Bad Checksum

I will boot the computer, and get a double beep (error), screen says bad checksum. I have to go into BIOS to change the CPU and the date, and then everything is fine for awhile (days, maybe weeks) then it starts happening again. When the cursor and keyboard start freezing, I unplug the computer, disconnect the power supply and reset the jumper pins to clear CMOS, reset the date and proc speed and reboot. Then I don't have any problems for weeks or months, until the next time I get the "bad checksum" and the whole thing starts again. I know I have a quirky motherboard from reading other forums. Should I just get a new one, or is there a fix or solution I have overlooked? All suggestions appreciated.

Johanna

 

Hi Johanna
Have you tried simply replacing the battery?

 

Yes, Daizy. Sorry, forgot to mention that- about 6 months ago.

Johanna

 

Might try changing it again? All I can think of is bad ram, or bad battery?

 

10 Days later

Another "Bad Checksum" last night after I booted the computer cold, and another this morning, same circumstance. Takes me back to August 9, 2002, which is when I last replaced the Mobo. I press F2 for default values, reboot, go into the Bios to change the CPU speed (always drops to 100), let windows boot nomally (I get the screen "We apologize, Windows did not start correctly ", choose "start windows normally ",get to the desktop and then reset the clock with the atomic clock, because it's a pain in BIOS. then I restart it and everything operates normally again. It may not happen for a day, week, month or two, but it will. Is it just a quirky Mobo? Now, if it starts freezing up, (It hasn't done that in a long while) I will use the jumper pins to reset CMOS. But that doesn't always happen with the Bad Checksum errors, though it seems to be a temporary cure. Hmmm... thinking out loud, people, anybody have any advice?

Johanna

 

Hi Johanna- Daizy is right. The only other option I can think of is that you have a flaky BIOS chip. Try changing the battery, download one of the many free RAM testers and run it and if you'll be good enough to post back with your findings, I'm sure that we can get this sorted out. Clydeo22.

 

Doesn't the VBAT reading in the bios tell you what voltage your battery is supplying to the board. The old ECS K7S5A used to have problems where even a brand new battery could not maintain the CMOS settings. I think the VBAT is supposed to read 3.3v?

 

Thanks, Chiles, you taught me something else today! I found VBAT under Hardware in BIOS, and it reads 3.44. I have had 3 of these motherboards- (the first two were fried by lightning before I wised up and bought a UPS!) and had this checksum thing with all of them- but this board does it more frequently. I've had it about a year, now, and replaced the battery once. I've researched this error and I keep coming up with "just a quirk of this motherboard" but no clue how to compensate for it. When it's working, it can't be beat- when it's not, it's a PITA. I appreciate all the suggestions, everyone, and if anyone thinks of something I haven't, I'll be glad to give it a shot! Are there any other ECS mobo users out there with the same problems? Kiwicolin- still there?
Thanks,
Johanna

 

same problem no fix yet

hi, i have same problem , no fix yet , i too think its the k7s5a board and a problem with the bios. changed battery several times. tranny1

 

Took Awhile this time

But it happened again, anyway, Sun March 28.

What I want to know is why this error deletes "My History" in IE6? All the files are there, but there is no way to put them back into IE...grrr... Also, time reverted to last motherboard change this time, not Dec 1 1604. (Did Columbus have a laptop??) The only other thing the checksum error affects is the proc speed in BIOS. History, date and time, and recognition of processor. Everything else intact and normal- running clean.

I'm gonna have to break down and buy that new motherboard with the um, 64 pins and get a new proc, and I'll need a new power supply, and a new case- might as well get a bigger harddrive... Now, where is that credit card? I think I'm off to Newegg...

sigh. I wish.

Johanna
does anyone else use an ECS motherboard?

 

Have you thought about flashing the bios and trying another battery? I'm afraid it's the model that's the problem when you say you've had 3 boards that all do the same. I'd get an ASUS board.

