No Bios

Hi All:

Push power button, HDD activity light comes on, fans run, That's it. No video beep, no BIOS on screen, no nothing. Monitor checked, it's good.

My fault? Changed CMOS battery, this is result. Broken MOB or what?

Any bright ideas??

Martin

 

Yes, check the cables to the HDD, which you mention. If the HDD LED stays on when the system seems to crash/jam-up, the cables to the HDD may need to be pulled out and reseated (don't just check they are connected).

And BTW, Hi as well.

Matt

 

Hey Pete, Hi Matt: Darn, I posted A LONG reply and it is missing in action.

replaced CMOS battery 'cause old one dead, machine lost time when unplugged, I hate lightning.

Didn't try old battery 'cause I tossed it.

Will put a meter on new battery. Only one way to install right side (print) up, press in place, it clicks in.

Get green LED on MOBO

I shorted the CMOS to reset when machine didn't boot, when I did I disconnected 3 of the wires to the on/off, reset headers, probably got them back on wrong.

Online looking for MOBO manual. Find Mfg. Soyo went bust. So far no joy finding manual. Will keep looking to find correct way for wire connnections. I don't have a clue. If anybody can help??? I remember one of our members had this same board: Soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra Platinum, don't remember who, but if he sees this and can find the manual, (can't find mine) it would help.

Wires from case switches color coded. A clue on connecting? No ID on case.

maybe a canidate for the junk man?

Man, I am lost here.

Anyhow, thanks for the responses, will reseat all other connectors if I can get the darn power switch wires right.

You take care,

Martin

 

The layout for the Front Panel connectors should be printed on the motherboard, although very small.

If you are disconnecting and reconnecting, just do one connector at a time. The connections that are quite important for startup are the drive connectors. You can even leave the drives disconnected and see if it at least starts up.

Matt

 

Hi All:

HMMM, I assumed they were wrong, if they are correct, what else should I look at?

Matt, you wern't kidding, that print is so small it defies reading. Also, identifying which connecter is for what is no small task. I'm trying

Take care,

Martin

 

Unfortunately, the ATX Form Factor standard does not require case makers and motherboard makers to use the same labeling conventions. This means the case wires may say something different from the motherboard's I/O front panel connector. That said, they should be similar. In any event, NONE need to be connected for testing - you should be able to short the 2 "PWR SW" pins on the motherboard for a 1/2 second to signal the PSU to turn on.

The fans spinning indicates the 12V is present. The motherboard LED indicates the +5Vsb standby voltage is present. What we don't know is if the PSU is putting out the necessary 3.3V and +5V.

I would try another PSU, or get that one professionally tested. Note, you cannot accurately test a PSU, or battery, with a multimeter.

Did you unplug the power from the wall before pulling or inserting the battery? Did you observer proper ESD precautions to prevent damage from static discharge?

 

Martin,

Long time no hear - I trust all is well and am sorry to learn that you are having problems with Catastrophy - that is her name isn't it?

OK, the basics - replacement battery is CR2032 - yes? Flat side up (writing) is correct.

Pinouts as follows reading left to right with IDE header edge of board closest to you. Note - these are technically not the pin numbers as labeled by the mfg.

Top Row
1 +PWR LED
2 void
3 -PWR LED
4 void
5 void
6 space (no pin)
7+ SPKR
8 void
9 void
10 -SPKR
Bottom Row (closest to you)
1 +RESET
2 -RESET (GND)
3 space (no pin)
4 +PWR
5 -PWR (GND)
6 space (no pin)
7 void
8 void
9 + HDD LED
10 - HDD LED

Once you've confirmed that you've got the correct battery and the correct pinouts, please holler back if you still can't boot. I'd also check capacitors fro any bulging or leakage and make sure that chipset fan is still spinning up reliably.

