!PLEASE HELP! _another cmos checksum error and maybe a display problem_ !PLEASE HELP!

[Joktan]

All right, here's a big problem for all you whizes out there. I would really appreciate help with this! I apologize for all the detail, but its so you can hopefully help me easier.;)
I had a perfectly good working desktop computer(self-assembled), until I travelled with it by plane for two hours, and then plugged it into a different, newer monitor, leaving the old one behind.

I set everything up and all, pushed the power button, and then it showed the AGP video card info(nVidia GeForce 4 440-MX SE),and then went to this black screen with just a blinking underscore. Other times the monitor would act as if it wasn't recieving a signal. Pressing reset would just freeze it. Sometimes the monitor wouldn't show anything at all. It was all really random.

So I decided to take out the video card to see what would happen, since I have an onboard one, on my ASUS P4SGL-MX mobo. Doing that would get me a bit further, to the POST scren, but letting it go on caused the same result as the other one, with the blank screen and all the weird randomness.

Then I did something which I maybe shouldn't have done :( I took out the battery, then put it back in. (I know some people have said to take it out for many hours, but still others have said that one second is enough). After putting it back in I booted up the computer again, and still got into the POST screen, but this time, after all the checking form master and slave stuff, I got this error:
"CMOS checksum error - defaults loaded"
I hadn't noticed this error before now, so I can't be sure if it was there before or not, but I dont think so.
Anyways, after this the same thing happened as before, and sometimes the pc just would shut down all of a sudden, randomly like everything else. I tried Del to enter Bios but it would just go on to the same problems still or get stuck. The same with F1, or Alt + F2.

And thats it I think. I don't know what to do or anything! PLEASE HELP ME OUT!
THANX SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!

[deddard]

Hi - Welcome Aboard!

CMOS checksum errors aren't always as bad as they may first appear.
They often occur when HDD or other devices are changed.
Check inside the case to see that all cables and memory dimms are correctly attached, if there are any loose, then just reseat them.
If everything seems ok, then you need to try a barebones boot - don't worry about removing and replacing the battery - this shouldn't have harmed anything.
Make sure you take the correct anti-static precautions as always, and then disconnect eveything but the hdd. reboot, and see if you can get past post and into the bios.
I've got a couple of PCCHIPs motherboards here which are a major pain like this - if I change something, I get a cmos error, and I just have to sit and wait for it to get on with things. Trying to get into the bios makes it sulk some times, so I just leave it, and reboot if necessary.

[Joktan]

Yesterday I turned on the computer again, but this time everything was different. I got to the post screen, but no error message was displayed and it was acting like normal, but when everything at the POST screen was done it just suddenly shut down! Same thing would happen over and over again. Trying to get into BIOS just caused the same result as before though, with the black screen and a blinking underscore.

I unplugged the floppy disk and the CD-RW drive, tried booting but still the same. I'll try again tonite and make sure only the HD is the only thing plugged in. Everything seemed fine when i looked in the case yesterday though.

Any more suggestions?

[deddard]

First thing I'd look at is the CPU & cooler - make sure the cpu cooler is plugged in and working - if you keep the side off the machine, you can watch as it boots.
There is the possibility of cmos damage, but I don't really see how a plane flight should prove such a problem. Re-setting the cmos jumpers or removing/replacing the battery (20 minutes should be the max you need to wait!) normally solves these things. Take a good look at the power connectors - including the front panel connectors (reset, power etc) and make sure there is nothing wrong there.
You could also try booting without a keyboard, to see if it gives you an error message (you should see an error message if no keyboard is attached) - this will at least check to see if the POST/BIOS is anywhere near awake.

[ziba-june]

I think when you took the battery out the HD parameters where set to the default. Go back to the COMS and set it to auto and see if the HD is recognized.

[Joktan]

Here's a small update on my computers condition!

I've now figured out that the only time it shuts down automatically is after the POST screen is when the only thing thats plugged in is the HD. Otherwise, it either goes black with a blinking underscore after the POST screen with no error, or it detects a CMOS checksum error, loads the defaults, and stays at the POST screen, letting me press F1 to continue, or Del to get into BIOS. Pressing Del just produces that same black screen. But pressing F1 now gets me to another screen which says "Windows failed to start up normally" or something like that, etc. and then it gives me some choices. To start by:

Safe Mode
Safe Mode With Command Promt
Safe Mode With Networking
Last Known Good Configuration That Worked
Start Windows Normally

However, pressing any of these just gets me the same annoying black screen with the blinking underscore!

