This ATX motherboard with TR4 socket forms the basis for our “TR server”, a high-performance Proxmox server for virtualizing Windows 10 and 11 VMs. For a long time, it ran the UEFI version “F13a” without any problems.

After recently seeing that there is a newer version available – “F13d” – I wanted to update the board to this version. It is important to note that this motherboard has a “DualBIOS,” i.e., a second UEFI that boots instead of the first one in case of an error.

So far, so simple: save the settings in the UEFI, format a USB stick with 4 GB or less as FAT32, copy the new firmware. Plug the USB stick directly into the board, switch to “Qflash” at startup with “END” and start the update after navigating to the file. The model name is correct, and there are no other abnormalities.

And then things went downhill.

At first, the update stalled a little, but then ran through to 100% and the computer restarted on its own. There was no POST from this first, freshly updated UEFI: without any beeps or similar, it finally booted from the backup UEFI after several attempts. I only noticed this because I had disabled the LED lighting and it was now glowing red.

Surprisingly, the UEFI version that had now started was “F12” from 2019, which was older than the previously installed ‘F13a’ and also older than the latest version I had actually updated to, “F13d”. Then I thought, “I’ll update it again here too, maybe something went wrong.” No sooner said than done – I updated it again from the UEFI using Qflash. Again, it ran a little sluggishly but got through. Then the automatic restart again.

“No Boot”

Nothing worked anymore. No beeping, and according to the digital error code (luckily this board has a display for it!), the UEFI kept booting in a loop between “3E” and “C2”. At that moment, I thought the board was dead without a lot of fiddling around with manual flashing.

Many restarts later, there was still no change. So I did some research—others must have encountered this problem too. In fact, I was lucky in my misfortune: this motherboard has “Qflash Plus,” which I wasn’t aware of. This allows you to restore the UEFI if it is defective or corrupt. Great feature!

UEFI Recovery

The manual (archive.org) for this motherboard explains how to proceed on page 75. The computer should of course be switched off. For simplicity’s sake, here are the steps:

Step 1: Firmware

Download the desired firmware version from the Gigabyte website. (here, archive.org).

Step 2: Unpacking

Unpack the ZIP archive.

Step 3: Rename

Rename the included firmware file (16 MB in size) and its file extension to: "GIGABYTE.bin".

Step 4: Copy file

Use a USB 2.0 stick with a maximum capacity of 32 GB that is formatted as FAT32 and place the renamed file on it. A stick with a status LED is very helpful for seeing the activity.

Step 5: Plug the stick in

The Mainboard has a white USB-Port (archive.org), plug the stick in there.

Step 6: Flashing

Turn on the computer. If the stick has a status LED, it will light up briefly during initialization. After a short time, an orange LED will flash next to the white USB port and the stick should also show activity for a few seconds.

Step 7: Flashing finished

After a while, nothing will light up anymore. Either the computer will restart automatically, or you will have to manually switch the power supply off and on again. Remove the USB stick in the latter case.

Step 8: First POST

Start with the power button; it takes a really long time for a response to appear. If the board beeps, just ignore it. Eventually, the familiar silver “AORUS” boot screen will appear.

Step 9: Recovery

Press “DEL” to enter UEFI. This will start a recovery sequence, which will take some time. Afterwards, you will be back in UEFI and the board will be saved!

Puh.

First of all, thanks to Gigabyte for making this “headless flashback feature” available. At the same time, the UEFI is really unstable, freezes often, and the backup UEFI was more annoying than useful. But the server is up and running again.

The latest UEFI for this motherboard, “F13d”, still does not run via Qflash Plus. The 2021 version, “F13a”, no longer runs this way either! I had to downgrade to the 2019 version “F12”, which worked right away. Totally illogical, since “F13a” was previously installed and ran without any problems. Resetting the CMOS didn’t change anything. Since little has changed technically, I can live with the older version, but I still find it strange.

Even updating from the working version “F12” to one of the two F13 versions doesn’t work. Everything looks fine at first, but in the end, there is no POST again. I have read in several places that a lot of RAM could be part of the problem, but I didn’t want to take the server apart because everything is very tightly built. I’m running 128 GB DDR4-2666 @ 3000 MHz in the form of 8 sticks with 16 GB capacity each. With less, the boot might work again with the newer versions.

I hope I was able to help someone with this. I really thought I would have to find another X399 motherboard as a replacement.

Der Beitrag Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7 – Failed BIOS update, Board Rescue erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

I will try to keep this section as brief as possible, as it is a very individual matter.

BIOS-Update:

If the BIOS has not yet been updated to the latest version (F.60 Rev. A), I would do so now at the very latest.

The updater runs on Windows, so an operating system must be installed—preferably Windows 7, which was originally installed on these notebooks when they were shipped.

Link to the file:
BIOS F.60 Rev. A for the 8540p (archive.org)

What operating system(s) would be suitable for the EliteBook 8540p?

