P4P800 BadBIOS checksum

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charlie
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Charlie

Hi there, I have a problem booting my system, hope someone can help.

When I restart my computer, the BIOS gives the error message "bad BIOS
checksum" and requests a floppy or CD with a BIOS image on it. I
inserted a CD with BIOS 1014 and the BIOS flashed successfully, but
still gave the errors. If I turn my computer off and back on, I get
the same errors, however if I turn the computer off, remove & reinsert
the power cable, then boot, the BIOS checksum error doesn't appear.
Instead, I get the error "Overclocking failed" and "CPU fan failed"
and am given the choice of entering setup or loading default values.
This puzzles me as I do not have overclocking enabled and my CPU fan
is working perfectly. If I enter and then leave setup without changing
any settings, the system boots successfully. I only got these error
messages after I'd altered my memory timings (I have some Corsair
2-2-2 DDR400). I have tried reverting to the default timings and
allowing memory configuration via SPD but the errors remain the same.

The spec of my machine is:
Asus P4P800 mainboard with BIOS 1014
Intel P4 2.8GHz HT cooled by Zalman Flower cooler
2x256MB Corsair DDR400 2-2-2 RAM
Hercules AIW Radeon 9800SE (haven't tried the softmod yet as ocfaq.com
is down)
IBM GXP120 60GB HDD, master on primary IDE channel
Antec SLK3700-BQE case with 350W SmartPower PSU
Sony 16x DVD-ROM
Sony 8x DVD+/-R
Windows XP Pro SP1

Any help gratefully appreciated.
 
Charlie said:
Hi there, I have a problem booting my system, hope someone can help.

When I restart my computer, the BIOS gives the error message "bad BIOS
checksum" and requests a floppy or CD with a BIOS image on it. I
inserted a CD with BIOS 1014 and the BIOS flashed successfully, but
still gave the errors. If I turn my computer off and back on, I get
the same errors, however if I turn the computer off, remove & reinsert
the power cable, then boot, the BIOS checksum error doesn't appear.
Instead, I get the error "Overclocking failed" and "CPU fan failed"
and am given the choice of entering setup or loading default values.
This puzzles me as I do not have overclocking enabled and my CPU fan
is working perfectly. If I enter and then leave setup without changing
any settings, the system boots successfully. I only got these error
messages after I'd altered my memory timings (I have some Corsair
2-2-2 DDR400). I have tried reverting to the default timings and
allowing memory configuration via SPD but the errors remain the same.

The spec of my machine is:
Asus P4P800 mainboard with BIOS 1014
Intel P4 2.8GHz HT cooled by Zalman Flower cooler
2x256MB Corsair DDR400 2-2-2 RAM
Hercules AIW Radeon 9800SE (haven't tried the softmod yet as ocfaq.com
is down)
IBM GXP120 60GB HDD, master on primary IDE channel
Antec SLK3700-BQE case with 350W SmartPower PSU
Sony 16x DVD-ROM
Sony 8x DVD+/-R
Windows XP Pro SP1

Any help gratefully appreciated.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a bios and not an operating system problem. If no one has a
better idea, I would suggest you try shorting out the CMOS jumpers to reset
the bios settings. Will not effect your flash as this remains in
non-volatile memory. You would need to power down, turn off power at the
power supply, remove the cord from the power supply, open the case, touch
the case itself to discharge any static electricity on your person, remove
the battery (a small screwdriver will help to press in the clip, short the
jumper near the battery per instructions in your mobo manual, wait 10-15
seconds, replace the jumper in the usual/prior/default position, reinsert
the battery, put everything back together, restart the computer, and choose
"default" settings in the bios. After it boots up successfully you can
restart and then enter your preferred bios settings. You will need to
re-input the time and date as this is lost when you short the jumpers.

This might solve your problems. If it does not, you might need to have Asus
reflash your bios chip or buy a new, preflashed chip from them.
Alternatively you could try reflashing either 1014, or an earlier bios like
1012.

