M1201 CMOS Checksum error on startup

Hi

I reinstalled my sons M1201 today (Vista), everything went fine.. I downloaded and installed all available updates including SP2.

When done I downloaded the R03.B3 bios update from the Acer.com site and installed according to the instructions in the attached pdf file. Everything went fine but upon reboot I get an error message: CMOS Checksum bad, F1 enter setup or F2 load default settings and boot.

At first the computer booted windows properly when using F2 but after a couple of boots it stopped after the initial windows loading screen and the display signal disappears.

I have tried to load default settings in Bios and save but the settings disappear upon boot..

Does anyone have any idea how to solve this?

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finlux

Hi LoonQ

Usually, CMOS checksum errors are usually to do with a failed motherboard battery. It may just be coincidence it has happened after a BIOS update. If the flash went wrong, the PC would usually fail to boot Window and possibly not display anything at all!

Try replacing the battery on the mobo. It is normally a CR 2032 type and is cheap & easy to fix.

Once replaced, you will need to set the date & time, press F10 to save, then it all should work OK.

LoonQ

Hi

Thx for the advise Smiley Happy I am at work now but will buy a battery on my way home and try. I will post the result later on tonight!

LoonQ

The change of battery did not help much Smiley Sad still the same error (removed the old one yesterday and changed the clear CMOS jumper to clear and left it like that over night). I have tried a little more and I am able to boot into failsafe mode and recovery mode in Windows.

Do you think it would help to use one of those clear CMOS tools availiable or maybe to reflash from Dos instead?

finlux

Sorry to hear that the battery didn't help solve the problem!

As you've tried clearing BIOS memory as well, and that didn't work - you may as well try to re-flash it. I've not personally used a "clear CMOS" tool, so I can't really comment on that!

LoonQ

I am able to get it to boot again if I remove the PCIE graphics card and use the internal one. Though I am still not able to get rid of the CMOS Checksum Bad error.

I tried to flash the BIOS again from Windows but the application sas "failed to load driver"... I will try to flash from Dos instead to see if that works.

car_wrecker

I had this same problem. The BIOS update has to be done through WinXP or DOS. With WinXP, start the program to flash the BIOS and make sure the "Erase Checksum" box is ticked. Perform the update, then when it restarts it will show this error again, enter setup, load best defaults then save and exit. The problem should then be solved.

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