HELP! Abit KN8 Ultra - Must reset bios/clear CMOS everytime to boot up the computer

[alexwsk]

I've encountered this extremely strange problem with my computer. Everytime after I choose "Turn Off" from Windows XP Pro SP2, the Windows will shut down properly and after that if I press the power button, my computer won't boot. If I choose "Restart" from Windows, the Windows will shut down and then when it try to restart, it just won't boot up. All the fans (CPU, VGA, North bridge) are functioning properly and both the red LED1 (5VSB) and yellow LED2 (VCC) lights up normally. However, the PC speaker doesn't beep and the monitor will still be in standby mode (no POST screen shown).

All I need to do is to reset the bios. Then when I power up again, it'll tell me that the CPU has been changed, press F1 to continue or ESC to enter setup. If I press F1, the Windows will boot properly. If I enter setup, and then "Quit without saving", it will also boot properly. But if I enter setup, did not make any changes, just choose "Save and exit", it will not boot!!!!

My hardware specs are below in the signature. The problem must be in either the mobo or the CPU but I don't know which one or how to find out. I've tried different VGA cards (from the early Geforce 6600, to ATI X850XT, and the latest Geforce 7900GT), different power supply (from the original CoolerMaster eXtreme Power 430W to the current Antec TP II 550W) and different DDR RAMs, but it is still the same. The mobo bios is the latest kn819 version downloaded from abit website.

My CPU is AMD Athlon 64 - AMD Engineering Sample 00 (ES) with default clock at 4*200MHz = 800MHz and default CPU voltage at 1.1V. When I boot into Windows by resetting the bios, I can actually overclock it using clockgen to 12*200MHz = 2400MHz @ 1.4V and it will run stabily (http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=115780). Too bad I can't get another CPU to test the mobo.


Any ideas???? Please provide your opinions, thanks in advanced.

[ABIT Sean]

It might be something to do with the engineering sample you using.

[alexwsk]

Sean, thx for the reply. Will try to get hold of a retail processor to test it out. Just hope it wasn't the mobo.

[Baddriver]

Alexwsk

Have you checked that the (motherboard) lithium battery is actually holding charge? When removed from the motherboard it should read at least 3.1V

Stuart

[alexwsk]

Alexwsk

Have you checked that the (motherboard) lithium battery is actually holding charge? When removed from the motherboard it should read at least 3.1V

Stuart

Hi Stuart, I didn't check the battery, but I did swap in a new battery and it's the same.

[acugar]

i have the same problem on my computer and i have tried everything...
the mobo is the same.. i have to clear cmos to get it back to life.. but it happens randomly and when it comes back it says cpu has been changed... do you have any ideas.?

[BUFF]

the "CPU is unworkable or has been changed" message is normal after clearing CMOS.
You haven't really given enough information to make a suggestion - have you tried replacing the battery?

[acugar]

i have not replaced cmos battery , ill do it later on... i have tried everything replaced PSU, one mem stick at a time, replaced mem, reseat CPU, reseat VC, everything... it is very weird

it was working fine and this started to happen suddenly

[alexwsk]

i have not replaced cmos battery , ill do it later on... i have tried everything replaced PSU, one mem stick at a time, replaced mem, reseat CPU, reseat VC, everything... it is very weird

it was working fine and this started to happen suddenly

I managed to solve mine by changing the processor.

Anyway, it's all sold now, have moved on to C2D.

[acugar]

yes.. i want to movo to c2d too.... but for now i want to get this thing running....... i have just found something interesting... if i have the memory in dual channel will not post... on single channel it posts properly

[matter]

I was doing an upgrade with a 3.2Ghz P4 and had the same problem. I thought it was the motherboard at first, so I replaced that, but no dice- so it's either the CPU or the memory- from you guys it sounds like it's the CPU, no? I'm currently using an ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA, and before I was using a MSI PM8M3-V. I unplugged everything except for my CPU and ram, and the PM8M3 had an onboard vga, so I even took out my video card. Is it possible for ram to do this to a system? or only the processor?
Thanks,
M

[malibu4372]

an eerily similar problem here. Last year the computer completely froze, and refused to boot at all at one point. I originally thought it was the new 4-way KVM controller I had bought, and while I'm still definitely not ruling that out (after using the same KVM on another computer, it also deadlocked as well), it sounds like this problem may have a lot more to do with the MOBO. Today the computer again deadlocked while working on it through remote desktop. When i arrived at the terminal, I tried to reboot it, but it kept hanging at the "Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64" screen. This was the exact same scenario I was in 6 months ago in October, and I ended up wiping the whole system and doing a completely fresh install (lost thousands of files, most of which I was able to recover using OnTrack, but some that i couldn't because they were protected with Windows EFS). After reading this post I took y'alls advice and removed some of the memory. I normally run with 3 GB of memory in 4 slots, so I took out 3 of the 4 sticks of ram, bringing me down to 1 GB. Don't know how or why this worked, but sure enough my computer booted right up after this. Shut the computer down again, reinserted the memory, and it booted up as normal (as it should've done from the start). This isn't the first Abit system i've built or used, so I know they're not all like this, but it could be my last...

Computer Specs
Motherboard: Abit KN8 Ultra
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 3800+
Memory: 3 GB DDR (can't remember or see the brand name on it) using all 4 slots
Hard Drive 1: WD 320GB
Hard Drive 2: WD 320GB
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 x64 edition

[BUFF]

it could also be your PSU or indeed the memory failing.