tried updating BIOS, but now can't start PC

Okay. I have this pretty old PC, probably 5-6 years old. Maybe more, maybe less. It is a P4 1.8ghz. I bought this 400gb hard drive to put in it, and when I installed it, it was only recognizing 127gb. I went through a list of a few things on seagate's website and came up with no luck on recognizing the other 273 gb. So then I felt I could use a BIOS update. BIG mistake I guess. I used a program to determine my mobo and BIOS version, then I went to the website and downloaded some BIOS updater software program. It said it was going to restart and the changes would take effect. It shut down, then begins to restart and that's where the problem comes in. It stops and shows a black screen with some white text. The text reads "CMOS/GPNV checksum bad. Press F1 to enter setup". Then another line says "Hit F12 if ou want to boot from network".

I've tried booting from network, when I hit F12 it doesn't do anything. I've tried messing with different options in the setup with no luck. For some reason the PC is trying to get at a floppy disc because the floppy drive keeps checking to see if there's a disc in there. I'm not sure what it wants, anyway, I don't have any floppies that go with the pc. I'm not sure what to do. If I could get to a windows reformat, I'd probably try it, but it'd be cooler not to have to do it that way.

Let me know any suggestions or any more info I can provide. Oh, the mobo was like an 845 PT I believe made by Intel.

Dustin

 

You might be saved.

Quote
"NOTE: If the error message “CMOS/GPNV Checksum Bad.Press F1 to Run SETUP“ appears during boot, then press [F1] to go into the “BIOS Setup Utility“, press [F9] to load setup defaults, and then press [F10] to save and exit."

From this page.

As for the hard drive if it still can't see it there is a fix.......which I have deleted.

Post back if you need it.....someone will have it.

 

Appreciate the quick reply Hipster. I tried entering setup by hitting f1, then hitting f9 to restore defaults and f10 to save. It rebooted and came up with the same problem I've been experiencing. I guess I need the fix to see the hard drive. Thanks again, hopefully I can get that thing running again.

Dustin

 

Anyone have the fix hipster is talking about? Using this PC downstairs is really aggravating.

Dustin

 

What's the latest? Does it now boot? Or still giving an error? What does the bios pick the drive up as?

 

It still does not boot, it still gives an error, the same one as I started with. I tried entering setup to load my default settings, and came up with the same error.

You mentioned a fix to get the hard drive recognized, so hopefully you've got that or someone knows of it.

Dustin

 

What would happen if I just got a new mobo and switched everything out? I'm thinking that might be the easiest solution haha. The thing is so fricken old a mobo is probably $20.

Dustin

 

The fix is for when you are in windows so until you get it to that stage don;t worry about it not seeing the whole drive.

If that 'fix' didn't do it then the board is probably dead.

Go with the new one if it is cheap enough. Don't spend too much on an old system.

 

Yeah. I'm not sure what to do from this point. The PC keeps looking for something in the floppy drive, which I do not have. Would a new mobo fix the problem? I don't really want to bother with one if it won't help the situation. I doubt the mobo is 'dead' though anyway, for the simple reason that I just tried updating BIOS and I think something went wrong, so now it isn't functioning properly. Unless a BIOS flash can kill a mobo, but it doesn't sound likely to me.

I've heard of people replacing the mobo battery and having luck, but I still just feel it was probably the BIOS flashing and something didn't work out right.

Anyway, how can I tell what kind of mobo I have based on just looking at it? I'm afraid I'll have to replace it.

Dustin

 

The wrong bios flash will kill your mother board, if its a chip bios maybe savable, if its soldered on, big trouble. I think i would clear the cmos first, if you dont know the jumpers to move do this, unplug power supply, remove battery from mother board, leave out for a few minutes, put battery back in, plug in power supply and see if it will post.

 

Another thing.......if you follwed the link about your error message & followed the instructions it is quite possible that when it goes to the floppy it is looking for the bios upgrade.

Did you use the floppy or a cd to upgrade? Try putting it on a floppy & try those instructions with it ready to go.

 

Okay...

I think the easiest way out is to just buy a new MOBO. That should solve all my problems right? It's only like $20-$40 for a new one, I'd rather do that then waste all this time and get all stressed out.

TimW... appreciate your help, but I cannot get windows to start on that pc, so I can't really run everest.

I looked on the mobo and found the model anyway...
http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d845pt/

tunered... I tried clearing the CMOS by unplugging the power supply then taking out the battery for like 2 minutes, then put it back in and hooked up power supply again. It started and said 'cmos battery low' but I made some changes in setup and rebooted and got the same error I've been getting.

hipster... I used some software from the intel page to update the BIOS. I didn't have a floppy or a cd-rom. I think it was supposed to just be able to do it through windows. Look here: http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scr...rofessional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go!#BIO

I believe the first item listed is what I attempted to use to update my BIOS.

