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So I accidentally hit the CMOS reset button....

arredondo

arredondo

Senior member
...while trying to plug my HDMi cable into the back of my rig which was still on (see specs below). Now everything seems screwed up. The red CMOS light on the back of the computer stays lit, the fans are spinning at top speed, and I can't see a thing on the screen. Caps lock and number lock work, for what it's worth.

I know my HDMI cable is getting a video signal because when I power up, the screen flashes black briefly (like normal) but nothing comes up. I tried resetting the CMOS several times, and even removed its battery for awhile - no luck.

If anyone can help me, I'd be eternally grateful. Why would a company put such a dangerous button on the back of their motherboard, I don't know.
 
Remove the video card and plug into the onboard...assuming you're using discrete graphics normally. Sounds like it simply reset the video. Pray for a POST screen!
 
UPDATE:

First things first, I went to sleep. As you can see from my initial post, I asked for help at 6 AM. That was after battling this issue for several hours on my own.

I woke up to read your posts and being more alert I noticed an 'A3' code on the motherboard itself. Searching the net it seemed related to my BIOS settings (switching from IDE to AHCI on the SATA line was a common solution offered), but I still couldn't see anything on my screen!

I reset the CMOS a few more times, changed jumper settings and back, removed the video card and RAM, just about anything I could think of. I even <gasp> considered taking my personally built rig into Best Buy for the Geek Squad to look at it. I know, I know. My own kids started avoiding making eye contact with me.

Then I finally noticed what happened - after making a minor adjustment in my PC yesterday, I put everything back together and plugged the HDMI cable directly into the motherboard not the video card. That's also why I accidentally hit the CMOS button as it is next to this previously unused port.

So once I put the cable in its proper place, voila! The A3 code was replaced by an A6 code I was able to get to the BIOS menu! I switched to AHCI, loaded up my saved BIOS settings and the CMOS light and A6 code disappeared. Everything is now back in order, and my kids are calling me 'Daddy' again.

Thank you guys!
 
I even <gasp> considered taking my personally built rig into Best Buy for the Geek Squad to look at it. I know, I know. My own kids started avoiding making eye contact with me.

Everything is now back in order, and my kids are calling me 'Daddy' again.
Click to expand...

Close one, brah!
 
An important part of your actions many miss is in the statement, "I switched to AHCI, loaded up my saved BIOS settings ....". Resetting the BIOS does exactly that - it resets the BIOS parameters to the factory-default ones. THEN you must go into BIOS and re-establish any and all customizations you made before. That is exactly what you did, and you got what you deserve - success and congratulations!
 
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