Asrock ALiveN570SLI-eSATA2 > CMOS Bad Checksum , Need Help to resolve BIOS problems !

[00PHATE00]

Can anyone Help me set my BIOS settings to the BEST they can be, or at least help me to resolve this nightmare of a problem my motherboard seems to be having when it comes to saving my chosen BIOS settings.

My Motherboard is an " Asrock ALiveN570SLI-eSATA2" , i got it from a friend who didn't need it (but sadly it came without software CD's), i have been using it on a regular basis for @ 3 years and it has coped quite well so far, but the other day i did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium x64 , and after updating with all the microsoft nonsense etc etc began to try to get my usual setup in the BIOS applied....like getting the full speed out of my DDR 2 ram, and disabling stuff i dont need like 1394 controller or floppy controller+ floppy disk etc, also added USB Legacy Support so my keyboard would still work during POST and upto LOGIN - ** NO CRAZY OVERCLOCKING IDEA's or anything like it.....but now the Git won't hold so much as a couple of changes i make in the BIOS (disable floppy etc, add USB ability) and hits me with....

(No F2 option >missing< .... only F11 to choose Boot Device at the top of the page before checking attached hardware) ?? WTF ??

> CMOS BAD Checksum - EVERY TIME !! before it leaves me with the option to "F1 continue with default settings" (Half the speed and setup all to hell) or return in a mad loop to BIOS setup which refuses to accept more than 1 change at a time - IF at all ....?

** DDR 2 ram with PALIT Geforce 210 (512mb) PCIE x16 grafs card ** - worked on previous installation of win 7 home premium fine , for ages..........

......HeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeee eeeeeeeeLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP !!! (before i explode !!) !!

here is my motherboard > ASRock > ALiveN570SLI-eSATA2

(oh 1 more thing i went to college and did an HND in computer hardware and IT and i still dont have a scooby how to fix this !!) lol -NOT !!

PS - i Cannot afford a new setup as i are "SKINT" !! - PLZ someone help !!

[parsec]

Well, it's possible that one or more parts on the board have expired, given its age, and it is just history.

But, given its age, I would first try replacing the board's battery. That is what preserves the BIOS settings, and a bad battery can cause the power to the BIOS chip to be compromised, causing it to operate erratically, which seems to be the case.

While you're changing the battery, check the condition of the capacitors on the board, to see if they are bulging or leaking. Look for the BIOS/CMOS clear jumper, and just remove and replace it a few times to clean the contacts. The CMOS chip should be close to the jumper, look for any damage in the area.

If that makes no difference, you could try flashing the BIOS, as yours may be corrupted. That is much easier said than done, since the method on your boards page has you creating a bootable floppy disk, running DOS. Can you create a similar bootable DOS USB flash drive to flash the BIOS? Maybe, but will a board this old have active USB ports without drivers?

Apparently people sell BIOS chips with the BIOS code already on them, on places like eBay, but you would need to check that.

No offense, but I never understand why (so many) people say things like this: "... it's been working fine for so long, but now it just stopped..."

Uh, yeah, things work fine, but at some point they break. Complex electrical devices give little to no warning, one day fine, the next day dead. The list of potential failures on a mother board is endless, it's a miracle they work in the first place.

[00PHATE00]

yeah thanx Parsec...!

i have flashed the bios from the newer P1.20 which i thought was maybe the problem..to the original P1.00, i have also cleared the CMOS using the jumper pin (all before posting that post) spose i should've mentioned that - Doh !!

dont want to go to the trouble of buying a new BIOS chip mate as i got the board for free !

i have managed to get the ram speed back up to almost full (its DDR2 800Mhz) but i cant get the board to accept that there is no floppy disk drive attached to it....so when windows starts i now have a mysterious Floppy Disk drive - problem is if i set the BIOS to > NO FLOPPY or DISABLED....then the BIOS resets to Default with it enabled again and the RAM speed is set to 533Mhz !!

Any other help would be appreciated !! thnx in advance peeps !!

[parsec]

So now the BIOS is working for you fairly well, good.

OMG, I remember a while back I looked at a PC that had the same ghost floppy drive thing, with no floppy attached. It would always come back too. What did I do...

Find it in Device Manager and disable it.

And you dont want to go to the trouble of buying a new BIOS chip mate as i got the board for free ! Now there's a Scotch excuse for you...