I don't think its worth all the trouble I've been giving myself, so if getting a brand new mobo will solve this whole thing, I think I'll do that. I have a fry's down the road... which of these should I go with based on the specs of my original Intel d845pt? http://shop1.outpost.com/search?cat=-51548&pType=pDisplay

I think those are the right mobos. I just want to keep everything the same just swap out the mobos.

Thanks guys. Hopefully I can get a new mobo tonite, but if not, thursday nite.

Dustin

 

Another update...

I was looking at those MOBOs a little more closely.

I have pc2100 ram in the pc(yeah i know, but I told you it was old).

I need to have 4 IDE, 2 optical drives, 2 hard drives.

The first one for 29.99 only has 2 sata and 2 ide, count that one out.
The third one for 19.99 only supports 400/333 ram, so count that one out.
The fourth one for 19.90 says it only will support 8x AGP.

I think I'm going to go with the 39.99 one b/c it has 4 ide and 2 sata hookups. It also supports 184 pin 400/333/266, which pc 2100 falls under 266 I believe. Finally, this board supports AGP vid card 8x/4x. The board in there now supports 4x/2x, so hopefully I've got a 4x.

Hopefully I'm correct on my choice... but I think I'm waiting til tomorrow at least anyway.

Dustin

 

The windows setup can only see so much of a harddrive. it doesn't matter how big it is it will still only see a small portion of the harddrive. When you install windows to this all you have to do is go about updating your system and then after a few reboots windows will boot up saying it wants to perform a check on your harddrive. let it do it and then it will uncover the other space that wasn't detected by windows in the install. So don't freak out if you start to install windows on your new harddrive and you see it's only seeing so much of the harddrive.

Also, you can run pc2100 in a pc3200 slot. Have you tried looking at asrock motherboards on newegg.com? They're a pretty inexpensive mobo and i haven't had a problem with mine yet. It's something to check into.

 

Well, now this has turned into a new problem. I ordered a new mobo, the one listed here: http://www.asrock.com/product/P4i65G.htm

I figured that would be compatible with my old system, including the 478 p4 processor. So I was removing the mobo and crap from the pc and removed the processor with fan & heatsink attached. I thought this was odd. Then I removed the fan from the heatsink. Then I had the heatsink attached to the processor. I tried just pulling it off by hand, with no luck. Then I started prying at the processor with a small flathead screwdriver. This seemed to do the trick, but unfortunately just pulled a cover off of one side of the processor. I'd imagine this processor is toast, and I don't feel like testing that.

Now my question is, can I just get a new processor, and maybe a new cheap case, and just use my same old ram(pc 2100) and PATA hard drives and old skool agp video card? Which processor should I look into. I don't want a celeron. Would it be cheaper to just buy a combo with an amd processor and mobo and just sell this mobo I just bought on ebay?

Some links to a couple processors would be cool. I looked at a few on newegg but i'm not sure which are compatible with this mobo.

Thanks.

Dustin

 

keep the mobo it'll work for you, let me see what i can find out on a processor. As for the processor, unless you plan on dropping a big chunk of change then you're gonna have to go with a celeron processor. They're not bad processors.

here look at some of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubcategory=343&Description=Socket+478&Ntk=all

 

Well, I don't mind spending a little bit of money. This PC has served me well for like 5 years, if not more, so it would probably be a good time to upgrade.

Couldn't I use any of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1707443+1050706985&Submit=ENE&Subcategory=343

The one for $108 looks good. It should work fine right?

I'm going to start looking at a couple of cases.

Dustin

 

that would be a great cpu for your new mobo. You'll need a fan and heatsink and thermal paste though.

here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185114

 

Okay. I ordered that CPU at $108. Then I ordered that cooling fan, and it includes grease as it shows in one of the pictures of the cooling fan. I also ordered a new case which comes with a new PSU and I ordered a new graphics card too. I didn't really need the new graphics card, but I figured why not. The system will be fairly decent then, except older pata hard drives, and pc2100 RAM.

I may upgrade the RAM at some point, but I don't really need any super performance from this pc anyway.

Hopefully no problems from here, otherwise you'll hear from me.

Dustin

 

right on sounds pretty sweet. i forgot that the heatsink came with thermal paste. sorry. yeah if you have any problems all you have to do is ask and i'll help you out as much as i can.
Here's my email if you need to get a hold of me:
hotdogs.midgets.and.porn@gmail.com

 

Okay, I got all my new parts, but now this is turning into an even bigger nightmare than I began with. I have my old boot drive hooked up(IDE) and two IDE optical drives. I installed everything and tried starting up but it won't boot up. It keeps telling me to insert the correct media into a drive. Hopefully it is just a setting I can change in the setup menu, but I'm not sure.

If possible I do not want to reformat this hard drive.

Let me know with any suggestions or help. Thanks.

Dustin