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GTX 1070 giving a B2 bios error on MSI Z68 65A Mobo

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

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Joined
14 Nov 2003
Posts
544
Just received my Asus GeForce GTX 1070 Strix OC Gaming 8192MB graphics card.

Plugged it into my MSI Z68 65A motherboard and connected the 6pin + 2pin PCIE power connector the 8 pin power slot of the graphics card (I have a Lepa b750 PSU which doesn't have an 8 pin connector).

Tried booting the PC which gets stuck at the B2 bios screen.

Stuck back my old graphics card which works fine. I googled the issue and it seems I need a mobo bios update, or worst case scenario, it's a dead card (hope not!).

I've been looking through the various bios versions and am confused which one would apply as there's a message on MSI's bios download page which says "MSI recommend you to update BIOS with ME8 only if you are using IvyBridge 22nm CPU".

I have a i2500k Sandybridge 1155 CPU and I don't know what version of the BIOS is ME8.

My current BIOS version is E7681IMS.v23.0

Anyone have any idea which bios version I should be updating to get the GTX 1070 to work?

Thanks!
 
right guys...wasted half a day trying to update the blasted BIOS :-(

Tried with the MSI Live update ...downloaded a few intel drivers first (based on its suggestions) just to make sure my board was up to date.
Anyhow, live update doesn't seem to flash the BIOS even though it says it's doing it, the version number doesn't change. I guess its not compatible with Windows 10.

Sideffects of MSI Live udpate: screwed up my boot times...system now boots a lot slower and 'thinks about stuff' during boot / restart /shutdown.

I then stumbled across the MSI forums, and the MSI HQ Bootable USB tool for BIOS udpates. Ran that, followed the instructions to make a USB bootable with the BIOS. But the system just doesn't recognise that as a boot drive and boots from Windows! I press F11 during the boot stage and get the following options: (i) Built-in EFI Shell (ii) UEFI: Generic Flash Disk 8.00 (iii) Samsung SSD (iv) Intel WD Blacks (v) Generic Flash Disk 8.00 ... i've tried both (ii) and (v) with the USB Flash drive plugged directly into the mobo USB socket or in the front panel USB connector but the system just boots to Windows.

Not sure what else to do ... might have to RMA the card within my 14 days if I can't figure out this BIOS stuff ..
 
yes I used the USB2 port (flash drive is FAT32 formatted) - with respect to the file, the boot tool automatically extracts what's required from the BIOS Zip file.

I separately also tried extracting the BIOS ZIP file on the USB but that resulted in an EXE file (7681vP8.Zip ---> E7681vP8.Exe) .... if I copy that to the USB and double click it, it runs the BIOS update through windows, reboots but then doesn't actually update the BIOS i.e. the BIOS version is the same as before. It does extract a E7681IMS.P80 file though, in the process (on the USB).

I tried the M-Flash tool under BIOS but it says the USB does not have the BIOS file in its root (even though it's got the above EXE file and .P80 file) ... so can't seem to do it through there either!
 
that would be great, appreciate it! ... the latest is that I managed to M-Flash the v23.7 BIOS ..that was the last version before the more recent BIOS which state " Please download and execute the file in USB pen drive only."

Updated BIOS and now PC won't boot ...it's screwed my RAID 1 array and also somehow managed to mess up my SSD Boot drive into not booting..

I figure I might as well continue the BIOS update to the latest version, slot in the new graphics card to check it works and then go about fixing the boot issues (which would probably be a separate thread ...I don't have an internal DVD driver, was running Win10 that had automatically updated from Win7 and can't imagine how to fix this all if I need a fresh install :()

You can email me the BIOS at [email protected] ...cheers!
 
AthlonXP1800 said:
I googled "MSI Z68 65A" and on MSI site looked like it never been existed unless you gave us wrong model name. Googled "E7681IMS.v23.0" came up with different motherboard model name "MSI Z68A GD65 (G3)". :confused:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z68AGD65_G3#down-bios

If MSI Z68A GD65 (G3) is the correct model then I am surprised it shipped with original BIOS version 23.0 and you never updated BIOS to latest version 25.8 after failed attempts.

Check to make sure you have latest MSI Live Update version 6.2.0.22 that is full compatible with Windows 10, if you still cant update BIOS from MSI Live Update then try close app and run MSI Live Update as admin could update BIOS properly.

.........
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your comprehensive post! Yes I meant the Z68A GD65 G3 (sorry for the intial typo).... yes I tired that exact same USB Boot tool link, it formatted the drive, installed the BIOS etc but the PC just wouldn't boot from that USB.

I also updated the latest MSI Live update from the MSI site but that didn't work.
I will double check the version number above but first I will dry a M-Flash from the BIOS file that mickyflinn just sent...

will work through easier options to not to easy ones .. :D
 
thanks, anything's worth a shot now!... the M-Flash with your BIOS didn't work unfortunately...it just refuses to recognise a BIOS file in the flash drive for any BIOS file after v23.7 (these files are all the ones that MSI says run in a USB Pen drive, even though I extract them on to the USB)

I also tried the MSI Live update/ Click BIOS II program but that asks for a BIOS Data file *bd which I don't have.

I tried the graphics card with the 23.7 BIOS but it doesn't work with that version either.
 
AthlonXP1800 said:
Hmmm other guy had same problem with Sandy Bridge 2500K and GTX 960 with BIOS error B2 cant update BIOS higher than v23.7 found a solution to update BIOS 25.9 beta 3 with ME8 compatible with Sandy Bridge CPUs required for GTX 900 and 1000 series cards to boot properly.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z68AGD65_G3
Click to expand...
still no luck :-/ ... USB gets stuck at boot stage with just blinking...no movement in terms of BIOS update or any info on screen. Have to then re-boot.

Looks like I will have to RMA the card... and also probably the last time I buy a MSI motherboard! (should have stuck with Asus....)
 
BIOS update finally worked!! ... Special thanks for AthlonXP1800 and Mickyflinn for the continuos support! :cool:

So I tried three different USB drives .. a Sandisk Cruzer 8 GB, a generic 16GB and a Sony 4GB

The Sony one worked with the MSIHQ Boot tool (the others didn't). ..the only thing I did differently with the Sony though, was to use the 'Fix' option when running the MSIHQ Tool whereas with the others I didn't use the 'Fix' option first and just created a bootable USB...anyhow not sure whether this matters or whether the brand matters... So I tried first updating with the latest BIOS from MSI ..it seemed to do this pretty quickly... I then rebooted, went back into BIOS and checked the version..it was the same as the old one... I then re-ran the tool with the 25.9BIOS Beta 3 above.. THIS ONE worked!

I will now update my intel ME drivers to v.8 ... not going to install the G-card today..too tired for that...saving the grand finale for tomorrow...will let you know how that goes! :D
 
(one minor side-effect though...all this frequent re-booting with BIOS update attempts seems to have killed off one of my WD Blacks which shows as 'offline' in my degraded RAID1 array...I bought it in Aug2011 so I guess it's had a fair run and due a replacement :))
 
Danny75 said:
Hmm, that drive had a fair run indeed but funny it RIP'd when flashing BIOS. Makes me wonder if removing power from drives when flashing BIOS might be a good precaution. Hadn't thought of that.
Click to expand...

turns out that it was a dodgy cable...the new drive I ordered had the same issue so I swapped the cable for a new one... don't know if the BIOS flashing fried the cable or what!
 
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