Won't boot unless clear CMOS every time, not battery

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iamboomer2

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First I'll post some specs.

Asus M4A79 Deluxe MoBo (with lates BIOS from asus.com)
AMD Athlon X2 6000+ 3.0GHz cpu
4GB RAM (one stick)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5670


I am posting this from the PC in question. Was bored a couple days ago and was messing with some clock settings in the BIOS, upping one thing at a time in small increments, when I hit a setting that was unstable I would reset PC, and it would set it back to default clock settings. Well after a couple of failed attempts I just decided to give it a rest, set everything to the last config I had that worked. Once I did I hit save and exit, pc shut down, came back on, fans spun, dvd and hdd drives both powered up, but never sent a signal to the monitor, never when into BIOS Post. Pulled the side of my case off, shut down PC and switched the CMOS clear jumper, turned it back on and it booted up. Obviously it gave me the option to load default settings with F2 or go into BIOS settings with F1. I hit F1 and put the settings back to how they were once again (keep in mind the settings were what I've been using for the past 2 years). Hit save and exit, and the same thing, powered off, fans came on, but no Post. Cleared the CMOS with jumper yet again, powered up. Decided to hit F1 again and just load the BIOS default settings, hit save and exit. Yet again, fans on, no Post. Cleared CMOS, hit F2 and windows booted up just fine. Searched around for a while, found that it could be a bad CMOS battery, bought a new one, same thing. Tested the new one, it tested fine. Searched for the latest BIOS update from ASUS, downloaded it and flashed it. Everything went well, but still the same problem. Got into BIOS and checked the BIOS version and it's the one I flashed to it. Thought it could be a glitch in the memory so I ran Memtest86 from http://www.memtest86.com for 6 hours while I watched the super bowl, (go green bay). Anyways, no errors everything went great.

I'm stumped. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome to Tom's Forums! :)

YEAH GB!!! Assuming the CMOS battery is indeed 'good' - a couple possibilities come to mind:
1. Corrupted BIOS - Clear CMOS via 'JUMPER' method; failure = Re-Flash BIOS
2. Conflicting ASUS Utilities installed - Uninstall ALL ASUS Utilities
3. Above fails - Possible bad PSU; try different PSU.
4. Above fails - Possible bad MOBO :(
 

iamboomer2

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Good to be here, and thanks for the reply!

I've uninstalled all of the ASUS Utilities, still having the issue. I will have to try re-flashing the BIOS, and see if that helps at all.
Borrowed my girl friends computer for the day, shes mad...oh well, and swapped in her PSU, still have the same issue, and hers is actually a bit stronger than mine. Would it be possible its a bad MOBO? Since I'm using it now, played COD: Black Ops on it last night, and everything works fine, except the initial boot process.

I'm going to tear it down in about 5 mins, and rebuild everything, cleaning all connections, checking to make sure everything is plugged in securely, and I bought another pack of CR2032 batteries from Radioshack for the CMOS to try, just in case lol. It's not a huge deal if I can't get this to work, cause I'm setting up a shopping list for my new rebuild, but I won't get it done for a couple months, and I sure hate being required to clear CMOS every time I turn on my PC. I'll try some different hardware configs too, just bare bones minimum to start out with and see if it boots up, and try using a different slot for the RAM. I'll post back once I've done everything above, and let you know of the outcome.
 
If you're getting into the OS then run MSCONFIG -> select Diagnostic and restart; if corrected then you've got a conflict or something screwing with the BIOS, but it normally doesn't act as you've described.

The Utilities or any BIOS invading App can cause all sorts of odd behavior as described.

Also, if you changed your SATA from IDE-> AHCI or visa versa then http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976 this can mess with stored settings.

Also, a short -> {lazy-man's breadboard}: unscrew all of the MOBO stand-off screws, and the PCIe screws, move away from any contact with the case {incl I/O shield} and dangle on a towel. Fix = short. Also, if a peripheral i.e. USB cable has a short same thing.

Lastly, try your girlfriends GPU.

All of the above are easy. The PSU is the biggest pain, but necessary.
 

iamboomer2

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Thanks for replies guys. Yea I can get into OS if I switch the jumper for the CMOS every time I start up PC. I just got done tearing everything down, cleaning and starting with bare bones. Needless to say, it still did it with just the HDD, 1 stick of RAM, and the GPU. I haven't made any hardware changes at all, including different SATA/Molex cables, only changes I made before this issue surfaced were to the clock settings. Since then the BIOS should be running on the default settings, and shouldn't have any problems...but it does. Only other change I made was updating the BIOS after this happened, hoping it would solve the issue. I really don't think I messed with the SATA/IDE/AHCI settings at all, but I will run the fix anyways just to be sure. If that doesn't help, then I'll run the msconfig diagnostic. Really thanks for the replies guys and trying to help get this fixed.

@pjmelect - I can't change any settings in the BIOS, if I save and exit, the comp restarts and won't come back on unless I clear the CMOS via jumper, which in turn erases all settings I just changed. Only way into OS is to hit F2 to load system defaults and then it will boot up the OS.
 

studioman22

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I'd go one minimalist step further and try booting without the HDD, leaving only CPU/GPU/RAM. If it posts then enter setup and try changing something, saving, rebooting- and see if the BIOS retains the settings.

If it won't- it wouldn't be the first time someone fried a motherboard attempting to OC. It does happen.

