Motherboard had been in storage for years.
I first set all jumpers to default then did a BIOS Recovery.
BEEP Codes
There are a lot of beep codes not in the manual.
- 5 beeps – BIOS checks for keyboard connection when POST, If there is no keyboard connected, the board will generate 5 beeps to indicate no keyboard detection. [It should still boot.]
- 6 beeps, is usually 5 short beeps and 1 long – No memory detected in the system – Populate Blue Slots first
BIOS Update
Most current BIOS
File Name: X10SAE8_525.zip
Revision: 3.2
ME Firmware: At least 9.1.41.3024
WARNING!
Please do not download / upgrade the BIOS/Firmware UNLESS your system has a BIOS/Firmware-related issue. Flashing the wrong BIOS/Firmware can cause irreparable damage to the system.
In no event shall Supermicro be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising from a BIOS/Firmware update.
BIOS Recovery
Created a non-bootable USB flash disk with FAT format and copied the X10SAE8.525 file across and renamed it Super.ROM
Plugged the USB in to one of the USB 2.0 ports and turned it on and help CTRL+Home till it beeped twice. It then updated the BIOS.
I had a issue with a larger flash drive that was FAT32 MS-DOS bootable. It would beep twice, then 9 beeps and finally 7 beeps.
How to update the BIOS
The correct procedure to update ME & BIOS for shark bay workstation and desktop platform including X10SAT, X10SAE, X10SLV, X10SLQ, C7Z87, C7Z87-OCE should be as following.
- Decompress BIOS zip file to a DOS bootable USB key
- Boot up the system and press DEL to enter BIOS menu
- Enable the option ME FW Image Re-Flash in Advanced>PCH-FW Configuration>Firmware Update Configuration then press F4 to Save & Exit, the system will restart
- Boot to DOS and Run flash.bat X10SAE8.525 to flash BIOS & ME
- After the update finished, shut down the system
- Boot up the system to a boot device then the upgrade is done
In your step 3 you have to wait for the system to finish its boot up process and then reboot the system and enter BIOS menu to do the change.
- Decompress BIOS zip file to a DOS bootable USB key
- Insert the USB key to the system and boot to DOS. Run flash.bat X10SAE8.525 to update BIOS and ME
- In the next boot, wait until the system boot to DOS. Reboot the system.
- Press DEL key to enter BIOS menu
- Enable the option ME FW Image Re-Flash in Advanced>PCH-FW Configuration>Firmware Update Configuration then press F4 to Save & Exit, the system will restart
- Boot to DOS and Run flash.bat X10SAE8.525 to flash BIOS & ME again
BIOS update stuck at “Verifying NCB Block … done”
Is your BIOS update getting stuck at Verifying NCB Block? Seems like a fairly common occurrence. You can power off your PC and it should boot with the new BIOS version when you restart.
Reading flash ... done
- ME Data Size checking ... ok
- FFS checksums .... ok
- Check RomLayout ... ok or sometimes - ME Data Size checking ... ok
Erasing Boot Block ... done
Updating Boot Block ... done
Verifying Boot Block ... done
Erasing Main Block ... done
Updating Main Block ... done
Verifying Main Block ... done
Erasing NVRAM Block ... done
Updating NVRAM Block ... done
Verifying NVRAM Block ... done
Erasing NCB Block ... done
Updating NCB Block ... done
Verifying NCB Block ... done