The NVRAM is the non-volatile RAM in which the BIOS stores its settings. It's integrated on the motherboard. I think it's unlikely that anything like USB or IDE would cause it to fail.
Resetting the BIOS to fail-safe defaults, or clearing it via the jumper settings or by removing both the power and the backup battery for a while should be the things to do. If those don't help, a new motherboard might be the only solution.
Kees
My specification,
- MSI 770-C45, AM3 AMD 770 (motherboard)
- AMD Phenom II X4 810 (2.6 Ghz) AM3 boxed 512 Kb L2 cache (processor)
- Kingston 4 Gb DDR3 1333 (2 sticks of RAM)
- WDC WD16?..(hard drive)
- HL-DT-STDVD?
- Hitachi-HDT-721?.(hard drive-1TB)
- A Open 400W peak Z400-08FC (power source)
- MSI N9400 GT (Vidieo card)
- Sound blaster X-Fi Xtremen Audio (sound card)
- OS is window XP home edition & SP3
- Cooler Master V8 (cooling unit)
Dear community,
I am currently having problem with my boot up sequence; it hang after it says "checking NVRAM". Afterward I get the Black Screen of ?(bloody annoyance), it's a black screen with only 1 white cursor.
History of my case:
I have been thinking about OverClocking my computer.(yes the big OC). I have downloaded articles on how to do it and was snooping around the BIOS to familiarize with all the setting and terms. I have played around with some setting like FSB, multiplier and voltage setting. Before you hit the panic button, I would like to say my "playing around" was not extreme I stay within the safety range of my computer (ie. Ram volt ~ 1.6, cpu volt ~1.25, FSB ~305 and multiplier ~9-9.5). so in theory I have not fried anything (I hope). I than downloaded the application "Prime95" and ran a test on my system. I have a quad core so Prime95 choose to do 4 test simultaneously, within 1-2 min a test fail. I though lets boot the "Fail-safe default" setting in the BIOS and check for stability there and as that was stable than I could use that as my "baseline"(from this baseline I could begin with my overclocking). After the "Fail-safe default" setting was safe in the BIOS and reboot the problem with "checking NVRAM" started.
I have gone online and searched around for solutions. Most of the forums concluded that the CMOS is corrupted and some suggested ways to resolve this problem.
Here is a list of what I have tried:
- removing the battery on the motherboard for a few hours, press in the power button on my computer and than reset the jumper according to my manual. With the power cord laying on the floor.(and variation of this method but no power in the power cable) - NO LUCK
- Some solution suggest that the NVRAM problem was caused by USB devices. I did have 2 USB devices connected to my computer(my wireless keyboard and mouse). So that was removed and the boot sequence retry - NO LUCK
- Other suggestion include checking the BIOS for the option "Quick Boot" is set to "enable" and it was. (I had hope that was the problem) - NO LUCK
- Another included loose IDE cable may be the cause, so checked all the IDE devices and cables (IDE cable sit in the DVD and HD).
- Two other suggestions which I could not try are:
1) disable extended memory test-how do I do that?
2) turn of NVRAM check in the BIOS-how do I do that?
I'll look into the last two suggestions further in my manual or online, but if there is some one out there that is familiar with my computer configuration or have a similar system with the know how please feel free to drop a line of 2 or more if needed. - thank you.
I hope this is not too much information to set on the forum. But if there is anyone out there in the community that can come up the suggestion(s) that I can try, please feel free post the suggestion(s) on the forum or contact me at carbonbase_lifeform@hotmail.com.
I sincerely thank all participants in this forum for your help.

Chowhound
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GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic