Abit ip35-e new build on wolfdale - help with some problems

[rizorith]

I just put together a e8400 on a abit ip35-e motherboard. It's running bios 15 as I don't have a floppy to update the bios (any advice on how to do it with a cdrom?)

Anyways, I'm having a few issues that are troubling me. On my first post the bios gave me this error at startup "CMOS Checksum error - defaults loaded". Whenever I make changes to my bios settings, mainly the boot order so I can install windows, it "forgets" the boot order on reboot. it does remember the new time though. Did I get a bad bios from the start or should I really work on getting the latest one? I absolutely cannot install windows because i can't get the bios to boot from cd no matter what i do.

One other thing that is weird is that when it does restart it always shuts down for about 3 seconds and then starts back up. could this be causing the cmos/bios problem? I got into windows using the version from my old computer and even when i restart there it first shuts the computer down and a few seconds later starts up. is that just a "feature" of this board?

Any help would be appreciated. I know the bios upgrade may help but I'm concerned that I got a bad board. Also I'm wondering if/how to upgrade without a floppy.

 

[Starbuck1975]

You may want to check the ABIT forums, directly from their corporate website. The users that congregate there have helped me through more than one tough spot in troubleshooting motherboard issues.

You may also find a user posting that documents a similar error to the one you have.

 

[monkelyoy]

I'm running an Abit I35 Pro, but I believe this information is correct. It always starts out with the CMOS checksum error because the clear bios jumper is enabled by default (when the board is shipped). Is this jumper still on clear CMOS? Check your manual.

My computer always shuts down for a few seconds to reboot whenever changes, especially voltage/bus speeds changes, are made. This is normal.

If you have decent CD burning software (often comes with CD drive), such as Nero, you can make a bootable CD and flash the bios from this disc. Same goes with a USB drive. The Abit website has information on how to flash once you made the bootable disc:

http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/download/guide.php#6[/L]

 

[rizorith]

the standard bios jumper was set, not the "clear". Anyways, I tried re-clearing it and no luck. is it possible my battery is dead? That's what the manual says which is strange since it's brand new.

I tried burning a disc with nero but now nothing will burn. i get errors or no disc errors. I'm kind of caught in a catch 22 here.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: rizorith

One other thing that is weird is that when it does restart it always shuts down for about 3 seconds and then starts back up. could this be causing the cmos/bios problem? I got into windows using the version from my old computer and even when i restart there it first shuts the computer down and a few seconds later starts up.

afaik it shouldn't do that from a Windows restart.
start out using only 1 DIMM though.

 

[QuixoticOne]

Originally posted by: rizorith
the standard bios jumper was set, not the "clear". Anyways, I tried re-clearing it and no luck. is it possible my battery is dead? That's what the manual says which is strange since it's brand new.

I tried burning a disc with nero but now nothing will burn. i get errors or no disc errors. I'm kind of caught in a catch 22 here.

It is possible that the battery you received was dead or defective on arrival.
If you have a DC voltmeter you can check the voltage across the disconnected battery terminals and usually get around 3.0VDC or more from a good battery.

Double-double check the clear cmos settings jumper, is there perhaps a typographic error in the manual that is showing to install it one way but the actual pin numbers / layout on the motherboard differs?

Try unplugging every unnecessary connector from the motherboard -- speaker, USB, firewire, sound, power LED, HDD LED, etc.

It is possible the board was just defective and not assembled correctly such that the battery standby power is not reaching the motherboard's real time clock / non-volatile RAM chip. I think you'll find that the PC clock doesn't keep time either when the PC is off and not connected to AC power.

Once you've verified that the case/screws are not shorting the motherboard, that all jumpers are correct, that the battery is good, and that it still doesn't work even with the greatest possible set of optional things disconnected then you pretty much have to conclude it is it is a defective board and should be returned as defective upon arrival.

If you really want to look at it in more detail you could take it out of the case and inspect the battery holder and the circuit wires leading between it and the real time clock / NVRAM chip to see if you see any defects in the connectors or printed circuit wires, missing parts, et. al.

I'd certainly try to check the battery voltage and polarity before declaring the board dead, though.

 

[electricx]

Check this out rizorith.

 

[rizorith]

Thanks for all the advice. Most people say that I need to flash to the beta bios but I'm wondering what the logic is in this. Is it possible that the old bios isn't saving changes but the new one would? It seems to me that the problem is a lot deeper than the specific bios version.

I can flash it but if there's no reason to think it would work I'd rather not as I'll probably have to go out and get a floppy drive and hope that it's successful.

By the way, I've tried resetting the bios again, changed the battery, disconnected everything non-essential (including 1 stick of ram tried on each slot) and nothing.

As to the shorts - is there anything specific I should look for? I noticed a few of the screws that hold the motherboard in were loose or would pop off. I screwed them in as best I could or removed them.