# computer won't get past post unless bios/cmos is reset each time



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

So recently, about 50% of the time when I turned on my 2+ year old computer it would freeze at the motherboard manufacturers logo screen. It worked fine otherwise. Then I decided to load optimized defaults in the BIOS since I've had it running in fail-safe defaults since I don't know when (might have been since I got a new CPU cooler). When I did this, the computer booted up just fine, shut off just fine. The next day when I turned it on, it shut off after about 5 seconds of being on. The last time that happened with my computer, my PSU had died because the fan stopped spinning. Checked all the fans --- still running just fine during those 5 seconds. I then decided to reset the BIOS settings to fail-safe by pulling out the cmos battery. It booted, everything worked normally. I then decided to schedule a chkdsk. Restarted the computer, it booted up to just before windows starts (my computer doesn't show any windows logo when loading the OS so it might be just frozen at that screen) to load and just sits there running the harddrive but the screen is blank. I left it for an hour, came back, and it was still doing the same thing. I have to do a 3 sec manual shut off. Now, whenever i turn on the computer it shuts off after 5 secs, or, if i reset the bios settings does the never ending (or is it?) harddrive thing. It appears to me that something is dying (upset failure?). Anyone have any idea what could be causing this, or how to diagnose the problem. Thanks.

Oh ya, i also get a check sum error.

Specs:
OCZ PSU 850W (not a cheap/crappy PSU)
OCZ 2x512MB DDR2
Abit AN8 SLI
EVGA GeForce 6800gs


----------



## oldmn (Oct 16, 2005)

Hi svus55 Welcome to TSF
You mentioned a new CPU cooler when you installed it did you apply thermal compound?


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

I used the compound that it came with. I got the cooler about 7 months ago.


----------



## mattlock (Dec 28, 2005)

Go into BIOS and look for PC Health or Hardware Monitor. What are the reported temps?

Try booting with only stick of RAM. Try each stick in each slot.


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

I cant get bios to come up anymore. I left my computer running for around 2 hours and it eventually restarted on its own and froze up at the logo screen. I turned it on again and it went to a similar state where the harddrive just runs, except this time the harddrive LED on the front of my case blinked on and off in 1 second intervals. Then i read your post, tried to get to BIOS but now the monitor isn't even receiving input. The computer stays on now instead of having to reset the battery.


----------



## mattlock (Dec 28, 2005)

Try just the basics (CPU,Video card, and one stick of RAM) and see if it'll post and go into BIOS. Reseat you video card.

Are you hearing any any beep codes?

BTW, are you getting the checksum error even after loading the setup defaults in BIOS, or just after you have cleared the CMOS? If you are getting it after loading setup defaults then you'll need to replace the CMOS battery.


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

ok so i pulled out my hard disk and one of the memory sticks. Until i reset the cmos, just the fans would come on. BIOS came up, I went into setup and loaded the fail-safe defaults. I get a checksum error before and after loading the fail-safe defaults. As for beeps, my compter has never beeped before. Do some motherboards just not have a system speaker? if not, where on the board, generally, should i look to hook it up? For now im gonna try replacing the cmos battery.

btw, aren't these types of batteries supposed to last like 10 years? why would one fail so soon?


----------



## oldmn (Oct 16, 2005)

> btw, aren't these types of batteries supposed to last like 10 years? why would one fail so soon?


10 Year s the Shelf life, When you install it in a system it shortens the life. If you leave the computer off for long periods of time it will drain it faster.


----------



## mattlock (Dec 28, 2005)

The Abit A8N SLI has an LED display on the motherboard, that displays POST codes. When the system doesn't POST see what the code is and report it back here.

Since you were able to get into the BIOS, did you check the temps in PC Health or Hardware Monitor?


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

It says .3.8 (those periods are actually superscript) when it shuts off after like 5 secs. Where can i check to see what that means?

Temps read:
CPU Temp: 30-31 degrees C
SYS Temp: 29-30 degrees C
PWM temp: 38-40 degrees C


----------



## mattlock (Dec 28, 2005)

The POST codes can be found in the back of your motherboard manual Appendix G. I've pasted them below. The code you posted is likely 8.E. which is related to the CPU Fan Speed. Load Optimized Defaults then either disable Fan Monitoring or change the Low Limit, and see what happens. What is the RPM of your CPU fan?

