BIOS resets to default

[Haroder]

Being a cheapskate I switch my rig off every night and as a consequence the next day I log on I am confronted with a choice of either pressing F1 to reset my BIOS or F2 to load defaults and continue (SOP for AMI in the event of an error). Whether I press F1 and reset or F2 the OS then boots normally. The OS is Linux Ubuntu 7.10 and is the only OS on my system. It is worth noting at this point that If I simply log off and then log back on within an hour or so the problem does not occur, ie. time is a factor.

Here are a few stats: MB is Asus P5K vanilla, CPU is Intel E6850, psu is Corsair HW520 and RAM is Corsair XMS2 DDR2 4 X 1GHZ.

What have I checked so far?
The MB was initally a Asus P5K-E /WIFI-AP.
CMOS battery was healthy (3V) but I changed it anyway.
Updated to latest BIOS version.
None of this made any difference.
I replaced the MB with Asus P5K vanilla.
Updated to latest BIOS version.
Even replaced the RAM just as a long shot.
This made no difference either.

At the present time I am not overclocking and were it not for the time and date settings I could run (albeit reluctantly) with the default settings. I thought at one stage there could be a conflict between the hardware time and the system time but disabling the system time did not resolve anything. It is also worth noting that the operating temperatures are well within spec, CPU and MB temps at idle are typically 27 and 34 respectively.

So there you have it, I am now running on empty and would appreciate any help.

Sorry about the long post and thanks for reading.

 

[eplebnista]

Have you tried replacing the CMOS battery on the motherboard?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Originally posted by: eplebnista
Have you tried replacing the CMOS battery on the motherboard?

Yes, Haroder had mentioned that he had replaced the battery.

I have not had experience with your specific MB but, I have seen similar problems in other MB's which had difficulties running when fully populated. Try running with just two sticks of ram and see if you have the same problem.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Make sure you didnt get a bum battery or that the clear cmos jumper isnt set

 

[cubby1223]

Always possible it's a damaged board. They can behave like that, I've seen it before.

 

[Haroder]

I have in fact tried three batteries with no success. Two brand new boards have demonstrated the same concern so I am reluctant to believe it is a board issue. I have also had the same problem with just two memory channels populated.

Yesterday I ran Memtest for six hours with no errors.

As stated in my original post, if I reset the BIOS everything will work fine until I leave the PC switched off for an extended period (like overnight) after which the BIOS resets to default. The battery is a healthy 3 Volts and is seated properly.

I am clean out of ideas and am waiting for the new release of Ubuntu later this month to see if that fixes the problem.

Thanks for your interest

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: Haroder
I have in fact tried three batteries with no success. Two brand new boards have demonstrated the same concern so I am reluctant to believe it is a board issue. I have also had the same problem with just two memory channels populated.

Yesterday I ran Memtest for six hours with no errors.

As stated in my original post, if I reset the BIOS everything will work fine until I leave the PC switched off for an extended period (like overnight) after which the BIOS resets to default. The battery is a healthy 3 Volts and is seated properly.

I am clean out of ideas and am waiting for the new release of Ubuntu later this month to see if that fixes the problem.

Thanks for your interest

do you have a cmos jumper? and is it in the correct position?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: rasczak

Originally posted by: Haroder
I have in fact tried three batteries with no success. Two brand new boards have demonstrated the same concern so I am reluctant to believe it is a board issue. I have also had the same problem with just two memory channels populated.

Yesterday I ran Memtest for six hours with no errors.

As stated in my original post, if I reset the BIOS everything will work fine until I leave the PC switched off for an extended period (like overnight) after which the BIOS resets to default. The battery is a healthy 3 Volts and is seated properly.

I am clean out of ideas and am waiting for the new release of Ubuntu later this month to see if that fixes the problem.

Thanks for your interest

do you have a cmos jumper? and is it in the correct position?

Thats what I asked above but he hasnt answered

 

[Haroder]

Being a new member I have not got round to figuring out how to introduce quotes yet but my thanks to rasczak and Radicldreamer for pointing out my omission regarding the CMOS check. I did indeed perform the clear CMOS procedure according to the manual, it was the first thing I tried - it did not solve anything.

However, just to be absolutely certain I have removed the battery and switched the jumper (according to the procedure in the manual) once again. I have reset the BIOS and rebooted a couple of times, everything works just fine. I will switch off tonight but won't know until I boot up tomorrow whether or not the BIOS has maintained its settings.

BTW battery voltage was 3.04 volts so it is obviously in good shape.

Thanks for your input, I will keep you informed.

 

[Haroder]

Clearing the RTC had no lasting effect, it still hangs at boot and waits for me to press F1 to reset the BIOS. Interestingly, on this occassion only the time/date had been corrupted. Other custom settings had been maintained.

I can't think of anything else to try and have now given up. I am resigned to running with the default settings. It is my intention to trash this version of Ubuntu and reinstall the new version later this month. If the problem persists after that I am back to Windows:brokenheart:

I thank you for your interest.