ASUS Z97 mobo freezing and video distortion in UEFI BIOS! Plz Help!

[xJPN]

Hello,

Firstly, my system specs:
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1
Intel i7 4790K
Nvidia Geforce GTX 980, reference model
16GB RAM, 1600 MHz
512 GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD (OS X)
256 GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD (Windows)
LG 31MU97 (Monitor)(via DisplayPort for 4k @ 60 Hz)

Side note: I will be referring to UEFI as BIOS in the following quandry.

I have a bit of a problem...
Allow me to get straight to the point. I have an ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 mobo. I purchased it to start building my first Hackintosh. As many of you may know, in order for a Hackintosh to run correctly, there are certain default settings in BIOS that must be changed. I had no problems doing this initially, and therefore, I was eventually able to get my Hackintosh up and running, however due to my limited knowledge at the time, I had some clover bootloader issues that I believe to be outside the scope of this question. Just for the sake of clarity, my Hackintosh was set up for dual boot. One SSD for OS X and another SSD for Win7 64-bit. Until now I've not really had the need to access OS X which is why I was semi-content with the aforementioned clover bootloader issues, wherein the clover bootloader would actually fail to post at all despite me setting the drive where it was installed as 1st boot priority. I would always boot straight into windows.

Now, I've said all that to say that to get everything working correctly I have basically decided that I will have to start over and install everything again on freshly wiped drives. As said before, I am very aware of the changes that must be made to the BIOS in order correctly run OS X. Unfortunately that is where I'm having a bit of a problem.

Every time I boot up and press del and actually manage to get through to BIOS(sometimes it just boots straight into Windows even though I'm pressing del like a maniac), everything just freezes. All I see is N/A everywhere, the names of my drives, the incorrect time and date, along with some mysterious and horrible video distortion(video does not distort at windows login). Any keyboard input results in nothing, and the mouse is just frozen in the middle of the screen. I also noticed that the "BOOT_DEVICE_LED" debug light is lit up on the mobo when the BIOS is in this frozen state, although the computer boots to Windows just fine(and even OS X when I disconnect the Windows SSD). So needless to say there is no way I can change the settings I need to for this Hackintosh to work properly.

It is also worth mentioning that my monitor(LG 31MU97) is plugged via displayport in a Nvidia Geforce GTX 980 reference model, on water. I shouldn't have to plug my monitor directly into the mobo when trying to access BIOS, right? Per some experiments, Ive noticed that the video does not distort when using HDMI on the GTX 980. So maybe there is something about displayport? Normally I wouldn't really care if I had to use HDMI, but I need 4k at 60 Hz pretty much all the time when on the computer, so it'd be pretty inconvenient just to have to plug in an HDMI when I'm changing BIOS settings. I don't want to overload this thread with another drawn out question, so I'll post another question here about my Nvidia Geforce GTX 980 displayport issue.

Ive tried everything I know. Flashed a BIOS update(multiple times) using BIOS Flashback, reset CMOS, re-flashed GPU BIOS. I want to get the ball rolling for my Hackintosh, but it seems I'm at a standstill until I can get this BIOS situation figured out.

Sorry for my long-winded question. I just don't want to leave out any details.
Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks in advance:)

Distorted BIOS - DisplayPort->GTX 980

Not Distorted BIOS - HDMI->GTX 980

BOOT_DEVICE_LED debug light

 

[mfc88]

It is also worth mentioning that my monitor(LG 31MU97) is plugged via displayport in a Nvidia Geforce GTX 980 reference model, on water. I shouldn't have to plug my monitor directly into the mobo when trying to access BIOS, right? Per some experiments, Ive noticed that the video does not distort when using HDMI on the GTX 980. So maybe there is something about displayport? Normally I wouldn't really care if I had to use HDMI, but I need 4k at 60 Hz pretty much all the time when on the computer, so it'd be pretty inconvenient just to have to plug in an HDMI when I'm changing BIOS settings. I don't want to overload this thread with another drawn out question, so I'll post another question here about my Nvidia Geforce GTX 980 displayport issue.

Sounds like a motherboard, and/or GPU, and/or possible monitor issue. If HDMI works perfectly fine, but Displayport gives you funky distortion, it's the either the port on the GPU or the port on the monitor. Try swapping to a different monitor and see if you get the same results. If it's the same, then the GPU is obviously at fault. Also, to be sure, try using a different GPU (if possible) and plugging that into the monitor via DP. If distortion, then it's the monitor. Swap parts in and out and see if you can replicate the issues.

 

There are a TON of variables that you need to eliminate before saying "That device(s) is/are causing the issue".

 

I will state for the record: You're not alone when it comes to a funky GPU. My 980 ti gives me "Out of Range Errors" and/or this "beautiful" color palette of graphical artifacts (thankfully, it doesn't happen too often, AND I'm well aware that this is a sign of a failing GPU, but after getting 2 "replacement" cards that were WORSE than this card, I decided to say the hell with EVGA replacements, and I kept this pile o' sheeit):

 

 

 

Just for the sake of clarity, my Hackintosh was set up for dual boot. One SSD for OS X and another SSD for Win7 64-bit. Until now I've not really had the need to access OS X which is why I was semi-content with the aforementioned clover bootloader issues, wherein the clover bootloader would actually fail to post at all despite me setting the drive where it was installed as 1st boot priority. I would always boot straight into windows.

