XW9400 BIOS looses settings when A/C disconnected

[Doinkus]

I am running into the same problem presented on another thread of the same name.

As stated, if the A/C power is lost, all BIOS settings are wiped.

If the computer is OFF, but plugged in, settings are saved. As soon as you unplug from the wall, POOF! settings gone.

I replaced the CR2032 CMOS battery, and the same problem persists.

Here's the twist: I upgraded the Motherboard from the one that was supplied with the server to one that would support dual Opteron Hexacore Processors.

New Motherboard 

New RAM (64GB EEC)

New Processors

I even added an additional RAID Card and 3x 3TB HDD's

So, what remains is:

Case

Power supply

Video Card

Optical Drives

Cooling system

Wiring

I figured that SOMETHING that was replaced would have resolved a CMOS clearing issue, but the problem persists. 

Any ideas? 

I run a UPS, so I don't lose power all that often, but I shutdown the computer if I know the power will be out (California is particularly flammable lately) and I'd really love to set the computer up with the UPS to power back on when the power comes back on, and not lose settings.

[Hibb1]

So you're saying you had the CMOS loss issue with the OLD mainboard as well as the NEW mainboard?

[Doinkus]

That is correct.

It's what makes this so weird.

Either it's a common manufacturing defect, or it's not the Mainboard causing the issue (excluding firmware issues)

[Hibb1]

That's really weird. No it's not a common issue. You didn't duplicate jumpers based on the old mainboard did you?

Other than that, I've NO idea. I've never seen or heard of that.

I'd try to remove or change things like add-in cards and PSU just to troubleshoot.

[Doinkus]

Only jumper I put eyes on is the password reset jumper, which is bridging the 2 pins.

The password remaind intact on both motherboards.

When running RAID on the built in SAS controller on both boards, I'd have to re-initialize the RAID array any time I had a power loss (along with BIOS settings), but with the LSI RAID card, at least it stays initialized.

The only variables on both setups are the included Video card, and power supply. 

I'm equally stumped.

I don't have another Video Card ornpower supply to test with, so I was hoping someone had a similar issue.

If no one has seen it here, I'll price out the power supply and try swapping it out as a first step in diagnosis.

[Hibb1]

It's not a dud CR2032 battery? Can you run a multi-meter over it? It should be 3V

[Doinkus]

It's at 3.2v.

I thought the same thing and wanted to make sure.

Also good to note: I verified that the battery contacts aren't bent and losing contact, and that the polarity is correct (checking basics and all).

The CR2032 I used is a Lithium Cell as well (the voltage is more consistent across the age of the battery) as I wasn't sure how sensitive the CMOS was to voltage levels.

[Doinkus]

Is there any general rule of thumb on what voltage must bebpresent AT the BIOS to successfully retain data? I'm sure I can find a data sheet on the BIOS chip if available, and check for power at the BIOS chip itself, and trace backwards if I can get a general specification as the what will hold memory, and what is insufficient. 

It would at least move me  closer to an answer

[Doinkus]

Still looking for an answer and hoping for some fresh ideas.

Anyone have anything?

[Doinkus]

I JUST THOUGHT OF ANOTHER VARIABLE!!

For SOME reason, the computer refuses to reboot!

I don't know how this wpuld apply to to BIOS settings, but BOTH motherboards refused to reboot.

I chalked this is to compatibility with ESXi 6, but at the boot prompt, it hasn't loaded the OS yet, so I have to manually power down the machine, and power it back up after any reboot.

Anyone have any ideas?