Can a BIOS permanently go bad? (K8N Diamond Plus related)

[fixmarky]

Did a BIOS webupdate via MSI Live Monitor for my K8N Diamond Plus and got a Bad CMOS error on restart. I didn't think it was a big deal until the next time I restarted- my system hung at a blank screen while my DVD drives began seeking on their own.

Ok, next step was to reset my CMOS with my system unplugged- still the same hang ups, in addition to my PC restarting on its own when I turned it off (all the system restore settings in BIOS were how they should be)

So I take things further and flash an older version of the BIOS in DOS, bootdisks and everything, then top it off with a CMOS reset....and I still get the same hang ups and checksum errors when I start my system.

Random note, probably irrelvant: I lost all my Firefox bookmarks and the search bar is no longer functional. Maybe just an odd coincidence, but maybe not? I dont see how a bad BIOS could corrupt Windows though.

Anyways, does anyone, preferably with a K8N Diamond Plus, have any suggestions as what I could do or what could be wrong? I think I have most of my bases covered but I could easily be overlooking something obvious.

I really don't have the time to call MSI for tech support during the week, so if all else fails I'm hoping I can RMA it.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Peter]

The checksum error after a BIOS update is perfectly normal. Have you been to BIOS setup ever since? As BIOS update instructions tell you, you need to go there, do at least a "load optimal defaults", save, and exit.

Firefox is certainly nothing to do with /that/, and the restarts etc. sound more like a dying power supply.

 

[fixmarky]

Yeah I figured the checksum error would be normal, but my problem persists after loading optimal defaults etc.

As for the power supply, its a SeaSonic 550 thats less than a year old, and the restarts only happened AFTER the BIOS update.

 

[Peter]

Then it might be that something in the "optimal default" set doesn't play well with your particular hardware. The first and foremost thing to do is run a RAM test - www.memtest.org for a fine, free one.

 

[fixmarky]

Reformatted and ran Memtest with no errors at all. My PC still hangs for 5 or 6 seconds making clicking noises before booting. What else is interesting is that the board has a button to reset CMOS, but pressing it won't reset the settings. RMA time?

 

[RyanVM]

Have you tried replacing the CMOS battery?