I was given a used laptop 'what does this all mean'??

[ididwhat]

Hello,
I was given a used HP Pavilion Entertainment series. I have only turned it on and not gone past the first screen. This is what it has on this screen-CPU Stepping = Unknown 1800MHZ BSP Info, 2 CPUs detected 2048 System RAM Passed 1024 DB K2 L2 Cache System BIOS shadowed Video BIOS shadowed ATAPI CD-ROM HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4084N Fixed disk 0 ST9120821AS Mouse initialized ERROR 0271: check date and time settings WARNING
0251:System CMOS checksum bad-default configuration used
So there you have it, Im sure it makes sense to some of you but its Greek to me. Is it so messed up I shouldnt waste my time to fix it? Hope you can set me in the right direction. Thank you so much.

 

[araas]

sounds like a BIOS issue, u could try replacing the small battery on the motherbored and reload the defaults in the BIOS..... this could be a potential fix

 

[simon12]

+1 the error is most likely the bios battery being dead you can get them for a few $s in any camera shop and many other places.

 

[araas]

also, make sure u replace it with the EXACT same number of battery - it most likely is a 2032 battery u can buy then just bout anywhere

 

[HEXiT]

yep battery is dead but it looks like the cmos is also corrupted it may need a new bios chip.

 

[simon12]

After it loads the defaults what happens next?

 

[soest009]

Basicly this means that bios settings have been messed up, and requires user action to set this right by either factory defaults or valid user settings.
The cause of this can be caused by two things :
- Depletion of the CMOS battery
- Turning the system off or resetting while in POST / bad bios settings.

Easiest way to find out what ?
1. Load factory default or fail safe setting from within the bios, reboot and see what happens the next few boots after normal and complete shutdown.

2. If step 1 does not offer direct solution, replace the CMOS battery.

In some cases both these steps do not offer solutions, then further investigation is needed.
It's not unusual the bios is defective on hardware level, however this is rare.

 

[warezme]

and do a scan of that drive, its a Seagate and if it hasn't died already it may soon, will. Also, those models are notorious for overheating so keep it well ventilated.

 

[gamerk316]

ERROR 0271: check date and time settings WARNING
0251:System CMOS checksum bad-default configuration used

Looks like two problems: The BIOS clock is not correct, and the CMOS checksum doesn't match what is expected. I'd wager, as others have said, that the CMOS battery died and needs to be replaced.