Help! Asrock z68 Extreme4 Instant Flash problem.

[dropseaa]

Hey guys so I'm finally getting around to trying to flash my motherboard to the most recent version. I'm working with the NON gen 3 Asrock z68 Extreme 4. I'm running into what I hope is a small, easily fixable problem when attempting to flash my board from bios version 1.20 to 1.70. After throwing the bios update onto a flash drive and restarting my computer I'm given two options. I can either boot right to Instant Flash by pressing F6 or enter bios and select Instant Flash from there. Sadly both options are not working for me.

When I attempt to use F6, I see the instant flash backdrop load up for a split second before it closes itself and goes right into loading up Windows 7. When I attempt to enter bios and select Instant Flash from there, a small error message window pops up in the middle of my screen with nothing but two small square/rectangular icons inside. They look like this [][] without the space between brackets. My only options are to click OK or close the window which put me right back into bios. This system has never been overclocked and I have no other problems what so ever.

I have attempted to reset default bios settings and manually reset cmos on my motherboard, but the problem persists. I contacted Asrock and have yet to hear back from them so I figured I'd see if you guys could help me out. Thanks SO much in advance!

Here's a picture of the error in bios. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8456192/TH/2012-02-01%2022.27.04.jpg

i7-2600k
Cooler Master v8 Cooler
Asrock z68 Extreme4
16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600
2 x MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III SLI
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB
SILVERSTONE ST1000-P 1000W
Digidesign 003 Rack Plus Audio Interface
M-Audio BX8A Studio Monitors

 

[mhokett]

the two rectangles look like what I saw on my asrock board when i flashed the bios, but the wern't very small. moare like 1/2 to 3/4 of the screen. if that's what's happening to you, then it sounds like it's not seeing the new bios on the usb drive. make sure it's on the first level of the flash drive and not in a folder or zipped. also make sure the usb is plugged in when you boot. I think I tried to put mine in after booting and it didn't see it. hope that helps

 

[dropseaa]

Hey man thanks for the response. The bios file is on the first level of the flash drive and plugged in when I boot up. Originally I had the flash drive plugged into a front usb drive so I switched it to a back usb just to try and still had no luck. I added a picture of the bios error to my original post if you care to take a look. Thanks for taking the time to try to help. Hope I can get this figured out.

 

[inzone]

Unless you are having problems with something , you don't need to flash/upgrade the bios. The purpose of updateing the bios is that there are fixes in the new bios version that will fix problems like certian ram sticks aren't working or there is added support for a new cpu. The new bios that you are flashing to is not going to do anything for your computer since it is running fine and you have no issues.
The bios update has some risk to it and if something were to go wrong while you are flashing the bios you could brick the MB.

 

[dropseaa]

I can't lie and say that I wasn't somewhat aware of this inzone, I guess it would have just made me feel better to have the most recent update. Not to mention now that I know the instant flash isn't working, it's just bothering me haha. Thanks for your response though!

 

[mhokett]

well, that is different from what I saw when I updated my bios so nevermind. your bios is a little more advanced than my m3a770de. other than deleting the file from the flash drive and recopying it or re-downloading it. I really don't have any other suggestions. you might try ASRock's support, but last I checked they were closed for chinese new year.

 

[dropseaa]

After giving up on the update I randomly decided to try a different flash drive and it worked! The ONE thing I didn't try.. of course. Successfully flashed to 1.70 :] Thanks guys.

 

[mhokett]

lol, the one thing i didn't even think about suggesting. i just assumed if it worked fine on one machine it would on the flash of the new one. glad to see you got it working

 

[jokalee]

Unless you are having problems with something , you don't need to flash/upgrade the bios. The purpose of updateing the bios is that there are fixes in the new bios version that will fix problems like certian ram sticks aren't working or there is added support for a new cpu. The new bios that you are flashing to is not going to do anything for your computer since it is running fine and you have no issues.
The bios update has some risk to it and if something were to go wrong while you are flashing the bios you could brick the MB.

I know this is an old thread, but your statement is not always true. Bios updates are not limited to fixes. Some updates provide additional functionality (i.e. Bios version 2.20 provides support for Ivy Bridge CPUs for the OPs board). That's something he wouldn't have without the update. Just my $0.02