I don't think your problem is soley related to CPU fan speed, but it's a start.

AWARD POST Code Definition:
POST (hex)
Description
*CF*
Test CMOS R/W functionality
*C0*
Early chipset initialization:
-Disable shadow RAM
-Disable L2 cache (socket 7 or below)
-Program basic chipset registers
*C1*
Detect memory
-Auto-detection of DRAM size, type and ECC
-Auto-detection of L2 cache (socket 7 or below)
*C3*
Expand compressed BIOS code to DRAM
*C5*
Call chipset hook to copy BIOS back to E000 & F000 shadow RAM
*01*
Expand the Xgroup codes locating in physical address 1000:0
*03*
Initial Superio_Early_Init switch
*05 *
1. Blank out screen 
2.Clear CMOS error flag
*07*
1. Clear 8042 interface 
2. Initialize 8042 self-test
*08*
1. Test special keyboard controller for Winbond 977 series Super I/O chips
2. Enable keyboard interface
*0A*
1. Disable PS/2 mouse interface (optional) 
2. Auto detect ports for keyboard & mouse followed by a port & interface swap (optional) 
3. Reset keyboard for Winbond 977 series Super I/O chips
*0E*
Test F000h segment shadow to see whether it is R/W-able or not. If test fails, keep beeping the speaker
*10*
Auto detect flash type to load appropriate flash R/W codes into the run time area in F000 for ESCD & DMI support
*12*
Use walking 1’s algorithm to check out interface in CMOS circuitry. Also set real-time clock power status, and then check for override
*14*
Program chipset default values into chipset. Chipset default values are MODBINable by OEM customers
*16*
Initial onboard clock generator if Early_Init_Onboard_Generator is defined. See also POST 26.
*18*
Detect CPU information including brand, SMI type (Cyrix or Intel) and CPU level (586 or 686)
*1B*
Initial interrupts vector table. If no special specified, all H/W interrupts are directed to SPURIOUS_INT_HDLR & S/W interrupts to SPURIOUS_soft_HDLR.
*1D*
Initial EARLY_PM_INIT switch
*1F*
Load keyboard matrix (notebook platform)
*21*
HPM initialization (notebook platform)
*23*
1. Check validity of RTC value: e.g. a value of 5Ah is an invalid value for RTC minute. 
2. Load CMOS settings into BIOS stack. If CMOS checksum fails, use default value instead. 
*24*
Prepare BIOS resource map for PCI & PnP use. If ESCD is valid, take into consideration of the ESCD’s legacy information.
*25*
Early PCI Initialization:
-Enumerate PCI bus number.
-Assign memory & I/O resource
-Search for a valid VGA device & VGA BIOS, and put it into C000:0
*26*
1. If Early_Init_Onboard_Generator is not defined Onboard clock generator initialization. Disable respective clock resource to empty PCI & DIMM slots. 
2. Init onboard PWM 
3. Init onboard H/W monitor devices
*27*
Initialize INT 09 buffer
*29*
1. Program CPU internal MTRR (P6 & PII) for 0-640K memory address. 
2. Initialize the APIC for Pentium class CPU. 
3. Program early chipset according to CMOS setup. Example: onboard IDE controller. 
4. Measure CPU speed.
*2B*
Invoke Video BIOS
*2D*
1. Initialize double-byte language font (Optional) 
2. Put information on screen display, including Award title, CPU type, CPU speed, full screen logo.
*33*
Reset keyboard if Early_Reset_KB is defined e.g. Winbond 977 series Super I/O chips. See also POST 63.
*35 *
Test DMA Channel 0
*37 *
Test DMA Channel 1.
*39 *
Test DMA page registers.
*3C* 
Test 8254
*3E* 
Test 8259 interrupt mask bits for channel 1
*40* 
Test 8259 interrupt mask bits for channel 2
*43* 
Test 8259 functionality
*47 *
Initialize EISA slot
*49* 
1. Calculate total memory by testing the last double word of each 64K page 
2. Program writes allocation for AMD K5 CPU 
*4E *
1. Program MTRR of M1 CPU
2. Initialize L2 cache for P6 class CPU & program CPU with proper cacheable range
3. Initialize the APIC for P6 class CPU
4. On MP platform, adjust the cacheable range to smaller one in case the cacheable ranges between each CPU are not identical
*50* 
Initialize USB
*52 *
Test all memory (clear all extended memory to 0)
*53* 
Clear password according to H/W jumper (Optional)
*55* 
Display number of processors (multi-processor platform)
*57 *
Display PnP logo
Early ISA PnP initialization
-Assign CSN to every ISA PnP device
*59 *
Initialize the combined Trend Anti-Virus code
*5B* 
(Optional Feature) Show message for entering AWDFLASH.EXE from FDD (optional)
*5D* 
1. Initialize Init_Onboard_Super_IO
2. Initialize Init_Onbaord_AUDIO
*60 *
Okay to enter Setup utility; i.e. not until this POST stage can users enter the CMOS setup utility
*63* 
Reset keyboard if Early_Reset_KB is not defined
*65* 
Initialize PS/2 Mouse
*67 *
Prepare memory size information for function call: INT 15h ax=E820h
*69* 
Turn on L2 cache
*6B* 
Program chipset registers according to items described in Setup & Auto-configuration table
*6D* 
1. Assign resources to all ISA PnP devices
2. Auto assign ports to onboard COM ports if the corresponding item in Setup is set to “AUTO”
*6F* 
1. Initialize floppy controller
2. Set up floppy related fields in 40:hardware
*75* 
Detect & install all IDE devices: HDD, LS120, ZIP, CDROM …
*76* 
(Optional Feature)
Enter AWDFLASH.EXE if:
-AWDFLASH is found in floppy drive
-ALT+F2 is pressed
*77* 
Detect serial ports & parallel ports.
*7A *
Detect & install co-processor
*7C* 
Init HDD write protect
*7F* 
Switch back to text mode if full screen logo is supported
-If errors occur, report errors & wait for keys
-If no errors occur or F1 key is pressed to continue: Clear EPA or customization logo