Personally, I'd also suggest you reset BIOS - disconnect the main power connector (20 pin) from the motherboard and then move the CMOS jumper (very close proximatey to the battery you replaced) from pins 1&2, jumper pins 2&3, wait 10 seconds and then rejumper 1&2 and reconnect your 20 pin power connector firmly. Those older SOYO's were a little finnicky and quite often required a reset if any changes were made. Since you may have lost some settings, it isn't going to hurt but you'll have to go back through your BIOS settings after this procedure.

Website may be soyousa but I've been away from those boards for quite some time.

Good Luck Stranger .........

 

There's no need to pull the 20 (or 24) pin connector from the motherboard AND move the reset jumper (shorting the pins) to reset the CMOS memory. Moving the jumper (shorting the reset pins) is all that is needed - after all, you should have the PSU unplugged from the wall before reaching inside the case anyway. Unplugging the PSU from the wall removes the ATX required +5Vsb, but without risk of knocking something loose, or introducing ESD hazards. Understand that pulling the battery does the same thing as shorting the pins - it removes the hold voltage from the CMOS device, causing it to almost instantly forget everything, taking the BIOS Setup Menu back to the defaults. 15 - 20 seconds is more than enough though some feel it necessary to pull for several minutes, or even longer. But again, that is not necessary as CMOS devices must have the required voltage to stay programmed, once removed, all user data is lost until reprogrammed (menu options saved).

It is important that your first boot once the BIOS is reset should be straight into the BIOS Setup Menu, where you need to set the data and time, and verify your drives are properly identified, and the boot order is correct. Then Save and Exit, to boot to the new settings.

 

I'll disagree.

 

Well how about explaining why? I point out the PSU had better be unplugged from the wall before digging around inside - I trust you agree with that? PSUs don't hold a charge so there's no worry there, and even if they did hold a charge, it would immediately be discharged through the "connected" motherboard cable's ground wire - and it would be discharged through the PSUs metal case and the 4 screws connecting it to the computer case.

Removing the motherboard power cable has nothing to do with CMOS resets and just looking through a 1/2 dozen or so motherboard manuals (ASUS and Gigabyte) none mention removing the motherboard connector, only the PSU power cord from the wall.

 

Sure. I've encountered boards before where CMOS couldn't be cleared unless the main power connector was disconnected when re-jumpering so this became my standard practice quite some time ago.

Note - my response in LarryB's thread references ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe manual which recommends pulling the battery in addition to shorting pins 2&3. First time I've read this specific instruction.

I'm not going to apologize for any lack of formal technological training but I'm not going to pretend to have your electronics background either. My degrees are business related but I do have a few hundred builds "under my belt ".

No monopoly on brains here but I got past advanced tinkering a long time ago. I also am smart enough to realize that I have a lot to learn so keep your posts coming - believe it or not, they are appreciated.

 

No apology expected or wanted. If there is one thing I have learned in 35+ years of working IT, it's that there is always MUCH more to learn. So I come to these forums to share and teach, but also for the chance to learn something new. Always a good thing.

Ah. And you are right, the power should be removed. And I am sure for someone with your experience, you have already learned the hard way, or were wise enough to heed the lessons learned through other's mistakes, by taking necessary ESD precautions (touching metal before and while reaching in) to prevent static discharge damage, and to double and triple check to ensure you did not knock something loose while digging around inside.

You obviously, are not normal - or a "normal" computer user that is - most of whom just expect the computer to work like any other "appliance" in the house.

So to normal people and those doing maintenance without formal training where they teach safety first, unplugging from the wall does the same thing as removing the motherboard's 20-pin connector, only MUCH more. Most importantly, unplugging from the wall puts safety first. We all must remember that anything that plugs into the wall can kill! Do not trust your life to a $.25 power cord. And do not assume the cord (or PSU) is providing a good path to building ground (Earth) either. Use a grounding strap designed for that purpose, if needed - assuming of course, your outlets test fine and you have a good ground.

Unless someone is experimenting with overclocking, resetting the BIOS is not a normal event. It is typically done in the hopes of fixing a problem. Unless care was taken to ensure a quality, brand name PSU, there's a good chance it is an off-brand generic made in some secluded factory in a remote Chinese location by poorly trained, often forced, often underaged labor in unsafe, horrendous conditions under the watchful eye of greedy owners and corrupt officials, using parts made under similar conditions in the next village upriver.