So, after hearing this, if you have any more suggestions I would REALLY appreciate it!

Thanx!


Oh, and thanx to everybody for their suggestions, I will try them tonight probably.

ziba-june: I think when you took the battery out the HD parameters where set to the default. Go back to the COMS and set it to auto and see if the HD is recognized.

When you say "go to the CMOS and set it to auto" im not quite sure what you mean, but if you are talking about Award Bios, it doesn't work.

Any other ideas?

Thanx again!

[deddard]

It sounds as if it is not seeing the hdd as a primary boot device.
Do you have the windows cd? If so, make sure your cd drive is connected, and as soon as you boot, put the cd in, and see if it will boot correctly.
If it does, (you should be asked if you want to boot from the cd) choose no, and see if it will then go on to boot into windows from your hdd.
If this works, reboot the system, but try to get into the bios, and do an autodetect on the hdd.

........Something just occurred to me which sounds a bit simple, but is the hdd attached to the correct interface? make sure it is on ide 0 (usually a blue connector on the mobo)and that the hdd is either set to cable select, or is on the end of the cable, set to MASTER. - if the cmos has been reset to defaults, it may not see other ide interfaces as boot devices.

[ziba-june]

Sry, I meant to set the Harddrive value to auto. ALso as Deddard mentioned check the Harddrive ribbon cable, I know you haven't removed the cable but you might have loosen it up when you where changing the battery.
You might want to clear CMOS (throught Cmos switch on motherboard) and see if you can get into CMOS and change the parameters.
One other thing you might want to do is to check for virus in your MBR which has the same side effects.

[Joktan]

Hey! I've been gone a couple days. But when I got back I was able to flash the bios from a bootable floppy. However it said that the file I was flashing it with was not asus bios, although it was straight from the asus website. When i then continued, it finished saying that there was a data compare failure - Expected (5Dh) Real (5Fh). An the it asks me if I want to try again, and no matter how many times I try, its still the same.
Anyways, I just rebooted and was able to get into bios, and then I reset everything to defaults, then rebooted and the computer worked fine. So assuming everything was fixed. I decided to put a new videocard in and make it all work and everything, and it did, that is, for a couple of boots. Then just randomly, I would sometimes get the CMOS checksum error - defaults loaded again. Many times i could just press F1 to continue and it would boot up windows. So since that wasn't such a big deal I didn't really mind it.
But the next day it didn't work again. But then it just suddenly did once, but the next time it wouldnt work at all. Nothing. Everything just like before I flashed it.
The screen would black out with the video card in, but after takinjg it out it would go to the POST screen again, sometimes get the CMOS error and sometimes not. When it didn't it would turn like not give any signal to the monitor or something.
When it did pressing anything, just like before, would just make it go to that black screen with the blinking underscore. So i decided to try flashing it again, which was yesterday. But got the same error messages and stuff. Over and over again!

And thats where Im at now! Any new ideas? I'll check the new stuff mentioned, once i get home.

[ziba-june]

When you were flushing the BIOS did you save the old one? If so go and flush it again with the old copy. Is it possible that you had used the wrong ROM version when you were Flushing your BIOS. Go back and look at your motherboard and see what model and version you have and check it again with your Motherboard manufacturer and see if they have another ROM upgrade.

[Joktan]

I have no doubt that I have the right bios files for my mobo model. Earlier this summer I had gotten another error: BIOS ROM Boot Block Error or something like that. So I flashed it with this same file that I am trying to flash it with now. However, when I flashed it then, it had no problems. It was "successful" and worked totally fine with no problems after that, that is until after this little plane trip.

By the way, this weekend, I tried turning the computer on again, at surprisingly it worked. And after that it has been loading windows practically every time, but the CMOS checksum error still shows up most of the time, but then pressing F1 to continue usually works. Im not sure how long it will stay like this, since it seems so random --> i mean, it just suddenly loaded windows, without any change having been done to it, after a long time of not working at all!

I really need to fix this! I appreciate any suggestions!