Mother board is a standard micro ATX made my ECS, model P5ss-me. It uses AMD k6-2 350mhz. It all started with a power supply failure. I replaced it, booted the system, and it stops with "CMOS checksum error - Defaults loaded", and it gives me two options. Hit DEL to enter setup, or hit F1 to continue. Hitting either button does nothing except a beep. I replaced the battery, no change. Removed all expansion cards, and all IDE devices, left floppy. No change. Did the jumper thing to clear CMOS, no change. My guess is the hard code for the keyboard recognition is corrupted?? If you clear CMOS, there must be a ROM somewhere that contains initial startup code that loads data into the CMOS?? Please help!! Thanks

Sounds like the power supply failure either corrupted the BIOS or fried the keyboard controller. If it is the keyboard controller and you know that "Legacy USB" support is enabled by default or was enabled before this happened you may be able to get in with a USB keyboard (but I don't think it is really worth running out and buying a USB keyboard, especially if you are unsure if the board would support it). If the BIOS has been corrupted and the FlashROM is in a socket you may be able to repacle the chip...if it is soldered... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif , not much hope for it.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

That is the same thing that happens when you flash your BIOS. Normally, you just hit DEL to enter Setup, save from there and it accepts the new BIOS.

Sounds like you've tried everything. Maybe flashing the BIOS would work. If you try it, make absolutely certain you have the correct BIOS and have the instructions available...

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When all else fails, read the instructions.

Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;rid;kbinfo)

Google (http://www.google.com)

Thank you so much for the thoughts. I was trying to be optimistic, but your comments depress me. Well, that's reality. The rom is soldered on, and I do not have the skills in soldering to deal with those tiny pins. As for flashing the rom, would I not need the floppy drive? The floppy drive is accessed AFTER this checksum error, and since I cannot get past this, it would seem to me flashing is not possible. I need keyboard access, right? No, I don't have a usb keyboard, but I did have a usb camera installed on the system, so does that mean a usb keyboard would work in the same port? Are the USB ports accessed before this error? I would think not??? Any further thoughts? Or is it time to be further depressed about getting a new mother board?

There is also the possibility of there being a tiny fuse near the keyboard connector...if that has blown then you would not get any keyboard access and it may cause other errors.

Also going to the ECS site and downloading the manual for the board is probably a good idea, might give you a couple more hints.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Yeah, you need to be able to get past the checksum error, wasn't thinking clearly...

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When all else fails, read the instructions.

Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;rid;kbinfo)

Google (http://www.google.com)

Have you tried a different keyboard? I don't think the keyboard is the cause, but it might help to rule it out.

USB keyboard should work, it plugs into the same USB port and should be usable, but in some cases you have to enable USB keyboard support in BIOS, which means a standard keyboard would still be necessary...at least to get as far as the BIOS setting...

Are you sure you have the keyboard and mouse plugged into the correct ports? If both are PS/2 and are plugged into the wrong ports, (swapped) you wouldn't get any further than the point it hangs now. BIOS would see the mouse as a dead keyboard, or none at all, and you might get the same checksum error message, or possibly keyboard error.

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If your nose runs and your feet smell...
You're built upside down!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.dreamwater.com/paleopete/computer.htm) has been moved, please update your bookmarks.

Sorry to butt in here as I have no offers to make.

I was interested in what MJC said about their being a tiny fuse near the keyboard connector. I've got an old mobo in front of me here. There's a small green thing (2mm x 5mm aprox) soldered on in this board. It's marked f1. (it's a really old one, socket 2) Would that be the fuse in this case. If it is, how would you go about replacing it? How are fuses marked generally? What would blow this particular fuse?

Pete

That is probably the fuse...most circuit boards I have dealt with label the fuses with an "f". Need to desolder it (which is probably going to be very tricky) and replace it with a similarly rated one...

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

I'm so pleased with the unthusiasm and responses I'm getting, and I appreciate so much all the help. If nothing more, I'm learning a lot here. mjc, I looked very carefully around the keyboard socket, and the closest thing I found to a fuse was two orange colored devices, but after ohming them, found them to be diodes and they are good. There doesn't seem to be a fuse. Besides, if a fuse was blown, I wouldn't get the beep when I hit a key, right? Yes, I did get the manual, and read it cover to cover. I real page turner! Ha! That was no help. Paleo, yes, I tried another keyboard. In fact, both keyboards I have work with my other computer. I tried something just for kicks - swapped the keyboard and mouse. Interestingly, the mouse did nothing, and pressing any key, I get a beep, so no change. An interesting observation - every time I boot, I get the same checksun error, defaults loaded. If indeed, the defaults are loaded, wouldn't it boot up the following time without the checksum error? Perhaps defaults are NOT being loaded, or perhaps they are, and are being lost at power down? The battery IS good, as I replaced it. Any thoughts?

I had a similar problem with my mobo. My problem was to do with the memory. I fixed it by:

1. Pull out all memory.
2. Boot computer with no memory installed.
3. After warning beeps start, shut down(hold down power button).
4. Reinstall memory 1 stick at a time.
5. Clear CMOS
6. Boot computer.

This cleared the Checksum error that I was getting because my memory was bad (which I think was caused by a bad power supply). If you put the memory in one stick at a time, you may find one of them went bad.

Unfortunately for me, I learned about this fix after I got fed up with it and bought a new mobo & CPU. Now I have two!

good luck.

Thank you, glyoung. Tried your suggestion - no change!! Thank you everyone, and now the mother board, sadly, is going into the trash can.

I know this is not going to help you out you poor chap, but this is for future reference. I was messing around with some dodgy software last night which made changes to CMOS etc...Luckily before I did any of this I played about with a program called !BIOS300 (http://www.11a.nu/toc.html) from Eleventh Alliance. The utility allows you to make up a copy of your current CMOS settings. I had the same mentioned checksum error then it loaded defaults and continued to boot, had a couple of problems because of some changes made to the system, so loaded in safe mode, then loaded normally then ran the !BIOS300 utility and restored my CMOS settings from the backup file. Hope that this may help someone out as it did me (although it was not skill on my part, merely a HUGE fluke).

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"The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer-let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it will suffer defeat-let such a one be dismissed!" Sun Tzu-The Art of War

[This message has been edited by Health_Warning (edited 03-08-2002).]