BIOS malfunctioning

[ICIT2LOL]

For longer than I are to remember now the BIOS for this machines board (Asus P8Z77-V) will not keep my boot priority as I set them. Up until just recently it has been booting ok and a tad slow but now has gone into very slow mode and I am darned if I can track down why the BIOS will not keep the settings which I think are behind this slow bootup.

Any ideas anyone because frankly I am stumped here The BIOS is the current version and I am not clocking the CPU (i5 3750K) but am leaving the RAM set at 2000MHz (2400 installed).

I have done all the usual sfc and chkdsk stuff plus AV scans and a hard drive test (no faults) so am open to suggestions.

 

[Mellon Head]

Have you tried swapping out the CMOS battery and resetting the BIOS?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes Mellon mate I have tried all the default settings etc etc and no go with anything it seems to have a mind of it's own. The only thing I haven't tried is contacting Asus because on past occasions their support is hideously difficult to do ie they practically want to know the colour of ones eyes and when I have received advice back it usually takes the form of "have you tried.....(the obvious things we all try) and frankly I sometimes wonder if the support site is just another off shore centre employing techs who are either not interested or can be bothered.
It's ok I just thought someone might have a solution and I thank you for your reply but I am thinking after the last couple of years of issue after issue I might have to change the build out for something else and right now there isn't much choice really because I wanted to keep that machine in 7 or a dual boot and from what I read about the new gear now and the prices - I am seeing a loathsome job at the best of times is now a nightmare of you get what you are given

 

[Megahertz07]

John, is the booting order the only settings that doesn't save?
Do you have another SSD or HDD on same MB?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

John, is the booting order the only settings that doesn't save?
Do you have another SSD or HDD on same MB?

Yes mate just the boot order other stetting's like RAM speed, Fast Boot and Secure boot stay the same.

 

[rvcjew]

If you disable fast boot then reboot does it forget still?

 

[TechnoMage2016]

In the past, I have corrected many Bios problems by just removing all power from the system and then removing the CMOS battery, and leaving it out for at least a half hour. And somewhere during that time I check the voltage on the little CR2032, CMOS battery with a Known-Accurate Digital voltmeter.
If the test voltage is not above 3.0 volts DC, I toss the battery in the trash and install a new one.
A questionable battery is just not worth the hassle, and the problems it can create.

I've even recovered systems that appeared to be totally DEAD, using the above method.

Good Luck, Mate!
TechnoMage

PS: I know it's never fun to replace a motherboard on a working system, but sometimes we just have to bite the bullet, so to speak. The last time I moved a working hard drive from one system to another, Windows reloaded all the drivers for the new system and when it was done doing that, Windows once again worked perfectly.

 

[Megahertz07]

John, Do you have another SSD or HDD on same MB?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Sorry late reply and RCV yes mate I will try that and see what happens seems sometimes you need a PHd in rocket science with the abbreviations they use in the BIOS


Technomage mate I already done the new battery in the board and both the old and new tested up fine on two of my meters. If push come to shove then I will swap out the board but it means changing just about everything else because out here the dealers/stores all have jumped on the Skylake and Kabylake band wagon it is hard even attempting to get a board that will take the CPU RAM and cards I have in the machine right now - it is a major undertaking not to mention an expensive one. :huh:




Mega mate I have another SSD I can shive in that I cloned this SSD with or rather from I will try that too but it will have to wait until tomorrow as frankly I am pretty darn ticked off with the antics of the machine right now and just using my main laptop pro tem.

 

[Megahertz07]

I asked if you have another HDD or SSD ON the computer.
I asked because I was thinking that you could have installed the Win 7 with another SSD or HDD connected and then the boot loader could be on it. In this case, as the boot loader is not on the SSD and on boot it can't find it, BIOS change the order to the one that has it.

 

[Ranger4]

John, have you tried changing the drive connections on the MB, so that the main drive is on the lowest connection number on the MB.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

No sorry Megahertz mate I was thinking maybe a typo and no the only drive in the or attached to the machine is the OS one.

I have another drive that I made the connected one from - a clone so to be ready for any problems arising. I am about to connect that original drive and see what happens but in any case whatever drive is used I am stuck with the BIOS issue namely it changing the boot order each time I reboot the computer for say updates or just after it being off for extended periods of time. As a matter of course I never leave my machines running overnight unless something is being run that takes a long time to do ie memtest.

Ranger mate if you mean have I tried different SATA ports on the board yes I have but it makes no difference to the BIOS changing that boot order it just seems to favour the optical drive as first option.

Now I am happy for it to do that if it did not slow down the boot which in theory it shouldn't but in reality it does. I am now wondering what would happen if I disconnected the optical drive and tried to boot the machine too as the drive would be the only bootable source on the machine??

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Just as a by the by I notice the BIOS always refers to my boot option for the SSD as a Generic Compact - Flash and going down through the BIOS Boot section I find the Samsung SSD listed as a P1 device??

So it does seem to me that the BIOS is not recognizing the SSD in the boot order option and that the slow boot is the machine running through all options (it even has listed my printer as one) until it gets to the bottom of the pile for want of a better term and finds the SSD sitting at P1.

I have not really much knowledge on the BIOS settings and am wondering if anyone can throw some light on what is going on here and out of interest my original drive would not boot the machine at all.

Edit: I have options for ACHI (already set) and IDE and something else I cannot even fathom out in that BIOS option

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok I think I have half figured it out as I changed some of the BIOS settings this afternoon I noticed the boot options did not include the SSD as mentioned.

Now I think it was when I set the P1 to boot the machine it resumed as normal and I now have a reasonably quick boot. I cannot say for absolute sure what it was that I reset but for now the problem is fixed as I have tried several reboots and cold starts.

I will have another look at the BIOS settings to see if I can make out just what it was so that I will know what the head for and for anyone who has a similar issue.

I have to say though that the BIOS is as hard as the old legacy type because as I think I mentioned before that one needs to know what most of the abbreviations stand for unless one is born savvy with BIOS settings.

So for the time being thanks to you all for your help and advice through what as been a very trying time.

 

[rvcjew]

Yeah P1 means sata port one (in this case) of how many you have and unless windows boot manager is a boot option under UEFI always pick your drive itself. You should be able to also re-enable fast boot if you want as well.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yeah P1 means sata port one (in this case) of how many you have and unless windows boot manager is a boot option under UEFI always pick your drive itself. You should be able to also re-enable fast boot if you want as well.

Well I sort had an idea it was meaning that but not sure and if it is plugged into one of the two primary SATA ports I cannot understand why it is not being shown as a boot option

The board itself is pretty light on with 6Gbs ports (2) the rest being 3Gbs (4) and I use the two 6Gbs for the OS drive and the only optical drive I have in the machine.

I think I am on fast boot though it seemed a little slow this morning from yesterday and I am really thinking the order has gone back again to the optical as first boot. Apart form disconnecting that I just cannot see how I can make the SSD thee first boot option maybe it never will??

 

[rvcjew]

Perhaps try putting the optical in a 3Gbs port then setting your boot order again. If the optical drive is not a Blu-ray drive then it should not matter much in the speed.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok Malcolm mate it seems to be working at the moment - don't ask I have no idea what this machine will do next and I have the other secondary desktop giving me more grief at the moment.

I won't go into detail but another BIOS issue and I shall have to start a new thread for that one I think.

I just cannot work it out as I only swapped the machines around on two desks and since then all this carry on with them. It's as if they were naughty children and have spat the dummy for being moved !!