Clear CMOS Button Lights Up

[PCNewbieBilly]

Hi, guys.

I recently notice that the Clear CMOS button on the back of the mobo lights up. It didn't light up in the past. I tried to google the info about it, but there was no much help. I check my mobo and BIOS drivers, and they are all up-to-date. My OS boots up normally; no suspicious notices. Another notice about it is that when I turn on my rig, the light goes off. But when I turn off or shutdown my rig, it lights up. I tried to read the manual to look for some clues, but it doesn't quite say anything about the Clear CMOS light on.

I notice that when I shutdown my PC, it seems like it is not shutdown properly. It acts or behaves like you push the power button and hold it down for a few seconds to cut off the power to the mobo.

So my questions are, what does it mean when the Clear CMOS lights up? Does it have something to do with the improper shutdown I mentioned above?

Any clues or info about it would be appreciated. And by the way, my mobo is Z170A Gaming M7 (MSI Product).

 

[weberdarren97]

I don't think it's because of shutdown behavior. I think it's telling you that there's power to CMOS, meaning that your CMOS battery is healthy.

Can you describe the shutdown behavior?

 

[PCNewbieBilly]

I don't think it's because of shutdown behavior. I think it's telling you that there's power to CMOS, meaning that your CMOS battery is healthy.

Can you describe the shutdown behavior?

Hey, Darren. Thanks for your info. But since I built it in July, the CMOS button didn't light up. It just recently starts to light up when I turn off my PC. As for the shutdown behavior, it seems like it is shut down by someone holding the power button down to suddenly cut off the power to the mobo. It just doesn't feel right. I usually shut down my PC conventionally (Click on Start Menu and select shutdown option).

What concerns me is that if there is something wrong with the mobo or something since the CMOS button light starts to light up.

 

[weberdarren97]

So when you click Shut Down, it just powers off instead of going through a shutdown sequence?

 

[PCNewbieBilly]

So when you click Shut Down, it just powers off instead of going through a shutdown sequence?

When I click Shutdown, it does show the Windows Shutdown screen. But I'm not sure it goes through a shutdown sequence in the background. Again, it doesn't seem to be shut down right with the way the LED light on the mobo and the sound from my external hard drive go off.

 

[weberdarren97]

The external drive will likely power down before the tower finishes shutting down because Windows will stop its drivers as soon as you click Shut Down.

Also, with Windows 8/8.1/10, they stop sending signal to the screen before they're really done shutting down. You need to watch the power LED on the tower to see when it finishes shutting down.

 

[PCNewbieBilly]

The external drive will likely power down before the tower finishes shutting down because Windows will stop its drivers as soon as you click Shut Down.

Also, with Windows 8/8.1/10, they stop sending signal to the screen before they're really done shutting down. You need to watch the power LED on the tower to see when it finishes shutting down.

Yes, the OS stops sending signal to the before it really shuts down. But the noticed difference I mentioned is that now it stops sending the signal to the screen and shuts down immediately. In the past, the monitor screen and keyboard LED go off for a few seconds. Then my rig shuts down. On the other hand, the power button on my chassis doesn't have LED. My mobo has the power button LED though. It stays lit after the system is shut down unless I turn the power supply switch to off. And it is like that since I built it. But now the CMOS light recently comes on too. That's why I'm not sure of what is going on.

 

[weberdarren97]

Does it say "Shutting Down" on screen?

https://youtu.be/LqQ0U59-TAs?t=1m50s

 

[PCNewbieBilly]

Does it say "Shutting Down" on screen?

https://youtu.be/LqQ0U59-TAs?t=1m50s

Hi, Darren. Yes, it shows the Shutting Down screen like the video in the link. But the difference is that after the shutting down screen goes off (into black screen), my system goes off immediately. In the past, it took a few seconds for the system to go off after the shutting down screen went off. And the system seemed to go off smoothly; not recently. That's why I said it behaved like the power went off like forced shutdown.

 

[weberdarren97]

That may just be the way that that motherboard works... Not all motherboards have identical shutdown times.

What CPU do you have?

 

[PCNewbieBilly]

That may just be the way that that motherboard works... Not all motherboards have identical shutdown times.

What CPU do you have?

Hey, Darren. My CPU is Intel i7-6700K (Skylake).

 

[weberdarren97]

That may just be the way that that motherboard works... Not all motherboards have identical shutdown times.

What CPU do you have?

Hey, Darren. My CPU is Intel i7-6700K (Skylake).

The 6700K is a very fast CPU. Your computer may just go through the shutdown process so quickly that it seems like it's not doing anything, when in reality it just got it done outrageously quickly.

 

[PCNewbieBilly]

That may just be the way that that motherboard works... Not all motherboards have identical shutdown times.

What CPU do you have?

Hey, Darren. My CPU is Intel i7-6700K (Skylake).

The 6700K is a very fast CPU. Your computer may just go through the shutdown process so quickly that it seems like it's not doing anything, when in reality it just got it done outrageously quickly.

Hey, Darren. Maybe you're right about. ;-)

 

[thekjk11]

Hello,

I see this is an old thread but someone might still be weirded out by this. I have experienced the same behavior with my Z270 M5. I found the cause being Windows fast boot. If it's on, the shutdown takes a bit longer and the clear CMOS button doesn't light up. But if it's off, as I like to keep it (less errors in event viewer) the shutdown is instant after the "shutting down" screen, and the CMOS light lights up.

I think the latter is the intended behavior. It's probably windows fast boot doing something weird.