Can't enter ROG Zenith Exteme Alpha bios menu

[tjmitchem]

Back when everything was working fine, entering the bios went like this:

• Power on
  
• Splash screen (hit del)
  
• Blank screen with a cursor in the upper left (lasted 3-6 seconds)
  
• Bios menu
  

What I have now:

• Power on
  
• Splash screen (hit del)
  
• Blank screen with a cursor in the upper left (stays like this forever)
  

Given that I need to upgrade my bios anyway, I was thinking about doing a FlashBack. My question is, will this fix the problem?

Assuming this doesn't fix the issue, I'll probably have to clear my CMOS, which leads to another potential issue. I have a large raid array, and I'm assuming clearing the CMOS will clear the array. My question is, can I rebuild the array without re-initializing the drives? I'd really rather not lose the data on the array

Any ideas?

[BigJohnny]

The array should stay intact. You will just have to enable the BIOS settings for the drives to be raid capable. I've been through several builds with raid arrays and never lost any of them. Just updated/flashed back BIOS then put the settings as they should be and they were not affected. Even the Intel VROC arrays. Question is do you remember the settings? One thing Ive always done after i get a machine running the way it should is I go though the PITA of writing down every setting that is other than standard so I have a record. Been using the same composition book for about 10 years now. Every build Ive done is in the book as some of the settings are well hidden in places you would never think to look.

[tjmitchem]

BigJohnny wrote:
The array should stay intact. You will just have to enable the BIOS settings for the drives to be raid capable. I've been through several builds with raid arrays and never lost any of them. Just updated/flashed back BIOS then put the settings as they should be and they were not affected. Even the Intel VROC arrays. Question is do you remember the settings? One thing Ive always done after i get a machine running the way it should is I go though the PITA of writing down every setting that is other than standard so I have a record. Been using the same composition book for about 10 years now. Every build Ive done is in the book as some of the settings are well hidden in places you would never think to look.

Thanks for the info!

Luckily, I'm pretty sure I remember the settings. Plus, I think I wrote them down somewhere, but the exact location is eluding me at the moment. Time to start sweating 🙂

One thing I would love to see in a BIOS is the ability to export the current configuration to a USB disk. This seems like it would be simple to implement, but I'm assuming there's a technical reason it hasn't been done. It would certainly be convenient.

[tjmitchem]

I'm not sure what I did, but now I'm not given the opportunity to enter the bios after a warm reboot. l have to power the machine off, then turn it back on, in order to get the splash bios screen.

I would dearly love to know what's going on. I've done flashback on the bios and cleared the CMOS, so there shouldn't be any stray BIOS settings laying around.

[BigJohnny]

tjmitchem wrote:
I'm not sure what I did, but now I'm not given the opportunity to enter the bios after a warm reboot. l have to power the machine off, then turn it back on, in order to get the splash bios screen.

I would dearly love to know what's going on. I've done flashback on the bios and cleared the CMOS, so there shouldn't be any stray BIOS settings laying around.

Sounds like its time for a fresh flash of the BIOS.

[tjmitchem]

BigJohnny wrote:
Sounds like its time for a fresh flash of the BIOS.

In this case, should I assume that "fresh flash" is different than using the "FlashBack" function?

[BigJohnny]

tjmitchem wrote:
Thanks for the info!

Luckily, I'm pretty sure I remember the settings. Plus, I think I wrote them down somewhere, but the exact location is eluding me at the moment. Time to start sweating 🙂

One thing I would love to see in a BIOS is the ability to export the current configuration to a USB disk. This seems like it would be simple to implement, but I'm assuming there's a technical reason it hasn't been done. It would certainly be convenient.

Most boards do allow you to export the BIOS settings however they are only good for a particular BIOS revision. You can export the settings in a txt format to a USB drive. It just has to be formatted fat 32 and have nothing else on it and plugged into the USB on the backplane labeled BIOS. Its on the same page where you can save BIOS profiles.

[BigJohnny]

Flash back is the same. Just a reload of the BIOS no matter how you do it.

This board has two BIOS ROMS? Try the other.