Gigabyte P965G-DS3 Boot problems

[LegendKiller]

I built a computer for a co-worker and now he is having a ton of problems, here is the timeline of events and system specs.


C2D 6400
P965G-DS3 (not sure about rev)
2GB of Crucial
BFG 7600GS 256
Barracuda 7200.10 750GB
Linksys wireless 802.11G


1. Put computer together and noticed that a ram stick was bad, Newegg sent a new one, everything OK.

2. Somehow he manages to screw Vista up so it won't boot, he brings it to a guy who screws it up worse.

3. I reinstall vista, everything works perfectly. I talk to him about overclocking and I put a mild OC on it, 2.8ghz

4. A few days ago he noticed the OC was gone, a day later the system was on but no image popped up on the monitor, he restarted, nothing came up.

5. We get on the phone and manage to get "Bootblock loader, Attempting to Auto-Recover". It gets there, powers down, and doesn't come back up. We do a BIOS clear and finally get to POST. However, it won't accept any keyboard entry, nothing at all, and it won't go past the POST screen.

He takes the battery out and we are stuck with the same problem. He tries two different keyboards, no luck.

After reading about BIOS recovery, it really seems to me like the BIOS is screwed. Should I just get Gigabyte to RMA the board, or send a new BIOS?


Thanks

 

[LegendKiller]

After doing a bit more research and finding some additional symptoms, I called the guy and asked if he ever got a "checksum error". Of course, he had, and had omitted that from his story yesterday. So, I wasted 2 hours of my time. If he had said that I would have known immediately.

Now the big question is whether I just have him RMA the board, or try to get a new bios. If you get a bios from Gigabyte do they send the puller tool?

 

[GimpyFuzznut]

I think you can recover the BIOS from the CD they give you. When you boot... if you can boot... there should be an Express Recovery type option at F9 I believe. Try going from there.

 

[Bozo Galora]

Just put a screwdriver accross the cmos pins to short them for about ten seconds.

You are correct, the "G" chip is screwed, deliberately crippled by Intel so the graphics bus will not be overloaded. It is a bloody nightmare, it is NOT an overclocker. There is a big thread here about it. I also was one of the idiots that ordered a 965G from newegg by mistake when the mobo were scarce.

Do yourself a big favor. Buy the new DFI 965P from ewiz. (ICH8R), full ATX.