Possible MB problem. BIOS settings not holding. Can't access BIOS

painter24 · 1 Nov 2017 at 05:01

Hi guys,

I've been building my son's new rig with the MSI Mortar Arctic H270m MB. Had an initial problem with signal from GFXcard which is solved as can be seen in this post

forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/no-signal-from-gfx-card-pci.18798123/

But now I have a new problem. Thought it more appropriate to post here.

All was well but now when I turn on PC, I can't access the BIOS (boots straight into W10 but takes longer than a normal healthy boot) and my previous settings have reverted to defaults. I jumped the CMOS, got into the BIOS and input my settings again. (Fan settings etc). All is well until I restart, then I can't get into BIOS again and settings are lost again.

I've ordered some new cr2032 batteries, but surely batteries in new MBs shouldn't die so quickly? Have I got a bigger problem here?

As I posted. Once I'd sorted the gtx signal to monitor issue all was ok until the next day, then the above problem started.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys

painter24 · 1 Nov 2017 at 17:14

Ok, I changed the CMOS battery, got into BIOS, reset fan settings etc then saved and booted into Windows. Then shut down and re-started but still can't get into BIOS from power-on, but now the BIOS has retained my fan settings.

Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be? Any help would be much appreciated. I maybe missing something really simple. Either that or the MB is faulty?

Thanks very much

painter24 · 2 Nov 2017 at 17:42

I think I've solved this problem. I found an article on another PC forum from a guy with same issue. Apparently it's a monitor/gtx card handshake problem and the resolution of the BIOS screen. I've been testing my son's PC on my Hazro 1920 x 1200 monitor which is about 7 or 8 years old. This is the only piece of hardware I didn't swap out of the equation :rolleyes:

.
Anyway, I unboxed the monitor I'd bought last weekend for my son's rig, powered it up, put the HDMI cable in the back, powered up the PC and hey presto.....BIOS screen

. *big sigh of relief*

SimBoy · 9 Nov 2017 at 13:50

That's a useful bit of info painter24 - sorry you had to go through all that, but thanks for posting the resolve.

One to remember - though I would luv to know why it happens with 'old' monitors!

painter24 · 10 Nov 2017 at 06:03

SimBoy said:
That's a useful bit of info painter24 - sorry you had to go through all that, but thanks for posting the resolve.

One to remember - though I would luv to know why it happens with 'old' monitors!

Thanks Simboy. This is only my 2nd build, probably learnt 10 fold what I did on my first. Incredibly frustrating at the time but still thoroughly rewarding.

Just to elaborate on what was happening: when powering up and pressing the DEL key to enter BIOS, the Hazro wasn't happy with the the resolution of the BIOS so just returned a black screen. I think it was caused by the HDMI socket on the Hazro, may be because of its age and iteration of HDMI, as my rig is normally connected via DVI and works ok. My son's GFX card has a different DVI port I don't have adapter for so couldn't try it.