Need help with strange Bios

[ELDDJOC]

First, here are my specs :

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4 Ghz

Abit AB9 Motherboard with latest Bios

Corsair TWINX XMS2 PC-6400-C4 Version (2 x 1 GB Matched Pair)

Gecube ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB

Antec P180 Case + Antec TRIO! 550W PS


I was changing the bios values as the Abit settings seemed to be wrong. The Corsair DDR2 800 RAM C4 version was supposed to have a timing of 4-4-4-12, but with the default SPD settings, only runs at 5-5-5-16. I changed the values, and then changed the RAM settings underneath the CPU clock speed to DDR2-800 instead of SPD AUTO.

The PC then would not boot, and following the instructions in the AB9 manual, I placed the 3 pin jumper on the reset mode, waited 40 seconds, then took it out and replaced it in the default position.

The PC then booted, but something was not right. The bios screen had some sort of weird coloured rectangular spots and felt as if it was going to crash. I exited the bios after setting it on normal values.

I thought the bios was corrupted, so I tried to re-flash the bios with the same bios file to overwrite the current one, but it just would not work and stopped. I reset the computer, and the bios read : CMOS CHECKSUM ERROR - Defaults loaded.

My computer has not been quite stable since.

Can anyone help me out ?

Could there be damage to the motherboard ?

[chuck4456]

Could be mislabeled. What is your DDR SDRAM Voltage reading ? That board automatically defaults to 1.8v after a reset. Most Corsair XMS operates at 1.9v. Check that.
BIOS 1.5 is supposed to address that. Is that what you have?

[chuck4456]

Had to go to work this AM, so I cut it short last nite. Checking in to see if you had any luck. Either you did, or your set your PC in the drive and drove over it with your car. Let us know what you found.

[ELDDJOC]

Could be mislabeled. What is your DDR SDRAM Voltage reading ? That board automatically defaults to 1.8v after a reset. Most Corsair XMS operates at 1.9v. Check that.
BIOS 1.5 is supposed to address that. Is that what you have?


I have the latest bios for the AB9 board, dated 10.19.2006.

The DD2 voltage is on AUTO, and reads 2.0 V.

I dare not change it again because I do not want to manually reset the CMOS jumper again.

Will a newer bios update get rid of the CMOS Checksum error : defaults loaded error ?

Or is the AB9 board not supposed to be compatible with Corsair DD2-800 C4 ram and Core 2 Duo processors ?

[chuck4456]

This may sound like a crazy question (but): Is your time and date accurate?

[Mr.Ferrari]

1. SET your N/B strap to "BY CPU"
2. Set your DRAM Spec to "BY SPD"
3. Lock your pci-e clock to 100mhz
4. Set your DDR2 voltage to 2.1V
5. Put your DRAM timings to BY SPD or if your gonna change them, make sure they correspond. Not all bios' have the timings in order.
I.E 1-2-3-4 Might be 1-3-2-4 in bios.

Try it now. If that doesnt work then it may turn out to be a bad flash. In which case....
www.badflash.com

[DarkPacMan77]

aren't those the default settings for that bios?

if not, change them, but like Mr. Ferrari suggested last... it seems to me like a bad flash

edit: awesome website btw Mr. Ferrari, I had never heard of a site like that before.

[chuck4456]

That concurrs with what I was getting at. My suggestion was going to be to load in the defaults, be sure it was all running OK, and then leave the PC on all nite. In the morning, he could get up, shut the system OFF for about a half hour and then fire it back up in order to see if he still got that error. That could eliminate the possibilty of a faulty battery. There are also several instances of AB9 (Pro) with ANTEC PSU problems. The first switch on powers the PSU but never reaches the motherboard. Then at the second switch on, the power does go thru, but the system has already reset itself. If it turns out to be BIOS, U-ABIT will send him a new chip if he needs it. If it's a new board, he can (most likely) get a case number from U-ABIT and get a brand new one. Covering all bases for accurate diagnosis.

[Mr.Ferrari]

We'll he said he was messing around with the Dividers, and the fact that his ram needs 2.1v. Not 2.0v. Also could be an issue of setting the timings wrong.

Bad flash would be next logical step.

[ELDDJOC]

That concurrs with what I was getting at. My suggestion was going to be to load in the defaults, be sure it was all running OK, and then leave the PC on all nite. In the morning, he could get up, shut the system OFF for about a half hour and then fire it back up in order to see if he still got that error. That could eliminate the possibilty of a faulty battery. There are also several instances of AB9 (Pro) with ANTEC PSU problems. The first switch on powers the PSU but never reaches the motherboard. Then at the second switch on, the power does go thru, but the system has already reset itself. If it turns out to be BIOS, U-ABIT will send him a new chip if he needs it. If it's a new board, he can (most likely) get a case number from U-ABIT and get a brand new one. Covering all bases for accurate diagnosis.


All are on defaults as you guys suggested, but bios flash still gives the CMOS checksum error.

Could it be a bad chip ? Or did I reset CMOS the wrong way ? I read somewhere you need to reset the cover on the 3 pin connector to clear, boot the PC, then reset the little cover to the normal position, then boot, to completely make the PC normal ?

Is it possible to kill the motherboard just because of my error in changing the value from SPD to DDR2 800 RAM ?

[Mr.Ferrari]

It really shouldnt. Which method did you use for the bios flash? Alt-F2? Floppy boot? Or windows flash?

