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View Full Version : strange BIOS problem - help!


graemeo
08-23-02, 10:26 AM
Got a strange problem here guys - here's my specs -

Athlon XP 1800+ (still locked)
Epox 8k3a
pc2700 Winbond RAM
Seagate Barracuda 80gb
Maxtor 40gb
Geforce 4 4200
300W ps


Last night I got a sudden restart when running a game in XP, then a message at POST saying

"WARNING - CPU has changed - set CPU ratio in CMOS and save"

Checked my cpu ratio and it was still on 'auto' as always, then since I was planning on doing it anyway (and XP has been unstable lately), I blew away the OS and repartitioned/formatted my 'working' drive (the 80gb). I also took out the CMOS battery for a bit then put it back in an attempt to get rid of that strange POST message (which it seemed to do, until about the 3rd time I rebooted, when it came back) - I flashed the BIOS to the latest one also, but the message still persists.

When XP setup gets to the point where it wants to start copying files, it hangs up at 'ks.sys' and says it can't copy the file. I tried different disks (I have 3 copies), tried my other CDROM drive, nothing worked. If i choose to skip 'ks.sys' it can't copy about every 4th or 5th file. After skipping about 25 files I gave up.

Decided to try installing 98 instead, got as far as formatting the drive then got hangups - tried to repartition with FDISK and FDISK sees my 80gb as a 10gb!

I suspect my problems are all coming from the same source, and the fact that I can't get rid of that POST error message even after removing the CMOS battery makes me suspect it's a hardware problem, but I can't tell if it's the mobo or the chip...

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

kevmarks
08-23-02, 11:05 AM
Sounds very strange. Take the board out, dust it off. Take all the components out and put them back in. Switch it on with no PCI cards or anything in (proc mem and G-card only). If thats does not fix the problem. Start your RMA rolling.

When you reset the BIOS make sure the power is out. I.E not just off at the power switch on the front. Pull the plug out of the wall and then do a BIOS reset, some boards don't reset the BIOS if the power is still on.

P.S Pulling the bat out does nothing that the BIOS reset jumper will not do.