Gigabyte Z68 Smart Response

[trungma]

I have a minor annoyance with the Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4 mobo. Currenly I'm using SRT to accelerate my game HDD and it is working great. To get it to work I need to set the BIOS SATA mode to RAID and install the Intel drivers.

The problem occurs when I loses my settings in the BIOS from overclocking or if I update the bios. What happens is that the BIOS SATA mode defaults back to IDE and causes the computer freeze during boot up (during HDD detection). To get it to boot I need to open up the computer, disconnect the HDDs, go into the bios and change the SATA mode back to RAID, then re-connect all the HDDs.

As you can see this is quite annoying. I was wondering what is causing this and if anybody else have had this issue.

 

[dma0991]

Not too sure why are you losing BIOS settings from overclocking but it should be normal to lose all default BIOS settings after flashing. If you would have to reconnect after flashing it is not a big problem as you're not going to flash the BIOS on a regular basis anyway.

 

[Diogenes2]

Sounds like you need to stabilize your overclock ..
Does the Board have a BIOS save feature, where you can save different configurations, and restore if there is a reset from overclocking ?
Does it let you save BIOS to external device like a USB drive ?
That would be best, so you can restore after a reset ..

Why are you updating the BIOS ?

Many updates are just for added CPU's, memory compatability & etc..
If a BIOS update does not address a specific problem you are having, it's best to just leave it as is, instead of flashing every time there is a change.

 

[trungma]

Sounds like you need to stabilize your overclock ..
Does the Board have a BIOS save feature, where you can save different configurations, and restore if there is a reset from overclocking ?
Does it let you save BIOS to external device like a USB drive ?
That would be best, so you can restore after a reset ..

Why are you updating the BIOS ?

Many updates are just for added CPU's, memory compatability & etc..
If a BIOS update does not address a specific problem you are having, it's best to just leave it as is, instead of flashing every time there is a change.

Guys, don't worry about everything else. I just want comments and experience regarding the fact that when I change the SATA mode to IDE when using Intel SRT, the computer will hang on bootup. I need to disconnect all the drives to get into the BIOS. Once I change the SATA mode back to RAID everthing is ok.

To answer the above questions anyways, losing BIOS settings seems to be common with Gigabyte boards when you use the rest button. Expecially if it goes into a boot loop. Doesn't matter if the system is overclocked or not. I'm updating the BIOS to try to get ride of the boot loop issue.

Thx.

 

[videopho]

This seems to be a common problem with GB mobo's and mine was one of them (Z68XP-UD3).
As long as you're overclocking regardless whether it's stable or not. This is going to surface sooner or later at booting. Mine was not as severe as in your case but a nuisance to the point I won't bother o/c until someone from GB figures it out with another bios update.

 

[greenhawk]

losing BIOS settings seems to be common with Gigabyte boards when you use the rest button. Expecially if it goes into a boot loop. Doesn't matter if the system is overclocked or not. I'm updating the BIOS to try to get ride of the boot loop issue.

No idea about the rest option, but resetting the bios does it to all boards at last check. Resetting the system (different button) should not do it.

As to the reboot loop, even my s775 gigabyte does that. I do not think their is a way to overcome it with a bios update.

My problem was that when it reset, the boot order would change. I just gave up and re-arranged the drives according to the default (ie: ignored the numbering in the manual / on the board).

 

[trungma]

No idea about the rest option, but resetting the bios does it to all boards at last check. Resetting the system (different button) should not do it.

As to the reboot loop, even my s775 gigabyte does that. I do not think their is a way to overcome it with a bios update.

My problem was that when it reset, the boot order would change. I just gave up and re-arranged the drives according to the default (ie: ignored the numbering in the manual / on the board).

I agree, the reset button shouldn't cause the bios to reset to default settings but in the case of the Gigabyte Z68 motherboards, it does. Not all the time though. Just happens randomly.

I believe the issue lies with the Intel Raid firmware. I first I though SRT was strictly software that runs in Windows. But apparrently during boot up, the Intel Raid controller recognizes that the HDD is accerlerated.

When the SATA settings changes to "IDE" mode from "RAID", I think it confuses the Intel Raid controller and causes the whole boot/detection process to hang. Note that I can't enter the bios when it hangs. I need to disconnect all the drives for it to boot up properly and allow me to enter the bios.

Other than that the computer works fine. Just curious to see if somebody else have had their computer hang during bootup when using Intel's SRT under the same scenario that I described above.