K7VZA rev 1.0 wont enter setup

[kwayne]

Greetings:

I have a K7VZA Motherboard rev. 1.0 with the 2/2000 BIOS; it worked well until last month when it would not boot. I put the Motherboard in a new system, just a video card and tried to run. It identifies the AMD processor and does the 262MB memory check then the message "CMOS checksum error - defaults loading". I try to enter setup "DEL" but it just hangs. I have also reset the BIOS, removed power from the board, but nothing. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Wayne

[Wiggo]

Can someone please tell me why ppl buy these elcheapo mobo's? :(

The checksum error will come up for a lot of reasons (from a flat CMOS battery to conflicting settings) but it would help a great deal if ya tell us ya complete hardware setup plus if anything happened just prior to this problem. ;)
<center>:cheers:</center>

[shapester]

The EPoX K7VZA is actually not a bad MB...I have it in my 3rd system with a T-Bird 850 PCB version 3.0.... it's rock solid stable, and I have had it for about 2 years. Very basic, yes and not much OC'ing features, but still it's a good board.

That's not my point though.

Yeah some more info would be nice, and that would let us help you solve your problem.... maybe that is your problem, I heard that the PCB 1.0 had some flakiness attached to it.

[Wiggo]

Since when have EPoX anything to do with ECS, http://www.sysopt.com/reviews/k7vza/? :confused:

I have more links if ya ain't convinced. ;)

[shapester]

Sorry it must have been the full bottle of cough syrup I drank this morning.
I have an EPoX board too (for my K6-2 500)

NyQuil and Sudafed..... it's the 13th fuc*ing step!!

[kwayne]

[Wiggo]

Just as a matter of interest, when was the last time that the dust was cleaned out of it and mostly the heatsink? :?:
<center>:cheers:</center>

[kwayne]

When the motherboard was removed from my wife's machine it was blown clean including the circulating fan on the AMD processor; there is no dust left..

[Wiggo]

I only asked as you would be surprised at just how many PC's I get to repair that that's their only prob.

Oh have ya also cleared the CMOS or selected Safe Defaults in the BIOS? :?:
<center>:cheers:</center>

[kwayne]

Thanks for the ideas; I have moved the jumper on the motherboard for the "clear CMOS" jumper to the "clear CMOS position; removed power to the board (Plug from the power supply) for about 30 minutes and then put it back in the normal position. Powered it up again and same results. I even removed / checked the lithium battery and re-seated the connection for the battery. I am beginning to think that it may be a bad BIOS and several people have suggested that I download a new one but dont you have to be able to enter setup to do this? Also if you know of where I could purchase a new ROM chip with the BIOS already burned? Thanks, Wayne

[shapester]

Well...it sounds like your board is toast.
Can you boot to windows safe mode or command prompt?
If you can't then call it a day...you've worked hard enough.
If you can't boot to command how can you flash bios, eh?
Those series of boards are cheap enough to toss anyway.

Have a beer....that post was hard enough work to read let alone write!

[kwayne]

Thanks to all who have tried and helped me get the K7VZA motherboard back on track. I have spent too many hours on this, and have decided to "scrap" the board. I purchased a new K7SEM board today and hope that eliminates all the problems. Again, thanks to all who have made a contribution. Happy New Year to all, Wayne

[Wiggo]

Oh man buy a decent mobo please. :cry:

[kwayne]

This is actually my 4th system in the house and I have it in the game room so the kids can play with it. My better systems are all IWill 266 running Athlon at 1.6ghz.. so, this is just a game machine and thus the cheap board.. cheers, Wayne

[Wiggo]

Isn't this cheap enough? :?:

I'm sure givin' time that I could find a lower price