Verifying DMI Pool Data . . . And Then Nothing

Conceptually, the DMI (Destop Management Interface) is firmware residing in a layer between the BIOS and each of the computer's components. When your computer boots up, the BIOS eventually gets to a point in the process where it  "verifies DMI pool data", which involves comparing the CMOS hardware system configuration data against what the system detects is actually onboard. If both match, your system starts loading Windows (or whatever your OS is); if not, it stalls.

This is what seemed to happen on my system. So I did my normal "search and destroy" effort on the Web to see what the possible causes and solutions were for my situation. Here's what I found: 

POSSIBLE CAUSES & FEASIBLE SOLUTIONS 

• BIOS Corrupt
   
• Possible solution: Clear the CMOS

[This was easy enough to try.  I opened up the system, pulled the CMOS battery, and 30 minutes later replaced it with a new battery . . . but nothing changed.] 

• Possible solution: Reset the BIOS to its factory defaults

 [Went into the BIOS and selected the "failsafe" settings. Nothing changed. I reloaded the "optimized" defaults and that didn't solve the problem either.] 

• Virus Damage
   

 [I discarded this out-of-hand. I had run virus and spyware checks just prior to this problem occuring. In fact, it was an update to Zone Alarm anti-spyware which caused me to reboot, after which this problem showed up]

HARD DRIVE-RELATED  

• Floppy Diskette or CD in Computer Causing Issue
   
• Possible solution: Check to see if such media present

[No such luck. No CDs or floppy disks were loaded when this problem occurred.]
 

• Boot Devices not set properly or settings for Hard Disk Aren't Correct
   
• Possible solution: Check BIOS settings to ensure they're OK

[Checked & rechecked those settings, and everything seems OK] 
 

• Corruption of Master Boot Record Data
   
• Possible solution:fdisk ⁄mbr  OR use other software to fix

[Since both of my hard drives are Maxtors, I used Maxblast to refresh the MBR (master boot record) on both drives; the problem persisted. I also noted that Maxblast saw both drives just fine. I next tried Recovery Console's fixboot command. That didn't help either.] 
 

• Defective Hard Drive; or connections to hard drive, floppy, or CD loose or disconnected.
   
• Bad HD (HD LED solidly on, clanking noises or total silence).
   
• Possible solution: replace the hard drive that's causing the problem. 

[Neither of my two drives made excessive noises; and both were spinning. After shutting down the machine and pulling the plug, I pulled each one of the drives out and connected each of them to one of my laptops with an IDE to USB drive kit I own. The laptop could read both drives just fine.] 
 

• Bad HD controller.
   
• Possible solution: replace it. 

[Could be. I had no way of checking . . . at least as far as I know. This controller usually resides on the motherboard of the machine, unless you have a standalone HD controller card in a slot somewhere.] 
 

• Incorrectly-addressed boot hard drive.
   
•  Possible solution: Correct the addressing.

[I wasn't sure what this would involve . . . or how to check if this were so.] 
 

• Faulty or loose cable and⁄or loose board(s). 
   
• Possible solution: Pull cables and replace or re-seat them. 

[I swapped out the ribbon cable to the hard drives. I pulled out and re-inserted all other boards and connections to ensure they were seated properly. The problem still persisted) 
 

• Other hard drive problem.
   
• Possible solution: Disconnect all drives not required to boot the computer. If this fixes the problem reconnect them one at a time until the culprit causing the problem is found.

[A disk boot failure results when both drives are eliminated; this is normal. I can boot the system fine with a bootable Windows XP CD at this point. When only the second [slave] drive is eliminated, the problem persists. So if there's something wrong with a hard drive, it probably would be a problem with the boot drive.] 

MOTHERBOARD-RELATED 

• Defective Motherboard.
   
• Possible solution: replace it.

[This is an ABIT AV8 motherboard with an LED that displays the various operations the motherboard is performing. It starts off with an 02 code and finishes with an FF code during the start up. The FF indicates that the motherboard ready to go with no problems (as yet). When I turn off the machine the LED displays a 99, which is normal after system shutdown.  Result: it looks like the motherboard's OK, but I haven't got the expertise or equipment to check this out completely.] 
 

• Damage to Internal Circuitry.
   
• Possible solution: fix it or replace the motherboard 
   
• Blown capacitors on motherboard. Possible solution: fix them. My son tells me there's an article on the web explaining in great detail how to do this. I have the soldering skills; so this my be a viable solution if blown capacitors are the problem.

[I visually inspected the motherboard; there were no blown capacitors that I could see.]
 

• Loose board(s) or cable connections.
   
• Possible solution: Pull all boards and cables then reseat them 

[I had done this earlier. No luck.] 
 

• Faulty configuration data.
   
• Possible solution: reset the Configuration Data (may be "Force Update ESCD" in some CMOS setups) in the motherboard CMOS Setup PNP⁄PCI configuration.

[My BIOS on this machine doesn't have any such capability.]

OTHER HARDWARE-RELATED 

• Damage to the System due to CPU Overclocking.
   
• Possible solution: replace damaged parts or buy a new machine 

[Unfortunately, my machine is NOT overclocked. So this wasn't the problem.] 
 

• Hardware incompatibility due to Hardware Change.
   
• Possible solution: eliminate the faulty hardware.

[Unfortunately, I had made NO recent hardware changes. So this wasn't the problem either.] 
 

• Failed detection of some other device, with no timeout 
   
• Possible solution: find device that's the culprit and replace it.

[I wasn't sure how to do this. So I booted from my bootable Windows CD and tested to see if all the peripherals were functioning normally. They were.]

At this point I was considerably mystified and frustrated. My video card was working fine. The system was seeing all 2 GB of RAM. Every possible cause that I knew how to check seemed to be ruled out. In short, I had exhausted all my options, and I could find no other possible causes or remedies via the Internet.  

My system was effectively dead in the water. So, it seemed that all I could do now was buy another motherboard and CPU . . . or buy a new computer.  

I chose the latter . . . and it still disturbs me that I had to do this. Was there some other factor causing this situation--a factor that would have been cheaper and easier to remedy? If so, by buying a new machine, I had just made an $800+ error. 

Try as I might, though, I still can't figure out what that hidden cause might be.  So I'm now looking forward to receiving a new PC.  Thankfully, this happened just after Christmas when a lot of sales were going on; so I got a bigger bang for my PC buck.

I now hope that one or more of the above solutions may help some of you who are experiencing a similar problems with your machines.

AFTERTHOUGHT:  The fan directly cooling the hard drives on this machine had just quit about a week before the above situation had occurred; but the system seemed unaffected since that time. I find myself now wondering if the heat generated by the hard drives might have caused the drives to behave erratically in such a way as to cause the situation above. Excessive heat can cause all sorts of weird behavior in a computer.

If I'd thought of this before deciding that all my options were exhausted, I would have simply shut the machine off and let it sit for a half-hour or so . . . and then I'd have rebooted to see if the error persisted. If the system booted OK, then I'd have known that the solution was a new fan.  If not, then a new machine would have still been required. 

I'll never know now, since I completely dismantled this machine just after ordering the new PC. The new machine is scheduled to arrive any day now.

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