That's because you didn't install Clover EFI bootloader to the root EFI partition (in your case, you'll also want to install other drivers in "drivers64UEFI" according to your motherboard)

[Allan]

If you want, you can use my guide as reference: [Guide] Asus Z97 Deluxe /i7 4790k/ GTX 980 - Upgraded

As you has the proper help here, I'll close this topic: Nvidia Geforce GTX 980 DisplayPort issues!

 

Read our Rules: Only post your post once (1). This keeps the forum cleaner and makes it easier to find what you are looking for.

[xJPN]

Sounds like a motherboard, and/or GPU, and/or possible monitor issue. If HDMI works perfectly fine, but Displayport gives you funky distortion, it's the either the port on the GPU or the port on the monitor. Try swapping to a different monitor and see if you get the same results. If it's the same, then the GPU is obviously at fault. Also, to be sure, try using a different GPU (if possible) and plugging that into the monitor via DP. If distortion, then it's the monitor. Swap parts in and out and see if you can replicate the issues.

 

There are a TON of variables that you need to eliminate before saying "That device(s) is/are causing the issue".

 

I will state for the record: You're not alone when it comes to a funky GPU. My 980 ti gives me "Out of Range Errors" and/or this "beautiful" color palette of graphical artifacts (thankfully, it doesn't happen too often, AND I'm well aware that this is a sign of a failing GPU, but after getting 2 "replacement" cards that were WORSE than this card, I decided to say the hell with EVGA replacements, and I kept this pile o' sheeit):

.

.

.

That's because you didn't install Clover EFI bootloader to the root EFI partition (in your case, you'll also want to install other drivers in "drivers64UEFI" according to your motherboard)

Thanks for your response. Its good to see that someone understands my plight lol. I've tried a different monitor and it behaved the same way that the original monitor did. I haven't been fortunate enough to get my hands on another GPU, but I'll probably borrow from a friend to test. Problem is I have a custom water loop so disconnecting to test another card is gonna be more than a pain in the rear. That's what I get for trying to be flashy I guess lol.

 

 

Yeah I figured I didn't do something right but that's why I plan to restart everything from scratch and then I can hopefully get a working system out of it, but at present I cant change any of my BIOS settings because of some error that's freezing BIOS every time I try to. That's my real problem, I cant edit my BIOS settings. I know I cant successfully install OS X without doing that first vital step.

[mfc88]

Thanks for your response. Its good to see that someone understands my plight lol. I've tried a different monitor and it behaved the same way that the original monitor did. I haven't been fortunate enough to get my hands on another GPU, but I'll probably borrow from a friend to test. Problem is I have a custom water loop so disconnecting to test another card is gonna be more than a pain in the rear. That's what I get for trying to be flashy I guess lol.

Well it's good to see that you at least eliminated the monitor as a possible culprit! Those things aren't as to easy to swap/RMA.

 

You might just be able to save some hassle and just swap in your GPU into your friends setup (provided he doesn't have a custom loop). Test and see if the card does the same thing in his motherboard.

 

If it's good, then unfortunately, it narrows it down to your motherboard or perhaps one of the peripherals plugged into it. You could run Memtest86 to rule out possible faulty ram. And to check the power supply, you can look at the 12v rail in the BIOS. Any massive fluctuation in the 12v rail is a sign of a bad PSU. The HDDs can be checked with any 3rd party software like CrystalDiskInfo. The CPU can be tested with AIDA64.

 

Run as many tests across your peripherals as you can to narrow down what's causing the freezes. Otherwise, you'll be wasting time/money on replacing something that may not be the root of the issue. 

[xJPN]

Well it's good to see that you at least eliminated the monitor as a possible culprit! Those things aren't as to easy to swap/RMA.

 

You might just be able to save some hassle and just swap in your GPU into your friends setup (provided he doesn't have a custom loop). Test and see if the card does the same thing in his motherboard.

 

If it's good, then unfortunately, it narrows it down to your motherboard or perhaps one of the peripherals plugged into it. You could run Memtest86 to rule out possible faulty ram. And to check the power supply, you can look at the 12v rail in the BIOS. Any massive fluctuation in the 12v rail is a sign of a bad PSU. The HDDs can be checked with any 3rd party software like CrystalDiskInfo. The CPU can be tested with AIDA64.

 

Run as many tests across your peripherals as you can to narrow down what's causing the freezes. Otherwise, you'll be wasting time/money on replacing something that may not be the root of the issue. 

Now that I think about it, the problem may just be the motherboard. I remember trying to hook my monitor in via DisplayPort directly from the motherboard and I got no output on the monitor(of course HDMI worked fine). This would also serve as something of an explanation as to why my BIOS just freezes up whenever I try to access it. Motherboard is seeming more like the culprit here. I wanted to change the internal color scheme of my rig anyways

[xJPN]

Finally got BIOS semi-working. Took out both of my drives and it allowed me to boot into it. All keyboard worked perfectly, the mouse was still frozen but I was able to change the settings I needed to change in order to get my system rebuild started.