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bios checksum error help

G

gmastra100

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Hi,
I am helping a friend with a bios problem.
Apparently after a power outage the PC would not boot and we were not able to get into the bios screen.
I removed battery and also reset CMOS
but still no changes.
So powering the psu on/off, we got the screen displaying bios checksum error.
The mobo is an Asus M4A78 Pro. I went to the ASUS site on another computer and downloaded a new bios onto a mem stick.
Tried installing the new bios and although the screen said it had loaded/ erased/re-prorammed the new bios, the PC still does not boot.
I am not sure what else to do. I may try removing RAM, changing CPU etc but wondering if its the bios chip itself ?
If It is can I get a new chip. I am a technition so I would be able to replace it. Just want it to be the last resort.
Thanks
 
How many times have you flashed the BIOS in the past? It's usually a lot of write cycles that will cause the BIOS itself to be corrupt but this sounds more like BIOS settings becoming corrupt which could be the battery. Maybe the battery on the motherboard is getting old and might need to be replaced? Do you have a volt meter to see what kind of voltage you're getting off of it?
 
Hi thank you for replying,
I have a voltmeter and can check battery tonight.
I thought motherboard would still work without battery. as battery used to keep settings. without it , I was at least expecting to be able to get into bios.
ps
This would have been the first time we flashed the rom.
 
How are you expecting to flash the BIOS if the board isn't POSTing? Or is it? It sounds like it's flopping between not posting and checksum error.

I would check all the usual things.

Reseat memory and try running with one stick at first. Also take the cooler off and reseat the processor. Make sure to have some thermal compound handy for when you put the cooler back on. Make sure to clean all the old compound off before putting it back on. Also, do you have the internal speaker connected? The motherboard might be beeping at you but you can't hear it if it isn't connected.
 
Hi Aquinos,
By powering the on/off button , we get the message screen
bios checksum error
then looking for floppy/cd/usb.
with the new bios on the usb stick and restarting. it goes through the same checksum error, interestingly though it does not find the usb device, cycles through no floppy, no cd but on the second cycle does see the bios. ( note it has to be renamed to M4A787PRO.ROM, the site have bios versions on, which the pc does not recorgnise )
When it comes to the USB device it says reading M4A78PRO.ROM
Erasing
Re-programming
re-boots itself but then we get a blank screen again. and recycling the psu we get back to the checksum screen.
Will try checking the battery, and maybe try 1 stick at a time ( at present there are 4x1GB)
I will leave CPU at the moment, (though I have a spare CPU if I hit a brick wall )
Speakers connected.
thanks
 
A power outage could have triggered a charge to take out the motherboard. I would everything off and test on another mother board to conform this.
 
I hope not, unfortunatly I cant do that as RAM is DDR2 and not keen to change CPU in case it damages other board.

on fleabay there are lots of bios chips for the top end boards, so surely its a common fault to take out the bios chip. Do we know what ROM is used , in case mobo needs looking at ?
 
If you have a similar motherboard that uses the same bios chip then you could do what is called a "Hot swap" bios flash. I had done this before on AM3 and 1366 motherboards that has the same 8 pin bioses. What you need to do is download the bios software (award or AMI) the dos version if possible. Then create a boot disk with the bios of the dead motherboard. After restart the machine and boot into the bootable disk or flash drive. Once in there and ready to flash, take a chip puller (handy tool) or gently use flat head making DAMN sure you do not short anything and remove the bios in the running machine then insert the dead motherboard bios. Once inserted correctly (Bios chips half moon to the correct side) Proceed to flash the bios (may have to use the force command). Once complete turn machine off and safely remove the bios and swap them back into their respective motherboards. Now hook dead board back up to see if flash fixed the board.

Sounds dangerous but works if you are careful during the process.
 
The most common reason for getting the Bios checksum error is a knackered battery, in many cases just fitting a new battery does the job, the way it works is pretty simple, each time you startup, the CMOS Rom cross checks the Bios values, if they match you are good to go, if they dont, your in that place you are now. This seems even more likely if the battery was faulty and you updated the Bios as the newer values may not have been saved to rom.

You can either ask your board manufacturer for a replacement, or you can take note of the values on the battery and try EBay or somewhere..... hopefully it will be a cheap solution for you.

Edit: The only other thing I could think of that might work is to try your Bios reflash but with that old Bios that you replaced, it may be that those values match and you get startup, it is worth a try as it is a quick solution..... not an expert but had similar happen to me a few years ago.... the battery option worked for me.
 
Tatty is right as well. If you live in the US then take the model number of the battery down and any watch shop, wallgreens, CVS, Wal-mart, and exc would have a battery to replace it.
 
Thanks guys,
I will give it a go
 
brandonwh64 said:
If you have a similar motherboard that uses the same bios chip then you could do what is called a "Hot swap" bios flash. I had done this before on AM3 and 1366 motherboards that has the same 8 pin bioses. What you need to do is download the bios software (award or AMI) the dos version if possible. Then create a boot disk with the bios of the dead motherboard. After restart the machine and boot into the bootable disk or flash drive. Once in there and ready to flash, take a chip puller (handy tool) or gently use flat head making DAMN sure you do not short anything and remove the bios in the running machine then insert the dead motherboard bios. Once inserted correctly (Bios chips half moon to the correct side) Proceed to flash the bios (may have to use the force command). Once complete turn machine off and safely remove the bios and swap them back into their respective motherboards. Now hook dead board back up to see if flash fixed the board.

Sounds dangerous but works if you are careful during the process.
Click to expand...

" Fortunatly" I do not have a similar board to try it. But I am interested .
Where could I find the bios software?
 
Thank you
 
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