GPU BIOS flash and monitor problem.

[Stav Kats]

So this is how the story begins. My monitors had started flickering and flashing randomly for over 5 days and it was really getting on my nerves. Then I got pissed and tried to fix this problem. So I went to my GPU's brand support site, I registered my product and then went to FAQ about my card specifically(XFX 7870 Core Edition). I found my issue in the FAQ topic selection and the fix was to update the BIOS. But, there were 3 different BIOS, one for 270A, and two for 270X models. From what I know the R9 270X and the 7870 are practically the same thing, so I downloaded one of the 270X BIOS and followed the steps successfully. Then it asked for a restart. After the BIOS flash, I couldn't boot into windows. I could see the BIOS logo, but after the "Starting Windows" the screen goes black and the whole PC freezes. However, the GPU is working in "Safe Mode" or "Low Res VGA", but not in "Normal Mode". I've tried removing the drivers and then re-installing old stable drivers, but nothing changed.

So after a lot of anger and anxiety that I had destroyed my GPU, I decided to put my old GPU into my system and see if the GPU was actually the component that was causing the flashing/flickering. It still flickers with my old GPU, so as it seems the 7870 was fine, but it doesn't display after the BIOS flash.

 

My questions are:

Have I destroyed my 7870? Can I RMA it? (it is still under warranty)

What has been causing the flickering/flashing? Can it be the monitor or the PSU?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Levent]

1-) no you can always flash back to 7870 , i flashed like 9 bios' on my sapphire and none of them worked and i was able to reinstall stock bios using igp 

2-)what is your PSU model and maker?

note:you cant flash in to a R9 270x bios IF it uses different type of memory or different type of voltage regulators 

[SkilledRebuilds]

1 - Your old card, is it an AMD card also?

2 - Try a different driver version?

3 - Google "AMD flickering" and try some solutions there as its a semi-widespread issue.

 

You shouldn't have to update the bios on GPU's when your experiencing THOSE problems.....unless your after something feature specific.

[Stav Kats]

1-) no you can always flash back to 7870

2-)what is your PSU model and maker?

1-) I can't find an old BIOS for my 7870. At least a right one. I found my exact model number of my GPU on techpowerup, I downloaded the BIOS but I can't flash it. It says "something" mismatch.

2-) FSP Aurum 600W

[Stav Kats]

1 - Your old card, is it an AMD card also?

2 - Try a different driver version?

3 - Google "AMD flickering" and try some solutions there as its a semi-widespread issue.

 

You shouldn't have to update the bios on GPU's when your experiencing THOSE problems.....unless your after something feature specific.

1 - Yes it is an AMD card.

2 - I tried old catalyst drivers, nothing changed.

3 - I was searching all night.

[Levent]

1-) I can't find an old BIOS for my 7870. At least a right one. I found my exact model number of my GPU on techpowerup, I downloaded the BIOS but I can't flash it. It says "something" mismatch.

2-) FSP Aurum 600W

1-) you need to run atiwinflash with -unlockrom 0 then atiwinflash -f -p 0 bios.bin

2-) i dont have any experience with FSP but i would still try the system with another reliable PSU

[Stav Kats]

1-) you need to run atiwinflash with -unlockrom 0 then atiwinflash -f -p 0 bios.bin

2-) i dont have any experience with FSP but i would still try the system with another reliable PSU

Sorry for being late.

The monitor problem is not caused by my PC. It is the monitor itself that is acting weirdly. I think it is overheating, don't know why. LG's support team is going to fix it next week because it is under warranty. So that's ok.

As for the GPU, I am kinda afraid of tinkering more with it, because I am not very experienced with BIOS flashing/cmd executions. Do you think if I RMA it to XFX I could get a new or a used one back? Do you have any experience with their support system?(GPU is under warranty)

[Levent]

Sorry for being late.

The monitor problem is not caused by my PC. It is the monitor itself that is acting weirdly. I think it is overheating, don't know why. LG's support team is going to fix it next week because it is under warranty. So that's ok.