Driver support starts with Windows XP, which was also the prerequisite for upgrading this notebook model in the first place. I ultimately decided on the following, very maximum operating system configuration:

• Windows XP Pro, Service Pack 3 (32-Bit)
• Windows 7 Ultimate, Service Pack 1 (64-Bit)
• Windows 10 Pro, 22H2 (64-Bit)
• Windows 11 Pro, 24H2 (64-Bit)

The limit is four systems regardless, as MBR is not only limited to a maximum partition size of 2 TiB, but can also only handle a maximum of four primary partitions, and Windows can only be booted from these. Because Windows XP should be installed on it, MBR forces me into these limits (as previously written in the “SSD” article in this series, XP only supports MBR).

I won’t document the exact installation of these systems here, as there is more than enough information on the internet if you have any questions.

The order is particularly important:

First, install Windows XP. It is best to use another computer to create an NTFS partition of the desired size on the planned drive beforehand. Of course, set this up as a primary partition at the very front of the data carrier.

Then insert the drive into the notebook, start the Windows XP installation either from an optical data carrier or USB stick (boot menu), and install it on the existing partition. Just that for now, no drivers, etc.

Then start the Windows 7 setup in the same way, create a new partition behind the existing XP partition during the process, and install. Again, no drivers for now.

Now do the same with Windows 10.

Finally, do it again with Windows 11.

So, from old to new.

This process has the advantage that with each additional operating system that is newer than the previous version, the older system is automatically recognized and entered into the boot loader. Ultimately, there are four selectable entries when booting the notebook (or possibly three, because Windows XP uses a different boot loader than all subsequent versions).

These can of course be customized. For legacy systems like this, I use EasyBCD, which has always worked very well, always on the latest operating system (i.e., install it on Windows 11!).

Why is that…?

To ensure that the latest possible boot loader is used in the MBR – especially since, starting with Windows 8, the so-called “Metro” look can also be enabled optionally with EasyBCD. It looks nicer and more modern, so I usually use this one.

If an entry is missing, it can also be quickly added later with EasyBCD.

All that remains for me to say is that the appropriate drivers from HP should be used for Windows XP, the same applies to Windows 7 (Note: was a 32-bit or 64-bit system installed?), and everything runs smoothly with the drivers for 7 for Windows 10 and 11.

For original graphics cards, search for the latest driver from Nvidia and use the one that matches your operating system. For unofficial modifications like I did, use the modified, compatible, and latest driver.

Click here for the original drivers from HP

Next, I will summarize this project and what I would do differently next time.

Der Beitrag <h5>RetroBook 8540p #11: </h5><h3><b>Software Setup</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

The following procedure has proven to work well, regardless of the newly built system:
First, check whether there are any BIOS/UEFI updates available from the motherboard manufacturer, in my case ASUS—there was a newer version (v1501). I installed this using a FAT32-formatted USB stick. Even if there had been no newer version, continue with:

Set everything in UEFI to factory settings and then to minimum settings, i.e.:

• RAM at minimum clock speed, i.e., simply leave the existing setting (presumably 2133 MHz for DDR4) unchanged.
• Processor settings all “original”
• Prepare Windows—disable CSM/Legacy, enable TPM, boot order, enable Secure Boot if desired, etc.

First, install a fresh copy of Windows, if you don’t already have one, to rule out software problems later on and avoid unnecessary background processes and legacy issues that could interfere with overclocking. I installed Windows 11 Pro 24H2, bypassing the “incompatibilities.”

Required software

Once Windows is installed, you can let the system install the drivers itself via a working Internet connection—that’s the easiest way. Then install the updates offered and restart the whole thing. Next, check in Device Manager to see if drivers have been installed for everything relevant—usually they have.

However, I always take the “old-school” approach:
Before I even install Windows, I download the latest drivers for the components I am using from the manufacturer’s websites (in this case, ASUS, Nvidia, and Intel). Then I install Windows offline and, once that is complete, I install the drivers I downloaded earlier, also offline.

This has the advantage of usually resulting in newer driver versions than those offered by Windows Update. Sometimes the manufacturer’s websites also contain additional information, such as notes on current or past problems, etc., which you would never see if you used the automatic method.

I used the following software to overclock the CPU and GPU:

• HWiNFO – For monitoring
• Prime95 – For load generation, optionally with or without AVX / AVX2
• Cinebench R23 – For generating faults and testing differences
• ASUS ROG RealBench – To generate load in order to test stability
• Unigine Heaven – To generate load on the GPU in order to test stability
• MSI Afterburner – For overclocking the GPU
• MemTest86 – To generate faults on the RAM and memory controller in order to test stability

My goal is to achieve stability in ASUS ROG RealBench, as I believe it reflects moderate to heavy everyday use equally well.

