processor BIOS settings not being remembered after power off

[RATiO]

I am trying to turn a server into a Hyper-V host. The virtual machines will not work (Hypervisor not running) unless 'Intel Virtualisation Technology' and 'No Execute Protection' are enabled in the BIOS. I do this and they run fine. However everytime I reboot or power off the server these two options revert back to disabled so I have to go in and enable them again. How can I get them to stay enabled? I have tried turning the server off after applying the setting which was mentioned on various forums after googling the problem. Did not work.

The server is a HP Proliant ML350 G5. The processor is Intel Xeon @ 3.2 GHZ (2 processors). TIA.

[xendrome]

Exactly what CPU is it?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

could be that you need to replace the cmos battery?

that's the first thing i can think of for why settings wouldn't stick in bios

[sagum]

Do other changes get saved to the BIOS on power cycle?

[Hum]

Maybe a BIOS update flash would help.

[+ir0nw0lf Subscriber²]

I vote for checking CMOS battery as a precaution. Typical coin battery should be a CR2032 putting out ~3V. If the date/time and other settings other than what you mentioned are not changing then the battery might not be the culprit.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Does the date and time get reset also? If so, then yeah it's probably the CMOS battery. If the date and time are fine, then something in the BIOS core itself is messed up.

[RATiO]

Maybe a BIOS update flash would help.

Have done that

Exactly what CPU is it?

I honestly don't know have looked in msinfo32 but doesn't give exact type of processor. I know the processor supports virtualisation because the virtual machine's start fine when bios settings are enabled. I don't appear to have any date/time problems (from memory) however I will def check the battery and post the results.

[RATiO]

Update: I put in a new cmos battery and ... it worked!

Weird how date/time were not being forgotten

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Update: I put in a new cmos battery and ... it worked!

Weird how date/time were not being forgotten

that most likely means that the battery was low but not completely dead (weird things like that can happen when the battery is getting close to dieing)

[RATiO]

Well, I thought this was sorted but it seems not - has gone back to what it was doing before the new CMOS battery. Can anyone think of anything else that can cause this?

[n_K]

Problem with the memory used to store the settings maybe? I'd contact HP about if I was you. If it's a hardware problem, it'll be costly or require a lot of work to get it fixed, if it's an error with something HP have done they'll patch it

[sc302 Veteran]

bad bios rom....possibly replace main board.

battery not making proper contact, possibly corrosion on contacts.

[n_K]

It's not battery related, the RTC is keeping the time and date. It's not a bad BIOS ROM, he's updated it and it's always verified upon updates, if the updater can read the whole BIOS chip fine then so can the computer when it powers up. Most likely bad volatile memory where the settings are stored which would need to be removed and replace (if you can still get the chips) which would cost a lot or probably cheaper to just get another main board.