CMOS error: Bad Checksum - new motherboard

bloads

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Aug 6, 2009
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just bought a new motherboard (XFX750a SLI nForce), cpu(amd phenom II), + ram (4 gigs Kingston).
using old raptor HD with same copy of windows i was using on old motherboard/cpu etc.
when i turn my comp on, it will get past the motherboard screen (3 secs), beep, then show a black screen with a blinking cursor that drops 1 line then the whole screen goes black after about 2 secs.
if i hit CMOS reset on the motherboard while it has power but the comp is off, it will load up, get through the same motherboard screen for 3 secs, beep, then beep again telling me the CMOS has a bad checksum and to either press f1 to enter setup or press f2 to use default settings + continue. If I press f2, it loads windows and everything runs fine once it does. if i press f1, it goes to my bios, where no matter what change i seem to make or not make, it will never let me into windows.
How can i fix this?
 

Newf

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Dec 24, 2005
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I would guess that your new motherboard does not handle the old boards XP chipset drivers very well (which are on your "old" raptor). From your description, the new board goes through POST just fine, and hiccups when it's time to load windows. Look at the chipset drivers, and also whether your BIOS version supports the new cpu or if it also needs an update.
 

bloads

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Aug 6, 2009
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i figured out that it does need an update. problem is, it's write protected, and i can't go into the BIOS to unlock it because the system hiccups and stalls unless i bypass BIOS by launching w/a reset CMOS to F2 launch w/default. strange. turns out i need the 1.5 bios to make the PhenomII compatable, but i can't figure out how to write the new BIOS over the old one (i don't know how to replace a BIOS in the first place, and replacing one that's write protected is a double-whammy)