Re: press 4 to unlock core

KenW wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Oct 2020 10:07:15 -0400, bad sector
> <forgetski@postit_INVALID_.gov> wrote:
> 
>> Having 'increasing' probs with my 8-core AMD destktop.
>> The board is an asus-xhair-IV
>>
>> Boot often doesn't even begin and pops the subject
>> error message which includes "or F.. to load defaults"
>> and words of this nature.
>>
>> CPU temps never above 50c.
>>
>> BIOS should come up by touching "Del" but it takes a dozen
>> attempts for that to work with my new usb gaming keyboard.
>>
>> This morning bios just would  not detect 2 of my data drives
>> in sata slots 3 & 4 (using a 5-bay rack with 1-4 sata reserved).
>>
>> After I don't know how many reboots bios still wasn't detecting
>> but "fdisk -l" finally picked one of them up.
>>
>> On the last boot bios detected it too, got it mounted, and
>> it's presently taking 1tb of backups.
>>
>> I would just like some ballpark hunches to start with, what
>> do symptoms like this suggest?  Mobo, rack, bios?
> 
> Battery cr-2032 could be going bad (low voltage)
> 
> 
> KenW

Making note of any special settings, before replacement.
As you'd have to put back the settings afterwards.

Sometimes taking digital camera pictures of the BIOS
screen in advance, is a good enough method.

Some Asus motherboards are famous for their bad
defaults choices in the BIOS, requiring things to be
corrected over and over again.

Later Asus boards have a "profile manager" and you can
load a saved profile after a battery replacement. My
newest system has that feature, and I have two profiles
saved in it. The interface in the BIOS screen for that,
is less than intuitive (you can't tell what you're
supposed to do).

If you have a multimeter, you can take a voltage
reading off the top of the CR2032, using any I/O mounting
screw as an alligator-clip ground. If 2.3V or less, replace.
When brand new, they can be in the 3.1V range.

If you unplug a computer with brand new battery, and
leave it in the junk room, the battery lasts for three years.

    Paul