Hey everybody. I'm hoping there's some tech capable people in here who can help me out. Today I went to try out my brand newish motherboard, Gigabyte GA-Z97N Gaming 5, to test everything out before prepping it for watercooling. Now initially I could get it up and running with only one ramstick in the slots, and only in slot B. It didn't matter which one of my Corsair Dominator rams I put in slot B, but it would not boot up with anything in slot A. Now I read on the internet, that it could be a problem with CMOS configuration, and I could reset it by removing the battery for 5 minutes before putting it back in. So far, so good... Now after I've done the battery thing, I can't get it to boot at all. It gets to the point where I can see a mouse and the good ol' blinking underscore, imagine the one from DOS, and after that it instantly freezes - wont load BIOS - and it resets. I've tried swapping the RAMs, the PSU, tested with one ram stick in slot B, one in slot A, even tried out with my i5 from my main rig. I've also tried to reset the CMOS from the jumper, by using a screwdriver as described in the Gigabyte manual. Is there anyone out there who can give me a hand? Right now I'm at bare ground, and I don't know if it's a faulty motherboard, myself who overloaded something with static electricity(I was careful with that though, and I can still get SOME life into the machine), or something completely third. I'm hoping it's "just" the BIOS acting all weird, and there's some way for me to reset it. Hope you guys can help me out. Specs: Gigabyte GA-Z97N Gaming 5 Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x4 gb 2666 mhz, CL11, 1.65v (tested with 1x4 gb G.Skill Ripjaw 1866 mhz, CL9, 1.5v) Pentium G3258 at stock (tested with i5-4670k at stock) Silverstone SFX 450 watt bronze PSU (also tested with a Point of View 500 watt, which was confirmed working in my main rig, by doing a quick power-up)
Is there a switch to swap it to the second BIOS? All Gigabyte boards have dual BIOS and some of the better ones have a manual switch. Try that first if there is one.
Just to be sure ... CMOS battery is back in the right way around isn't it? Also, maybe try a new CMOS battery. I'd probably leave it overnight and see if it comes back to life on it's own, , I've had that work sometimes, I'd imagine it being a Z97 it's still probably under warranty, so worst case you could contact Gigabyte about an RMA.
Hi, and thanks for your reply. It doesnt look like it has a manual switch, at least I cant find it in the manual
You could try shorting pin 1 and 8 on the primary BIOS chip, that'll cause it to try BIOS 2. I've had some success doing that to other Gigabyte boards. Otherwise as above, leave the battery out overnight without any power to the board.
The battery is attached with a plug, so I didn't have to remove it from anything. And the plug is fool-proof I might try a new battery if I cant get it working, for now I'll leave it over for the night and pray to RNGeesuz. Only problem about opening an RMA case is that I bought the motherboard second hand, and I've repainted the heatsinks (not anywhere important, and it was done carefully, but still..)
Alright, so I left the battery out overnight as suggested, but it didn't help. I also tried to see if I can force it into BIOS 2 with the short circuit trick, but also no luck. Doing that just causes it to instantly reset and try booting again. To me it seems like a bad BIOS chip? Unfortunately I don't have access to an extra CMOS battery, but I doubt it's the battery acting up
I got a hold of the original receipt, and the board is just above one year old, which means according to danish law I am still covered by the guarantee. I'll give it a day or two more before I contact the dealer. Do you think it'll be necessary to remove the paint? It won't be too difficult to do, but it'll still take some time, and it didn't alter anything in contact with any electrical parts on the board
I've only hooked it up with the internal GPU. I literally just plugged in the processor and a stick of RAM
With all that you have tried (different RAM, reset the BIOS) ssuming you don't have any foreign object under the motherboard (like an extra brass standoff) shorting it out, I think you should contact Gigabyte and RMA the board. And a properly mounted CPU cooler, right?
The motherboard has been tested on an antistatic bag from an old GFX, to avoid interference from static electricity, and I've also checked if anything was shortening. Even tried tipping it on the side, so nothing is touching, while trying to boot. And don't worry, I did mount the CPU cooler correct. Initially I thought I had made some mistake there as well I guess I'll contact the dealer tomorrow and see what we can come up with. Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'll keep you updated as to what's going to happen
You should not use those bags. They are not all the same. Note they are designed with an "outer" layer to prevent electricity from going "through" the bag and many are designed to shunt (short) electricity around the bag like the very conductive body of your car. In other words, the outer layer of some bags conduct, not insulate. They are called anti-static because the "inner layer" of the bag does not generate static as you slide the board in and out. And it is the inner layer that prevents static from reaching the board. So because not all of these bags are made the same, and because it is hard to tell them apart, don't put your motherboards on them when applying power. Some recommend the motherboard box, but I advise against that too because the ink used on the box may contain conductive materials too. The best thing to use when testing outside the case is an unfinished bread/cutting board, or plain, brown cardboard. I was more worried that it was mounted at all. If the CPU fan is not detected by the BIOS during the initial stages of the boot process, by default the BIOS will immediately shut down the system to avoid overheating the CPU.