As for the GPU, I am kinda afraid of tinkering more with it, because I am not very experienced with BIOS flashing/cmd executions. Do you think if I RMA it to XFX I could get a new or a used one back? Do you have any experience with their support system?(GPU is under warranty)

i dont have any XFX RMA experience but as for flashing gpu bios is easy and it wont take more than 2 minutes even if you kil it l(which is not that easy to do) you can still rma it also im not sure if XFX continues to support cards with different bioses

[Stav Kats]

i dont have any XFX RMA experience but as for flashing gpu bios is easy and it wont take more than 2 minutes even if you kil it l(which is not that easy to do) you can still rma it also im not sure if XFX continues to support cards with different bioses

I can only boot in safe mode with the "faulty" card, but in "Safe Mode" I can't run atiwinflash. What should I do now?

The weirdest thing is that when I turn on my PC The BIOS logo and the "Starting Windows" segment displays just fine on the screen. But after the "Starting Windows" part, the screen goes black and the PC freezes...(This happens when I boot in "Normal Mode")

[Levent]

I can only boot in safe mode with the "faulty" card, but in "Safe Mode" I can't run atiwinflash. What should I do now?

The weirdest thing is that when I turn on my PC The BIOS logo and the "Starting Windows" segment displays just fine on the screen. But after the "Starting Windows" part, the screen goes black and the PC freezes...(This happens when I boot in "Normal Mode")

dont you have onboard graphics? or another gpu ?

[Stav Kats]

dont you have onboard graphics? or another gpu ?

I have a second GPU, no onboard graphics.

[Levent]

I have a second GPU, no onboard graphics.

boot it on it without removing the broken card and flash it

[Stav Kats]

boot it on it without removing the broken card and flash it

In order to use the second GPU while I have the broken one inside too, I add the second GPU, put the HDMI cable on that GPU and boot to windows? 

[Levent]

In order to use the second GPU while I have the broken one inside too, I add the second GPU, put the HDMI cable on that GPU and boot to windows? 

yes 

[Stav Kats]

yes 

How do I bypass the SystemID mismatch on atiwinflash?

[Levent]

How do I bypass the SystemID mismatch on atiwinflash?

have you tried -unlockrom 0 like i've suggested before?

[Leonard]

Update your motherboard's BIOS and then try it again.

[Stav Kats]

have you tried -unlockrom 0 like i've suggested before?

Mate, many thanks for your help, but I've had it. I am tired of this sh*t. I need to suck it up and realise that it is my mistake and the card is dead. Thanks a lot and sorry for having wasted your time. I give up...

I will try to RMA it but by telling the truth and hope that I will get a replacement.

 

Update your motherboard's BIOS and then try it again.

I am done updating BIOSs, I am too noobie for this stuff and after what happened with my GPU I am too scared to touch anything. Thanks for your help.

[Leonard]

I am done updating BIOSs, I am too noobie for this stuff and after what happened with my GPU I am too scared to touch anything. Thanks for your help.

If it is any consolation, we were all NOOBS at one time too. So what will you do now, curl up in a ball and cry.....WE ARE MEN DAMNIT!!! and nerdy men too we don't give up at the first technological problem.....WE FIND A SOLUTION DAMNIT!!!! so we can look at the piece of technology that is giving us the trouble and say YOU ARE SO OWNED YOU WONKY BASTARD!!! and we also sell the solution to the highest bidder if we can make money off of it.

[Stav Kats]

If it is any consolation, we were all NOOBS at one time too. So what will you do now, curl up in a ball and cry.....WE ARE MEN DAMNIT!!! and nerdy men too we don't give up at the first technological problem.....WE FIND A SOLUTION DAMNIT!!!! so we can look at the piece of technology that is giving us the trouble and say YOU ARE SO OWNED YOU WONKY BASTARD!!! and we also sell the solution to the highest bidder if we can make money off of it.

You made me laugh, I give you that. But I have spent almost 20 hours trying to fix this with sweat and "tears". I don't think it is worth the time. I have a second GPU which is not good for gaming but it is what it is. The only motivation that I had to fix this god damn card was the fact that I paid so much money for it(which for me is a lot for a GPU) and now I don't get to use it.

