ASUS BIOS not saving settings?

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Spicynoodle

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Ok, so i've been having persisting problems with my graphics card. I successfully finally got my 5th RMA'd graphics card, brand spanking new. I've been with the same model for a while now, and i've had absolutely no issues with it booting up.

However, I get this card and all of a sudden i'm getting a black screen on start up. After countless researching to get this fixed, i finally found the problem: to go into the BIOS and have the PCIE be the main display boot.

So the card is working for a 2 whole days, then all of a sudden -- the fans kick on 100% and i get a black screen AGAIN. The thing is, i'm so sick of RMAing my card that i'm trying everything i can to work around it.

So i decide to boot it up again, and a pure black screen.

So then, i decide to use my onboard graphics card to go into the BIOS utilities; and low and behold, the settings have been reset on the primary display to 'auto'.

So i researched again about similar problems with other people. I flashed my bios to the newest one and the settings went to default. So I tried changing - and what my computer will do once i save the settings is to restart, boot up, then shut down again. So i go back into the BIOS and, again, the settings are back to 'auto'.

Apparently, this might be a 'CMOS battery' issue. However, none of my internal clocks or ANYTHING signify that its a battery issue, and some other people still have the problem persisting even after replacing the battery.

I'm at my wit's end on this and desperately looking for an answer. Everything powers up fine, and i can access everything via my onboard graphics option. Does anyone know a fix for this and/or could help me? Please and thank you. I really need the community's help. :(

I have an ASUS Z97-A USB 3.1 motherboard
 
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panathas

panathas

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Please post your complete system specs including PSU and GPU. Also have you tried to reset the CMOS? It may help in your case. However keep in mind that if this is a rare BIOS bug of your motherboard, you may not be able to find a solution since you board is too old and it won't probably get a new "fixed" BIOS update. Although it may get a security update but I doubt they will fix try to this issue. Good luck.
 
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stdragon

stdragon

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If I'm not mistaken, a UEFI BIOS will sync its clock to Windows (where it syncs online against a pool of NTP servers). A standard BIOS (non-UEFI) won't do that, it will remain at whatever the quartz clock on the MB is set too.

Just to be sure, go ahead and replace the CMOS battery. They're cheap, and at least you can rule that out. They should be changed on average every 5 to 8 years anyways.
 
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Spicynoodle

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Thanks for all the replies! I'm going to quote this one to respond to.

My specs are:

ASUS Z97-A USB 3.1 Motherboard
1080 FTW Hybrid GPU
i7 4790k
16 GB corsair
RM 650i PSU

I really doubt its the CMOS, but like people said, it doesn't hurt to try. I just don't understand that

A) Its only this specific GPU
B) BIOS randomly doesn't save after it did 2 days ago
C) My computer is around 2.5 years old, about half the length of a regular CMOS battery
 
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panathas

panathas

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It doesn't hurt getting a new CMOS battery. Sometimes they die prematurely. Also you can't know how many years have passed since this battery came out of the factory. It may have seated in a warehouse for 2-3 years. However the CMOS battery kicks in only if you unplug your system from the wall or turn off the PSU switch. So if you haven't done that, it shouldn't be the battery but since it's an inexpensive component go ahead and replace it. Years ago I once got a brand new motherboard with a dead CMOS battery and I've lost countless hours troubleshooting not thinking the obvious.

As I said, you could be facing a rare BIOS bug which is common when combining new and old parts. You could:

1)Try to reset the CMOS.
2)Try to test the GPU into the 2nd 16x PCIe slot.
3)Try to use a different display output port from the GPU, if you have that capability.
4)Try to search online for new BIOS update for your specific GPU model. Sometimes manufacturers release new GPU BIOS updates in order to increase compatibility with old hardware.

