BIOS IS NOT SAVING THE NEW BOOT UPORDER.

TedW

About 4 years ago I purchased a MicroCenter Powerspec G316 desktop computer running Windows 10 ( up to date). I have made image backups and created a System Repair Dsk (CD) using the Windows program in the Settings ---> Updates and Security; but never tried to test repair dsk to see if the computer would boot up from it. So I better check this out to see if everything works as directed.

I went into the BIOS, reset the Boot Up order to be boot from the CD first and then the Windows SSD drive with 5 seconds to select to boot from the CD option. It worked fine and got all the repair options - working the way it should testing this several times.

However, I now found that it I boot up the computer with no CD in the drive or with a non-bootable CD, such as a music CD; the boot reverts back to the Windows SSD and now fails to boot from the REPAIR CD, or give the 5 second warning to hit any key to select the CD boot up. So this kind of defeats the purpose to prepare of a recovery CD.If I go into the BIOS and change the boot order back to CD first and WINs SSD second, it works again booting from the CD.

I save the BIOS boot up order as directed in exiting from the BIOS after making the changes and the computer will always boot from the CD when hitting any key so long as I don’t remove it as described above.

Is there another location in the BIOS other then the BOOT page where some change has to also be saved? Thanks for any help or suggestions..

Ted W

PowerSpec_MikeW

@TedW

You're changing the boot priorities in the sub menu under the "Boot" tab? This shouldn't revert. Are you on BIOS 1.30 or 1.45? Also, boot menu is F11 if that's an easier solution than changing priorities in the BIOS to boot from CD.

TedW

Sorry to take so long to reply but I spent several hours testing under what conditions the boot order changed back to the original setting of the Win SSD first; and trying to get some idea of the cause of the issue. Very frustrating.

The boot order that is selected in the BIOS and saved ( first the CD, second to the Win SSD) does revert back to the Win SSD as primary boot first as I describe earlier; and when I look in the BIOS boot screen , there is no second boot order listed - just the one with the Win SSD drive; the CD is no longer shown as an option. The second boot option showing the CD as an option does reappear as I flip back and forth between the various screens in the Advance Mode window looking for some clue to the problem - and then when I go into the Boot screen again, the second CD boot option is now present and I can now again select it as boot 1. But the boot order will eventually change back as discussed earlier.

To address some questions;

The mother board is an ASROCK Z390 PRO4

The BIOS is Z390 PRO L1.45B if I reading in the right place and I don’t believe it has ever been upgraded - I have never done it since I purchased the computer 4 years ago and I don’t think they upgrade it automatically.

Some bios upgrades listed at ASROCK that may be appropriate are:

Z390 Pro4(4.30)WIN.Zip

Z390 Pro4(4.40)ROM.Zip

Z390 Pro4(4.40)WIN.Zip

Z390 Pro4(4.50)ROM.Zip

Z390 Pro4(4.70)ROM.Zip

I believe that the ones that have WIN in their name can be installed from Windows; but this upgrade is all new to me and I need to do a lot more studying before this upgrade as a last option.

Can a bad CMOS BATTERY causing this problem? The computer does not lose date or time when shut down, but I thank there may be some power supplied in this off state; and I may need to actually unplug the computer to check this out.

With all the various options to chose in the various screens in the BIOS, I’m beginning to think this may be to complex for me to understand and deal with. As MikeW pointed out that there are other options to get into Windows various repair modes, why not use one those when and if the computer has a major problem. Thanks for the help- take care.

TedW

PowerSpec_MikeW

@TedW

Could be a CMOS issue, sounds more like a bug to me though. Seems like the BIOS' default behavior is to show boot options that are available. So when the DVDRW isn't, it readjusts the order and goes to #2, rather than retaining that when the DVDRW is available. Could be specifically related to the DVDRW as a boot option. Could also be some odd behavior with UEFI/Legacy boot modes. Legacy should be disabled by default, maybe it's allowing you to change this and boot legacy once without telling you. Check the CSM (Compatibility Support Module) setting on the boot tab. Try enabling it if it's disabled.

I haven't changed boot priorities in a long time. F8 for ASUS, F11 for MSI/ASRock is just more convenient most of the time.

TedW

Thinks Mike, a lot to study, think about, and test. Thanks for the quick response. I may try to see if the repair technicians at MicroCenter (they are close by) if they have seen this problem since MC built the computer, and AZROCK since it's there motherboard and BIOS; but it has been 4 years and certainly not worth much money to invest a lot of diagnostic time and repairs to fix a problem that may never turn into a real problem. But I would like to learn what is happening. If I ever learn what is going on I'll let you know. Take care.

TedW