Question about bios setup

[Beemer]

My MSI K8n Neo2 Platinum MB failed probably due to a failed PSU. I have
replaced the MB with an identical one and replaced the PSU. The system
which is not RAID :

550W ATX PSU
AMD64 4000+
4 x 512MB DRAM

1 x 250GB on SATA 3 (boot)
1 x 250GB on SATA 4
1 x 80GB on SATA 2
1 x CD/DVD RW on SATA 1
1 x CD/DVDROM on IDE

System did not post but did so after 20 minutes when left to itself. I saw
message "CMOS checksum error default values entered" . I entered setup and
saw that it had detected all drives and that all SATA channels were on Auto.
System voltages and temperature all were normal. I saved the setup but the
system would not reboot.

Power good signal is 5V on pin 8 (although manual says -5V?)

In trying to recover my first question is. Should a motherboard still go
into setup if:

(a) I disconnect all drives?
(b) If the CPU is damaged?

As I write this the system has booted to a message which says Verifying DMI
pool Data.....update success

but is still sitting with this message.

I now don't know whether I should reboot or wait for something else to
happen?

Hope someone can help as I doubt if I will find a computer repair shop near
me who has a socket 939 processor or a socket 939 MB to take my AMD64 to
test it.

regards,

Beemer

 

[Beemer]

My MSI K8n Neo2 Platinum MB failed probably due to a failed PSU. I have
replaced the MB with an identical one and replaced the PSU. The system
which is not RAID :

550W ATX PSU
AMD64 4000+
4 x 512MB DRAM

1 x 250GB on SATA 3 (boot)
1 x 250GB on SATA 4
1 x 80GB on SATA 2
1 x CD/DVD RW on SATA 1
1 x CD/DVDROM on IDE

System did not post but did so after 20 minutes when left to itself. I
saw message "CMOS checksum error default values entered" . I entered
setup and saw that it had detected all drives and that all SATA channels
were on Auto. System voltages and temperature all were normal. I saved
the setup but the system would not reboot.

Power good signal is 5V on pin 8 (although manual says -5V?)

In trying to recover my first question is. Should a motherboard still go
into setup if:

(a) I disconnect all drives?
(b) If the CPU is damaged?

As I write this the system has booted to a message which says Verifying
DMI pool Data.....update success

but is still sitting with this message.

I now don't know whether I should reboot or wait for something else to
happen?

Hope someone can help as I doubt if I will find a computer repair shop
near me who has a socket 939 processor or a socket 939 MB to take my AMD64
to test it.

regards,

Beemer

(update)

I decided to try a reboot but I'm back to a blank screen with the CRT light
flashing so the video drivers are not loaded.

Beemer

 

[GT]

(update)

I decided to try a reboot but I'm back to a blank screen with the CRT
light flashing so the video drivers are not loaded.

Beemer

Unplug everything leaving only 1 stick of RAM, your CPU and graphics and
power on. You should be able to get into the BIOS and add things 1 at a time
until you figure out which component is broken. If you can't get into the
BIOS with the bare minimum, then you have a faulty RAM, Motherboard, CPU or
GFX card.

 

[GT]

Unplug everything leaving only 1 stick of RAM, your CPU and graphics and
power on. You should be able to get into the BIOS and add things 1 at a
time until you figure out which component is broken. If you can't get into
the BIOS with the bare minimum, then you have a faulty RAM, Motherboard,
CPU or GFX card.

Clarification - DONT add things while the power is on - power off to add
components!

 

[Gerard Bok]

In cases where a board has problems booting, it often helps if
you remove all harddisk exept the one you intent to boot from.
Then make sure this one is recognized by your bios and selected
as primary boot device.

It can't be -5 Volt Don't bother. No 'Power Good' means: no
action (at all) by your PC.

Yes. It will end telling you it cannot locate any boot device.

Depends on 'how damaged'. Don't count on it

Somewhere between the bios setting is an option to 'reset DMI
Pool'. It often helps to select this option.
(It will be set back to off automatically after the next boot)

I decided to try a reboot but I'm back to a blank screen with the CRT light
flashing so the video drivers are not loaded.

No. That cursor is produced by the bios and you video board. No
drivers involved.

 

[kony]

My MSI K8n Neo2 Platinum MB failed probably due to a failed PSU. I have
replaced the MB with an identical one and replaced the PSU. The system
which is not RAID :

550W ATX PSU

What make and model of PSU?
What video card?

