Post Code 8B

[Bill Lane]

Hi all:

When I started my computer today it had a black screen ond in a box in the upper right it said "Post Code 8"

And at the bottom of the screen it said "Boot From CD", but it went on and loaded Windows normally.

A few days ago I upgraded to Internet Explorer 8.

After a couple of days I did an Acronis Backup.

Is this Post Code 8 indicating a proble?

Below is my computer infoemation....

Motherboard: Chaintech S845PE Socket 478 ATX with Sound & LAN

CPU: Pintium4 2.40GH 533 MHz Socket 478

OS: WinXP Pro with Service Pack 3, Auto Updates

Internet Explorer: 8

Outlook Express: 6

Ram: 2 Sticks Of CDN333D1D8C3-1G CenDyne 1GB DDR RAM PC-2700 184-Pin DIMM

Video Card: Chaintech 64MB GeForce 2 Pro AGP

Power Supply: Arrow 500 Watts

Cooler Fans: On CPU, Chipset, RAM, Hard Drives & Case

Hard Drives: 2 WD 80GB Each partitioned into 4 equal partitions

Cables: All round

Mouse: Logitech Cordless Wheel on PS/2 Port

MalwareBytes: 1.41

The Ultimate Troibleshooter ( TUT ) v4.88

S&D Spybot 1.6.2

Ad-Aware SE Personal Build 1.06r1

Reg Clean 4.1a Build 7364.1

CCleaner v1.40.520

Cleaner 2010 v6.1.1.2008

SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition ( Set to Manual )

AVG Free Edition 8.5

HijackThis v2.0.2

Windows Defender Definition Version 1.19.2728.3

Windows CleanUp Version 2.0.0.0

Privacy History Eraser Version 1.4

[EzyStvy]

While you're waiting...Google-> Post Code 8b

and read through the hits you'll see

Did you by any chance have a non bootable cd or dvd in the tray?

Did you shutdown the pc and start it backup to see if the error happens again?

[Bill Lane]

Hi EzyStvy:

I Read and found two items, "Shadow any option ROM's" and "Test and initialize PS/2 mouse".

I did have Acronis disk in my DVD Rom player, and the WinXP Pro disk in my DVDRW.

I took them out and rebooted and looked at the BIOS and the boot sequence had been changed, I set it back to where it should be, First Boot HD 0, Second Boot HD 1, and third Boot CDROM.

The Post Code is still there, and also a Post Code 96 in color that shows up for a few seconds, also it scrolls through a number of other post codes too fast to copy.

[Bill Lane]

Also here's something else that has changed, My computer and monitor are plugged into a power strip that I turn off after shutting down my computer.

Whenever I turn the power strip back on, my computer and monitor would come back on without having to push thier power buttons.

Now just the monitor comes on, and I have to push the computers power button.

I don't know if this info is any help in figuring out what is causing the Post Codes.

[Bill Lane]

I checked the BIOS again and the boot sequence won't stay where I set it.

This time I set it to First Boot HD 0, Second Boot USB HD, and Third Boot CDROM.

I would like to know if I've offended anybody on this forum, If so, I apologize. The reason I ask this question is, I'm getting the feeling that I'm being ignored.

I hope I'm wrong, but if I am being ignored for some reason, just tell me, and I won't bother you with this problem any farther, nor any other problems I may have in the future.

Thank you,

[glc]

You aren't offending anyone - we are just scratching our heads.

All I can say is you have a hardware issue - and with a system that old, it could be anything. You don't exactly have prime name brand components in there.

Try a new CMOS battery.

[edfair]

When you turn off the powerstrip you are killing the standby power section of your motherboard. Because you are also losing CMOS settings anything stored regarding standby power is getting lost. So powering up when you restore power is probably a random roll of the dice.

Don't know your M/B but post code display may be part of POST. Normally is used to latch the code into a I/O card for diagnostic purposes in case the system halts with a fatal error.

Boot from CD sounds like part of a windows boot up message that usually has the full statement of "Hit any key to boot from CD". Since you had a bootable CD in place that would be a normal message and the booting from windows would happen since you didn't hat any key. Try rebooting you system with the XP CD in the same place and see if you get the same postcode error and the boot from CD message.

[Bill Lane]

Okay, I'll try the XP CD.

I want to make it clear that I shut the computer down normally, and then turn off the power strip :-)

I'll have to order that battery if they don't have it at Kmart or Walmart.

[glc]

Most motherboards use standard CR2032 coin batteries, available anywhere.

[Bill Lane]

Thanks glc that was just what I was going to ask. As I have to get help to get my computer moved out where I can open it up. I should have recorded the battery info the last time I was in there.

I did what edfair ask me, the post codes were the same, but this time I had to hit F1 to continue to load. I checked the BIOS and the boot sequence went back to First Boot: Floppy, Second Boot: CDROM, Third Boot: HD 0.

Also I noticed the Date & Time were wrong in the BIOS.

I'll try and get the battery today.

Do you think I need to flash the BIOS ? , iif so, can you tell me where and what to download .

I already downloaded the s845pc31.bin and the instructions, but the instructions tell me I need the af859b.EXE to copy to my boot disk ( Floppy ) , but I can't find it anywhere on the web.

Thanks again,

[glc]

I noticed the Date & Time were wrong in the BIOS.

DEFINITELY a dead battery.

No need to flash it if it works.

[Bill Lane]

Well I'm Back, I removed the old battery and let it sit for a few minuites then installed the new battery.

I went into the BIOS on start up and set the Boot sequence to First Boot: HD 0, Second Boot: USB HD, and Thired Boot: CDROM.

I saved an exited the BIOS, it still showed the Post Codes, but didn't ask me to press F1 to continue or show Boot From CDROM this time.

I shut down and waited 3 or 4 minutes, started up, went into the BIOS again, The time and date were correct, and the Boot Sequence stayed where I had set it.

On the black start up screen it showed Post Code 52 for a while, then scrolled through 5d, 63, 65, 67 and 75, then it showed 8b and in a blue box it showed 96.

Once Windows is loaded, everything seems to work just fine.

Also, before all this happened, when I shut the computer down normally, and turned the power strip off, I only had to turn on the power strip and the computer would start up, that don't work now, now I have to push the power button on the computer to start.

Anyway, let me know what you think my next move should be.

[glc]

Leave it alone - it's working right.

[Bill Lane]

Thanks glc !!!

Appreciate all the help I receive here !!!