Bios ROM checksum error

  • Thread starter Thread starter 4p
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Well, it's going to be quite hard to trouble shoot as the geil should be running at 2.1v too (and your mobo is stuck at 1.9v). It's just been luck that it's managed to run for so long without any issues. It may be that the mobo has suddenly woken up to the fact...

Try slackening the memory timings right down and even reduce the memory's frequency via the ram divider - if you have that option. You may be able to get the system back to stable trying this. And make sure the memory voltage is set to max - 1.9v.
 
Don't have that option :p

This mobo really is dire, its a mATX too :D
 
Stop running the computer with unstable ram!

It's quite possible that the computer is fine with one stick, even though it's undervolted, but with two the northbridge can't cope. Run memtest with a single stick of your choice plugged in, if it passes then happy days.

You can then flash your bios to the latest version you can find. Do not flash the bios on an unstable system, or your computer will write crap into the rom and the motherboard will no longer boot at all.

Do you still have the geil? This would be the ideal choice for flashing if it is still stable with the geil.

Next, the recommended voltage on ram doesn't mean all that much. The last set of 800mhz ocz ram i tested, which was rated at 1.9V, was very happy running 4-4-4-12 at 1.8 V. So no need to give up on it yet. Search through your bios for anything you can set manually. I don't know what processor you're using, but there is a good chance it's fsb is lower than 400. You should therefore be able to run the ram at 667Mhz say, where it is more likely to be stable at 1.9V.

Even the reaper I've got, rated at 2.2V, is absolutely fine on 1.8 when the speed is dropped down to 800mhz or so. I think this is still solvable.

edit: Your motherboard might be screwed, that's obviously possible. I'm very fond of my matx asus, so reluctant to believe this is the problem :)
 
He's trying it with one stick of the geil, JonJ - or at least he was...

His motherboard seems very limited for settings.
 
If anything it becomes more interesting if that's the case. For example, ram can be flashed to different speeds/settings. OCZ ram can at least, there were a few articles on their forums relating to reaper running unstable. Similarly, motherboard bios's can be edited, perhaps to set 2V as the default for ram.
Either way the problem is still solvable, it's just a lot more interesting getting to the solution
 
Good plan - i've only read about this, never tried it.

Go on Thorpy - what have you go to lose - this could take a slightly comical problem into a very interesting solution...

Nice spot, JonJ.

Edit: Where were you 2 hrs ago while i was massaging my head against a brick wall? ;)
 
I've never tried it either :) But well up for learning a new trick. I think flashing the ram is likely to be easier, changing the motherboard bios harder. However either does bad things to warranty, and in this case the motherboard is probably the better one to play with.
 
The only setting i have that is even remotely to do with the RAM is the voltage and that gives me two options

[auto] and [1.9v]

Nothing else to do with RAM.
 
I make bios editing a difficult thing to google. Do you know what type it uses? Options appear to be Award and AMI so far, and applications with which to change them look thin on the ground. The change from [auto] and [1.9v] to [auto] and [2.0v] has got to be about the simplist change possible though.

What fsb does your processor run at, and ideally what speed was it running your ram at? 800MHz ram can quite easily be running at wildly different speeds depending on processor, and if your system is trying to run the ram at 1.9V 667Mhz and it still isn't stable then there probably isn't anything we can do. I don't think I saw earlier, which ram is it?
 
I think we scared him off JonJ – it may have had something to do with the fact that we used phrases like ‘i've never tried this before’ and ‘I’ve only read about it’ -when we discussed his options. :)

Thorpy, we promise we wont break anything, (not intentionally anyway) – and it will give you something to do before your new build arrives ;)
 
Ah, you may be right. The effort is probably disproportionate to the gain anyway.
Now, I believe my motherboard is supposed to feature 'dual bios' though I can't remember seeing the chip anywhere. If I can find a way of recovering from a bad flash, I may start playing with mine instead. It remains a useful skill to have I think, be nice to go beyond nibitor.
 
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