Solved CMOS check sum error at POST in Win7

[loninappleton]

I've run into a CMOS checksum error after doing a number of jumper resets and I've changed the
battery. Battery is not new but at least different.

This is a rig I use to experiment and practice things like overclocking. Before I reinstall Win7 to hopefully clear the checksumproblem is there anything else I should try? Data loss will be minimal if I have to build a new scratchdisk.

Processor is AMD Phenom x3 950 or 945 showing 3.2 GHz in BIOS
Motherboard is an MSI 880gm and it had/has been in service for a long time. Still, this problem cropped up suddenly.

Other problem is if I get past the Checksum, Win7 goes to the screen for Startup Repair
which fails or Start Windows normally which stops in the motion graphic of (whirly spots) and hangs.

Also previously I loaded the repair disk ran the Fix Boot and Fix MBR routines. None of this
seems to stabilize to what it had been. Can this be a bad or failing CPU or even a BIOS chip?

 

[loninappleton]

The MSI is back on and boots into Win7. I don't know how stable.
The original CPU is an Athlon x3 at something like 2.4 Ghz The MSI board BIOS allows opening a 4th core and reassigning the name to a Phenom x4 (Deneb).

After going through those CMOS resets the AMD Athlon is now restored according to CPUZ or MemoryZ which can be inspected in the BIOS.

I did some other tweak in the Cell Menu and I'll report that as a solved (if indeed that was it).

At this point I would like to be able to load the Default options without using random settings that
I think might work. :-/



So it wasn't a battery as is the normal response to a CMOS error. Core unlocking I have scant experience with. I have used MSI Overdrive program somewhat.

 

[loninappleton]

Something I missed in ispection of settings was altered. The board has some DIP switched to
have a speed boost. I am going to reset those to default. These had not interfered so far as I know but it
is a troubleshoot I missed.

 

[loninappleton]

Still able to boot with those switches set to default. They had been set to 20% or max "boost" before
this CMOS question came up. With that done I'm going to try the default BIOS settings.


The BIOS setting changed for the first round of successful boots were


Cell menu > scroll down to FSB.DRAM Ratio from AUTO to 1:2 (the base option)
Cell menu > Auto Disable DRAM/PCI Freq set to DISABLED


Will see what happens with those settings returned to default and those boost switches now
at default.

 

[loninappleton]

Marked solved.


With all of the above restored to default and Optimized BIOS settings selected in the
BIOS option, I'm getting a good boot up. Throwing those boost switches did reduce the speed.


I'll continue to try things on my experimental machine one at a time.


Maybe this trouble shoot will help others