Locking up on "Checking NVRAM"

J

Joe2478

n00b
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
16
Rebooted my computer the other day and it locked up on "Checking NVRAM". I checked the SOYO website for support and it's listed 3 possiblities.

1. An IDE device might be faulty
2. Your power supply may be defective
3. Your boot priority may not be set correctly

I've disconnected the only two IDE devices in the system (CDROM & a hot-swap HDD bay), tried booting with a different PS and double-check to make sure theres nothing screwy with my boot priority. I even changed the boot sequence around a couple different ways but no luck.

So last night I take the battery off the motherboard to reset the motherboard, but before I disconnect power and short the jumpers, I try to boot the system up. It worked fine. Power down, put the battery back in, and now it's stuck at "Checking NVRAM" again.

Could this be as simple as the battery is dying?
 
Sure, if its over 3 years old or you switch the computer off with a power center thingie so it is disconnected from the wall AC when off, it could be. Bottom line for $3.00 its probally the cheapest thing you can try and at worst you rule it out.
 
Since you can get into bios, I would take out a stick of ram and try to boot with the other. If the boot works, then swap the sticks of ram. If the computer fails to boot, you got bad ram. To make sure, you can run memtest or microsoft memory test.There could be other things that can be bad, but I would recommend trying ram swap around first.
 
RAM was the first thing I thought it was. I tried each stick individually and ran memtest on both before I even ever went to Soyo's website to look up the problem. The memory is brand new from Crucial. Had to RMA one stick about a month ago but had to turn in the set so what I got back from them is brand new.

I'm going to get a new battery. I'm not super stressed about this because my new rig is actually in route from newegg as I type this. I was just hoping to keep this old system running to be a file server or something.
 
Kind of puzzled about the nvram display hanging with the battery in then booting with the CMOS battery out? Hmmm.Strange.

1. We have not got into windows yet at the nvram black screen(I have the same screen with my board). That could indicate a hardware issue.
a. motherboard- possible bad
b. harddrive(aready swapped?)- possible
c. optical drives(removed?)- I had system hangs with bad drives before.
d. memory(already tested good)
e. Bios bad/crippled/need updating- possible fix
f. CPU? not probable.
g. driver issue.(longshot)

2. I would think with the computer clock inop (battery out) the computer would not boot.

3. I would now suspect these parts as possible culprits:
a. motherboard
b. harddrive
c. bios
d. drivers

4. Can you boot into safe mode consistantly?
 
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