Is This Problem From The BIOS or CPU?

[ecpubs]

Two years ago I bought an Intel Pentium III as a BTO (Built To Order), but the job it was purchased for changed and I didn't bother messing with the computer until last week. Also, since the purchase, I moved to another state and the guy who built it also changed locations and I can't get in touch with him. So, I need some help in solving this problem.

When I turn on the computer it comes up with a screen showing all of the BIOS information. It has an Award BIOS 4.51PG. The motherboard is an ABit (2A69KAIUC-LQ). The board was manufactured on 06/11/1999.

As the initial screen comes up, it stops with the message: "CPU is unworkable or has changed. Please recheck CPU soft menu." The F1 and DEL keys do not respond. In fact, no keystrokes work and the system reset button is the only way to get out of the freeze.

I seem to recall that this message has been attributed to various things, including an overclocked CPU. I thought it might be the CMOS battery, but the battery appears to be ok and I think I remember that bad CMOS batteries give a different message.

I've also heard that the message is caused by a problem in this particular Award BIOS. I checked with Award (now Phoenix) and they did tell me that an upgrade is available for this BIOS at a cost of $70.00, but would not shed any light on whether or not the upgrade would fix the problem.

Does anyone know how to easily fix this problem or how to get to some form of command prompt? It appears that no bootstrapping of any type is taking place.

All suggestions appreciated.

Regards,
Ed

 

[Mulga]

Only thing I can think of is to reset the BIOS settings to default. Some motherboards have a jumper for this purpose, if you have the manual it will show it. It MAY be marked on the board itself as CMOS or some such. You just set the jumper to the "clear" position, leave for a short while and reset, then try to boot. The other way to do it is to remove the CMOS battery for a while, at least an hour or so. This will also clear all user settings. After this process you will have to reset the date / time and possibly redetect drives and make any other necessary settings in the BIOS setup utility.

 

[topscribe]

A BIOS upgrade might do the trick, although you might check one other thing first. If the mobo has configuration jumpers on it, you might see whether they are set to accomodate that particular CPU. If you were given documentation, check there for the proper settings, or you may be able to find them on the web site of the mobo's manufacturer. Another possibility, come to think of it, is that the guy simply installed a processor that will not work with that mobo. I had to replace an incompatible one just the other day. (The CPU and mobo were both in great shape; they just didn't work together.) You might check the specs on that, too.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

Take the CMOS battery out and leave it out for 15 minutes.

Pop it back in, and the BIOS will (of course) have reset to the defaults.

I have seen this time and again as a result of "enthusiastic" overclocking, and this is the second quickest way to find out if it's a compatibilty/dead processor issue.

The quickest way is to replace the CPU with a known working/compatible one. The BIOS will auto-detect the changed CPU and give a working set of defaults.

If you then change back to the original CPU, the new defaults should still apply, and you should be able to tweak the BIOS accordingly.


I hope this helps