AMD64 4000+
4 x 512MB DRAM

1 x 250GB on SATA 3 (boot)
1 x 250GB on SATA 4
1 x 80GB on SATA 2
1 x CD/DVD RW on SATA 1
1 x CD/DVDROM on IDE

System did not post but did so after 20 minutes when left to itself.

This is most often due to a PSU that's malfunctional or of
insufficient capacity on 5VSB rail (and perhaps others but
others not related to the problem seen thus far).

I saw
message "CMOS checksum error default values entered" . I entered setup and
saw that it had detected all drives and that all SATA channels were on Auto.
System voltages and temperature all were normal. I saved the setup but the
system would not reboot.

Be sure to enter bios and save setup without changing
anything (if you had changed anything previously), except
perhaps the clock.

Clear CMOS and/or pull battery out for 10 minutes, either of
these with AC power disconnected from PSU. Having written
this, I now wonder if you were clearing CMOS each time
already since the system would not reboot.

When it doesnt' reboot do you have to clear CMOS or just
power off and on again?

Check the battery voltage.

Power good signal is 5V on pin 8 (although manual says -5V?)

It's a typo, would be 5V, not -5V.

In trying to recover my first question is. Should a motherboard still go
into setup if:

(a) I disconnect all drives?

Yes, it could go into setup regardless of what hardware you
have connected until the settings are saved successfully and
it works correctly.

(b) If the CPU is damaged?

Typical CPU damage would prevent the system from POSTing or
going into the setup menus at all, or at least soon
thereafter it would be permanently dead. Since the system
still shows signs of life it is very unlikely to be CPU
damage.

As I write this the system has booted to a message which says Verifying DMI
pool Data.....update success

but is still sitting with this message.

This means it could't go any further, the next step in the
boot process is finding a device that is bootable and
booting it. Are any drives bootable? Is the bios set to
boot to the correct drive?

I now don't know whether I should reboot or wait for something else to
happen?

If you have not installed an operating system on any drive
yet, now is when most people would throw their (Windows/etc)
installation CD into the optical drive and set the bios to
boot from that drive first. If you have an installed
operating system, set bios to boot from drive it is
installed to. If it won't boot from that drive after you're
sure it's set correctly, check drive jumpers and cables.

Hope someone can help as I doubt if I will find a computer repair shop near
me who has a socket 939 processor or a socket 939 MB to take my AMD64 to
test it.

It's not likely to be a CPU problem unless the particular
CPU simply wasn't supported by the board but I would have
thought it would not POST at all if this were the case.

 

[Beemer]

My MSI K8n Neo2 Platinum MB failed probably due to a failed PSU. I have
replaced the MB with an identical one and replaced the PSU. The system
which is not RAID :

550W ATX PSU
AMD64 4000+
4 x 512MB DRAM

1 x 250GB on SATA 3 (boot)
1 x 250GB on SATA 4
1 x 80GB on SATA 2
1 x CD/DVD RW on SATA 1
1 x CD/DVDROM on IDE

System did not post but did so after 20 minutes when left to itself. I
saw message "CMOS checksum error default values entered" . I entered
setup and saw that it had detected all drives and that all SATA channels
were on Auto. System voltages and temperature all were normal. I saved
the setup but the system would not reboot.

Power good signal is 5V on pin 8 (although manual says -5V?)

In trying to recover my first question is. Should a motherboard still go
into setup if:

(a) I disconnect all drives?
(b) If the CPU is damaged?

As I write this the system has booted to a message which says Verifying
DMI pool Data.....update success

but is still sitting with this message.

I now don't know whether I should reboot or wait for something else to
happen?

Hope someone can help as I doubt if I will find a computer repair shop
near me who has a socket 939 processor or a socket 939 MB to take my AMD64
to test it.

regards,

Beemer

My thanks to all who replied. I have returned the new MB as faulty and
bought a new MB. I need help in repairing Windows but will start a new
thread.

Beemer

 

[Gerard Bok]

My thanks to all who replied. I have returned the new MB as faulty and
bought a new MB. I need help in repairing Windows but will start a new
thread.

Don't try to 'repair' if you replaced a motherboard.
That's a recipe for disaster.

Do a fresh install.
Disconnect the network, install Windows, install the drivers for
your motherboard.
Then connect your network and download XP's updates.