Frozen Time Clock in UEFI - The Fix

[Raja]

Is your motherboard suffering from the malady of a frozen time clock in UEFI?

If so try the following:

1) Reflash the latest UEFI, using EZ Flash 2 or USB BIOS flashback.

2) When the system POSTs, enter UEFI. Once in UEFI power down the motherboard. Keep the PSU attached and "on". Only the motherboard is powered off and in "standby". You will see the MB standby lights on (boards with start buttons onboard will be lit). Standby does not mean the board is actually running, standby means the board has power, but you have not pressed the power button to turn it on. Make sure the board is off before you go to the next step in this list. You will know if it is off because if you leave it for 5 seconds it should not POST~BOOT - this means it is in standby.



3) Clear CMOS (Clear RTC) for 10 seconds. This will clear the Management Engine.

4) Power up the system, enter UEFI, set the clock and then save and exit.

5) Update MEI driver to Version 9.5.14.1724 in the OS.









6 )Carry on using the system as normal.

The above steps should fix the issue.

-Raja

[JackNaylorPE]

Word I got was that we should use the new BIOS updater which works from Windows in order to check version and install the new IME stuff. Web site also advises that BIOS Flashback works.

I was also previously told not to use EZ Flash when dealing with this problem but since Flashback requires a bit more work in order to get to the back of the case, it's what I used the previous 20 or so times that the clock thing has happened.

[GregH]

I also ran the 1505 update using the BIOS updater in Windows. Made sure the BIOS clock was running at the time that I did the procedure. So far I have not had the clock freeze. Before doing this, I updated IME driver to the current on the Asus board download page.

[JackNaylorPE]

Mu understanding is that the Windows method does both the IME and BIOS install.

[GregH]

Holding thumbs for you. Judging by the reduction in posts to this forum, seems clear that 1505 is working for most people......

[JackNaylorPE]

As the problem can surface from 3 times in a day to nothing for 6 weeks and then "boom", I don't think the BIOS fix can be relied upon. I have had it resurface as well as several others who posted "so far so good" messages only to come back with "I spoke to soon" messages. I haven't had the problem surface more than just the once after the BIOS upgrade but the computer just sits there doing nothing but acting as a file server while we work from other boxes . I have worked from nothing but my laptop for 6 weeks for fear of another OS reinstall being required.

I have contacted Asus no less than a dozen times on this issue. No one will acknowledge that the problem exists or that there was a BIOS fix announced to address it. I have had a half dozen or so exchanges with customer loyalty to no avail. Telephone tech support neither acknowledges the problem's existence, nor that there has been any BIOS release to address it. E-mail tech support results in an answer that you should call TS.... wondering why ? .... no written record to a phone call I can only guess.

Which begs the question .... If the 1505 BIOS fixes anything, why not an official announcement ? Why not make the announcement that the fix for the non-ROG boards was available ? Why not annotate the download page for those dozen non RoG boards saying that "RTC Stop Error Cured" ? Why not make that same announcement for the RoG Boards and annotate the RoG pages accordingly ? Why leave the customers wondering whether or not this solves the problem ?

I asked the following in 5 consecutive e-mails:

1. Is there a BIOS fix for the problem identified as an "RTC stop error" issue on the RoG Boards ? *yes or no*
2. If so, will there be a public announcement of this ? *yes or no*
3. When can we get it ?* Date

Each time it was asked the questions were ignored with an offer to RMA the board, to which I responded.

"What I want to do before considering an RMA is a get a direct answer to the direct questions that I have asked Asus a dozen times, and you 5 times so far. Why should I do an RMA until I can determine whether or not the simple and convenient simple BIOS upgrade will fix the issue ? The last time I sent a board back to Asus it took 3 months for Asus to return it....." In a similar instance where it became known that a particular line was afflicted I went thru 20 support calls over 18 months and 5 separate RMAs before I rec'd a next generation product .... I don't want to dance to that tune again is a BIOS fix is / was the answer.

The response:

"Unfortunately there is not any information I can provide without having the motherboard examined first. If you would like to move forward with the RMA, please let me know. "

Huh ?, Asus announces a BIOS fix but then can't answer whether or not it will be released w/o examining a board ? Seems a simple yes / no question. The only answer I can surmise is that, like many of us, they **thought** they had the problem licked but..... again, like many of us, found out that "the Fix" was again, not a fix but a temporary respite.

I have no issue with this problems existence .... every company, especially one as innovative as Asus has been, is bound to have a problem every once and a while. I don't mind dealing with that, I don't even mind so much waiting a year for a fix. What I do mind is a cover up that would have made Tricky Dick Nixon proud and the refusal to inform their customers as to whether the BIOS Fix to "The Fix that was not a Fix" is real or not. If it is, why not just say so ? This thread is a year old .... there are at least a dozen similar threads here on RoG Forums for specific models as well as all the usual hardware sites. Yet, every person I have spoken to or exchanged emails with reports that they were unaware of the problem until they heard from me.

[GregH]

Noticed the Windows clock was about 2.5 hours behind today. Was fine yesterday. I am running 1505, updated correctly about a month or so back.

Went into the BIOS and oddly, the clock was not stopped. So just changed the time. Will see what happens........

[Iscariah]

Update: like many, I updated my MAXIMUS VI HERO BIOS to 1505 one month ago or so, didn't even think about the frozen time clock as it was not freezing since January! And suddenly... it froze again 2 days ago, then again yesterday evening.

So I did what I did before: flashed a new Intel ME firmware, v9.1.2.1010 1.5M. There's also a newer version available, v9.5.40.1892, but I'll keep it for another FW update if the issue comes back again. Will let you know.

For those who want to try, here's the link for the ME firmwares for Z87: http://www.station-drivers.com/index.php/downloads/Drivers/Intel/Management-Engine-Interface-%28MEI%...

[Tokens210]

GregH wrote:
Noticed the Windows clock was about 2.5 hours behind today. Was fine yesterday. I am running 1505, updated correctly about a month or so back.

Went into the BIOS and oddly, the clock was not stopped. So just changed the time. Will see what happens........

I had a similar issue, well I had the frozen clock which I somehow fixed and had the issue your describing

What I personally found was something in the OS or something in some of the Asus software actually blocks windows time sync

I was never able to figure out what exactly was blocking it and I can't remember the name but it could be easily googled, its called something like win32timesync or something, the way I fixed it was to disable it, then renable it set to run always or to run beginning at startup, then reboot to ensure it saved it, since then I've literally had months and months of my clock not being frozen and my time is always correct

[FZG_Immel]

I have the same issue on my Maximus VII ranger.

I would like additional info on the procedure on the first page, please.

First : how do I power down the motherboard from within the UEFI ?

Second: Can you provide me a link to which bios I need to install on my mobo ?

Third : I don't seem to be able to set or modify the time in my current UEFI. Is that normal ? Thanks a lot

[rogforum]

FZG_Immel wrote:
I would like additional info on the procedure on the first page, please.
First : how do I power down the motherboard from within the UEFI ?

I'd like to know as well.