 

I'm with Daizy on this one. If you haven't already, I'd try flashing the bios. I don't think a new bios chip is going to help you if you've had three of these boards and they all do the same thing. The new bios chip would just get you the latest bios, something you can get yourself by downloading and flashing. I don't like to flash a bios unless it's necessary. In this case I'd certainly give it a try.

 

The bad checksum is not the reason for three of these motherboards. An old dog and I built the original computer in Jan 02. In April, lightning fried the modem, which the cable company vehemently denied was possible. I fought BSODs IRQ not less than Equal all summer until the old dog pulled out the motherboard and sniffed it. It was very apparent where the damage was done! Old house and constant brown-outs killed the power supply and damaged the motherboard by Nov, so we got a little nuts- replaced the PS, bought an identical Mobo, upgraded the processor and replaced the memory (with two identical 512 sticks) I bought a UPS and an APC surge protecter for the cables and telephone wires. I also had an electrician come and run a dedicated cicuit for the computer. (Mama not playing!)

Still, for the last year and a half, random bad checksum errors. Sometimes not for months- Nov to end of March is not bad, sometimes nearly every time I boot. This time, it rebooted fine- other times I need to reset CMOS.

I last reinstalled XP in October 03. In previous incarnations, I already tried flashing BIOS, and a new battery. Same problem, all along, two years now and several configurations. I think it's just a quirk of the board, and a nuisance, but I can't figure out why, of all things, it dumps IE's History function, when all the necessary files are still right there, and why they cannot be restored to their usual working order? What is the connection between IE History and a checksum error? I can understand the time and date, and the proc in BIOS, but not a contained function in IE in XP to be affected.

Oh, well...gonna bump this one down to the kids and build a new one this year.

Johanna

 

"History "...has to do with dates. Lose the dates ...lose the history.
Yes,no,maybe???

Matt

 

I'm kinda thinking along the same lines as mattman. When you get the bad checksum error, do you lose the time and date in the bios? If so, do you change it before booting to Windows? Possibly booting to Windows with the wrong time and date messes up the history????

 

Mattman & Zander-
Hmmm...that makes sense...I used to change the date back in BIOS- but that's a lot of tapping when it is year 1604! So the last few times I've just let the Atomic Clock synch the time. The last few times are (coincindentally??) when I started losing IE's History. I'll check it out on the next error- maybe because I'm booting into Windows with the WRONG date and time, I am messing up History. I'll let you know if it makes any difference in a week, a couple of months, maybe a year!! LOL !!

Johanna

 

Johanna,

FWIW. Brown-outs, power problems, prower cabling problems, etc.

(I have only had one brown-out, should have seen my panic...ran round turning off all my machines at the wall plugs.)

I don't leave my machines running all the time. This one gets started twice a day and even though they say that it stresses the electronic components, I haven't had a hardware failure (got it in 2000 I think). I will have saved enough in power to replace the whole system since then.

Power is still supplied to the motherboard even though it is turned off (it needs to be ready for things like WOL(wake on LAN), WOR(wake on ring/modem),etc. When not using the machine I would power off and turn off the power at the wall connection. That might keep some of the gremlins out.

Matt

 

Brownouts are normal here- poor wiring in an old house, small town electric company, fierce unmerciful weather from Indiana. That's why

The UPS levels out the fluctuation when someone uses the microwave, or starts the washer!

I started the thread about rebooting XP in part because of this Bad Checksum error I occasionally get. It seemed to me like rebooting statistically increased my odds, so for the past 6 months or so, I've been running 24/7, with a few restarts a week, and only completely shutting down for cleaning or cord untangling and that sort of thing!

Unofficial ECS K75A Motherboard

What do you guys make of all that?

Johanna

 

Been following this from the sideline because I had nothing to add. Initially, I would have bet any amount of money on a CMOS battery. In fact it appeared to be a no-brainer until I followed your link. From what I read, it looks like you found your own answer in the SIS chipset cooling/heating and your own fix here
http://www.geocities.com/mrathlon2000/chipset.html
This is a simple repair and the author reports a 100% success rate. For a couple of bucks and less than 10 minutes, what have you got to lose?