Hello Everyone.
I've just finished building a new PC for a friend but have encountered a problem never seen before. When the machine boots up it detects primary and secondary devices then just stops and hangs. The keyboard does not react at all. A message under the detected devices says
"CMOS Checksum Error - Defaults Loaded"
"Please enter set up menu to set clock ratio".
As the keyboard is frozen (with no lights showing on the keyboard) I cannot do anything to the BIOS.

PCGuide.com suggests the CMOS Checksum Error is likely to do with a faulty CMOS battery. I have changed the battery but there is no difference.

The spec. on the PC is PIII 450 with a Matsonic MS7102C m/b, 64mb PC100 SDRAM, Rage 128 AGP Graphics Card, OEM Floppy Drive, Panasonic DVD and 15G Maxtor HD.

Any help would be most appreciated. Many thanks. Mark.

Does the keyboard light at all when you first turn on the power? If not, try another keyboard on the machine, if possible. If you can get the keyboard to work, press the BIOS access key (F1, F2, F10, DEL, or whatever it is on your computer) immediately upon booting, BEFORE the device detection starts. I'd guess your BIOS settings have to be entered correctly before you can boot up.

Good Luck! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

Kim

Kim.

Many thanks for your reply. Yes - I can get into BIOS if I press Delete quickly but within 3 or 4 seconds the whole thing freezes up again. The whole keyboard - particularly the arrow keys and page up/down keys do not react. When the machine first boots all three lights come on, on my microsoft keyboard then, before the freeze kicks in, they go out again. I have tried three different keyboards and the same thing happens all the time.

Any more advice would be very much appreciated.

Mark.

Hey Markjj ,
Did you check the jumpers for your CPU ? It sounds like you may be off some on them . Double check them and see what happens , if they are right then pull everything off the MB . Then just install CPU , memory , and a ISA or PCI video card and keyboard . Try this and see if you can get into the setup and if it freezes up . Please come back and let us know either way what the out come is . Sometimes it's something really simple and other times it's a bad motherboard /video card / etc.
Pete T.
Originally posted by markjj:
Hello Everyone.
I've just finished building a new PC for a friend but have encountered a problem never seen before. When the machine boots up it detects primary and secondary devices then just stops and hangs. The keyboard does not react at all. A message under the detected devices says
"CMOS Checksum Error - Defaults Loaded"
"Please enter set up menu to set clock ratio".
As the keyboard is frozen (with no lights showing on the keyboard) I cannot do anything to the BIOS.

PCGuide.com suggests the CMOS Checksum Error is likely to do with a faulty CMOS battery. I have changed the battery but there is no difference.

The spec. on the PC is PIII 450 with a Matsonic MS7102C m/b, 64mb PC100 SDRAM, Rage 128 AGP Graphics Card, OEM Floppy Drive, Panasonic DVD and 15G Maxtor HD.

Any help would be most appreciated. Many thanks. Mark.

Sounds like the keyboard controller chip on the motherboard might be bad. Only way I know of to fix it is with a new motherboard. If this IS a new motherboard, check into returning it as defective. Check with your supplier, they might have some more ideas on how to troubleshoot it or prove it is a bad keyboard controller.

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Hey Pete(s) Many thanks for troubling to reply.
The upshot is that I returned the gear back to the retailer today. He changed the m/b and PIII with identical replacements. I put the gear together in the shop and exactly the same thing happened. The retailer was completely stumpted. In the end I gave up and changed the motherboard and processor, opting for an AMD Duron 700. You guessed it - boot up first time with no problems at all. It was irritating not to get to the bottom of the problem but at the end of the day life is too short for these problems sometimes.
Anyway guys, thanks again for all your help.
Mark.