GA-Z77x-D3H beep code and instability issues.

[mktoater]

Hello,

I've built the following within the past month:

Intel i7-3770K
GA-Z77x-D3H rev.1.0
2x Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8gb
EVGA GTX 550Ti
3 sata drives, all WD
Antec HCG-750 watt Power supply
Logictech Wireless Keyboard K270 unified with M510 mouse.

Windows 7 SP1

Drivers should be up to date. Bios is up-to-date; Nvidia just put out a new driver and I installed that. Device Manager looks good, nothing undiscovered or anything. So there's been a couple things going on that has been causing concern.

1) At boot there is a beep code that I can't find. It's 1 long beep for maybe 2-3 seconds, then it beeps a short one for post. Windows loads normally and everything. I was wondering if I should be concerned.

2) Later, when I'm gaming (Skyrim, Borderlands, Battlefield) something causes the game to freeze. It used to require a hard reset, (and occasionally it still does) but I noticed that the keyboard would stop being responsive. Flipping the keyboard's switch OFF and ON again would sometimes fix it. Other times it would just reboot itself or it would genuinely freeze and would hard-reset it.

Any input on either would be great.

 

[BerylLee]

sound like memory compatibility problem.
you can enter bios to check all memory settings based on memory specs.
or do you have other memories for test?

 

[mktoater]

I did run memtest. The first batch of ram I received was doa, so i plugged this in and ran memtest. Everything checked out okay.

If there was a compatibility problem would Windows still boot?

 

[BerylLee]

can only say that some memory incompatibility will not be confirmed by memtest with no error.
problem caused by some devices may enter windows with no problem till running some heavy program .. don't make sure if this is memory problem, but it probably cause beep sound like that ..
if you have other for test, it will be helpful to clarify the cause.

 

[mktoater]

I don't have another set of ram to test it with.
The ram i do have is:
CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10

I looked at gigabyte's list of compatibility (http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-z77x-d3h.pdf), most of their corsair CAS latencies are 8 to 9. This one is a 10. That's the only thing I can think of that would be different. Could latency be causing the issue? If so how? Just curious.

Is there another way to see what ram is compatible?

Thanks for the input.

 

[BerylLee]

Usually bios will choose optimized settings, can you check cas latency in your bios?
If they are not as the same as memory spec, you can try to manually set up them.

 

[mktoater]

Usually bios will choose optimized settings, can you check cas latency in your bios?
If they are not as the same as memory spec, you can try to manually set up them.

How does one do that in the bios?

 

[BerylLee]

check your bios under M.I.T.

 

[hateborne]

Hello,

I've built the following within the past month:

Intel i7-3770K
GA-Z77x-D3H rev.1.0
2x Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8gb
EVGA GTX 550Ti
3 sata drives, all WD
Antec HCG-750 watt Power supply
Logictech Wireless Keyboard K270 unified with M510 mouse.

Windows 7 SP1

Ok, that's not a bad setup. 3rd Gen i7 is a quick one. 550 TI isn't bad (I have a 560 TI and it's lovely). The wireless keyboard I can't agree with. Two things you should check on that is the batteries themselves and the system's power saving. Often the system will disable USB devices to "save power". Even on maximum performance under your energy settings, this is STILL the case. Find and disable that option.

Drivers should be up to date. Bios is up-to-date; Nvidia just put out a new driver and I installed that. Device Manager looks good, nothing undiscovered or anything. So there's been a couple things going on that has been causing concern.

With nVidia, if your drivers are recently updated and system going to crap, go back a version or two. Go to nVidia's site, find the "Previous Driver Section" or "Other Drivers". I had to do that last month on the GT 250 in my guest computer.

1) At boot there is a beep code that I can't find. It's 1 long beep for maybe 2-3 seconds, then it beeps a short one for post. Windows loads normally and everything. I was wondering if I should be concerned.

This is called the "Quiet Boot" option. It's likely turned off. Go to your CMOS (F1 or DEL at power-on) and turn Quiet Boot ON.

2) Later, when I'm gaming (Skyrim, Borderlands, Battlefield) something causes the game to freeze. It used to require a hard reset, (and occasionally it still does) but I noticed that the keyboard would stop being responsive. Flipping the keyboard's switch OFF and ON again would sometimes fix it. Other times it would just reboot itself or it would genuinely freeze and would hard-reset it.