Finally I have a question for you. Where are you plugging in the monitor? GPU or motherboard? Also this situation seems pretty strange and this issue may have nothing to do with the BIOS not saving its settings. Maybe it was unable to detect the GPU for some reason and automatically reverted back that option to auto. BIOSes have those kinds of protection mechanisms in case an overclock goes wrong or a hardware component malfunctions. So try to test your system with another PSU just in case it's failing and it's the one responsible for this issue. A failing PSU could certainly cause this issue. Also try to use another set of PSU power cables and/or another PSU PCIE power plug. Since you have a modular PSU you should have that capability. Good luck.
 
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Spicynoodle

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Thank you again for the detailed reply! Hopefully this won't be your last, lol.

Yeah, so ordered new CMOS batteries just now... so i'm going to be waiting on that to see if it has any impact.

So basically, my case doesn't let my GPU fit on any other PCI slot (sadly) as i've already attempted to do that when i was already having problems with my GPU outside of the box. However, what i have done was take an older graphics card and place it into the same PCI slot -- and to my avail, it showed up and was working just fine.

1) I guess this will happen in due-time
2) I did the alternative and tried the same PCI slot with a different graphics card (above)
3) I don't have a different display cable, only an HDMI...
4) I actually flashed my BIOS to the newest one that wasn't in beta. The settings still won't save.

Lastly, i actually have to plug my HDMI into my motherboard's outlet to get into the BIOS screen to fix the primary display to PCI-E. The thing with that, though, is that the default (auto) should already pick up PCI-E first before anything... however, either i'm biased, or the last part you said makes a lot of sense.

Thank you again for the help! Hopefully you'll stick with me and help out.
 
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panathas

panathas

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OK. Replace the CMOS battery and report back. In the meantime try to change the PSU cables/plugs and if you can borrow another PSU, test your system with it. You need to make sure that that the PSU is working perfectly before blaming something else.

Also I forgot to mention that if you have overclocked your CPU and/or GPU, you should undo it and return them to their default clocks.

When I talked about updating the BIOS I said specifically the GPU BIOS, not the motherboard one. Both the GPU and the motherboard have different BIOSes that can be updated. Just to be clear which BIOS have you updated?

Finally you should always plug the monitor cable to the graphics card unless of course your system can't recognise it and you want to boot your PC or enter the BIOS. Once you are able to make the graphics card work again, you should only plug the monitor into it. Otherwise you risk facing issues like that where the BIOS doesn't know which GPU to use. Good luck.

EDIT. You said you tested another graphics card. Which model was it? Because if it was a low powered one that test wouldn't tell you much.
 
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Spicynoodle

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This is kind of late. So i ordered my batteries and ended up replacing my CMOS. To no avail, my BIOS STILL isn't saving/reading my graphics card. I have yet to change my GPU bios... and in fact, how does one do that? I don't think that'd be the reason that my graphics card isn't being read/found in the BIOS in general, but it doesn't hurt to find out.

I'm on my wit's end, still. I have no idea what the problem could be. Next up is taking my GPU to a computer store, but this is ridiculous. You have any other ideas/help?
 
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panathas

panathas

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I have already mentioned some ideas in my previous posts.

1)Undo any overclocking you may have done.

2)Try to use different power cables that connect the PSU to the GPU and different PSU PCIE power sockets. You do have that capability since your PSU is modular. A faulty PSU cable/socket will affect system stability. It's rare but it can still happen.

3)Try to borrow another PSU and test your system with it. A failing/problematic PSU can certainly cause this issue.

4)Always have your monitor plugged to the graphics card. Plugging the monitor to the motherboard may disable the graphics card depending on your configuration.

5)Update the GPU BIOS. Just google your graphic's card exact model and you'll able to find the link that leads to the page that its manufacturer has set up. There you should go to the support/downloads section and search for a new BIOS or a BIOS utility. However keep in mind that new GPU BIOS updates are rare so you may not be able to find a new BIOS version and finally be very very careful because updating the GPU BIOS is a very dangerous procedure and more difficult than the motherboard BIOS update. Motherboards have fail safe mechanisms for BIOS updating, GPUs usually don't. So generally it's not recommended to do it unless you are having stability/compatibility issues (which seems to be the case, but you can't be certain). That's why you should leave it as the last option. Good luck.
 
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