If it DOES retain the settings without the HDD mounted, then you may be forced to do a new op sys install.
 

iamboomer2

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Ok, so I left my computer on during the day while I was at work, got home and it was off. Cleared the CMOS with jumper and it booted up, when windows booted up, this error was on the screen.

Windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 3b
BCP1: 00000000C0000005
BCP2: FFFFF8800490A817
BCP3: FFFFF88007A9A900
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1




It also had to local links to dump files, one a .dmp and the other a .xml. Can't get the .dmp open, but the .xml is just loaded up with different devices and drivers, doesn't say much. Evidentally, it went blue screen sometime during the day, and shut itself down. I will definitely try re-flashing the bios. Might try going with the second latest release they have on Asus.com. I tried booting up in diagnostic, still didn't POST until I switched the Jumper first. I only have one stick of RAM, so I have no option but to use only 1 lol, I've tried putting it in a different slot, didn't help. I will try booting up without the HDD plugged in. I mean is it really likely that the MOBO is fried? Even though it runs just fine while I'm using it. I'm pretty sure the blue screen had something to do with the computer entering sleep mode, I adjusted the power settings to keep everything on all the time and will have to see if it does it again tomorrow or over night.

EDIT: I just had a thought, is there some type of overclocking program that gives you access to the same settings as in the BIOS? Voltage and everything. Something like AMD Overdrive maybe, possibly use that to see what the settings are at. I can't get AMD Overdrive to open, haven't been able to since I first build my PC 2 years ago, updated the BIOS about a year ago and since it's stopped working, think they dropped support for it or something, it just crashes with the error AOD.exe has stopped working blah blah blah.

EDIT 2: Tried booting with no HDD, didn't POST, cleared CMOS, changed a few things in the BIOS, just the wait for F1 on POST. Restarted, never POST'd. I downloaded PC Probe 2 from Asus.com, lets just say my MOBO is one hot mother. Thing is, I can't seem to find a single hot spot on the surface of the MOBO, every spot I can reach to touch is all running cooler than my entire GPU card. I'm left with assuming its the MOBO causing the issues, looks like I will be getting this new PC build done a little sooner than I expected.
 

studioman22

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Yeah, the MB should post without HDD, and leave you with a "no opsys found" or "no boot disk found" type message. You'd probably luck out if flashing it cured the problem. It likely won't. A component on the board probably got stressed a little too far. But then you DID know that was a possibility when you were changing numbers in the bios... right? Sorry dude. :(
 

iamboomer2

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Yea I knew that, only numbers I changed were the FSB Frequency, never went higher than 236, which sent it to unstable. Always ran it on 215 though, and the PCIe Frequency which never went over 110, normally was on default at 100. Series of events just seems odd that it fried my MOBO. Tried a setting that didn't work, restarted the comp, booted up just fine. Decided to give it a rest and loaded up the sames settings I've been using for the last 2 years with no issues from the ASUS Overclock Profiles manager and that's what caused the issue to start. Settings that I know are within the boundaries. I've got a few things left to try. I'll post an update once I do.
 
Don't use an App to OC, do it in the BIOS yourself. It's very easy and easier to diagnose a problem. The MOBO Utilities do more harm than good, and frequently are the root of many BSOD/Unstable systems.

That BSOD is a bad driver, and more than likely your GPU. In addition, run System File Checker -> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

Keep in mind if you're OC'ing either your CPU/RAM/GPU this too can be the root of the problem(s). I noticed an inordinate number of BIOS versions and 'fixes' so yes I would try the latest BIOS version. In general once I have a stable rig, I don't upgrade my BIOS unless I'm having a problem that's BIOS related; newer doesn't always mean better in BIOS.
 

smiggyg

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Did you ever figure out the problem? I almost have the same issue. Mine started when I plugged a flash drive into the front usb port and the pc powered off. (happened a few times before) This time only the fans would come on and rev up and down over and over every 5 sec. So I reset the cmos and got it to post. I set all my settings as I had them for the past year and it booted to Windows fine. If I power the machine down I have to reset the cmos to get it to boot again. If I just reset the machine it boots fine. I've not shut it down in over a month and it runs like a top, encoding videos, games, you name it. (all mildly overclocked)

I've replaced the battery, removed and tried different ram and slots, unplugged all usb headers, no hdd/dvd, diff. gpu, memtest86+, reflashed bios, and tried all safe or default bios settings. The only thing I did not change out yet was the psu. I've tested the voltages and they're all good and stable. I have not had access to a decent one.

Driving me crazy!

Specs:
AMD X4 940 BE @3.2ghz 1.325v only upped the multi
Kingston HyperX pc8500 DDR2 1066/5-5-5-18 @2.2v
ECS 780GM-A Ultra AM2+
EVGA GTS 250
Rosewill 630w Green PSU
 
Smiggyg you should really start a new thread with your problem; however in your case I would strongly suspect the power supply. Substitution is the only reliable test.
Have you tried instead of resetting the CMOS memory just waiting a half an hour or so with the computer turned on?
 

smiggyg

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Thanks, you're right I probably should have started a new thread. I wasn't sure. Some forums don't like the same type of question over and over while others rather you start a new thread. It was my 1st post so I did not want to p.o. anyone.

I have tried leaving it sit and it still does the same thing until I reset the cmos. I agree, I really need to try another psu. It's the only thing I have not tried. (probably should have been one of the 1st things I know.) I just don't have another psu with the 8pin for the mobo. Only the 4pin. Will that work with my board as long as I don't enable ACC or overclock it in anyway?

Thanks again!
 
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