Fatal Error... System Halted

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Joined
20 May 2012
Posts
46
I posted last month about my computer that would randomly hang and sometimes boot with a blank screen. It was intermittent and has gone weeks without a single problem, but it's a lot worse now.

After the 'Hit X to enter BIOS setup' It gives me a screen full of stuff ending with Fatal Error... System Halted. This is the BIOS, before it goes anywhere near an OS. It lists my hardware correctly (CPU, memory, USB devices (although it shows two keyboards for some reason), SSD and blu-ray). Then gives me the following:
New CPU installed Please enter Setup to configure your system.
Chassis intrude! Please check your system
Fatal Error... System Halted.

At this point I can't enter setup, although I didn't try before reaching this screen.

The Chassis intrude is interesting as I didn't know the board had it. Any ideas about this machine. Has anybody seen this kind of thing before? I'm going to open it up to check a cable hasn't fallen off, but I can't think of much else to try. I think it's going to be a new M/B and CPU :mad:

Spec:
Asus Maximus V Gene
i7 3770K
8GB
PSU only a few weeks old and well speced
 
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OP
Joined
20 May 2012
Posts
46
I've found a way around it. Hitting the reset button makes it boot into Windows. I seemed unable to get into the BIOS by hitting delete, which was a bit strange.

I have a suspicion that it could be the battery as it's 4 years old, but the error messages seem rather dramatic for a battery. The system also seems to work fine in Windows. Fan speeds and temperatures are all good.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Dec 2010
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8,222
Location
Leeds
Try a new battery and if that fails to cure it, reset the BIOS back to defaults and set it up again, could be a a BIOS corruption. If that fails reset the BIOS to default again and reflash the BIOS with the latest BIOS version for your motherboard.


Also I would advice testing the RAM as that may have gone faulty and cause all sorts of strange things. Also if you have a USB hub attached remove that too as a test as these can cause strange things too. Remove everything apart from the mouse and keyboard on the USB.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
20 May 2012
Posts
46
Try a new battery and if that fails to cure it, reset the BIOS back to defaults and set it up again, could be a a BIOS corruption. If that fails reset the BIOS to default again and reflash the BIOS with the latest BIOS version for your motherboard.


Also I would advice testing the RAM as that may have gone faulty and cause all sorts of strange things. Also if you have a USB hub attached remove that too as a test as these can cause strange things too. Remove everything apart from the mouse and keyboard on the USB.

I replaced the battery and it seems to be good now :)

Old battery was at 1.1V instead of 3V.

My board has many unnecessary things like a LED's and even start/reset buttons but seems to be unable to handle a flat battery gracefully. Do they not use a checksum :confused:
 
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