All Better!

[athelind]

The CMOS Checksum Error was indeed the CMOS battery, and not some Prophecy of Horrible Catastrophe Looming to Strike.*

A quick confirmation of the battery type (CR2032, which is apparently the nigh-universal CMOS battery), a quick glance in the motherboard manual re: the error messaage, a quick run to Fry's, and Voila! No More Error.

Grand total: 60 cents and the remains of a Fry's gift card with $1.55 on it.

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*This does not mean that Horrible Catastrophe is not Looming to strike, without the courtesy of prophecy. Remember: "No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There’s always a boom tomorrow. … Boom, sooner or later. Boom!"

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Comments

[wingywoof.livejournal.com]

It's always amazed me how dead CMOS batteries can cause such odd errors.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Actually, this one was a pretty straightforward error: "The CMOS checksum is incorrect." The system BIOS didn't go weird, or anything; it just offered me the option of going ahead with the boot or going into the BIOS menu.

My initial reaction was, in fact, "Crap, I bet it's the CMOS battery," but the possibility of deeper motherboard problems was raised, so I wanted to be prepared.

[araquan.livejournal.com]

It strikes me that this is the sort of thing that ought to be replaced with a supercap by now. It'd have the juice to run the clock and protect any firmware volatile memory for years, yet it could charge up again in seconds once the system is powered on (or, in the case of modern soft power management, even plugged in). No fuss, no muss, no replacements, ever.

Maybe it makes too much sense.