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

backtothefuture · 4 Nov 2017 at 19:46

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!

five8five · 4 Nov 2017 at 21:24

Firstly, have you tried resetting the CMOS?

There are numerous more recent BIOS versions. Personally, I'd update to the latest (looks to be 25.8).

There seem to be different versions of the MSI Z68 65A mb so make sure you get the correct BIOS and backup your existing BIOS.

Hopefully that'll fix it.

mickyflinn · 4 Nov 2017 at 21:33

Update to the latest bios version.

JediFragger · 4 Nov 2017 at 21:34

mickyflinn said:
Update to the latest bios version.

Yup, it's def needed for most older motherboards and newer gfx cards. My m8's Z68 needed it for his 970.

backtothefuture · 5 Nov 2017 at 11:48

thanks ... hate BIOS updates ...always an edgy experience

mickyflinn · 5 Nov 2017 at 13:48

backtothefuture said:
thanks ... hate BIOS updates ...always an edgy experience

Let us know if it works.

backtothefuture · 5 Nov 2017 at 18:59

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 ..

jigger · 5 Nov 2017 at 19:04

Have you formatted the USB drive?

mickyflinn · 5 Nov 2017 at 19:13

You need to enter the bios and go into utilities, m-flash then select update bios from a file it will ask you to put usb stick in then select.

I will check my board to verify again.

backtothefuture · 5 Nov 2017 at 19:22

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!

mickyflinn · 5 Nov 2017 at 19:42

Would you like me to email the bios file from my motherboard which is the latest, you then should be able to update the bios from one file.

The above is an option in m-flash

My motherboard is the 65 not 55 in my spec below, just changed it.

backtothefuture · 6 Nov 2017 at 05:05

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 · 6 Nov 2017 at 05:17

backtothefuture said:
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!

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.

backtothefuture said:
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 ..

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.

Looked like your USB stick is not bootable, I read MSI Forum HQ USB flashing tool OP on MSI forum and found possible fix for your USB stick issue.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=108079.msg800577#msg800577

NOTE: If you are having problems getting your USB device to boot correctly, you may need to format it correctly as the geometry data may be incorrect. You can do that by pickup option "Fix My USB key" from the Tool or by using >>> THIS <<< tool here! For future usage you can skip this step, it need to be done only once if your stick need adjustment.

Hope HP USB Stick Formatting Tool will fix and boot your USB stick to update BIOS properly.

backtothefuture said:
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!

You probably need to run E7681vP8.exe as admin on USB stick to update BIOS through Windows properly.

Try create a folder on USB stick and move BIOS file to folder so M-Flash could able to detect BIOS file in a folder.

If everything still failed to update BIOS with MSI Live Update 6, flash from USB stick and UEFI M-Flash tool then there are 2 other ways to update BIOS on bootable USB stick to run on DOS mode and enter command "afudos E7681IMS.P80".

https://www.msi.com/page/biosflash

Or on EFI Shell with command "AfuEFI E7681IMS.P80 /P /B /K"

Or follow MSI BIOS Update Instruction by EFI Shell command "AfuEFI E7681IMS.P80 /P /B /N /K /R"

https://www.msi.com/files/pdf/win8_UEFI_BIOS_Update_auto_en.pdf

If EFI Shell wont update E7681IMS.P80 then try rename it to bios.rom and it should work.

mickyflinn · 6 Nov 2017 at 11:02

Just emailed you Bios.

backtothefuture · 6 Nov 2017 at 12:08

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)".

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.

.........

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 ..

mickyflinn · 6 Nov 2017 at 13:53

Found this not sure if it will help, think it updates the bios using dos.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...r-on-msi-z68-65a-mobo.18798812/#post-31310416

backtothefuture · 6 Nov 2017 at 14:31

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.

backtothefuture · 6 Nov 2017 at 14:34

whats the most powerful graphics card I can get (maybe second hand) without a BIOS update?

JediFragger · 6 Nov 2017 at 15:10

Try a second-hand 980Ti, it's as fast as a 1070

Once you overclock it's nearly at 1080 level at times :cool:

AthlonXP1800 · 6 Nov 2017 at 16:29

backtothefuture said:
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.

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://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=270481.0

Using an ME8 bios with a Sandy Bridge cpu on a 6 series mainboard can limit the oc results and abilities. Besides all will work normally. It is also the only way to run a GTX 9xx vga on such a board.

The latest ever released bios for your board is E7681IMS.P93 (25.9 beta 3) which is the best to use. Flash it like described below:

A.) Download >>this archive<< and place it on your desktop. Do not decompress.
B.) Download and install the >>MSI HQ Forum USB flasher<< .
C.) Insert your FAT32 formatted usb stick.
D.) Make sure that all win 8 options are disabled. (Fast Boot etc) Also make sure the legacy USB is enabled.
E.) Start the forum flash tool and select option 1. Then point the tool at the compressed archive we downloaded earlier. Then to your USB Flash Drive.
F.) Boot to the USB
G.) Now follow the directions and let the tool flash
H.) After flashing reinstall ME drivers in Windows: http://download.msi.com/dvr_exe/intel6x_ime_mb.zip

Edit: Fixed wrong link