"Bad CMOS Checksum" Error Msg....

On startups lately I've been getting the bad cmos checksum error. It screws up my clock basically resetting it back to 2009 which screws up other things. I've read some forums that talk about this problem being a battery issue on the motherboard. This doesn't sound like a fun fix.

 

You take the old battery out and buy the same model and replace it. Did you try to restore bios settings to default (in case of overclock)

 

No I didn't try to restore any bios settings yet. Is this hard to do? What else would this do to my system?

 

Is power to the power supply and motherboard "on" all of the time between the times that you get the checksum errors? The battery is only needed to keep the CMOS settings when the motherboard loses power.

I have only had a motherboard battery go out once. I would save the default CMOS settings and everything would be fine until I either unplugged the power cord or switched off the power supply. Most motherboards use a battery type which is usually easily available. I purchased my replacement battery at Walmart about 3 years ago for around $4.

 

Power supply? Well I have a laptop not a desktop so I don't believe I have a power supply?

 

Well you never identified whether you had a laptop or desktop that is having the issue. Your laptop cmos battery seems to be bad. Some laptops have easy access to it and would be simple to replace. Others you might have to go thru alot to replace it, which in that case you would need a tech or a tech-savvy person to replace it. How old is your laptop? Did you do any bios updates lately?

 

I bought it June of last year. Haven't done any bios updates except maybe one when I first bought it but I honestly don't remember for sure.

 

Is it under warranty still if bought June last? If yes contact vendor

 

Oh ok. That would be weird that the cmos battery would go bad that quick if thats the case. I would reset the bios to default settings as others mention just to see if the message goes away. I was just about to suggest that as well Cudni, beat me to it

 

I see a 8/18/2010 bios update at the dell site. I don't believe I updated anything from the Dell site after June. How exactly do I go about resetting bios. I don't want to screw up my computer. I don't mess with things like this often.

 

Use the bios update from Dell. It might fix the issues

 

this *could* be caused by actually many things aside firstly yes it could for sure the battery. i have seen bad ram, bad sata chip on the mobo, among a few other things. what i would do before tearing it down to replace the battery is start by pulling out the ram. install one stick and start it see if the issue remains if so remove it and then install the other one. then you can try things like the wifi adapter etc, while these may not be the root cause they could be instead of just the battery. im a repair tech and have seen this caused by other things except just the battery. im actually a dell repair tech among others so let me know if you have any questions about things and ill do whatever i can to help.

if you bought it brand new dell always has at least a one year warranty so if you bought it in june it should still be under warranty (if it was new when you bought it) till june of this year. ill assume you bought it as a consumer and not through dell business. if this is the case they dont normally do advanced exchange like they do for business systems.

before taking it apart i would contact dell and use the system id on the bottom and see if it is under warranty. if so they will have you do some testing on the phone and just follow along (maybe they will solve the issue) if not there are ways of getting a replacement sent out and simply swapping your hard drive out etc...if you are unsure how to get to the cmos battery i would prob go through dell to resolve instead of taking it apart yourself.

hope some of this helps.

 

also sorry forgot to add just download the bios update. with dell they almost always can be done right from windows. if you are unsure link me to your bios update and i can walk you through the update easily from dos or windows (pref dos if available)

 

I've done the bios update from Dell. It apparently has done nothing for my issues. Have a couple actually. I've noticed lately that if I close my laptop lid(system then sleeps/hibernates) then re-open and try to wake my system , it just freezes. Screen will stay dark and will not come out of hibernation even when I press the power button. I have to hold power button to turn off the computer and restart. Upon restarting I have been running into issues with the CMOS error msg and the clock resetting to 2009. I also have been suffering through what seems to be high cpu or memory use issues with firefox and other programs or even just simple windows for awhile now. I don't think it's cpu issues as I've checked process explorer and no cpu spikes show up. The system will hang for no reason. I had to use Opera for this posting cuz firefox 3.6.15 is hanging up like crazy. Other programs can hang up too as well as simple windows. It's driving me nuts.

 

its really hard to say for sure what it is. i still say it could possibly be bad ram or other things like the battery as mentioned. also the hibernation thing makes it sound like it could be a borked windows install though that would not cause the cmos error as software would not cause that (except possibly a bad bios flash) if the bios is being reset due to a bad battery there may be a setting getting reset causing the freezing issues as well. just being curious have you went into the bios to check the time and date there or was it just the time and date in windows?? these things may seem stupid or trivial but could help pinpoint where the problem is

 

No, I haven't gone into bios to check the time there. Try that next.

 

Just checked bios. Date and time are correct there. Firefox still locks up on me. Opera is just fine.

Edit*

Been using Opera 10.62 for the last several hrs. It's been lighting quick. No problems with it. Firefox basically locks up after loading if I try to go to a website.

 

if the bios date and time are correct then honestly there is a issue within windows. that does not solve the cmos error though but as i said a lot of thing could cause that. even after flashing a new bios if the settings are not correct it can show that message at times and will say hit f1 or f2 etc to continue and usually that will fix it but not always

 

Last night I shut down the computer down. This afternoon still gave me bad cmos error msg. I went into bios from error screen and my clock and time off again. I didn't change anything from there. Didn't want to mess with bios settings until I know exactly what it's gonna do.

 

ahh okay if its still off in the bios than yes its either the cmos battery or something causing the bios to reset such as bad hardware from something

 

Should I start with changing the CMOS battery? If so where do I find it on a Dell laptop and where do I find a replacement? When changing the time I do it windows only within the clock program. Also as an update, Opera is now slowing way down. It isn't freezing up completely like Firefox but it's having hiccups now or short pauses before links will load or scrolling is slow to respond.

 

Enter your service tag or choose model for the service manual. They'll be a selection within the service manual called "coin-cell battery" or something similar: http://support.dell.com/support/top...info/manuals?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=anavml