
HP/Compaq - Esc
Sony - F2
Acer - F12
Gateway - F10
eMachnes - F10
Toshiba - F12
Dell - F12
IBM/Lenovo - the blue Thinkvantage button

OK, but I still don't know how a "one-time BIOS Boot menu key, aka BIOS interrupt key" works i.e. F8 for ASUS. I hit (briefly) my F8 key when I heard the POST beep, but the PC just continued on as before with a brief flash of the AMI screen then loaded W7.

Please explain how to use the F8 key i.e. when to hit, how to hit ..... press briefly or hold down.

There is no ReadMe file with the (latest) 1801 AMI BIOS.

 

[gregrocker]

Either vigorously tap the F8 key or hold it down from the moment you power on to make sure it is invoked. This should provide a Boot Menu unless it is defective, so that you can boot from media.

But you should be able to access the default settings using the ESC key to see if it resolves your issues.

Is it possible a setting is being overlooked to affect the BIOS post speed or delay?

 

[sonomaman]

Either vigorously tap the F8 key or hold it down from the moment you power on to make sure it is invoked. This should provide a Boot Menu unless it is defective, so that you can boot from media.

But you should be able to access the default settings using the ESC key to see if it resolves your issues.

Is it possible a setting is being overlooked to affect the BIOS post speed or delay?

OK, I'll try again, but remember -I can get already to the BIOS menu using the delete key. It's the too brief AMI POST screen I want to read. Is the F8 key supposed to stop the boot process so I can read that screen?

 

[AddRAM]

Right, hitting the 1 time boot key has nothing to do with your issue. If there is no diagnostic screen timeout in the bios, as I mentioned earlier, look for something that will enable or disable the boot screen logo, set it to disable.

 

[sonomaman]

Right, hitting the 1 time boot key has nothing to do with your issue. If there is no diagnostic screen timeout in the bios, as I mentioned earlier, look for something that will enable or disable the boot screen logo, set it to disable.

My BIOS boot settings screen is shown in the attached thumbnail.

I'm using these settings:

QUICK BOOT: disabled
FULL SCREEN LOGO: disabled
ADD-ON ROM DISPLAY MODE(FORCE BIOS): tried both choices, neither worked.
BOOT NUM-LOCK ON: should have no effect on getting the AMI POST message(s) to slow or halt
WAIT FOR 'F1' IF ERROR: don't understand this setting
HIT 'DEL' MESSAGE DISPLAY: enabled

There are no settings I see anywhere for diagnostic screen delay, halt or timeout.

 

[AddRAM]

I have no idea what else you can try then, besides, it`s only going to tell you what you already know.

What cpu is installed, memory, hard drives etc.

 

[sonomaman]

I have no idea what else you can try then, besides, it`s only going to tell you what you already know.

What cpu is installed, memory, hard drives etc.

Yes, but in future, when I change/add something ...... e.g. CPU, memory, SSD etc. - and I have problems, that AMI start-up screen could supply good debugging info if I could only read it!

 

[gregrocker]

Did you reset the BIOS to defaults to see how it functions then?

 

[eagle223]

To see what the BIOS writes on the screen use your cellphone or similar to take a video.
Play the video and pause the frame you want to read.