Member Avatar for pete3867

Hello all on Daniweb
I have come to ask is my mobo dead
I have a fair knowledge on pc building but this is just tearin me up ...the other day I decided to build a new pc out of parts that I have in the cupboard , namely , a Athlon x2 3600 a ECS skt 939 mobo 2 sticks of value select 512 mb corsair ram .... 2x cd/dvd drives and a Hitachi HD oh , and a Radeon graphics card ... I know ALL these parts are working , as I have individually tested them all and the most of it is my last PC .....anyhow .......mobo processor and ram ...boot up and are visible on the BIOS screen ......as soon as I plug a drive in and try to boot it wont come on ....AND I KNOW for definite all 3 IDE drives work ,,, the only clue I seem to be getting is, when I boot up the mobo ram and proc ....it says ...CHECKSUM ERROR ...loading defaults ....after some googling I decided to try a new BIOS battery ...it has made no difference .. I have looked at all the jumper settings etc .. tryed one stick of ram ... and NOTHING .... it won't even save the BIOS settings .. when I press f10 save it just goes dead ..... cmon guys whattya reckon ... THE BIN ?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Suspishio

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A focused checklist that goes beyond the battery/CMOS/MBR suggestions from and . The symptom that the board boots fine with no drives but dies as soon as an IDE drive is attached narrows the likely culprits to power, the on-board IDE controller, or a short/physical fault on the board. Try these targeted tests in order to isolate the fault.

  • Swap to a known-good PSU or measure the PSU rails while the drive is attached. A sudden drop on +5V or +12V, or an immediate PSU shutdown, points to an electrical fault rather than BIOS logic.
  • Power a single drive from a separate/motherboard-free source (another PSU or a USB-to-IDE adapter). If the system stays alive with the drive powered externally, the board’s power delivery or a short on the motherboard is suspect.
  • Bypass the on-board IDE controller: connect a drive with a USB-IDE adapter or use a cheap PCI IDE/SATA controller card. If the machine boots and installs from that controller, the motherboard IDE controller is likely dead.
  • Inspect the PCB closely for bulging or leaking electrolytic capacitors, corroded battery contacts, bent pins in the IDE header, or foreign metal (screws, standoffs) that could short when a drive is plugged in. Also check molex connectors and wiring for frays or burns.
  • If BIOS settings still cannot be saved despite the above and the board shows no obvious damage, consider BIOS corruption. A controlled reflash or EEPROM programmer recover can restore a corrupted image, but only proceed if comfortable with flashing or have a repair shop do it.

If the on-board IDE or PSU is at fault, a practical workaround is to use an add-in controller or external USB adapter and keep the board for non-critical use. For hardware repair (caps, solder reflow, BIOS chip programming), use a technician unless experienced with electronics.

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Member Avatar for Deehem

It could be an issue with the battery module rather than the individual battery itself. I'd RMA the motherboard under a manufacturers fault to the store you purchased it from. If you purchased it within the UK then you have 30 days to return the item from the date of purchase (if delivered) in accordance to the DSR.

Member Avatar for pete3867

thanks for the reply , but it's an old ish mobo from before my recent upgrade ...so can't rma it

Member Avatar for Deehem

Aha, well in that case there isn't much of the board. Definitely sounds like the CMOS / Battery though.

Member Avatar for pete3867

it seems so bloody wrong to have to bin the mobo , but Im beginning to think ,(after 2 days of messing around with it ) that this is a job for the B . I ..N :'(

Member Avatar for Suspishio

When you boot, POST checks everything and compares with the CMOS. A checksum error usually means that CMOS is not in a state of grace and it should be shirted to clear it and then BIOS can repopulate it.

If that's not the problem, diagnosing at this distance from what you say, it may be that the checksum error lies with the MBR which is bootstrapped in by the BIOS. You can fix this by booting from a Windows disk in repair console and running FIXMBR.

Difficult at a distance.

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