Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 and 7 won't boot into linux from USB key

[wowsza]

i have a gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 and a newer GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard that won't boot into linux from a USB key. i have two slightly older UD3's that will boot with no issues though.

i'll install the image on the usb drives, but when i try to boot i'll get a black screen that says "boot error"

installing windows from a usb drive works fine, and the same linux build installed to an ssd boots just fine.

anyone else have experience with this issue?

 

[VirtualLarry]

tried Netbootin ? Tried using the (Windows) HP USB Format Tool to format it first?

 

[wowsza]

i'll try using netbootin tomorrow. i currently use win32 disk imager and have had no issues with any other motherboard but these two.

i've used the HP format tool, as well as disk utility in OS X to format. the drives boot fine in other computers.

 

[Steltek]

Are you running the most recent BIOS available for the board?

 

[wowsza]

Are you running the most recent BIOS available for the board?

yes, and that seems to be the issue but i can't pinpoint why. the two older boards have older versions of the bios, and they boot just fine.

 

[Steltek]

yes, and that seems to be the issue but i can't pinpoint why. the two older boards have older versions of the bios, and they boot just fine.

You might try to revert back to an earlier BIOS if it doesn't cause any major problems. Are the boards all the same revision version?

 

[Gunbuster]

Make sure secure boot is turned off in the BIOS

 

[wowsza]

used netbootin, same result

You might try to revert back to an earlier BIOS if it doesn't cause any major problems. Are the boards all the same revision version?

the newer ga-990xfa-ud3 is a newer revision. i've never reverted to an earlier bios before, only updated. anything i should know?

Make sure secure boot is turned off in the BIOS

didn't work

 

[PracticalTech]

I just learned, with my GA-990FXA-UD7, that for both the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 controllers to function properly in Linux (I'm using Mint 17.1) it required the following settings in the BIOS:

xHCI handoff - Enabled
EHCI handoff - Enabled
IOMMU controller - Enabled

This also made the ethernet controller work.

Don't forget to disable UEFI and change all boot options to "Legacy Only".

If you really need to boot from a HDD of >2.2TB capacity, you might have a different problem on your hands.

I'm using a 256GB SSD for my boot drive and a pair of 3TB HDDs in a RAID 1 (mirrored) array using mdadm for my /home and all is working well.

I hope this helps somebody. Having worked with Gigabyte boards quite a lot, I know the 990FXA-UD5 and 990FXA-UD3 boards have very similar BIOS, so it is likely the same will apply with those boards as well.

Best regards,
PracticalTech

 

[inachu]

It is rare but sometimes it is the usb brand that does not like to boot.

 

[PracticalTech]

The issue at hand in this discussion seems to have been the problems related to the implementation of EFI in the BIOS on certain newer mainboards and the additional complications involved because of the way the newer BIOS are designed.

Many people have noticed that nothing USB, or specifically USB 2.0 will work when booting into LInux (regardless of distro) without certain settings made in the BIOS. In this case, the brand of the USB device is irrelevant because it is the controller on the mainboard that would not work.

 

[PracticalTech]

Greetings,
Here are the details of my build. I'm posting this in case it helps somebody else.

* OS: Linux Mint 17.1
* Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7, Rev. 3.0 with FDe BIOS (Beta, but working well).
* CPU: AMD FX-8370E, running at 4.275GHz
* CPU HSF: Zalman CNPS10X Optima. My preferred thermal compound is "Ceramique", by Arctic Silver. With this cooler, it is advisable to apply a thin line down the middle of each of the heat pipes, where they will contact the CPU. This ensures good heat transfer where it is most important.
* RAM: Corsair CMY16GX3M2A2400C11, 16GB 2400MHz DDR3, running at 2400MHz
* SSD : Plextor M6Pro 256GB, upgraded firmware to the latest revision.
* HDD : 2x Toshiba 3TB, configured in RAID 1 (mirrored) using mdadm and mounted at /home
* Video card: nVidia GeForce 250GTS. I just ordered a 970GTX that should arrive today and I expect that to be a seamless upgrade, but will post the results of any issues if encountered.

Settings in BIOS:
* CMOS was cleared before first time power on. Then "Optimized Defaults" were loaded and rebooted. Then adjustments were made and eventually came to these settings that worked well, consistently and the system is very stable. Settings not mentioned were not changed, except the fan speed controls, which were adjusted according to my own preferences with the fans in my system.
Disable EFI stuff:
* Boot Mode Selection: Legacy Only
* Storage Boot Option Control: Legacy Only
* Other PCI Device ROM Priority: Legacy OpROM
Voltage:
* CPU Vcore: +0.150
* NB core: +0.125
Other:
* BCLK Clock Control: 225MHz
* CPU NorthBridge Frequency: 2400MHz. This is required so the IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) can run the RAM at 2400MHz, but it requires more voltage (NB core) to be able to run at this speed.
* CPU Clock Ratio: 19
* CPU Performance Boost: Disabled
* Memory XMP: Profile 1
* XHCI Handoff: Enabled (This is default)
* EHCI Handoff: Enabled (not default)
* IOMMU Controller: Enabled (not default)

With all this, yet the Marvell GSATA/ESATA controller still does not work in Linux. I may find the solution eventually. If I do get it working, I'll post the results here.

Again, I pray this helps someone.

Best regards,
PracticalTech