4 week old desktop with start up issue Aspire desktop xc-340

REEDY316

Hey ladies and gents, really hoping someone can help here.

I bought an Acer Aspire desktop xc-340 from Argos in the UK in October 2021 (yes, 4 weeks ago!!!). I returned from a 1 week holiday and upon turning the computer on, the machine double-beeped, and a bunch of MS-DOS writing appeared stating things such as speed info, memory size, port info etc however it ends with 'setup settings error, CMOS checksum error or CMOS battery loss occurs'. Hit F1 to continue or DEL to enter BIOS set-up.

I have read that this can be battery related, however after only having the machine for 4 weeks I am far from happy if it is.

Just wondering if anyone can shed any info on this as the error doesn't seem too specific.

REEDY316

Here is the info folks.

Larryodie

Can you do a visual without removing the cover ? Maybe the battery fell out or is missing. BUT your warranty may be void if you remove the cover. I would call ACER support.

REEDY316

Hello Larry! You can see the battery through the side of the desktop and I can confirm it is attached. Luckily, I do have one of these batteries in the house however am really surprised that a brand new purchase needs a battery replaced. I’m worried that if I contact Acer support they’ll want me to send it away. It’s a business machine you see, so I can’t be doing without it.

Larryodie

The only way you'll know is to replace it. Stuff happens. 
You can verify by checking with a meter (3.0 Volt) or setting your clock then power off and unplug to see if time is kept as maybe it's an fake error message.

Remember these batteries have been active for a long time before you got it. Also remember about your warrant if a cover is removed. Maybe a real Acer person could answer as to how they know if a cover has been removed ?

REEDY316

Thanks Larry. Yes I know what you mean, batteries do have a shelf life. My last Dell desktop lasted 12 years and I never replaced a battery once. Have this for 4 weeks and this happens. Weird! I don’t have a meter to test a battery but at least I have a spare, so will likely try that in the morning.

billsey

Those CMOS batteries (CR2032) typically last for several years at the minimum. Try this, boot into the BIOS (F2 at startup) and do a reset to defaults (F9) then a save and exit (F10). verify things are working OK then shut down and unplug the computer overnight. In the morning (or afternoon or whatever) plug it back in and turn it on. Do you get the same message again? If it does that might mean the battery is bad, but there's more to look at. Repeat the process except without unplugging the computer. If it still happens the issue isn't the battery, it's something wrong on the motherboard. Contact Acer support and have them fix it for you.

That battery only keeps the CMOS settings (the stuff the BIOS stores for you) in place when the computer isn't turned on. It's not really harmful for the battery to go flat, but it's a bit of a pain since you have to go through all that mess on the screen and in really bad cases it can leave you with the wrong date and time (like Jan 1 1970).

REEDY316

Hey Billsey, thank-you for your help. Acer got back to me on Twitter and told me to do the exact same thing apart from your unplugging tip. So far this morning, I booted to BIOS and reset the defaults then started Windows normally. I will be on my desktop now until 6pm tonight, so will follow your advice and unplug everything tonight once I finish. I am hoping it boots normally in the morning when I come back to work. I do find it peculiar that a battery could run flat after 4 weeks of owning the machine but then again like has been mentioned above, if it's been draining away ever since being installed into the desktop then things happen - it's a battery. 

billsey

Those batteries are like every other commodity component. They almost always just work, but very rarely you can get a child failure...

REEDY316

Hey everyone, so just a little update I am hoping someone may be able to advise on regarding the error on my 4 week old desktop. Acer tech support advised the below steps, which I followed yesterday. However, when I came to work this morning the computer still had the error message appear.

I have yet to follow your tip Billsey, of following the below tips but pulling the power cord out overnight.

Given that I followed Acer's advice, but left the power cable in overnight, does that suggest anything that it could possibly be?

Thanks all,
Chrissie x

billsey

I'm assuming when you shut down for the night there is still power supplied to the box? Or are you switching off a power strip to power it off instead? If there is power to the box with the computer shut down you shouldn't see this error at all. The steps Dann has you go through just puts everything back to normal and doesn't really address the actual cause of the error. The error points to either a faulty CMOS chip or a faulty circuit for the CMOS battery and either of those really wants either a swap out with the vendor (if it's been a short enough time since the purchase) or a repair at Acer's service center.

