BIOS 3802 - Problems

[JohnAb]

I just tried the latest BIOS - 3802 (not the beta release) on Z690, 12900K  and behaviour was not normal. 

The PC got stuck after the BIOS update and left me with a blank screen. After a reset, it did get into Windows, but only after a much longer boot time than normal. Then I tried to set up the BIOS but couldn't get there. I got a blank screen again (tried 3 times, no display at all). Then I did a power off and could get into the BIOS, but the font was much smaller than normal and blurry. I set it up as I like it and guess what, another blank screen afterwards. Noticed that the QCODE was getting stuck at A9 which means "start of setup".

After yet another power off I managed to get back into the BIOS and installed BIOS 3701 again. After the BIOS install I had to reset myself, which from memory happened last time with 3701. I reset and powered off again and then everything returned to normal thank goodness. 

I've never had problems like this before, so in my experience, something is not right with 3802. 

[Rooke]

John,
Thank you for taking one for the team.  😊   I'm sure there will be others with similar configs that see this and also appreciate your efforts.

I've got a similar config - Rog Z690-F & 12700KF and also never had any problems with any of the previous BIOSs.  I was hesitant to install that beta BIOS and was waiting to see if there was any fallout for the CPU families below 13 & 14. 

Thanks to you, it turns out my hesitation was well founded.  I'll wait for the official version of that BIOS and even then I'll make sure it's got a good track record before updating my system with it.

Once again, thank you! 😊

[JohnAb]

That's the thing, I was using the official BIOS 3802, it's not beta any more. I had a sense there were going to be problems, have seen quite a few reports of issues. Seems like the new microcode is bad in some way. Just pleased I could get it all back to normal behaviour with 3701. 

With all of the 13th and 14th Gen issues as well, I'm losing faith in Intel. My next big upgrade might be AMD. I don't need these problems and releasing a BIOS which results in unstable behaviour like that is very poor. Are these releases not tested? It's not like 12900K CPUs are uncommon. I understand RAM stability issues to a degree in that they are not guaranteed, but I was on BIOS defaults, nothing fancy.  

[ericmarts]

Is there a fix for this?  I have the exact same issue but on Hero z690

[JohnAb]

I'm also on 690 Hero and no fix that I'm aware of. It was suggested that my more recent ME firmware could be the issue. I've upgraded again since I tried BIOS 3802, but not tested again. I personally think the ME firmware version is probably not related, but it's possible I suppose. 

[ericmarts]

I'm running MEI 2406.5.5.0 and 16.1.30.2307 so I don't think it is that.

[ericmarts]

JohnAb do you get stuck at BIOS settings, hang A9 code?

[JohnAb]

Yes, my experience was that I couldn't get into the BIOS at all (code A9) unless I turned off the PSU each time first. Windows also took much longer to boot, so something was not right. As soon as I went back to 3701, everything started working again as normal. 

[Merrick]

It's like no one has ever heard, "trust - but verify"?

I downloaded - but did NOT install the "beta" version.  Then I downloaded but did NOT install the "non-beta" version.  Are you going to be shocked when I tell tell you FC sees no differences between the files?  In other words, you're just continuing the beta test for them.

Not trying to be mean.  Just hoping you and others will see this and it will be in the back of your minds if/when a similar scenario comes up again.

[Silent_Scone]

It means there was no need to deviate from what was already released. This is often because the build has already been verified internally and is simply waiting final validation (so in fact the exact opposite of what you're implying).