Intel Z77 motherboard no longer boots

[MustISO]

Motherboard is an Intel DZ77GA-70K. Has worked flawlessly since I got it. The other day it started booting into the EFI Shell.

I found an article online that stated people fixed this issue by moving the boot volume from one sata port to another. That worked for me until today.

Turned on the PC today and straight into the EFI shell. Moved to another SATA port and still EFI shell. Selected the boot menu which shows all my drives but nothing boots when I select it (DVD, HD, USB).

Tried resetting BIOS and same thing. Any ideas?

 

[CoPhotoGuy]

Did your boot device fail or have corruption and now it cannot find a bootloader on it so it is failing back to the EFI shell?

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Over night or 48HR FULL Cmos clear

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Over night or 48HR FULL Cmos clear

Do you have any insight into what is happening when these things occur?

I BSOD'd that Z77-A board I spoke of several times with a code 124 error trying to reach 4.8 Ghz. The reboot and BIOS recovery brought back the stock settings. But the voltage was still above 1.2+ something. Then I tried setting the multiplier to 46. OK so far. Then I tried setting it back to stock, and the multiplier still set on 46!! Cleared the CMOS; one of those indications disappeared. Flashed to the latest BIOS, the other problem disappeared and all was copacetic.

So I'm taking your advice about using both the CLRTC jumper and removing the wafer battery as a general procedure I'm going to follow.

But what the heck is happening when stuff like this occurs?

 

[MustISO]

Problem has been solved, I disconnected my optical drive and everything is working fine now.

Kinda weird that was the cause, the drive hasn't been used much at all and I previously had it disconnected but it is booting now so I have to assume it was the DVD drive.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Do you have any insight into what is happening when these things occur?

I BSOD'd that Z77-A board I spoke of several times with a code 124 error trying to reach 4.8 Ghz. The reboot and BIOS recovery brought back the stock settings. But the voltage was still above 1.2+ something. Then I tried setting the multiplier to 46. OK so far. Then I tried setting it back to stock, and the multiplier still set on 46!! Cleared the CMOS; one of those indications disappeared. Flashed to the latest BIOS, the other problem disappeared and all was copacetic.

So I'm taking your advice about using both the CLRTC jumper and removing the wafer battery as a general procedure I'm going to follow.

But what the heck is happening when stuff like this occurs?

Usually if you hit F5 it will reset everything back to stock(or should) then you have to line it back for a boot from what ever drive you want to use. I'm not sure what happens to make it stick like that, I'm just lucky to know what little i do know. Its just a last resort before removing the board, after you disconnect everything not needed. Once you get to that point, it either works or..........Good ideal mustISO disconnect everything not needed to boot with as well. You can google 124 error on Sandy bridge or etc.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Usually if you hit F5 it will reset everything back to stock(or should) then you have to line it back for a boot from what ever drive you want to use. I'm not sure what happens to make it stick like that, I'm just lucky to know what little i do know. Its just a last resort before removing the board, after you disconnect everything not needed. Once you get to that point, it either works or..........Good ideal mustISO disconnect everything not needed to boot with as well. You can google 124 error on Sandy bridge or etc.

There's usually available a summary of the BSOD stop codes. 124 is a "general hardware" failure; 09C usually related to RAM or memory controller. I've found that 124 pops up for similar shortcomings, or a combination with insufficient VCORE.

I've just come to the conclusion that you can only expect so much from a board with a relatively anemic phase power design. Hand in hand, if you're going to overclock, it pays to get a board with 8+2 or 8+4. But this week is going to be a learning experience, and my views might change -- a little.

 

[MustISO]

Well the problem was only temporarily solved. With the optical drive disconnected the system works fine. I replaced the drive and now the system won't boot. If I disconnect the drive the system boots fine. Tried a different cable and different SATA ports.

Never seen anything like this.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well the problem was only temporarily solved. With the optical drive disconnected the system works fine. I replaced the drive and now the system won't boot. If I disconnect the drive the system boots fine. Tried a different cable and different SATA ports.

Never seen anything like this.

Actually, that's a bit weird. I remember when DVD/optical drives were just beginning to replace the CD ancestor. Or I can remember further back concerning those older optical drives as well. They seemed to have a short life-span at first -- and when it counted: when the prices were over $100 contrasted to your $19 Samsung DVD-writer.

I'd keep the controller and motherboard resources in mind as you troubleshoot this. Turn off stuff you're not using or don't need to use -- like extra onboard controllers. If you have add-in cards that are non-essential, try removing them.