For the keyboard, see the bit above.
Next, define freezing. Is it locked up with a sound loop/buzzing? Does it crash to desktop? Does the video lock up while the sound plays normally? Does the system completely lock up to anything short of hard power off? Although memory *could* be the issue, immediately rushing to it is foolish. Depending on how your system is bugging out, you could have a memory issue, bad power supply, weak power supply (not providing adequate voltage), craptastic nVidia drivers, windows service freaking out, etc etc etc.

Any input on either would be great.

Try me on Gmail if you need more info. Name is Hateborne.


-Hate

 

[mktoater]

Hate,

Thanks a lot for your input!

The wireless keyboard I can't agree with. Two things you should check on that is the batteries themselves and the system's power saving. Often the system will disable USB devices to "save power". Even on maximum performance under your energy settings, this is STILL the case. Find and disable that option.

Yup, I've done this on all the power settings. I also went into Device Manager and found the USB Root Hub and UNchecked the bit under Power Management where it says "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."

This is called the "Quiet Boot" option. It's likely turned off. Go to your CMOS (F1 or DEL at power-on) and turn Quiet Boot ON.

I don't mind the one quick post beep. The other one is quite different. Will this turn off any error beeps -- in example, if I turned this on and pulled my memory, will it beep a memory error code?

Next, define freezing. Is it locked up with a sound loop/buzzing? Does it crash to desktop? Does the video lock up while the sound plays normally? Does the system completely lock up to anything short of hard power off?

Freezing as in: Video is frozen, sound is in a loop if not completely silent. Ctrl+Alt+Del; Alt+Tab; Win+Tab; Ctrl+Shift+Esc; Alt+F4 all are unresponsive. I press the "Reset" button on my box to reboot it.

I do notice sometimes when I'm outside of the games I'll pull up Task Manager and I see that one process of "svchost.exe" is running about +290,000k which put up a red flag for me. I'm at work right now, but I think the services connected to this particular svchost is desktop manager and some others.

I've also ran into a runtime error a few times, which I thought was peculiar. R6025 sounds right.

Although memory *could* be the issue, immediately rushing to it is foolish. Depending on how your system is bugging out, you could have a memory issue, bad power supply, weak power supply (not providing adequate voltage), craptastic nVidia drivers, windows service freaking out, etc etc etc.

This is what I was having battles with. Is it my drivers, the games, Windows, my pc hardware, etc...

Thanks for your help!

 

[hateborne]

Hate,

Thanks a lot for your input!

The wireless keyboard I can't agree with. Two things you should check on that is the batteries themselves and the system's power saving. Often the system will disable USB devices to "save power". Even on maximum performance under your energy settings, this is STILL the case. Find and disable that option.

Yup, I've done this on all the power settings. I also went into Device Manager and found the USB Root Hub and UNchecked the bit under Power Management where it says "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."

This is called the "Quiet Boot" option. It's likely turned off. Go to your CMOS (F1 or DEL at power-on) and turn Quiet Boot ON.

I don't mind the one quick post beep. The other one is quite different. Will this turn off any error beeps -- in example, if I turned this on and pulled my memory, will it beep a memory error code?

Next, define freezing. Is it locked up with a sound loop/buzzing? Does it crash to desktop? Does the video lock up while the sound plays normally? Does the system completely lock up to anything short of hard power off?

Freezing as in: Video is frozen, sound is in a loop if not completely silent. Ctrl+Alt+Del; Alt+Tab; Win+Tab; Ctrl+Shift+Esc; Alt+F4 all are unresponsive. I press the "Reset" button on my box to reboot it.

I do notice sometimes when I'm outside of the games I'll pull up Task Manager and I see that one process of "svchost.exe" is running about +290,000k which put up a red flag for me. I'm at work right now, but I think the services connected to this particular svchost is desktop manager and some others.

I've also ran into a runtime error a few times, which I thought was peculiar. R6025 sounds right.

Although memory *could* be the issue, immediately rushing to it is foolish. Depending on how your system is bugging out, you could have a memory issue, bad power supply, weak power supply (not providing adequate voltage), craptastic nVidia drivers, windows service freaking out, etc etc etc.

This is what I was having battles with. Is it my drivers, the games, Windows, my pc hardware, etc...