[Leonard]

You made me laugh, I give you that. But I have spent almost 20 hours trying to fix this with sweat and "tears". I don't think it is worth the time. I have a second GPU which is not good for gaming but it is what it is. The only motivation that I had to fix this god damn card was the fact that I paid so much money for it(which for me is a lot for a GPU) and now I don't get to use it.

Well RMA the damned thing and take something else.

[TymmVonD]

I flashed the Hydrocopper 780 BIOS on my stock 780SC. The utility I used had me create a backup, which is great because the Hydrocopper bricked my card. Luckily, I built an APU rig a few weeks before and was able to put my card in it and reflash it to stock. Find the OG BIOS and reflash it while using another card as the primary. Do it the same way you did the first time but make sure your flashing the bricked 2nd card. It will work. My friend flashed his 2nd BIOS on his Dual X 7970 and it bricked. Now he runs it on switch one and, like you, refuses to try to fix it. Breathe dude. We got your back.

[Stav Kats]

@Levent @Leonard

@TymmVonD I will reconsider it tomorrow with a fresh mind, but I won't do anything till next weekend because I got school stuff to do. Thanks for the motivation. I really appreciate it!

However, I have a piece of info that might help you help me. The ROM I downloaded from the XFX site was 64kb, but the original bios that I find in techpowerup's bios database is 128kb, which means I have half the rom installed. So my question is this:

Is there a possibility I have installed half of the rom that my GPU needs in order to run properly and thats the reason behind my pc crashing when I boot on normal mode but it is fine in "Safe Mode"? Can I install the other half somehow? 

[TymmVonD]

@Levent @Leonard

@TymmVonD I will reconsider it tomorrow with a fresh mind, but I won't do anything till next weekend because I got school stuff to do. Thanks for the motivation. I really appreciate it!

However, I have a piece of info that might help you help me. The ROM I downloaded from the XFX site was 64kb, but the original bios that I find in techpowerup's bios database is 128kb, which means I have half the rom installed. So my question is this:

Is there a possibility I have installed half of the rom that my GPU needs in order to run properly and thats the reason behind my pc crashing when I boot on normal mode but it is fine in "Safe Mode"? Can I install the other half somehow? 

When I had driver issues, safe mode allowed me to fix it. But a BIOS flash working in Safe mode would indicate that something is "right enough" to work. My guess would be that you may have installed a UEFI BIOS on a non-UEFI chip, or the other way around.

 

You could try to install Afterburner in Safe Mode and set your stock settings in it, then try to boot normally. The new BIOS may have your card set way too high on core or mem. Like a GPU OC is fine in the desktop, but when playing a game it crashes. At Low res mode, it's not stressed enough to crash it, but normal takes it just over the threshold.

[Leonard]

When I had driver issues, safe mode allowed me to fix it. But a BIOS flash working in Safe mode would indicate that something is "right enough" to work. My guess would be that you may have installed a UEFI BIOS on a non-UEFI chip, or the other way around.

 

You could try to install Afterburner in Safe Mode and set your stock settings in it, then try to boot normally. The new BIOS may have your card set way too high on core or mem. Like a GPU OC is fine in the desktop, but when playing a game it crashes. At Low res mode, it's not stressed enough to crash it, but normal takes it just over the threshold.

@Stav Kats @TymmVonD is on to something here my i also point out that you may have downloaded the wrong BIOS in the first place as the refreshed BIOS should be the same size as your stock BIOS. What you should do is check the size of your stock BIOS to see if it matches this new BIOS and if you did not save your stock BIOS then check if you can get it back from XFX and then just re-flash the GPU with the stock BIOS and see if you get the same problem.

 

Now if you do get the same problem then it is more than likely to be a GPU problem, either the BIOS is not configured to your GPU or not being installed properly. If you Don't get the same problem then i would suggest that the motherboard's BIOS needs to be updated for the new GPU BIOS to work properly. Also i would contact XFX for clarification on which BIOS is recommended for your GPU and or a RMA on your GPU.