CMOS Battery

[expat]

Maybe someone can explain the following to me.

Went to start my computer this morning, nothing, just a flashing cursor. Tried to start it several times and each time the same thing. In the end I tried "DEL" to enter the BIOS. That worked, but all seemed normal. Tried to boot again and just got a blank screen and a flashing cursor. No hard drive run up, no DVD drive light, nothing.
Swore a lot and came to the conclusion that it had passed to the great computer land fill in the sky. Went to town and started to price things up. Found a nice Duel Core for reasonable money, but still did not really want to part with a single Euro. Then it occurred to me that the date in the BIOS was Jan 2003, as if it had defaulted back to build day. Why? well out of nothing to loose I replaced the CMOS battery. I checked, it was down to 1 volt and it is normally 3 volts. Well turned the computer on and all was well.
So my question is, why should a flat CMOS battery cause such a "failure", if the battery was/is flat, why would it not just boot to it's most basic setting?

Matt

[NicksFXHouse]

Maybe someone can explain the following to me.

Went to start my computer this morning, nothing, just a flashing cursor. Tried to start it several times and each time the same thing. In the end I tried "DEL" to enter the BIOS. That worked, but all seemed normal. Tried to boot again and just got a blank screen and a flashing cursor. No hard drive run up, no DVD drive light, nothing.
Swore a lot and came to the conclusion that it had passed to the great computer land fill in the sky. Went to town and started to price things up. Found a nice Duel Core for reasonable money, but still did not really want to part with a single Euro. Then it occurred to me that the date in the BIOS was Jan 2003, as if it had defaulted back to build day. Why? well out of nothing to loose I replaced the CMOS battery. I checked, it was down to 1 volt and it is normally 3 volts. Well turned the computer on and all was well.
So my question is, why should a flat CMOS battery cause such a "failure", if the battery was/is flat, why would it not just boot to it's most basic setting?

Matt

Because the "Setup Defaults" are based on the CMOS battery holding the program. There is a part of the physical BIOS chip known as the 'boot block" this is the area that stores all the RAW boot information. When your battery died the system saw it as a CMOS RESET which not only cleared the BIOS settings but also made it impossible for the BOOT BLOCK to load and hold in the CMOS memory until you entered the BIOS to make settings changes.

Most newer BIOS's depend on the battery holding a charge. Older computers do not and will usually boot without the battery, just not hold the BIOS settings.

[expat]

Thanks Nick
Short and simple

Matt

[NicksFXHouse]

Thanks Nick
Short and simple

Matt

he he he

When I am at work I don't have time to shoot off my mouth as much as I usually do  

[congo]

I'm curious to know how many perfectly good PC's are actually committed to landfill projects through no fault of their own  :)

[ctjoyce]

Thats a great question. Most people wouldn't even think to replace their CMOS batt when their motherboard "dies." Infact I don't think many people even know what its for.

Cheers
Cameron

[Fozzer]

......Found a nice Duel Core for reasonable money.......

Matt

...Dual, Matt.....DUAL!

Duel is what the Three Musketeers got up to during their various exciting adventures.....>>>

http://www.amazon.ca/Three-Musketeers-F ... B00000INU8

Paul...with a dual personality... ...!

[expat]

...Dual, Matt.....DUAL!

Duel is what the Three Musketeers got up to during their various exciting adventures.....>>>

http://www.amazon.ca/Three-Musketeers-F ... B00000INU8

Paul...with a dual personality... ...!

Sorry Fozzer, normally I give any writing to my German wife who corrects the spelling and grammar for me. She would have spotted that, but she was at the der Friseur

[cheesegrater]

The first thing people do when something is wrong is RMA.

When I built my system it wouldn't boot, and it turned out that I didn't push the power cables into the board all the way. Also, my floppy drive didn't work, and it was because I put in the FDD cable the wrong way.

[ctjoyce]

The first thing people do when something is wrong is RMA.

When I built my system it wouldn't boot, and it turned out that I didn't push the power cables into the board all the way. Also, my floppy drive didn't work, and it was because I put in the FDD cable the wrong way.

I think I would check the connections before RMAing. And the only way to be absolutely sure something is dead is to test for beep codes.

Cheers
Cameron

[cheesegrater]

Yeah, some guy on the Abit forums RMAed his board 3 times, but still can't get it to work. I suspect something else than the board is failing there. I wonder if companies hate people like him. The technical support is hilarious, their #1 solution for most problems is a new power supply.

[expat]

I think I would check the connections before RMAing. And the only way to be absolutely sure something is dead is to test for beep codes.

Cheers
Cameron

Come to think about it, my computer did make a beeping sequence, but hey, who still has the single piece of A4 that accompanied the computer under the guise "instructions", not me
Also, what is RMA-ing?


Matt

[NicksFXHouse]

Come to think about it, my computer did make a beeping sequence, but hey, who still has the single piece of A4 that accompanied the computer under the guise "instructions", not me
Also, what is RMA-ing?


Matt

Return
Merchandise
Authorization

It's when you send something back as a defect. Most companies require an RMA before they will process the return and give you a new one.

[expat]

Return
Merchandise
Authorization

It's when you send something back as a defect. Most companies require an RMA before they will process the return and give you a new one.

In Germany all items purchased (mechanical or electrical) have to have a 2 year guarantee, just take it back and get it replaced if it is less than 6 months old, or repaired or replaced at manufacturers discretion if it is over 6 months.

Matt

[congo]

RMA is more or less a job/tracking number, bits and pieces get lost everywhere if there is no RMA system in place.