Blown CMOS

[kiwi_2005]

I would just throw it away and buy another mobo, if its an agp slot mobo, then you could pick up another mobo for real cheap. Or might give you a good reason to upgrade now.

[krashkart]

Yeah, I've pretty much decided to put money into a replacement motherboard. Just thought it would be killer awesome to play Frankenstein (that's Frahnkensteen) and drop in a new CMOS.

A full rebuild is out of the question for the time being. And I have so many parts that still work that it would be a shame to let them gather more dust. Won't be able to run any of the newer games but that's not much of a problem for me right now.

Reece, it could have been either a finger or the needlenose pliers (read further; I did use a proper tool to pull the chip. The pliers came along a bit later.). Not certain if it was static shallow fry, or if I damaged it while pulling the sucker out. They don't make it easy to yank those things out of their sockets; a couple of the prongs needed to be bent back into place after that. I don't remember a CMOS being so stubborn.

Anyhoo, I pulled the chip in the first place because during bootstrap it would print about half of the "Press <KEY> to enter Setup" message and then stall out, preventing the computer from booting up at all. Methinks it was buggered before I buggered it.

[Reece]

Ah I see, you just finished it off!! Yes once out they are static sensitive so yes probably stuffed, if you're relatively certain that the chip is the problem I would probably purchase the new one, on doing so take care inserting, ground yourself to the chassis & make sure power is off.
You probably know this but don't hurt to mention. Good Luck!

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by Reece

Ah I see, you just finished it off!! Yes once out they are static sensitive so yes probably stuffed, if you're relatively certain that the chip is the problem I would probably purchase the new one, on doing so take care inserting, ground yourself to the chassis & make sure power is off.
You probably know this but don't hurt to mention. Good Luck!

Yeah, I probably did finish the poor little devil off.

I always unplug the computer, and ground out on the power supply housing. Plus, an ESD strap clipped to the chassis. Routine. I remember the course materials (years back) mentioning that the best way to repair a computer would be bare naked on a hardwood floor. Not in my realm of possibilities... yet.

Lessons learned:

Do not muscle the chip from its socket. Bad.

Do not perform computer repairs after six or seven beers. Wait until the fridge is mostly empty.

The ESD strap is NOT a roach clip. *glares at room mate*

I'm going off the deep end here...

[Reece]

Do not muscle the chip from its socket. Bad.

Yes it's best to use fine tools such as a jimmy bar.

Do not perform computer repairs after six or seven beers. Wait until the fridge is mostly empty.

Excellent, you're right on the ball!

The ESD strap is NOT a roach clip. *glares at room mate*

No but it can't hurt except for the roach!
Instead of connecting to the power supply case you could always connect it to the mains!