Good luck.

ken

p.s. you should double check all your bios settings because it is possible
that you might have OC'ing enabled and not realize you do. There is both
"automatic/AI" overclocking and manual overclocking settings on this board,
of course.
 
Charlie said:
Hi there, I have a problem booting my system, hope someone can help.

When I restart my computer, the BIOS gives the error message "bad BIOS
checksum" and requests a floppy or CD with a BIOS image on it. I
inserted a CD with BIOS 1014 and the BIOS flashed successfully, but
still gave the errors. If I turn my computer off and back on, I get
the same errors, however if I turn the computer off, remove & reinsert
the power cable, then boot, the BIOS checksum error doesn't appear.
Instead, I get the error "Overclocking failed" and "CPU fan failed"
and am given the choice of entering setup or loading default values.
This puzzles me as I do not have overclocking enabled and my CPU fan
is working perfectly. If I enter and then leave setup without changing
any settings, the system boots successfully. I only got these error
messages after I'd altered my memory timings (I have some Corsair
2-2-2 DDR400). I have tried reverting to the default timings and
allowing memory configuration via SPD but the errors remain the same.
Click to expand...
I was getting the same BIOS error message when I updated to 1014. I
reflashed from the CD that came with my system and it still happened. It
went away when I first loaded default values before I flashed my system. Why
did it happen? I have no idea because I have flashed the bios exactly the
same way before and nothing like this happened before...go figure.
 
Greysky said:
I was getting the same BIOS error message when I updated to 1014. I
reflashed from the CD that came with my system and it still happened. It
went away when I first loaded default values before I flashed my system. Why
did it happen? I have no idea because I have flashed the bios exactly the
same way before and nothing like this happened before...go figure.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies guys but I'm still getting the same errors.
"Bad BIOS checksum" which a unplug-replug of the power cable solves,
then "Overclocking failed" which clears after going into BIOS setup
and exiting without changes.

If I load setup defaults, the error doesn't occur, but if I change
just one setting, the whole thing comes back. I've tried every
combination of clearing CMOS, flashing, booting/rebooting etc that I
can think of.

I used an Asus K7M motherboard for years with no trouble but I'm
really annoyed with this now; I've noticed that several other posters
have had similar problems and most don't post any resolution details
so I presume the fault is ongoing.

What's my next course of action? Mail the details to Asus and see what
they have to say? Does anyone have a contact email address for these
sorts of problems?

Cheers again

Charlie.
 
Charlie said:
"Greysky" <[email protected]> wrote in message

Thanks for the replies guys but I'm still getting the same errors.
"Bad BIOS checksum" which a unplug-replug of the power cable solves,
then "Overclocking failed" which clears after going into BIOS setup
and exiting without changes.

If I load setup defaults, the error doesn't occur, but if I change
just one setting, the whole thing comes back. I've tried every
combination of clearing CMOS, flashing, booting/rebooting etc that I
can think of.

I used an Asus K7M motherboard for years with no trouble but I'm
really annoyed with this now; I've noticed that several other posters
have had similar problems and most don't post any resolution details
so I presume the fault is ongoing.

What's my next course of action? Mail the details to Asus and see what
they have to say? Does anyone have a contact email address for these
sorts of problems?

Cheers again

Charlie.
Click to expand...

I called Asus a couple of weeks ago at their US (not toll free) number.
After waiting on hold for about 20 or 30 mins., I got to speak to a tech who
hung up on me 5 minutes into my tale of woe related to the bios. After he
failed to call back (because, after all, he hung up on me; the first thing I
was asked at the start of the call was for my phone #), I called back,
waited another 20 or 30 minutes, spoke to a nice but fairly clueless
gentleman, who suggested I pay Asus for a new bios chip ($25) on my brand
new P4P800 Deluxe. In the end I shorted the cmos jumper and that solved my
problem.