And your memory is at 2.1v?

Perhaps reverting back to an older BIOS?

[chuck4456]

Excellent suggestion. If your latest BIOS rev is 1.5, try going back to 1.4. Did this problem begin before or after you udated ?

[ELDDJOC]

Excellent suggestion. If your latest BIOS rev is 1.5, try going back to 1.4. Did this problem begin before or after you udated ?

Well ....

The bios weirdness happened after the computer would not boot with the new adjusted v1.5 bios settings, in which I changed both the RAM timings and RAM type to DDR2-800/DDR800 ?

After I cleared the CMOS and reset the jumper, the PC began acting strange, and I attempted to re-flash the bios with the v1.5 bios again, and the instability symptoms then started.

Bios 1.4 was updated to 1.5 even before I installed windows, as unless that happened, the SATA settings could not be done properly and windows would not install at all, and the only way around that was the flash v1.4 to 1.5.

[chuck4456]

The flash may have crashed your chip. I would use the BLACK BOX and submit all details to U-ABIT. I would also contact support by phone to be sure that they have received accurate details. Being Sunday, that may be tough to do. One last question: What Antivirus do you use in your system?
Please let us know what you find out.

[tempus]

Well ....

The bios weirdness happened after the computer would not boot with the new adjusted v1.5 bios settings, in which I changed both the RAM timings and RAM type to DDR2-800/DDR800 ?

After I cleared the CMOS and reset the jumper, the PC began acting strange, and I attempted to re-flash the bios with the v1.5 bios again, and the instability symptoms then started.

Bios 1.4 was updated to 1.5 even before I installed windows, as unless that happened, the SATA settings could not be done properly and windows would not install at all, and the only way around that was the flash v1.4 to 1.5.
Try removing the battery for several minutes, replace it, then try again. You attempted to reflash to the BIOS v1.5? Was this the correct BIOS for the board?

[newbuilder14]

The flash may have crashed your chip. I would use the BLACK BOX and submit all details to U-ABIT. I would also contact support by phone to be sure that they have received accurate details. Being Sunday, that may be tough to do. One last question: What Antivirus do you use in your system?
Please let us know what you find out.

Really sounds like what happened to one of my boards. I reset the CMOS and it was all downhill from there. Sometimes you just have a bad BIOS chip. Try to get Abit to send you a new one.

[ELDDJOC]

The flash may have crashed your chip. I would use the BLACK BOX and submit all details to U-ABIT. I would also contact support by phone to be sure that they have received accurate details. Being Sunday, that may be tough to do. One last question: What Antivirus do you use in your system?
Please let us know what you find out.

I cannot use the black box because it keeps wanting me to use outlook express and the setup wizard, which I don't use, not to mention that the blackbox incorrectly detected my RAM amount as 1GB not 2GB, which is weird.

I have written 2 emails to Abit support, but no response.

Somehow, I am beginning to feel that Abit is not as good as I thought they were.

Anyway, my virus checker is AVG 7.5 Free Edition.

Also, where is the bios chip and how do you replace it ?

Thanks guys

[chuck4456]

OKAYYYYYYY.......................
You built a new system as illustrated in the opening. Everything went well.
You installed Windows and the Jmicron drivers at the F6 prompt and it was all hunky-dory.
You had a good time with it. Then you decided it was time for a RAM upgrade.
You installed 2 gigs of Corsair XMS. That's when it all fell apart.
You updated your BIOS. No effect or improvement.
This is how I interpret it. We're going in a circle here. Do you have the RAM that you used originally?
The AB9Pro is an advanced board, designed for users that are very aware that they will be changing settings and making adjustments nearly everyday. It's that way because it's that way. The safety features kick in any time the sytem senses an improper setting or dangerous situation. If a user starts rearranging these settings and they are (simply) dead wrong, the board throws up its fail safe.
Give us exact, specific system specs and start over from the beginning with precise details. We don't want to see anyone not able to be happy with their system.

[ELDDJOC]

OKAYYYYYYY.......................
You built a new system as illustrated in the opening. Everything went well.
You installed Windows and the Jmicron drivers at the F6 prompt and it was all hunky-dory.
You had a good time with it. Then you decided it was time for a RAM upgrade.
You installed 2 gigs of Corsair XMS. That's when it all fell apart.
You updated your BIOS. No effect or improvement.
This is how I interpret it. We're going in a circle here. Do you have the RAM that you used originally?
The AB9Pro is an advanced board, designed for users that are very aware that they will be changing settings and making adjustments nearly everyday. It's that way because it's that way. The safety features kick in any time the sytem senses an improper setting or dangerous situation. If a user starts rearranging these settings and they are (simply) dead wrong, the board throws up its fail safe.
Give us exact, specific system specs and start over from the beginning with precise details. We don't want to see anyone not able to be happy with their system.


I have already given the exact happenings in my first post, and with the RAM, it was in fact already installed. The memory timings were on 5-5-5-16, and I wanted to change it to 4-4-4-12, the verified low latency for the C4 Corsair RAM.

It is actually the normal AB9 board, not AB9 Pro. I chose Abit because I had used their boards before, and it was quite good. I had ASUS and Gigabyte boards fail on me before (default settings) and I did not like those two companies.

I am still awaiting a reply from Abit.

[chuck4456]

us_cts_abit_support
us_support@abit.com