Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs Forum

I have a problem
with my Celeron II PC, CMOS setup. Below is the detail.

ERROR

American Megatrends
AMIBIOSC 1999
Release 08/28/2005

Intel Celeron -500MHz
Checking NVRAM..Update OK!
13/072KB Oil
Trend ChipAwayVirus R On Guard Wait

CMOS Settings Wrong

Press F1 to Run SETUP
Press F2 to load Default Values and Continue

After getting out of SETUP,
PC Works normally when restarted, using CTRL-ALT-Del & restart button, it
went past SETUP. But if its a cold boot (after many hours since turned off)
it requires going to SETUP again. A Cold boot after just few minutes or hrs
will get past error
(Not required to enter into Setup)
Yet Setup information still be wrong, always defaulted to the Persisted
Problem listed below.


Problems Suspected

1. Certain component(s) of M/bound itself is faulty.
2. CMos Battery Contact is dirty/faulty.
3. Y2K Problem microcode with CPU.
4. Trend ChipAway Virus On Guard (on Rom Chip) enabled causes problem.
5. Flash ROM Chip IC itself is bad.

Actions Taken


Boot PC with DOS Boot Floppy with new ROM file rom is downloaded from
m/b manufacturer, not from BIOS maker (American Megatrend)- seemed not to
be working, not 100% sure if it is correct ver will try again.
Spray clean cmos contact with CRC CO Contact cleaner.
Clear CMOS using jumper & reboot PC as in (i) no effect
Changing new CMOS batteries
Keep Changing the correct settings
Disabling Trend clip Away Virus on Guard (auto enabled again during the
next cold boot).


Problems Persisted


System Date always default to 08/28/2000 - (AMIBIOS Release Date)
System time starts at 00:00:00 hrs
CPU Settings always default to
CPU Speed 300 MHz
i.
CPU /DRAM Frequency - 66/66MHz
ii. CPU
Multiplies Frequency x4.5

Trend ChipAway Virus always Enabled
1st Boot Device always IDE-O (even though floppy drive set to boot
first)
No Single Beep sound from system speaker (indicates a m/b hardware
problem?)

Actions Suggested

1. Change to new M/board (last option).
2. Fiddle around with CMOS Battery Contact.
3. Upgrading Microcode of CPU (if its a CPU nicrocode Problem) using
utility on motherboard installation CD.
4. Permanently disable Trend Chip Away virus (how?, if possible) and
flash BIOS with new BIOS update on the m/b driver cd provided with m/b and
download from m/b manufacturer from BIOS maker (American Megatrend).
5. Spray clean CPU contacts
6. Replace a new rom bios IC chip (686, AMIBIOS 1999, AL67, 4758)
7. Copy each DOS.rom file on spare floppy and boot PC with floppy and see
which rom file works with the m/b.
9. Download rom bios file from bios chip IC amibios or rom file from m/b
manufacturer?

Note: Bios update utility on m/b installation cd is AMIFL816.EXE (through
the web).M/b has also SIS south bridge IC.

Make sure you have the correct BIOS for that specific motherboard. If you
have the correct BIOS, and have already replaced the CMOS battery with a
new one, then most likely the motherboard or power supply are defective.
Try replacing the power supply with a known-good spare, if that doesn't
help then I'm afraid the board may be defective. Let me know what you find
out, Scott.