Thanks for your help!

svchost.exe is a system component. Knocking that out could knock your system out (at least until restart), which is undeniably bad. Check your Windows Event Logs. These are found by searching "Event Viewer" from the start menu. Once you have it up, select System, then filter by Critical/Error/Emergency (read: show only these). Generally you will have errors with each system crash. If you have no log of anything happening, then it is likely hardware failure. In my experience, entry-less failures are generally hardware failure on the highest level. These are things you need to replace ASAP. Locking down the component is a bit trickier, but it can be done. As others have suggested, look into Memtest to make your RAM work for it. Just start up Memtest, set it to full, then walk off. Go disappear for an hour or two and come back. If the memory test comes back clean, then you should look at the CPU or GPU. If the memory test fails, replace your RAM.

-Hate

 

[mktoater]

Check your Windows Event Logs. If you have no log of anything happening, then it is likely hardware failure.

This is what is happening. Yesterday I was using Firefox and it froze, today I was using MS Paint for god's sake! The only two things I see in the Event Viewer's filter is:

Critical: "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."
Error: "The previous system shutdown at 1:18:46 AM on ‎11/‎7/‎2012 was unexpected."

There's a lot of errors and warnings but there isn't really anything leading up to the critical unexpected shutdowns.

In my experience, entry-less failures are generally hardware failure on the highest level. These are things you need to replace ASAP. Locking down the component is a bit trickier, but it can be done. As others have suggested, look into Memtest to make your RAM work for it. Just start up Memtest, set it to full, then walk off. Go disappear for an hour or two and come back. If the memory test comes back clean, then you should look at the CPU or GPU. If the memory test fails, replace your RAM.

Do you have a recommended Memtest program for x64?
Should I roll back my nVidia driver before i do that?
Another thing that may be causing instability -- I have my on-board Intel video enabled so the HDMI output can go to my TV; the Ge-Force video card goes to my monitor. So could this be causing any ruckus?

Thanks again

 

[alexoiu]

I suggest testing the board outside the case, as it might be a short related issue.

 

[hateborne]

Do you have a recommended Memtest program for x64?
Should I roll back my nVidia driver before i do that?
Another thing that may be causing instability -- I have my on-board Intel video enabled so the HDMI output can go to my TV; the Ge-Force video card goes to my monitor. So could this be causing any ruckus?

Thanks again

I do not recall. It seems to as the site lists it as supporting Sandy Bridge processors. ( http://www.memtest.org/ )

I would highly oppose using split devices. Use onboard or use dedicated device. I am impressed that the mixing and matching is even working to be completely honest. I would suggest that you move it off to one device though. When you are using onboard to TV, all graphical processing is handled by motherboard and/or CPU. When you are using graphic card, it is handled through..surprise...graphics card.

-Hate

 

[mktoater]

I thought turning off the onboard video was working, then it froze again playing freshly installed Medal of Honor.

So I did a memtest with memtest86, walked away and got distracted ... for about 6 hours.
So it did 3 passes and came up with 1 error, but only on the 1st pass.

TST: 7
Pass: 1
Failing Address: 0019a5b2148 - 6565.6 MB
Good: 100ed476
Bad: 300ed476
Err-Bits: 20 000 000
Count: 1


Next step?
I have 2 sticks, 8gb. I don't really feel like taking one out and testing them one at a time. Since it's in the 6565.6mb range, wouldn't it be in the first stick anyway?

Also, don't know if this is related: When I put my computer to sleep, sometimes it'll wake up in about 2 minutes or so on its own. It might be my mouse picking up some movement. I tried disabling the 'wake on mouse' feature, but since it's through a Logitech unifying device, I don't think it knows who is who. So could this be a shorting problem?

 

[mktoater]

Forgot to mention that if I turn off the wireless mouse it doesn't wake up randomly (that I remember).

 

[mktoater]

Did memtest86 on both sticks individually. One stick has errors, the other is fine. Sending it back to Corsair come Monday.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[totaljoy]

Did memtest86 on both sticks individually. One stick has errors, the other is fine. Sending it back to Corsair come Monday.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[totaljoy]

Did it solve the problem?

I've the same problem and I've installed Bios version F17 Beta.

It seems that the MB has to be slightly overclocked to 100.12Mhz in Bios F17.

This solved the constant freezing.

Like to hear from you 🙂

 

[mktoater]

Yes, the new sticks from Corsair solved everything. I don't have any problems or issues with anything. Works like a dream. I'm really happy.

 

[mktoater]

Best answer selected by mktoater.