I checked the battery, and it read 2.99V. I popped in a new one<br>
anyway - it read 3.27V. With the machine powered off. <br>
( As Tim suggested, the battery is $3. )<br>
<br>
<br>
I powered up the machine. No POST messages. I did see<br>
the keyboard lights and the CDROM light blink. Nothing on<br>
the screen. Now, I had also removed the hard drive, so it's<br>
a little odd that I didn't get a POST message about that.<br>
<br>
<br>
Suggestions? The board ran for a year, so I'm inclined to <br>
think that something blew. It had been booting now and <br>
then during this recent episode, but now nothing much happens.<br>
<br>
<br>
Oh, PS levels are all within normal range too.<br>
<br>
<br>
-Bob<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 2/8/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Bob Kline</b> <<a href="mailto:bob.kline@gmail.com">bob.kline@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br><br><div><span class="q"><span class="gmail_quote">On 2/7/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Tim Schmidt</b> <<a href="mailto:timschmidt@gmail.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
timschmidt@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hi Bob,<br><br>The error you're seeing 'BIOS checksum error' most likely does not<br>mean that your BIOS is 'bad'. It generally refers to the settings the<br>BIOS is capable of changing and storing in volatile battery-backed ram
<br>on the motherboard itself. The so-called CMOS data... I'd need more<br>information about your problems to help specifically with runtime<br>errors your having, but CMOS checksum errors are generally caused by a<br>
failing battery which can be replaced for between $0.50 and $5.00.
<br>Just pop out the old one (usually looks like a large watch battery)<br>and take it to the local computer shop or jewler.</blockquote></span><div><br>
<br>
Best news I've had today. I'll give this a whirl. The battery is only<br>
about two years old, but things do happen.<br>
<br>
</div><span class="q"><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">As far as general motherboard troubleshooting goes, It helps if you
<br>strip the machine of all non-essential parts (cards, drives, extra RAM
<br>modules, etc) and stress the system that way (I find a good kernel<br>compile or two to be by far the best at catching spurious RAM and CPU<br>problems -- better than memtest86 and the like -- if you get a<br>segfault, you have problems). So long as the bare board works fine,
<br>add components one by one and re-test after each addition to pinpoint<br>the problem.<br><br>Feel free to send more information if you like, I could then give you<br>some more detailed things to test.<br><br>--tim</blockquote>
</span><div><br>
<br>
Great offer. Let me change the battery and see what happens. I can<br>
take it another step, if need be, after that.<br>
<br>
<br>
Thanks for the tips.<br><span class="sg">
<br>
-Bob<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</span></div><span class="q"><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">_______________________________________________<br>grlug mailing list
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