Asus Rampage III Extreme ZioMod Bios (Latest: 1601_S17)

[jtarm]

Good evening, ZioGTS and everybody!

I happened to come across this thread looking for a solutions to my issues with R3E mb. As such, reading about the great work you have enabled, I would like to kindly ask for your advice.

I have HDDs (and one BR writer) connected to all the SATA ports along with a RevoDRIVE X3 PCIE SSD card (boot). Every now and than, after I reboot, the system will loose its boot order and not allow me to re-select the RevoDrive as main boot. If I disconnect one or two of the HDDs (either internal or the eSATA one), the BIOS will allow me to reselect it and boot to Windows. I can reconect them later and it will boot, untill the cycle starts over again. It's rather annoying.

Also, ever since I connected two StarTech eSATA/SATA controllers (PLEXSAT34), every now and than the R3E's Marvell controller will get stuck at boot (Initializing...) and it takes several reboots to get it going again. The PLEXSAT34 cards (running in PCIE ports) are fine.

Would you happen to know if your modded BIOS with its latest updates fix these two issues?

Thank you for you time and the great developments. All the very best!

[ZioGTS]

Yours is an extremely rare config, undoubtedly! Different controllers not made to work together are prone to conflicts as you're experiencing. Unfortunately I don't think ziomod will solve your issues, but you can always try and let us know the results!

Inviato dal mio GT-I9000 con Tapatalk 2

[jtarm]

Thank you for the reply, ZioGTS.

I have installed ZioMod! Huray. Everything seems perfectly stable and I haven't encountered any issues, after a 1 day usage. Transfer speeds between HDDs have actualy improved!

I'm using the latest JMicron driver (mentioned in your post) and the latest stable Intel RST - from their website. In short : great work. Cheers for that. I will post further observations after a longer usage.

Sadly, one if the issues is still present. After extensive testing, it seems that the boot order is messed up if there are more than 8 devices connected (HDD, SSD). The type of connection doesn't matter (SATA, eSATA, PCIE) neither the controller (Intel, Marvell or JMicron). If there are more than 8 drives present, the BIOS won't allow me to set the boot drives or their order. I did notice one difference : in Asus's 1502 BIOS the maximum number of drives for a proper boot process is 9, in ZioMod it's 8.

This is driving me crazy. If you have any ideas, I'd greatly appreciate them. I apologize for bugging you, but nowhere to turn ...

As to the second problem, related to the PEXSAT cards, it was more simple. The process got stuck because one of the cards was faulty (probably internal firmware). Removed it, all is sweet. Will RMA.

All the very best.

Yours is an extremely rare config, undoubtedly! Different controllers not made to work together are prone to conflicts as you're experiencing. Unfortunately I don't think ziomod will solve your issues, but you can always try and let us know the results!

Inviato dal mio GT-I9000 con Tapatalk 2

[ZioGTS]

Maybe the latest Intel OROM module limits to 8 boot devices, but that would be a strange choice on Intel's side. You could try with an older version of ZioMod (like S06) and see if this is the case.

[jtarm]

I should mention that this issue was present on other older version of the ASUS BIOS for R3E as well.

Just on the side note : I sent a nice, detailed report by email to ASUS tech support. Got an even nicer reply from them : please try ZioMod (on your own risk) or wait for whenever there's going to be a new BIOS from ASUS - which maybe, might fix the problem. Untill then, try ZioMod. We don't have (read : care for) a solution. Case closed.

This is without doubt the worst support I've ever encountered with any manufacturer and a direct humiliation on their clients. Great! Not even a basic attempt to check & fix. Last time I'm getting an ASUS product, advice which I shall pass along.

So, I guess congrats for you are due. ASUS seems to think you know their MB & BIOS better than they do.

LE : Got in touch with an Intel Agent. They say there is no such limitation on the ICH10R controller or the X58 chipset, nor do they have any records of a similar complaint, sent to them, related to these two.

[ZioGTS]

Uhm... I made a special S07 version based on 1502 bios instead of 1601. Can you try it and let me know? Download it from HERE.

[jtarm]

Thank you, ZioGTS. Thank you for your kindness, patience and desire to help.

I have tried it. This one does allow me to set the boot order with 9 drives connected, just like the regular 1502. Every now and than it forgets, just like the regular 1502.

To continue the complaint I filed in regards to their whole fiasco, I had an earlier (rather angry) conversation today with an ASUS BIOS Dep. representative. After recommending that I reset CMOS and update Windows drivers (?!?!?!), the rep. said that R3E does not hold 9 SATA connectors + 1 eSATA and I'm not seeing correctly. Wasn't convinced until I linked official specs page. After that, said she has no IDEA at all. Sorry! Quite usefull chat! I'm really starting to wonder if these support folks are making fun or really have 0 knowledge. Either way....

Later in the day, ASUS sent a new email (what do you know...) saying that the issue I'm having could be due to insufficient power, although once booted in Windows, if I connect all drives (2 eSATA + the two hot-swap HDDs = 11 total) everything works perfectly - for as long as I don't reboot it (be that days or weeks, with intensive file transfers etc.). They now seem to be willing to test in order to replicate the issue, if the power idea doesn't come through. Glad to see improvement in their attitude and support.

ZioGTS, my system is :

Cooler Master Haf X / Seasonic X-750 750W (80+ Gold) / Asus Rampage III Extreme
Intel Core i7 950 / Noctua NH-D14
OCZ RevoDrive 3 Series 120GB PCI-E / 1 x Intel SSD 520 Series 120Gb + 2 x Seagate 2TB SATA-III Barracuda XT + 5 x Western Digital 2TB SATA-III Caviar Black
12GB DDR3 (6 x Kingston HyperX XMP 2GB DDR3 1333MHz)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 1GB DDR5 256-bit
Asus Xonar Essence STX
Windows 7 x64 SP1

No overclocking. No SLI. I, for one, don't think that these components need more power but, as said, its rather a BIOS misconfig/bug/limitation.

Getting a new, quality, higher power supply is quite expensive. Unfortunately, I don't have one available to test, so I'd have to buy it.

[ZioGTS]

I doubt there would be any improvement by replacing your power supply... :|
Maybe your contacts at ASUS could give us their newest beta bios, so we would be able to test and mod on a fresher base.

[jtarm]

Well, what do you know! I have discovered (and fixed) the issue!!! Huray!

After getting a proper email from (the real) Asus Tech Department, mentioning insuficient power, again, as a potential source and requesting detailed info about firmware, config etc. I gave it another thought. This time, the fellow that sent the email seemed to know what he was writing about. I spent almost 3 days checking each individual component. From PSU, controllers to HDDs, etc. All seemed perfectly normal.

Just when I was ready to give up, I remembered that CM's HAF X case features, by default, a hot swap PCB (in attachment), to which two HDDs were connected. This PCB was powered by one molex. I removed it, and connected the two HDDs directly. Voila! Magic was done and everything started working properly. PC boots normally with ALL 11 HDDs (internal & eSATA) connected.

Your modded 1502 BIOS is absolutely perfectly stable with excellent transfer speeds. Been using it ever since you posted and I didn't notice a single bug at all.

Thank you for everything : patience, advices & all. Without you, I'd have probably gone insane over this issue. Cheers!

[ZioGTS]

You're welcome! Nice to hear you can safely enjoy your ultra-high-storage PC now!