bios checksum error

[PeteyCPU]

My roommates computer was running fine then it wouldnt turn on and it gave this error:

Bios checksum error
keyboard error or keyboard not present
detecting floppy drive media disk A
please insert system disk and press enter

what is going on here? The board is a chaintech 7aja2 or aja2e.

Please help

 

[microAmp]

Are you trying to boot up with the floppy?

No? Take the floppy out and see if it boots into the OS.

To prevent that happening again, go to the BIOS and change the boot sequence.

 

[PeteyCPU]

my situation is a bit different...It just goes to the aforementioned screen, it bypasses POST

 

[jamesbond007]

What I did to fix this problem I saw once was I went into the BIOS, changed a setting, changed it back, then saved the settings. That took care of my error.

Good luck!

 

[WebDude]

I don't know why the keyboard error is occuring, but all the other symptoms point to a corrupt bios. The "bios checksum error" is the key message. The reason you don't just get a blank screen is because of the "boot block" section on the newer bios chips.

"Most BIOS code used today is called ?BOOT BLOCK? BIOS. A BOOT BLOCK type BIOS is
different from previous BIOS types in that it is divided into two distinct sections. The first section
of the BIOS is the BOOT BLOCK (hence the name). The BOOT BLOCK uses the first 24k of the
ROM and contains information necessary to initialize only critical system devices such as the
processor, memory and some ISA video cards as well as the floppy drive. The BIOS BOOT
BLOCK is a write protected area and cannot be over written by a BIOS flash utility without using a
special command line switch.

The second section is the SYSTEM BLOCK. The SYSTEM BLOCK is 232k in size and contains
the information necessary to initialize all other system devices such as the video system, input
devices, storage devices, COM ports and peripherals and performs the Power On Self Test. The
SYSTEM BLOCK constitutes the bulk of the ROM.

If an error occurs within the first five steps of the flash process then an error message will be
displayed and the flash process will be aborted. Unfortunately if an error occurs after the flash
utility has erased the SYSTEM BLOCK then the computer will be disabled. The system power
will come on, but the system will not startup as it normally does and you may or may not see
anything on the screen. If your system has an AWARD BIOS you may see an error message on
the screen that says:

AWARD BootBlock BIOS v1.0

CMOS Checksum Error

At this point the system will attempt to boot from a floppy disk. You will be able to boot from a
bootable floppy, but without the BIOS SYSTEM BLOCK you can?t do much else."
PROCEDURE FOR RECOVERING A CORRUPT BIOS CHIP

Why or how your bios has become corrupt is a good question I cannot answer.

WebDude