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I had some problems recently with my Gigabyte GA-Z270X-Ultra Gaming K5:

  • I have two SATA drives installed, one containing Windows, and just installed my first SSD:
    • I was trying to install Windows onto the SSD and I tried swapping the boot order to prefer the new SSD, as it wasn't booting from the SSD, having to force boot from UEFI manually while trying to update to the latest Windows.

      While doing this, I was trying different settings in the UEFI firmware to understand why it wasn't booting properly, and after setting UEFI to Secure Boot (I read an article that was a good thing to do) and changing some settings to UEFI boot, the PC began boot-looping

  • I am unable to access the UEFI firmware settings, with the motherboard showing all lights on for 2s, then shutting down

  • I removed the CMOS battery to reset the UEFI firmware for 30s twice, but the problem keeps persisting
    • There are no POST beeps and I've tried removing the SATA drives, unplugging the GPU power cable, and removing RAM modules one-at-a-time until all were removed, and nothing changed

I believe the problem is the UEFI firmware settings and am unsure what I should do; what are the possible solutions?

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  • Many motherboards have a metal half-moon on the board near the CMOS battery that must be shorted to reset the UEFI firmware chip (you do not have a BIOS motherboard - BIOS and UEFI are not the same things) - if your board does have a half-moon, unplug the PC/flip the PSU switch, remove the CMOS battery, take a flat head screwdriver, touching it to both half-moons at the same time for a few seconds, re-insert the CMOS battery, turn on power, and boot.
    – JW0914
    Commented Sep 24, 2020 at 11:27
  • Cont'd... Once UEFI firmware is reset to default: UEFI Settings → Enable EFI Boot, ensuring CSM [Lergacy] Mode is disabled → Secure Boot: enabled → Boot order: enable SSD as a boot option, moving it to #1 in the boot order (if clean installing Windows onto the SSD) → Insert Windows install USB → F10 to save, apply, and reboot → Press the key to get to the boot menu (varies by OEM: F12, DEL, etc. - reference motherboard manual) → Select the Windows install USB's EFI option (if none is listed, use Rufus to re-create the install USB)
    – JW0914
    Commented Sep 24, 2020 at 12:25
  • I thought that the pin for reset it would have worked even with the battery on (I tried previously). I am gonna try this again without the battery.
    – Littlemad
    Commented Sep 24, 2020 at 13:01
  • There is no half moon, only two pins Clr_cmos on the manual I didn't find anything else. And it does not work. It still in loop. The only new thing that I notice is that there are 4 tiny lights that are loading in sequence and when the lights restart from the first tiny light it just stops again.
    – Littlemad
    Commented Sep 24, 2020 at 13:16
  • I found what the tiny lights means. CPU, dram, vga, boot. Everything is illuminated at least once in sequence, first CPU, than turn off, than dram, than turn off than vga, turn off and than boot, turn off. Than is on once again CPU and it shut down immediately
    – Littlemad
    Commented Sep 24, 2020 at 13:21

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
-1

What you suggest should I do?

  1. Remove all HDDs → Re-insert RAM modules
    (you can remove the GPU if the GPU has integrated graphics, otherwise leave it in)
  2. Turn on PC → Try to directly access the Boot Menu → UEFI Settings
    1. Drop all settings → Disable Secure Boot → Legacy Boot (CSM mode) → Save → Shutdown
    2. Add SSD and install Windows - all should work

What are the possible solutions?

  • Check if you have the latest UEFI firmware, and if not, upgrade version by version:

  • Check if your HDD/SSD are compatible

If I need to buy a new motherboard that is more modern, what is suggested?

I would always suggest against buying these "UB3R Gamer" Motherboards, especially if they are at revision 1.0 only; you can grab any motherboard that fits the same RAM and uses LGA1151

Is it easy to move the CPU to another motherboard?

It's fairly easy, but you will still need to figure out your boot issues, as there may be a drive that Windows is set up to work; ensure you buy thermal paste (Artic cool MX-4 is good), as you will need to re-apply it

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  • BIOS and UEFI are not the same things: (1) CSM Mode should never be used, unless EFI boot isn't supported; Disabling EFI boot is inefficient - EFI is 64bit, CSM mode emulate's BIOS' 16bit (result: long boot times - ~10s on EFI vs ~45s w/ CSM mode/BIOS); (2) Secure Boot should be used w/ Windows unless there's an actual reason to disable it, as it prevents the bootloader from being modified by malware; (3) A motherboard doesn't dictate what HDDs/SSDs are compatible with it, just the interface format; (4) Unsure why a motherboard swap is being recommended for a boot issue
    – JW0914
    Commented Sep 24, 2020 at 12:15

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