Question Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Rev. 1.3) F12 to U1n UEFI BIOS UPDATE

[will_crump]

I recently updated the BIOS on my Gigabyte motherboard Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Rev. 1.3) from F12 to U1n, which is UEFI. The flash seemed to go as it should, however, whenever I try to access UEFI, I get the UEFI Dual BIOS screen, but no menu. It's just a frozen screen with no keyboard or mouse response. I have to plug the keyboard into the front USB ports to get that much. I tried taking my legacy video card out to see if that was a problem, but I get the same thing. I can't even use the boot menu because that comes up frozen and nonresponsive as well. However, the computer still boots and works. Please help!

 

[Calvin7]

Remove Smart6, Dynamic Energy Saver, Smart TPM, and Touch BIOS utilities before updating the BIOS.

It appears you need to use the EFI Flash Tool to update that BIOS version.

 

[will_crump]

I never had the Smart6, Dynamic Energy Saver, Smart TPM, or Touch Bios installed as far as I could tell. How do I find these things? I can't get to the boot menu to boot from my flash drive.

 

[will_crump]

I figured out how to boot to my flash drive from within windows, but I could not reflash the BIOS with the U1n

 

[Calvin7]

You need to use the EFI Flash Tool to update that BIOS version according to the Gigabyte BIOS download page. The EFI flash tool is used in the DOS environment and not by booting into Windows. Here is a Guide on how it works:

You need to create a bootable drive using a USB stick, then update the BIOS using the EFI Flash Tool through DOS.

Check here for help in creating Bootable USB Pendrive: http://rufus.akeo.ie/

Download the BIOS File for your motherboard and save it to your desktop so that you can find it easily. Double click on the 7Zip file (it is self extracting) and it will put the 3 download files onto your desktop for you. You only need the EFI Flash Exe file and the BIOS File, the Autoexec file can be discarded. Make a note of the BIOS File name as you will need this information later in the process and if you don't get this part correctly you will not be able to update the BIOS.

Create the Bootable Pendrive using the Rufus program.

Copy the Efiflash exe and BIOS files onto the USB Pendrive

Reboot the PC and press F12 to go to the BOOT Menu.

Select the USB Pendrive and press enter, this will take you into the DOS environment.

At the C:/ prompt type: Efiflash and press enter. This will start the Efiflash tool.

At the C:/ prompt type: efiflash xxxxxx.xx (replace the x's with the name of your BIOS File that you noted earlier) IMPORTANT: Make sure that you insert a space between the words efiflash and the BIOS name. Also make sure you enter the full point (.) before the BIOS version number. Press enter.

The BIOS Flashing process is now done and there is no further input required. The first stage you will see that the BIOS is being erased. The 2nd stage the BIOS is written and the 3rd stage the BIOS is verified. DO NOT power down or reset the PC whilst this process is happening. Once the BIOS update has been verified the PC will automatically go into a shutdown/restart/shutdown/restart sequence. DO NOT PANIC, this is normal.

Once this sequence has finished you can enter BIOS and make any changes you require, as you normally would.

 

[will_crump]

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I have found the cause of my woes with UEFI. I had installed a 3rd party expansion card in one of the PCI-e x1 slots (the really short slot) that gave me 4 more USB 3.0 ports. For some reason that card was causing a conflict whenever the UEFI BIOS tried to load. I was doing basic troubleshooting and removing one card at a time to see if one of them could be the culprit. It turns out the USB 3.0 expansion card was the problem all along. I have to admit that this was not even on my radar, but I had tried everything else I knew and could find on-line and was determined to get to the bottom of the problem. Basic computer troubleshooting 101. Remove expansion cards one at a time and see if your problem disappears. When problem disappears, you've found the problem. My solution is now to purchase a USB 3.0 hub.

One bug that exists is when the keyboard is plugged into the rear usb port, it locks up shortly after UEFI is accessed. I can plug the keyboard into the front port and everything is fine with the keyboard in UEFI. This is a beta BIOS and others have reported bugs that affect the rear USB ports. FYI, yes, I enabled full initialization for the USB ports so all turn on at boot-up.

 

[will_crump]

I also discovered that having my Logitech Extreme 3-D joystick plugged in to a USB port blocks uefi from loading. I may but the card back in without the joystick and see if the lock-ups return. I am curious to know if the card or a device plugged into it causes the problem of the BIOS freezing when trying to load.