Hi all,
I’m troubleshooting a Gigabyte G5 KD (RTX 3060) laptop with a persistent issue where the system powers on briefly with no screen activity, keyboard lights up immediately, fans go full blast after ~30 seconds, and then it shuts down. There’s no POST or beep codes, and no output via HDMI or internal screen. I seen this is a common issue and exists in this forum along with Reddit. Most users report having it after partially shutting the lid or fully shutting it while it’s still on. In my case I selected shut down in the menu and partially closed the lid.
What I’ve Tried:
• Replaced the BIOS chip (MX25L12872F) using a CH341A programmer to program it.
• Backed up the original corrupted BIOS chip before removing it (confirmed successful read).
• Flashed:
• The original BIOS. (no response from power button at all)
• The latest official BIOS from Gigabyte’s website.(resulted in failed boot but now functioning power button)
• A modified version of the original BIOS with the entire NVRAM region cleared (0xFF).(no change. Still no post but powering on for about 45 seconds)
• I have not yet tried the intermediate official BIOS version (FB06), but I plan to(there is 3-4 bios updates on their site for this laptop)
• ThrottleStop and MSI Afterburner were used months before the issue—no core voltage or BCLK tuning, just undervolting and fan curves.
• The laptop only began failing after a shutdown during normal use; no flashing or undervolting was in progress at that moment.
I have done all the variations of draining all power and button combinations to boot. I have removed all but one SSD with the main OS and recovery info on it. I have tried to flash the bios using a USB stick and remaining the file to GIGABYTE.bin. Nothing changes. Other user have repaired this laptop using the ch341A.
Observations:
• When the replaced chip is flashed with original dump: pressing the power button gives zero response (not even keyboard lights).
• When the latest BIOS is flashed: keyboard lights come on, fans spin, but system never posts and shuts down after ~30 seconds.
• I’ve verified the 3.3V line to the BIOS chip is stable and correct. (after lots of finagling usually to get to work. Will be taking advice and switching to Pi with my panoma clip and Linux but in the meantime Linux and both ch341B and 1.76 versions)
• I suspect the firmware region (descriptor/NVRAM) may be contributing to the issue even though I believe. I cleared it in the hex editor)
Why I’m Posting here:
• I am out of warranty and I’m considering porting Coreboot if it’s feasible or already partially supported on this platform.
• Alternatively, I’m hoping someone can advise if there’s a chance the failure is due to corrupt or invalid NVRAM, ME region, or something Coreboot-style tooling (like UEFIToolNE, ifdtool, etc.) might help fix.
• My goal is either to get this laptop POSTing again with a corrected or clean BIOS.
Happy to provide both my original BIOS dump and the edited one.
Thanks in advance!
Edit by Fernando: Thread moved into the “BIOS Modding Problems” Category and title customized