Question PC boots into BIOS after start, fails to maintain System Time and occasionally doesn't react to Power button

[Belphe]

Hello,

Roughly a week ago my PC started to have the below issues:

1. First start after pressing the Power button ALWAYS boots into BIOS and resets my DRAM Frequency to default. Restarts never cause such issue - only main start from "cold".

2. After starting Windows, 4 out of 5 times my clock shows the time I switched the PC off the previous day. Online synchronisation fixes this temporarily.

3. 1 in 10 times the Power button would not work at all and I have to switch PSU off, wait 10 seconds and switch it back on to make my PC react to the Power button again. At this point, steps 1 and 2 occur.

Could this be as simple as CMOS battery or are these symptoms of a more complex issue?

Thank you

 

[xenthia]

Hello,

Roughly a week ago my PC started to have the below issues:

1. First start after pressing the Power button ALWAYS boots into BIOS and resets my DRAM Frequency to default. Restarts never cause such issue - only main start from "cold".

2. After starting Windows, 4 out of 5 times my clock shows the time I switched the PC off the previous day. Online synchronisation fixes this temporarily.

3. 1 in 10 times the Power button would not work at all and I have to switch PSU off, wait 10 seconds and switch it back on to make my PC react to the Power button again. At this point, steps 1 and 2 occur.

Could this be as simple as CMOS battery or are these symptoms of a more complex issue?

Thank you

It is possible, but this can also be suggestive of an issue with the BIOS itself. First to be sure that if the battery is actually the problem try taking it out and then using a multimeter or voltmeter check its voltage and compare it with the voltage written on it. If the voltage of the battery is much lower than what it should be try replacing it with a new one.

But if the battery is ok and healthy, you can try updating the BIOS firmware, but even that doesn't help, this can be suggestive of a more serious problem with either the CPU socket or the mother board or the BIOS chip itself which can be awfully hard to suggest a home remedy for that and you need professional level gear to find those kinds of problems.

Hope this helps.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Could this be as simple as CMOS battery or are these symptoms of a more complex issue?

Replace the battery.
All those symptoms can be attributed to dead battery.

 

[Belphe]

I am trying to figure out exactly which CMOS battery I need to order for my motherboard but cannot find ANY info on this on the net or in the motherboard manual. Please help!

My motherboard is: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII FORMULA

Thanks!

 

[SkyNetRising]

Take out battery on your motherboard and read info printed on it.
It's either CR2032 or CR2025.

 

[Belphe]

After changing the CMOS battery (it was CR2032) all the issues disappeared (touch wood!). Thank you all for helping me out!