E8POST.ASM starts
*82 *
1. Call chipset power management hook
2. Recover the text font used by EPA logo (not for full screen logo)
3. If password is set, ask for password
*83* 
Save all data in stack back to CMOS
*84 *
Initialize ISA PnP boot devices
*85* 
1. USB final Initialization
2. Switch screen back to text mode
*87 *
NET PC: Build SYSID Structure
*89 *
1. Assign IRQs to PCI devices
2. Set up ACPI table at top of the memory.
*8B* 
1. Invoke all ISA adapter ROMs
2. Invoke all PCI ROMs (except VGA)
*8D *
1. Enable/Disable Parity Check according to CMOS setup
2. APM Initialization
*8F* 
Clear noise of IRQs
*93 *
Read HDD boot sector information for Trend Anti-Virus code
*94* 
1. Enable L2 cache
2. Program Daylight Saving
3. Program boot up speed
4. Chipset final initialization.
5. Power management final initialization
6. Clear screen & display summary table
7. Program K6 write allocation
8. Program P6 class write combining
*95 *
Update keyboard LED & typematic rate
*96 *
1. Build MP table
2. Build & update ESCD
3. Set CMOS century to 20h or 19h
4. Load CMOS time into DOS timer tick
5. Build MSIRQ routing table
*FF* 
Boot attempt (INT 19h)


AC2003 POST Code Definition:
POST (hex)
Description

*Power On Sequence*

*8.1.* 
Start power on sequence
*8.2.* 
Enable ATX power supply
*8.3. *
ATX power supply ready
*8.4. *
DDR voltage ready
*8.5. *
Setup PWM for CPU core voltage
*8.6. *
Assert PWM for CPU core voltage
*8.7. *
Check CPU core voltage
*8.8.* 
CPU core voltage ready
*8.9. *
Initial clock generator IC
*8.A.* 
North Bridge chipset voltage ready
*8.B. *
AGP voltage ready
*8.C.* 
3VDUAL voltage ready
*8.D. *
VDDA 2.5V voltage ready
*8.D.* 
GMCHVTT voltage ready
*8.E.* 
Check CPU fan speed
*8.F. *
Assert all power ready
*9.0.* 
Complete uGuru initial process
AWARD BIOS take over booting job

*Power Off Sequence*

*9.1.* 
Start power off sequence
*9.2.* 
De-Assert all power
*9.3. *
Se-Assert power on
*9.4. *
De-Assert LDT Bus power
*9.5.* 
De-Assert PWM for CPU core voltage
*9.6. *
De-Assert CPU core voltage
*9.7. *
Check CPU core voltage
*9.8.* 
De-Assert ATX power supply
*9.9. *
Complete power off sequence

Others
*F.0. *
Button reset
*F.1.* 
SoftMenu reset
*F.2.* 
Power on sequence timeout
*F.3.* 
Power off sequence timeout
NOTE: The decimal point lights up when executing the AC2003 POST action.