When troubleshooting hardware, it is always necessary to always ensure good, safe power (to include grounding) first. Sadly, many without formal technical training in electronics systems overlook this. So when troubleshooting or digging around inside a computer, since there are lethal voltages inside the PSU, don't trust your life to a $20 generic. That said, even the best PSUs made under the best conditions using the best raw materials and highly trained labor are subject to flaws, imperfection, and failure. When lethal voltages are present, don't assume anything is safe.

Well, that's not the same as pulling the big 20 or 24-pin motherboard power connector as suggested earlier - my primary reason for me entering the thread.

But yeah, you will see pulling the battery and moving the jumper in a lot of motherboard manuals, but, technically, both are actions are not needed to reset a CMOS memory device. CMOS devices are memory devices which, by their very nature, retain their stored data ONLY when voltage is present, and instantly forget (resets) when that holding voltage is removed. It is because of that specific characteristic that CMOS memory devices are used on motherboards to store custom BIOS settings (as opposed to some sort of PROM or EEPROM device, like the BIOS chip itself).

The purpose of the jumper is to instantly remove that power from the CMOS device, and to discharge any "holding capacitors" (capacitors act as little batteries when charged) in that circuit by shorting those voltage straight to electrical ground. With the power gone, the CMOS instantly returns to its "quiescent state" of knowing nothing. No waiting required.

Capacitors can not hold a charge indefinitely. When power is removed from the CMOS circuit by pulling just the battery, the capacitor's charge immediate begins to decay at a fairly rapid rate, quickly dropping below the threshold needed to keep the CMOS alive.

So you really don't need to pull the battery and short the pins - that's a redundant action, as long as the battery is removed long enough for all the capacitors to discharge sufficiently, typically within a few (15 or so) seconds. This, again, assumes all power has been removed from the motherboard - that is, the PSU is unplugged from the wall, or, if equipped, the PSU master power switch on the back of the PSU is set to off.

By removing the battery BEFORE using the jumper, you don't short the battery to ground too. It does not hurt to short these batteries for a few seconds. The problem in the past has been that users moved the jumper, then went to bed hoping everything would be discharged in the morning. That is a most excellent way to totally discharge and ruin the battery too! Not good. But more importantly, a shorted battery can overheat if shorted longer than a few seconds.

So to prevent battery damage, and possible motherboard damage from an overheated battery, motherboard makers err on the side of safety and often recommend recommend pulling the battery AND shorting the pins.

But again, both are not needed and that is evidenced by some of the latest motherboards coming out that have an easy access CMOS reset button in their rear panel I/O area (as seen on this Gigabyte board). This allows users to reset the CMOS without opening the case or exposing sensitive devices to possible ESD damage. And since there is no opening of the case, obviously there is no removing of the battery. Pressing the reset button shorts all voltages to ground and the CMOS device instantly forgets all custom settings (date and time, drives, boot order, etc), taking the BIOS back to the defaults.

 

That lengthy explanation contained a lot of good information and is most appreciated. Being the curious type, I always like to understand the whys and why nots. Sometimes this can be elusive.

Maybe it's a result of my own impatience but as stated earlier, I've encountered boards that could not be cleared by this jumper without first disconnecting the main power header. Your comments regarding disconnecting power from the main outlet before fisting inside a machine are right on and should be SOP for all practitioners.

Understand that not too long ago (not into it like I once was) it was not uncommon for me to be clearing CMOS 20-30-40 times in one sitting while trying to determine the limits of a specific machine configuration. I've even got jumpers on plastic extensions for hard to reach or out of the way pinouts to facilitate this while testing different settings. That's not to say this was a common practice either, but its one of the things that led me to disconnect the main power header when shorting 2&3 - the bottom line is that it's as close to failsafe as any procedure I've ever used on any board.

 

You should see my stash! lol