I should add that early on I had an installation problem, called the same
number, almost immediately got a nice kid who knew exactly what I needed to
do to fix the problem, and who solved that problem in a couple of minutes.
So, out of 3 calls, with an hour spent on the phone long distance to Asus
(at my own expense, plus whatever my own time is worth), I'm batting 1/3
with their tech support. I've read in posts here that they don't reliably
respond to emails.

The easiest (stomach-lining-wise) solution for you, if still in the return
period, is to RMA the mobo back to whomever sold it to you. Then, either
buy another one, or hedge your bet by buying a different mobo.

Good luck,

ken
 
Ken Fox said:
The easiest (stomach-lining-wise) solution for you, if still in the return
period, is to RMA the mobo back to whomever sold it to you. Then, either
buy another one, or hedge your bet by buying a different mobo.

Good luck,

ken
Click to expand...

Cheers Ken, don't really fancy dismantling my new PC and waiting for a
new mainboard, I think I'll just have to live with it til they fix it
in a new release of the BIOS - if that ever happens :(

Charlie.
 
Charlie said:
Cheers Ken, don't really fancy dismantling my new PC and waiting for a
new mainboard, I think I'll just have to live with it til they fix it
in a new release of the BIOS - if that ever happens :(

Charlie.
Click to expand...

I know the feeling! We are talking one huge PITA here.

It doesn't help that you've probably just finished building the damn thing,
so you're fully sick of the process, looking for all those tiny case
connectors, etc. etc.

My sense is that rebuilding a system with a new version of the same mobo
would probably go pretty quickly, especially if you waited until the new
part arrived before you sent back the old one (Newegg allows this). And,
since you wouldn't have to reload the operating system and the other
programs, the time involved would simply be for removing connectors,
processor, ram, etc., then reinstalling same. Presumably it would work from
initial boot up.

But I can sympathise bigtime with your feelings having started out with a
PAPE, RMA'd it, and getting a P4P800 Deluxe in exchange (wanted to hedge my
bet that I'd end up with a working system 2nd time around and not another
bad board from the same vendor from the same batch).

I recently finished building a second system to be used as a Linux-learning
box. I reused a whole bunch of castoff parts in it, including a 2.2GHz
400FSB P4, PC2100 RAM, an old video card, an old USB 2.0 PCI card, old
keyboard, old mouse, old monitor, old speaker system, etc. I used an AMS
SFF (small form factor, like a Shuttle) box for this system. Although
expansion and overclocking options are limited, the build stage was very
much shorter. I compensated for the lack of expandability by using a lot of
external USB 2.0 devices cobbled together from old parts I had including
hard disks and CDRW drive. Let me tell you, it is one hell of a lot quicker
and less painful to build a SFF system than it is to build a full or
mid-tower system. Given the modular aspect of it, a lot of these parts
could have lives several years into the future in yet another system. The
next time around I'll seriously consider building a SFF system instead of
going the full tower, separate mobo route. You can assemble the basic SFF
box in under an hour, plug the peripherals in, and load your OS or OSes of
choice. The wave of the future, methinks. There are a lot of the same
simplification benefits present in a notebook. And if you have a piece of
problem hardware, you just unplug it and replace it.

Asus is in this market but at an almost imperceptible level. If they want
to get on the leading edge of what I think will be the new trend, they need
to improve their offerings and their distribution of same.

ken
 
....

I was getting the same BIOS error message when I updated to 1014. I
reflashed from the CD that came with my system and it still happened. It
went away when I first loaded default values before I flashed my system. Why
did it happen? I have no idea because I have flashed the bios exactly the
same way before and nothing like this happened before...go figure.
Click to expand...

Always, always, after flashing with new version of BIOS, always load
default values from setup to avoid problems.
 
D. Vujaklija said:
Always, always, after flashing with new version of BIOS, always load
default values from setup to avoid problems.
Click to expand...

The problem occurred BEFORE I flashed the BIOS. It first happened
after I changed the memory timings.
 
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