970 gaming (E7693AMS) bios/uefi update issues and sound/input issues

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paradonym

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Hi everyone,

System:
MSI 970 Gaming on Stock-BIOS (22.0)
AMD FX-8320 CPU
AMD Radeon HD 7850 GPU
Enermax Pro 82+ 525 Watts PSU
running on Windows 8.1 Pro x64

system stability double-checked with same-time-running prime95 with lucas-lehmer iterations and furmark...

first problem:

After having about 30-60 Minutes of sound (very randomly), the keyboard, the mouse, and a connected XBOX 360 wireless gaming controller is disabled and mouse-cursor stopped while picture (animated smileys, playing videos aso) are still working. Sound is either disabled or with a fuzzy noise when the input-freeze is coming.
So everything seems like a driver-issue.
BUT - I uninstalled all Realtek Sound drivers from the system and the problem still exists. Wenn sound is playing the input is disabled randomly in 30-60 minutes.
So now it seems like a Southbridge issue...

Therefore - I contacted MSI support who told me to do a BIOS/UEFI-update.
Which leads us to....

second problem:
Entering UEFI, checking "Windows 8 Mode" is off (MSI-support told me in a roundabout way they hid "secure boot" in it) - but it was disabled by default.
Then I enter M-Flash in UEFI and fistly backup my BIOS/UEFI on a FAT-formatted stick. That worked, BIOS is saved on the stick, but only if I change the default filename.
According to Youtube-Videos like watch?v=1Z76WuN8eTg (can't post external links) the progress bar that appeared while doing a backup of my current BIOS should appear after selecting the Update-file on the FAT-formatted USB-Stick. - But that progress bar never appears. Instead of that the UEFI is frozen until I force-reboot. Then the system still has the old BIOS/UEFI-version.

Contacted MSI-support again, they told me to do it the old fashioned way through a DOS-System. They lead me to that howto forum-de .msi. com /index.php?page=Thread&threadID=54314 (can't post external links) - Problem: I can't register an account in the german MSI-forum to download all the files.
Coming back to this forum a MSI HQ tool is found https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=116721.0
Following their HowTo leads me to an USB-stick which seems to have the firmware and a DOS-system on it, memtest is somehow skipped, so I checked RAM for myself - RAM is working fine. I can boot from this stick - and I can select to update the BIOS.
But that's all - The screen messages stop at "Preparing to backup current BIOS..."

Therefore - I can't even do a BIOS-Update to follow the instructions given by the MSI E-Mail-support for germany to get a little bit nearer to my sound/input/southbridge/audio-driver issue.

The system runs stable except the sound/southbridge-issue. I tested it while running Furmark and prime95 at the same time. The system ran stable for about 2 hours, so I guess it's not a PSU or CPU/GPU-problem...

Any help for my two problems?
I don't know what I can do further to get into that issue because the sound/input issue also appears when running stock windows audio drivers...
 
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Contacted MSI-support again, they told me to do it the old fashioned way through a DOS-System. They lead me to that howto forum-de .msi. com /index.php?page=Thread&threadID=54314 (can't post external links) - Problem: I can't register an account in the german MSI-forum to download all the files.
Coming back to this forum a MSI HQ tool is found https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=116721.0
Following their HowTo leads me to an USB-stick which seems to have the firmware and a DOS-system on it, memtest is somehow skipped, so I checked RAM for myself - RAM is working fine. I can boot from this stick - and I can select to update the BIOS.
But that's all - The screen messages stop at "Preparing to backup current BIOS..."
Click to expand...

yes its know compatibly issue between  UEFI BIOS for AMD platform & afudos & latest MS-DOS version (the one included in Windows OS{XP,Vista/Win7/Win8}, used to make a bootable devices)
when all of those 3 conditions are met this hang issue when afudos is executed happens
if one of them is changed all goes smooth

Use older MS-DOS version instead with 98 DOS, prepare your USB bootable by follow this guide:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=165175.0

once done, extract all files from: http://download.msi.com/bos_exe/7693vM1.zip
to the USB key then reboot your computer and boot to dos, and proceed with bios flash.
when you see A:\ or C:\ type:
AFUDE238 E7693AMS.M10 [ENTER]

wait to finish, then turn of your computer, remove power cord from the PSU and do >>Clear CMOS Guide<<




 
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You're absolutely sure, that this method works?
I can't update in UEFI itself, I can't update using the HQ tool... I'm skeptical that other methods work, because many methods don't work.

I recorded a sample for the audio issue (the first described issue):
https:// dl. dropboxusercontent . com/u/7293556/MSI%20970%20Gaming%20sound%20problem.mp3
(copy link, delete spaces, points to a MP3, 721 KB) - if you want to hear the original sound - it's youtube /watch?v=f6H4yTEAyHg at about minute 10...
it's totally random that I have either that sound, working sound or no sound - but all 3 versions have one thing in common: Everytime keyboard, mouse and every other input device is disabled (even if I replug them)
 
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Which UEFI options do I have to disable to get the BIOS-update through DOS working?
"Windows 8 Feature" is already disabled, but whats with AMD TurboCore?

Can I do the DOS-UEFI/BIOS-Update completely without SATA connected?
 
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just do what it said, its similar which you already done before when you use the msi hq tool
 
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Is it right that the HP Format tool doesn't copies files to the root of the stick? The HQ tool put all the DOS-Files in the root-folder of the stick - with the HP tool I can't see anything in the formatted stick-folder...
 
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Thanks for the help - seems to be successful with that bios update - UEFI said 22.1 and windows is successfully booted.

Let's get into my first problem... I'll try to use sound for 30-60 Minutes and try whether the sound problem still exists...

Little oddness: Uefi wanted to save the time and date, but only month and year were saved, the day wasn't saved. and windows timed the 20th of december (which will be tomorrow) - before windows first synced the time with internet...

EDIT:
this audio-problem still exists. This time after 90 minutes of playing audio the input is disabled and the audio went weird. With default audio drivers of windows.

That seems to be an RMA case, because every possibillity was already checked...
 
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It all seems to be a manufacturing defect in the southbridge or the ALC1150 chip...
Changing the default audio profile in the realtek audio manager (stereo to 5.1 or 48000 Hz to 192000 Hz) causes the problem.
The higher the audio quality is the sooner the ALC1150 or the Southbridge causes a freeze...
 
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