HP A4316F Bios roll back

[hatrack71]

Hello, I have an older HP A4316F desktop I set aside a few years back because of an update to bios 5.16 that makes the fans rev up and down. Well, it was annoying then but I pulled it out last week and installed 10 on it. It still cycles the fans up and down 200 rpm for a couple seconds randomly. This repeats anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds apart. I know it's the bios.. that's when I noticed the issue. Power supply has been replaced to a 750w Corsair to rule that out. Machine thoroughly cleaned, fans checked, new thermal paste, drives checked, peripherals checked. I can't find fault anywhere. Temps are very good in HW Monitor. So... I am 100% sure.. without a doubt.. bios 5.16 causaed this.

Now the question. Is there a previos version of bios for the M2N78-LA revision 6.01? I believe my machine was stable running either 5.13 or 5.14. Would sure be nice to be able to flash it back. Problem is finding the correct bios. Most I've seen are for the Violet and Violet3 boards. Any help appreciated

[hatrack71]

Also, I am able to get into the advanced bios via a key combination (ctrl f10 then ctrl f11 very quickly- it's tough and takes a few tries) at splash screen to give me my hardware monitor and the fan settins. I do see fan control on/off, all my temps and rpms, and at the bottom an adjustment for auto or manual. When manual is selected.. there are ramp settings and a few other temp settings like max fan..etc. This is from memory so I will get specifics if needed. Would changing any of these values get rid of the problem? Loading defaults the problem persists. I also want to mention that the fans don't surge up and down while in bios.. only when entering a windows environment. In Linux Mint.. the fans don't surge up and down either.. but they run faster most likely because I haven't loaded the sensors in the terminal command. It doesn't bother me as much as the up and down though.

[hatrack71]

....yet one more thing to mention. I have the exact same board M2N78-LA revision 6.01 with bios 5.13 running perfectly in another HP, the P6310F. So I know 5.13 would be stable on this board too. Everything was good until 5.16 update. I remember it was way too much of a hassle to deal with back then though and hp wanted to charge me money for the repair.. when it was their update.

[TheOldMan]

In researching the complaints for version 5.16, many are complaining about very similar items as you.  The trouble being, it is very hard if not impossible to run the older version over a new version.

Here is a lenghty thread with users complaining about the fan.

https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Pegatron-M2N78-LA-BIOS-Update-Issue

Be aware that there are many versions of the M2N78-LA.  Yours is M2N78-LA (Violet6), so be careful on what you choose.

Also, the support page only shows 5.16

[hatrack71]

I am aware of all that but I really I appreciate the response. I see some have flashed to 5.29 to solve the issue but again I'm not sure on versions. And some have reported it didn't work. So it's a risky one at best. And yes, this is a Violet 6 board. It no longer has the original drive so the hidden bios partition on the drive I read about is not gonna be there.. or am I wrong. I'm referring to a bios recovery via windows and b key with the power button.

[TheOldMan]

In the thread I linked I noticed that one poster said it ran fine from a Linux Live CD.  I would try that, IMHO.  And it will reveal the hidden partition if it is still on the hard drive.

[hatrack71]

In my second post.. you will see I am already running Linux Mint as well. As I mentioned.. no fan surges but it does spin faster.

[TheOldMan]

Ok. I forgot that about running Linux Mint.  There is a program called SpeedFan that might help, but It think they talked about that in the thread I linked and some said it did not help.  If you decide to install one of those BIOS's noted in that thread and it works, please post back.

[hatrack71]

What would happen if I disabled fan control in the advanced->hardware monitor bios? Will the fan run at a constant rpm instead of being variable or will it not run at all? I'd hate to risk turning off the cpu fan. By the way, there is nothing like q-fan or smart fan in my menu.

[hatrack71]

It's not very cool of hp to have never addressed this issue. No one seems to have a definitive answer other than replacing the mobo.. for an update to bios hp performed. They messed up our motherboards and left us to sort it out.  I'm finding it very difficult to accept that as the solution. Even still.. many years later. I'm stunned at hp's indifference and the fact there still is no official patch. Wonder if I could overwrite an Asus/ami equivalent bios version on this board? Anyone ever tried and succeeded?