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CMOS Checksum Bad: First time PC builder MSI 790FX - GD70

M

Maddeline

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Dec 19, 2011
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Hello! I hope you're having a better day than I am! lol So I brought this gaming PC a few months ago and its been working extremely well until now! It has been crashing, Blue screening, and doing bad things so I decided to switch out the ram. I've never done it before but I thought it would be easy. I got the same exact RAM as it had before, installed it, started up my PC than I came to a screen getting me a whole brunch of options and an error: CMOS Checksum Bad

A7577AMS V1.3 042709
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Processor
DRAM Frequency For DDR3 1333 (Unganged mode. 64 - bit)

1 AMD North Bridge Rev C1
Initializing USA Controllers Done
8192MB OK
USA Devices
SATA 5 Hard Disk
SATA 4 ATAPI CDROM
.......
........
CMOS Checksum Bad
Press F1 to Run SETUP
Press F2 to load default values and continue

F11 to enter Boot Menu


THINGS I've tried:
Switching out the motherboard battery, pushing the reset button, changing the date/time in the BIOS, Unplugging, checking connections, cleaning, reading manuals

Maybe I should have let a professional install my RAM! :( I have a MSI 790FX - GD70 Motheroard. So if you could PLEASE send sometime using your amazing brain to help me solve this issue, that would be great! Thank you and have a nice day!
 
That's fine, just go into the BIOS and set the clock, or press to continue. That's normal for a PC first booting up after being built.

EDIT: See you have tried the time. Try a new battery? (Damn, you tried that too)

If it was RAM, it would not even post. So I would not focus on that.
 
I have tried a new battery. Does it need to be the exact same battery as the old one? I've used one just hanging around in my stuff. lol The time is setup correctly now and I still can't boot :(
 
What happens when you press F2 to continue?

The reason I am focusing on the battery is you normally see this message when you have set your values in the BIOS - Saved to CMOS, then change something, Like RAM size. Then it will appear. Or if the battery is dead, then it forgets it settings whenever its powered off and comes back every time you power back on.

Normally I would stick to the same battery size as you can be sure its making the proper + and - connections.

Have you tried clearing the CMOS and staring fresh?
 
Sounds like the BIOS needs a reflash see if you can flash via USB drive. I am pretty sure that one does.
 
How do I reflash the BIOS? When I press F2 it loads then just stays on a black screen. Thanks for your help! So I go out shopping for the EXACT battery size and voltage? THANKS AGAIN! :D
 
Before we get too far with multiple ideas thrown at you, do you know how to enter the BIOS and set your values correctly?

You will need to make sure you have your boot device order set correctly.

Meaning, you need to make sure you have your HDD as your primary default boot device, and make sure its either set to AHCI or IDE (Whatever you had ti set to when windows was installed).
 
Maddeline said:
How do I reflash the BIOS? When I press F2 it loads then just stays on a black screen. Thanks for your help! So I go out shopping for the EXACT battery size and voltage? THANKS AGAIN! :D
Click to expand...

Always good practice
 
I know how to get into the BIOS but no idea how to set the values or where to set up for the RAM :(
 
Ram should set default values for you. Granted they may not be optimal, but that's not the issue.

You will need to navigate your BIOS and look for "Startup" or "Boot Menu" or "Boot Order", something along those lines.

And see what is set as your primary boot device. You want the PC to try and boot to your HDD first and foremost when the PC is powered on.

But, if your battery deal is wonky, then all these settings may be resetting everytime we power cycle.
 
Maddeline said:
So my SATA should be my first choice for booting right?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is if your primary HD is recognized. Do you see the HD model number in Bios boot menu?
 
My Boot sequence is SATA: SM Samsun then CD/DVD 4S-PLDS is this correct? Thanks again!
 
Maddeline said:
My Boot sequence is SATA: SM Samsun then CD/DVD 4S-PLDS is this correct? Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Your DVD drive is the CD/DVD (Plextor it would seem) obviously, is your HDD a Samsung? You want it to list your HDD brand

for example Western Digital is normally WDC..... Seagate is SG or ST ...... etc.....
 
Save the newest version of the GD70 BIOS to a flash drive. Go to this

bios4.jpg


BIOS page and flash a new BIOS off of your flash drive.
 
I can't seem to find my HDD in the list. The only two options that I can boot from are SATA and CD / DVD do you think my HDD is disconnected or something? Thanks!
 
If you can not see your HDD in the list then either:-
The SATA cable is not plugged in properly
The SATA cable is faulty
The logic board on the HDD has gone bad.

As you mentioned it started to blue screen so I would be looking at a faulty HDD or SATA cable issue at the moment rather than a dodgy BIOS.
 
Widjaja said:
If you can not see your HDD in the list then either:-
The SATA cable is not plugged in properly
The SATA cable is faulty
The logic board on the HDD has gone bad.

As you mentioned it started to blue screen so I would be looking at a faulty HDD or SATA cable issue at the moment rather than a dodgy BIOS.
Click to expand...

OR swapping to a new SATA connector on the MB.....
 
Thanks yes it did start to bluescreen and I might need to replace my HDD!

As for the BIOS, I copied the new BIOS to the flash drive, inserted the flash, did the stuff in the BIOS, press F10 then restarted seeing what is going to happen now. Thanks!!
 
hahahaha Nooo idea which cord the SATA cord is but hopefully I have extra! :) I'll look into it, thanks again!
 
Maddeline said:
hahahaha Nooo idea which cord the SATA cord is but hopefully I have extra! :) I'll look into it, thanks again!
Click to expand...

On the HDD, you have a power cable , and a SATA cable. Power will be obvious. The smaller cable is the SATA cable, and if you follow it, it will be plugged directly into a SATA port on the MB.
 
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