Processor overclocking

Actually, the whole thing isn’t complicated, but you need to have a lot of time and patience.

I first overclocked the i7-7700K statically, ensured stability, and repeatedly pushed it to its limits (voltage, temperatures). Since my goal was 5.00 GHz on all four cores with hyperthreading enabled, I started with that—the delidding I had done beforehand should have made this feasible in terms of temperature.

So I simply set the core voltage to 1.30 volts in the BIOS and set the “CPU Core Ratio” for “All Cores” to “50”. Then I saved, booted Windows, and started HWiNFO / Prime95 with AVX and AVX2 and let it run.

First observation: It runs stably for at least 1-2 hours, but gets quite warm (around 80-85 °C).
Then back into the UEFI and down with the voltage, now to 1.25 volts – then tested again.
Temperatures have dropped to just under 80 °C, still everything stable.

I did this until I reached 1.18 volts, at which point I had my first “quick” blue screen.
So I increased it again to 1.22 volts. It then ran for many hours, stable with acceptable temperatures (still ~ 80 °C). Without delidding, even that would have been either barely possible or not possible at all; I’m at the limit.

Next, I ensured stability with ROG RealBench, which is a realistic everyday measure for me; it has to be stable in the end. It was, it runs smoothly and, of course, cooler; I saw a maximum of 75 °C on the hottest core.

Great, I would be satisfied with that in principle.
But now, of course, I want to know what will limit me in the end:
The cooling or the voltage?

How far will it go?

Then I dared to increase the clock speed, setting the multiplier to “51,” i.e., 5.10 GHz. I also adjusted the voltage to 1.30 volts to match. Lo and behold: Prime95 with AVX quickly forces the cooler to its knees thermally, the first thermal throttling kicks in, and later the first blue screen appears (well over 100 °C!).

So I continued with 1.28 volts. Same result, thermal throttling—but later. No blue screen.
But you can already see the limit with AVX, 5.00–5.10 GHz. Then the air cooler, which otherwise does a really good job and is also tolerably quiet, reaches its limit.

After only a few minutes of ROG RealBench, a blue screen appears.
The journey with AVX seems to be over here, from now on I’ll optimize the system for “stable everyday use with a little AVX.”

And I’ve still come a long way:

The final result:

First of all: I made it very easy for myself with the RAM. I simply loaded the stored XMP profile for 2400 MHz 16-16-16-39 at 1.20 volts, slightly increased the DRAM voltage to 1.2540 volts, and set the memory frequency to 3000 MHz, nothing else!

The whole thing ran for days with Memtest86 without any errors. That was a 25% performance boost for free.
Above 3000 MHz, errors occurred that would have required very time-consuming fine-tuning to fix, but that wasn’t my focus.

For the processor, I switched from static overclocking at 5.20 GHz with over 1.35 volts to adaptive overclocking. 5.30 GHz on all cores got too hot – it took a few minutes, but throttling kicked in.

In the end, of course, I spent hours experimenting and days testing to see what worked best and how close I could get to the limits.

The CPU now runs as follows:
Load on 1–2 cores = 5.30 GHz at LLC 6 with adaptive auto voltage, slightly above 1.42 volts in HWiNFO under load.
Load on 3–4 cores = 5.20 GHz at LLC 6, also adaptive, then 1.385 volts under load.

Cache = 4.90 GHz, above that it quickly became very unstable.

Without AVX, I am therefore at both the temperature and voltage limits; it would not be possible to go any further without entering even more dangerous voltage regions. I find 1.42 volts to be borderline; my limit was actually 1.40 volts.

I couldn’t use an AVX offset without the turbo and power-saving mechanisms only working halfway afterwards, or the single-core clock speeds never being reached, as Windows 11 seems to use AVX instructions quite often. I wanted to achieve a dynamic overclock that is also capable of downclocking in idle mode to save heat and power – hence the use of an adaptive “auto” offset in the first place.

Conclusion:

This inexpensive cooler packs a punch – without AVX, I can push the CPU to almost its maximum capacity. At the same time, the board’s power supply is so good that I have never experienced any problems in this regard (I didn’t have any additional airflow over the VRM coolers!).

I would describe the clock speeds as very high, achieved at the expense of equally high voltage. Here is a comparison of the changes:

Cinebench and PassMark results:

First, Cinebench R23 with single-core overview – 1423 points.
Then with multi-core overview – 7112 points.

Finally, Cinebench R24 – 86 points or 419 in multi-core.

When compared to other CPU models, it is easy to see how far the i7-7700K has risen, especially in terms of single-core performance. Temperatures were consistently around 90 °C while Cinebench was running.

Click here for the PassMark PerformanceTest v11.1 Baseline.

What about the graphics output?
We’ll continue with that in the next post.

Der Beitrag <h5>i7-7700K OC #7: </h5><h3><b>Now the overclocking can finally begin</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.