BIOS screen says AMI, but label on actual chip says PhoenixBios

[Very_Bland]

i have been having problems with my computer not booting. i made a post that was way too long, so i'm editing and going to go with one problem at a time. there have been some weird issues i've seen over the last year with this computer, but have no idea if they're caused by just one thing or multiple things.

so i'll start with BIOS.

my computer is a Gateway LX6200 which i got from a friend of a friend.

the label on the motherboard reads RS780M03G1-8EKRS2HMWD

the main issue is that some time ago the system would ocasionally not boot - power button light slowly fades in and out just like it does during sleep mode, fans are on, cd drive makes a sound, but nothing else happens. no POST beeps, monitor power light is orange, the lights on the keyboard and mouse do not come on. when in this state, i can't turn the computer off with the power buton - i've to flip the switch at the back on the PSU. when it finally decides to boot, i get the "CMOS settings wrong" message and have to press F2 to set date, time, etc.

this has happened a couple of times when the computer was actually in sleep mode and i went to wake it up. just fans running and a flashing power button light.

there have also been a few times when i've let the computer sit running in this state, sometimes 10 minutes or longer, and finally i heard the single POST beep and the computer booted to the "CMOS settings wrong" message.

while having the computer case open, i noticed the BIOS chip on the motherboard. the holographic label clearly says Phoenix. but when the computer boots, the screen displays American Megatrends. how is that possible? and is this why i'm having a boot problem?

 

[hang-the-9]

The Gateway support site does not list a BIOS for that model available as a download, so you won't have luck trying to flash it again.

You can try to fully reset the BIOS, unplug from wall power, remove the CMOS battery, hold in the power button for about 10 seconds, try again.

It could be a bad power supply and also needing a new CMOS battery. Check with your friend if anything was done to the system, maybe he tried to flash a modified BIOS to the thing. In which case you are out of luck since there does not seem to be an original BIOS file to try.