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

Fan speeds are all N/A. I have a liquid CPU cooler. This one:

http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=28

It doesn't plug into the motherboard and the only way to change the fan speed is by a small switch for low-medium-high. I've been keeping it on high for now. I'll try turning off the monitoring for the fan.


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

well i got windows to load after turning off auto-shutdown for cpu-fan speed monitoring and loading optimized defaults. let me try restarting it a few times and see what happens. I also have one stick of ram out, so i'll put that back in.


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

ok 3 restarts in a row on optimized defaults, no problems except i'm getting the thing where it freezes at the POST screen about 50% of the time when i turn on my computer. I'll try replacing the cmos battery and let you guys know if that fixes it. I'll also post here if i run into anymore problems. Thanks a bunch for your help thus far btw.


----------



## mattlock (Dec 28, 2005)

What is doing when it freezes on the POST screen? Memory Test, Detecting IDE Drives, etc.

Try running Memtest86+ for atleast 5 passes on one stick at a time (one module physically installed). Report any errors back here.

If it's freezing at Detecting drives then it's either a configuration issue, a bad drive, or bad cable. How many IDE/SATA drives do you have? How are they configured? (Master/Slave, Cable Select, is the Master on the end of the ribbon cable and the Slave in the middle, etc)

BTW, if you still see the ABIT logo at POST, then go onto BIOS and disable "Full Screen Logo" You'll find it under the "Advanced" tab.

Since you are running H2O I have to ask, are you Overclocking?


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

It has frozen twice since I last posted. The first time, it froze just after it put the title of the BIOS at the top and just before listing my components, starting with the CPU. The second time, it froze just after listing the CPU. I'm not sure what component comes after the CPU in the list though.
And no I'm not over clocking. I was going to but I think my system was pretty touchy before about the BIOS settings so I just let it be.


----------



## mattlock (Dec 28, 2005)

Have you ran Memtest? It's sounds like you may be getting a memory error that is causing the system to hang. The BIOS does a memory test but it's not as good the one performed by Memtest86+. Follow the link in my previous post. 

If it's not that then it may an issue with one of your drives or IDE channels.

Post the results after running Memtest and also list all the drives you have as well as if they are SATA or IDE.


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

When it freezes it shows 05 on the POST readout thing.

which is:
05
1. Blank out screen
2.Clear CMOS error flag

Not sure what this means. Do you?

I'll do a memtest too pretty soon.


----------



## svus55 (Apr 11, 2008)

Ok, so it's been a while and I finally got around to running memtest86+ on each stick for at least 5 passes and no errors resulted.

I have one IDE Maxtor 200GB hard drive.


----------



## cdops99 (Jan 17, 2010)

I found this post while trying to troubleshoot the issue I am having with my PC. I bought a new and cheap video card to use with my old abit fatal1ty an8 motherboard and installed it this morning to try and get the system up and running. When I powered the system up the first time I was not getting any video feed to the monitor, and the motherboard POST code was "9.0 - Complete uGuru initial process/AWARD BIOS take over boot job"

I powered down and cleared the CMOS, and when I restarted the system, the monitor was receiving video feed, but is hung up on the initial boot screen with the motherboard logo. The new POST code it is showing is "05 - Blank out screen/Clear CMOS error flag"...

I see the user who started this thread mentioned that same code at the end, but was wondering if he ever got a response, or if anyone can tell me what the fix is for this POST code. I have not tried replacing the CMOS battery yet since I dont have a spare here... I figured I would look around for some knowledge before i spend a few more pennies.


----------



## belac (Aug 21, 2010)

I am getting the 9.0 code as well.
I have taken the board out and have cpu, one stick of ram and pci video card plugged in. 
When I turn it on all the fans spin and it goes through the uguru codes (can see them all as it is quite fast) but at no time do i get any video output.

I have reset cmos - no change
purchased another bios chip - no change
even with no mem or video plugged in I do not get any beeps codes just gets to 9.0. and stops (still runs, fans spinning ect).

Not sure what else I can try. Any ideas?


----------

