MSI K8N NEO4-F motherboard, CMOS battery, and recharge...

Hello,

A few days ago, I noticed powering on my computer showed MSI splash
screen (had this disabled) and then it went to BIOS screen to say "CMOS
Checksum error. Defaults loaded."

I was hoping it was a hiccup. I powered off the machine off and on to
see if it remembers my settings, nope. I had to reconfigure it
(annoying). The next day, it happened again. I usually turn off my
machine (including its SeaSonic 650 watts PSU) when I go out to work
(11-12 hours long) or gone for a long time when the machine is unused.

I did try turning off my machine without turning off the PSU for about
five minutes. Turning on did not show resetted CMOS. I have NOT tried
leaving my PSU on when the computer is off. I am not sure if that is
going to keep my CMOS settings intact or charge the battery. I usually
like to turn everything off completely (no lights and stuff) to avoid
those small energy usages.

Is the motherboard's battery is totally dead or is it just bad luck? I
only had this MSI K8N NEO4-F (MS-7125; PCB v3.0) motherboard (NVIDIA
nForce4) motherboard before Christmas 2006! Aren't CMOS batteries
supposed to last for years?

Thank you in advance.
--
"We're all ants. I'm a glittery little ant." --Alanis Morissette
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( ) or
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

Sounds like the battery. They can fail on their own, or can be drained
by a short such as a misaligned mounting stud or the back of the case.

Grun


Ant wrote:
> Hello,
>
> A few days ago, I noticed powering on my computer showed MSI splash
> screen (had this disabled) and then it went to BIOS screen to say "CMOS
> Checksum error. Defaults loaded."
>
> I was hoping it was a hiccup. I powered off the machine off and on to
> see if it remembers my settings, nope. I had to reconfigure it
> (annoying). The next day, it happened again. I usually turn off my
> machine (including its SeaSonic 650 watts PSU) when I go out to work
> (11-12 hours long) or gone for a long time when the machine is unused.
>
> I did try turning off my machine without turning off the PSU for about
> five minutes. Turning on did not show resetted CMOS. I have NOT tried
> leaving my PSU on when the computer is off. I am not sure if that is
> going to keep my CMOS settings intact or charge the battery. I usually
> like to turn everything off completely (no lights and stuff) to avoid
> those small energy usages.
>
> Is the motherboard's battery is totally dead or is it just bad luck? I
> only had this MSI K8N NEO4-F (MS-7125; PCB v3.0) motherboard (NVIDIA
> nForce4) motherboard before Christmas 2006! Aren't CMOS batteries
> supposed to last for years?
>
> Thank you in advance.