REEDY316

Hi Billsey. I’m in the UK not sure about yourself? So we have on/off switches on our electric. I know how it works over in USA if that’s where you are from. So yeah, in effect I have been cutting the power every night once I hit that off switch so thinking about it, it was irrelevant that I unplugged the power plug itself last night. DOH! But yeah, I’ll go and switch it on now and the message will appear no doubt. So in your opinion you think it’s something more than the actual CR battery itself?

billsey

Try leaving the power on and only doing a shutdown on the computer. I do think there's a hardware issue, the symptoms say the battery is not keeping the CMOS energized, and the battery is new. That point toward the battery not being connected to the CMOS, so likely a soldering problem on the motherboard. And yes, I'm in the USA.

REEDY316

Hey Billsey I just wanted to thank-you for your help. I decided to open the desktop and try changing the battery myself as opposed to sending the machine away for Lord knows how long, I even played around with the pins that touch the battery, to lift them a fraction as they looked a little 'flat'. When I turned the machine back on, at first the error code did appear. But I then tried your tip on resetting defaults and it worked this time (once the battery had been changed). Here I am 24hrs later, with the desktop being switched off/unplugged overnight, and it's working fine with no error code. I am really hoping that's the end of the saga! Although I do still find it odd that a battery would be dead after 5 weeks of having it (granted, it's an older machine so has likely been on the store shelf for 12 months).

REEDY316

Do you mean the clock at the bottom right on Windows Larry? Yes it kept the time, but it did also whilst the problem was present.

But now you mention it, I did notice when I booted to reset the default as per the advice above, the time was wrong and stated 12:00 when it was 14:15 at the time.

Larryodie

When unplugged, the battery keeps the clock ticking. 

billsey

I guess we will know for sure it's really fixed when we get well over five weeks in and it's still working. Yeah, the CMOS run a little clock all the time, so when it starts to boot it can now when 'now' is. Without that it would always boot at 01/01/1970 (when time began for computers). That wouldn't be a problem since the computer can always gets it time off the 'net, right? Actually if the time if off by too much, when it asks the atomic clock in Colorado what time it is the atomic clock says it won't tell us... You have to set it by your watch and then do the internet update to get it right.

REEDY316

Hi Billsey, well another day starts and the computer is still ok. You chaps will have to excuse my trepidation, I am so nervy because my last PC had the blue screen of death in October. I replaced it with this Acer, so of course when this issue popped up after only 5 weeks it shook me a little as it was not cheap. If you don't mind me asking Billsey, how come I will need to wait a further 5 weeks to see if it's truly fixed? I presumed changing a battery as such, would be an instant fix?

Larryodie

billsey said:

I guess we will know for sure it's really fixed when we get well over five weeks in and it's still working. Yeah, the CMOS run a little clock all the time, so when it starts to boot it can now when 'now' is. Without that it would always boot at 01/01/1970 (when time began for computers). That wouldn't be a problem since the computer can always gets it time off the 'net, right? Actually if the time if off by too much, when it asks the atomic clock in Colorado what time it is the atomic clock says it won't tell us... You have to set it by your watch and then do the internet update to get it right.

I fixed IBM 360/65 & 67 in 1965.
Then they used the CPU Clock to keep the clock ticking but the clock had to be set by the operators input by typewriter. Once I was working on a system at NASA, I brought up thr REAL system not our diagnostic program. I typed a random date as I did when doing diagnostic. My random date caused all kind of deleting file that were shown as idle by the OS Operating System. I was in trouble but IBM put in safeguards to keep an ***** from doing this. Remember no internet then nor teleprocessing on this system which was NASA ???

billsey

I used the five weeks since that was how long it took the first time. It's not a hard and fast target, just a guideline.

We believe the problem was a faulty battery, or a faulty battery socket. Currently it looks like replacing the battery and moving the mounting springs on the socket cleared it up. If the socket was really faulty then we might not see the issue again until the battery goes dead, which could take some time. That you are turning the power completely off in the evening will potentially run the battery down faster, but it shouldn't make that much difference. I'm betting that it's fixed for real...

REEDY316

Awesome Billsey thanks again for your words of wisdom. Yeah I disconnect power every night, always have done. Crazy that I had my Dell for 12 years and never had to change battery! The good news is, it’s £1 our currency for about 10 of those batteries so it’s real cheap