Windows 10: Windows 11 & Gigabyte Z790 motherboard - Secure Mode and PK Key problem

I have a Windows 11 PC with a "Gigabyte Z790 Gaming X AX" motherboard bought in april 2023 13700K processor, 32 GB DDR5, two 1000 GB SSD, and "MSI Geforce RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio" graphic card. I tried to activate secure boot which was disabled for my son because he wanted to play Valorant!, and I modified Setup to activate it, and create a PK Key I had a message from the BIOS saying the I had to create such a key.... I did not manually define the other keys. After reboot, I had a black screen. I had to plug the Display Port cable directly to my Motherboard to be able to see the BIOS me

:)

 

Help with Gigabyte Mobo and Secure Boot

Gigabyte tech support are very good even for old motherboards. Suggest you ask them too.

 

Windows reported that the hardware of your device has changed. Error code: 0xC004F211 after BIOS update on Gigabyte Z790 Motherboard

Hi
I am getting the dreaded "Windows reported that the hardware of your device has changed. Error code: 0xC004F211" error after updating the BIOS on a Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX motherboard.

I have tried various possible fixes such as those discussed in this

Redirecting

and

Reddit - Dive into anything

Reddit - Dive into anything

https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/zsxwh7/lost_my_windows_10_activation_after_bios_update/

Without any success. Not I have not reinstalled windows and I do not want to go down that path. Nor do I want to have to buy a new key.

Any suggestions on how I can get this resolved ?

And are there any permeant fixes to this problem in the pipeline as it seems to be a common issue ?

Thanks in advance

Rob

 

Asus Z370 Maximus X Motherboards

To the best of my knowledge, Asus has made it a real pain to disable Secure Boot, but it is pretty straight forward.

To Disable Secure Boot:

1. In BIOS go to Secure Boot then go into Key Management
2. select "Save Secure Boot Keys"
3. Select your USB Drive
4. Save all 4 key types to the USB
5. Next Delete the Platform key (PK) only
6. Save and exit, Reboot into BIOS
7. Secure Boot should be disabled

To enable Secure Boot gain:

1. Go back to Key Management
2. Go to Load Default PK (Platform Key) and press enter
3. You will be given 2 options

• Yes will load the default key, Save and restart and Secure Boot should be enabled
• No should give you the option to load the keys you saved to the USB drive Select the USB drive Select the PK key and confirm it is a UEFI Secure Variable, confirm

Save and Exit, Secure boot should be enabled.