Now this is odd! See if you can help.

[Stu_Dog]

...

[Nate152]

Hi Stu Dog

Welcome to the ROG forum !

Instead of copying the bios from your machine, try downloading the latest bios from the Asus support center and using the EZ flash utility in the bios or ROG bios flashback.

Format an empty usb flash drive to FAT32 and rename the bios file to R4E.CAP

Select your operating system and click on bios.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/RAMPAGE_IV_EXTREME/HelpDesk_Download/

Does this solve the problem?

[Stu_Dog]

Thanks Nate152, that sounds like a good plan.

Unfortunately the link for bios version 4901 isn't currently working on the Asus website.
Know of any other places to get bios version 4901?

EDIT*** I just found a copy on my secondary drive.

I will give it a try and see what happens.

Thanks!

[Nate152]

You're welcome

Let us know if you're able to use both pc's.

The link to the Asus support center seems to be working now.

[Stu_Dog]

Flashed the bios with no problems, and set all bios settings back to where they were. Which is easy to do since my PC is exactly the same.

Now windows won't load. After putting in password, it begins to load, then blue screen. So there must have been more than MAC that moved with the bios when I copied from my PC.

I am able to load in safe mode, so I guess I will try to reinstall drivers and see if that helps.

If not, I will have to do a fresh install. 😞

In safe mode, I am not able to see the MAC for the Ethernet network adapter. So not sure yet if it has corrected.

[Nate152]

In the bios try resetting to defaults (F5) or power down your pc and clear the cmos with the button on the back and see if it lets you boot.

Different bios versions can have an effect on your settings, what may work for one bios version may not work for another bios version.

[Stu_Dog]

Nate152 wrote:
In the bios try resetting to defaults (F5) or power down your pc and clear the cmos with the button on the back and see if it lets you boot.

Different bios versions can have an effect on your settings, what may work for one bios version may not work for another bios version.

We both have windows 7 ultimate 64 bit, and use ssd with windows UEFI installation. Not sure if the UEFI is what is causing the issue, but I get blue screen at random times. I have now learned it even happens when windows is loaded in safe mode.

I tried and the PC randomly gives blue screen. I was able to see the MAC address using CMD "getmac /v" and it has not corrected itself. I have tried flash bios, clear CMOS, remove battery, drain residual power, etc... and for some reason my wife's PC will always default to the same MAC address as mine.

I don't have different versions of bios, all I use is version 4901. Since my wife and I have identical PC's, I have always used the same bios settings. My PC is rock solid. My wife's was, but had wrong MAC address by default. Fixing the MAC address was the problem I was trying to fix. Now it appears to be still there and I have blue screen issues. I would assume I could fix the blue screen by fresh install in worst case scenario, but I want to fix the MAC address issue first.

Is there a way to completely erase both bios chips and then flash back to version 4901 again?

[Nate152]

I'm not sure if you can completely erase the bios chip, possibly with a programmer.

You could try reverting back to an older bios then flash to 4901.

I'm not sure what to say about the mac address maybe your internet provider could help you with that.

[Stu_Dog]

I have been doing a lot of internet searches and reading, and I think I found the root of my issue. Since I use Windows 7 64bit and installed it with UEFI (secure boot) option, the bios chip has keys recorded on it from the hardware's firmware. So my bios chip has my Ethernet network adapters MAC address saved in these keys, as well as other hardware keys. When I copied my bios chip to my wife's bios chip, her bios chips now have my keys as well. Since our PC's are built with identical parts, even though the individual parts will have different hardware keys (different MAC address for network adapter for example), it will still function. I then installed Windows 7 64bit and installed it with UEFI secure boot on my wife's PC. If I would have cleared the keys on my wife's bios chips prior to installing windows, she would then have all the correct information.

I now know the problem, but not sure how to fix the problem. I am trying to learn about UEFI, secure boot, and hardware firmware keys, etc... I cannot find much on the internet, or much that I can understand. I currently do not know how to fix the problem, but I do know what the fix is. The keys need to be cleared in "Key Management" under "Secure Boot" in the bios. This will fix the problem in the bios, but I also need to clear or update the keys in the secure boot files for the windows 7 operating system. Otherwise it thinks it has been corrupted and then gives me the errors. I would imagine this is basically the same problems as if I took a hard drive with windows 7 installed from a working PC and tried to use it in another identical hardware PC. So I think my only option is to clear keys in the bios and reinstall the operating system, which is a pain in the azz, but doable.

Anyone understand how to clear and update the keys in the secure boot of Windows operating system?