Author Topic: BIOS (Read 6737 times)

sloan448 · « **on:** May 05, 2013, 02:33:13 PM »

I didn't know what area to ask this question. I just built a new computer and when I start up it says "CMOS Failure" but then the computer starts up and runs fine. Is this a problem should I ignore it?

Carbon Dudeoxide · « **Reply #1 on:** May 05, 2013, 02:41:52 PM »

Get into the computer's BIOS setup and reset it to factory settings.

sloan448 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2013, 03:08:45 PM »

OK, thanks.

sloan448 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 06, 2013, 01:24:47 PM »

That's interesting, now that I have upgraded my new computer from XP to 7 it doesn't show that screen at start-up. So I don't know what's going on. I will have to hit "delete" or F8 when I start it the next time.

Salmon Trout · « **Reply #4 on:** May 06, 2013, 02:01:01 PM »

Quote from: sloan448 on May 06, 2013, 01:24:47 PM

That's interesting, now that I have upgraded my new computer from XP to 7 it doesn't show that screen at start-up. So I don't know what's going on. I will have to hit "delete" or F8 when I start it the next time.

You mean you don't get the "CMOS failure" message? Or the boot screen with BIOS date, memory test, hard disk list, etc?

patio · « **Reply #5 on:** May 06, 2013, 02:36:33 PM »

Even on new MBoards i've had them arrive with flat CMOS battery...
Part # CR 2032...available anywhere.

Salmon Trout · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:01:42 PM »

Quote from: patio on May 06, 2013, 02:36:33 PM

Even on new MBoards i've had them arrive with flat CMOS battery...
Part # CR 2032...available anywhere.

3 possibilities: 1. Bad battery 2. Bad BIOS 3. Bad board.

patio · « **Reply #7 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:35:28 PM »

Quote from: Salmon Trout on May 06, 2013, 03:01:42 PM

3 possibilities: 1. Bad battery 2. Bad BIOS 3. Bad board.

Agreed...

sloan448 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 06, 2013, 04:52:05 PM »

I mean "Or the boot screen with BIOS date, memory test, hard disk list, etc?". I will have to check the battery, didn't know that effected it. I'm not a computer geek, not up on current technology so my question is what problems would there be if the computer is starting up and running even when I get that message?

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #9 on:** May 06, 2013, 05:07:00 PM »

Quote from: sloan448 on May 06, 2013, 04:52:05 PM

I mean "Or the boot screen with BIOS date, memory test, hard disk list, etc?". I will have to check the battery, didn't know that effected it. I'm not a computer geek, not up on current technology so my question is what problems would there be if the computer is starting up and running even when I get that message?

You said in 1st post:

Quote from: sloan448 on May 05, 2013, 02:33:13 PM

I didn't know what area to ask this question. I just built a new computer and when I start up it says "CMOS Failure" but then the computer starts up and runs fine. Is this a problem should I ignore it?

It no longer says "CMOS Failure"?

sloan448 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 06, 2013, 05:43:50 PM »

It skips the Boot Screen. I just took the battery out to check it. it's fine but now I can't get the computer to boot up. I get a screen that says " reboot and choose boot device or use boot media". Now what do I do?

jason2074 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2013, 07:19:06 PM »

Not sure if its related but check if there is a quick boot option enable or Press F1 for errors on some BIOS settings that might have cause this message to appear. It could also be a dead battery as already suggested.

Salmon Trout · « **Reply #12 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:07:40 AM »

Quote from: patio on May 06, 2013, 03:35:28 PM

Agreed...

Some or all can be present at the same time.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2013, 10:29:12 AM »

Quote from: sloan448 on May 06, 2013, 05:43:50 PM

It skips the Boot Screen. I just took the battery out to check it. it's fine but now I can't get the computer to boot up. I get a screen that says " reboot and choose boot device or use boot media". Now what do I do?

How do you know CMOS battery is fine?

Salmon Trout · « **Reply #14 on:** May 07, 2013, 10:37:02 AM »

I echo Computer_Commando's question, and I notice that no-one has yet asked if the OP has discharged the CMOS. Or asked what make and model the motherboard is, and if it a brand new board or a used one.

sloan448 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:00:55 PM »

I took the battery out of the motherboard and put it in my battery tester (@ 3 volts), it showed it was about half charged.

Well, some success. It's the long way around I guess but it's progress, not the way wold prefer but........
First I figured out how reset the default BIOS settings which got rid of the "BIOS Failure" message and how to set the BIOS to the previous setting. I still got the "Reboot and select proper boot device, or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key" message though. But I was able to get my XP CD to load from the disk drive so I am reinstalling XP then upgrade to 7. I got the computer set up just last Sunday so all I'm loosing is a little time, I guess. I figured it would be easier than trying to make a boot disk that I was reading about.

Salmon Trout · « **Reply #16 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:06:02 PM »

Quote from: sloan448 on May 07, 2013, 01:00:55 PM

I took the battery out of the motherboard and put it in my battery tester (@ 3 volts), it showed it was about half charged.

If you mean it showed 1.5 volts that may be your problem right there. What do you mean it showed "half charged"?

sloan448 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:26:49 PM »

I set the meter @ the 3 volt setting and it went half way into the green (charged) area. The motherboard may have been sitting on a shelf for a while and the battery lost some juice. I haven't had it turned on that long since I got it set up so it may take a little longer for it to fully charge.

The motherboard is a Biostar A681-350 Deluxe. It's a mini ITX form factor. It's half the size (length) of my old micro ATX board. The CPU and fan are about half the size too. When I took it out of the box I laughed because it was so small. I guess that's the sign of the times, smaller is better. I didn't realize until I had installed it into the case and was ready to hook things up that it doesn't have the old style connectors for the disc drive or the floppy drive. After doing a quick search on the web I found out I had to buy a new SATA disk drive. In my last three computer builds (spanning about 7 years) I have had to buy at least one new thing for the computer to put it together. The first one was RAM, the second a new power supply and video card, this time it was the disk drive. These were things I didn't know had changed and I didn't know I needed them.

Salmon Trout · « **Reply #18 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:34:46 PM »

Please state the brand and model of the "battery tester" you are using. I am kind of doubtful you will get a meaningful reading from a CMOS battery, but if we knew what kind of tester it is, that would be handy.

patio · « **Reply #19 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:38:00 PM »

Or just replace the batery...'bout 3 or 4 Bucks.

sloan448 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 07, 2013, 04:56:48 PM »

The computer is running fine now so I'm not going to mess with the battery any more. I don't get any error messages at start-up so unless some thing happens I'm going to leave it.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #21 on:** May 07, 2013, 05:02:11 PM »

When you get to BIOS again, select "Save & Exit". If you don't save settings, it goes back to the default.
CMOS batteries can be tricky, they will stay near 3.0V until almost dead, even the clock will continue keeping time. Only reliable tester is a load tester which it sounds like you have. This is mine.

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Author Topic: BIOS (Read 6737 times)

sloan448

Carbon Dudeoxide

sloan448

sloan448

Salmon Trout

patio

Salmon Trout

patio

sloan448

Computer_Commando

sloan448

jason2074

Salmon Trout

Computer_Commando

Salmon Trout

sloan448

Salmon Trout

sloan448

Salmon Trout

patio

sloan448

Computer_Commando