BIOS upgrades, yay or nay?

R

RyzeCooker

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May 3, 2020
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I live by the old adage if it ain't broke, but I wonder how my fellow hackintosh-builders go about BIOS updates. I'm still on the version the board was on when I got it, but that's about 20 updates ago I noticed. The system is stable and there's nothing I need to update my system over (release notes mention things like newer Ryzen support et cetera) but I was curious what others do.

Install and test, just like with new OpenCore versions or... like met, just cannot be arsed to upgrade when there's no real need? 🙃 I have of course a copy of the current bios ready, so I can always return to a tested system.
 
When it comes to Ryzen CPUs and their chipsets I think Firmware updates are vital to do for stability, USB and Security patches.
Same thing with intel CPUs really but maybe little less so.
On the If it ain't broke don't fix it side of life then just leave it be but personally from personal experience and because of my Job I am a keep it bang uptp date kinda guy. :)
 
Same here, I prefer to do every update. It's easier to backtrack problems that way, much harder if you skip like 20 versions :D
Just keep the last BIOS that worked for you on the stick to revert back to in case of problems.
 
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Thanks for the insights! I think I'll make the jump to the latest version just to see if it makes any difference. ;) EDIT Did the jump from version F12 to F34 and after some minor tweaks it still boots fine. One benefit I already noticed is that I can leave the PCIe generation to Auto (instead of forcing it to Gen3) without my Focusrite usb card crackling and dropping out. So I guess the short answer is: upgrade your bios as it will possibly contain fixes not listed in the release notes. Just backup the currently working version just in case. 🥳
 
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Updating to the October 1st BIOS (36d) for my board made my install become unstable with identical bios settings. Panics upon boot but also sometimes mid boot. Weird. Reverted to the version I was running (36c) and going to leave it on that for now. ¯\(ツ)/¯
 
i believe in each or between FW version released there is a pre-requisite, check that on your mobo download support section.
 
A pre-requisite? I'm not sure I totally understand? EDIT Because it annoyed me and I couldn't remember whether or not I had reset nvram, I decided to reflash 36d, redo all bios settings manually and reset nvram. It seems to have done the trick. Testing for stability now, but it boots. :) EDIT2 Aaaand I'm back at 36c. Regardless of Hackintoshes, this one is really unstable. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was pulled or replaced quickly. The bios sometimes hangs upon reboot at the Gigabyte post screen (!) and requires a hard reset/power off. Will try again a few updates down the line. 🤤
 
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Ha! I was right. Version 36d has been completely removed from the Gigabyte-site. It's 36e now. Don't have time to test it this weekend but nice to know it wasn't my system.
 
I suggest to you to wait until the final version to be realeased. i there is any lowcase let it go, unless you have a big problem
 
Good thinking. The updates are so far and few between that I never really thought it's about them working to a full version.
 
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