[Ilaena]

So today we started up my boyfriend's home-built computer and upon boot got stopped at a page that simply said "Chassis Intruded, fatal error System halted" He reset the computer and it worked fine this time. His motherboard is an Asus P5QPro. No one opened the case last night, we do have a kitten, but we've had her for 8 months, nothing like this has happened before. What does this mean? Should we be looking for a new motherboard? Is this a fluke?

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Hi Ilaena
It may remain one of lifes mysteries as to why this happened, the connection on the MB may have been loose and without physically checking it you will not know so for peace of mind you could open the case and check, other than that you could check in the BIOS you should be able to disable the Chassis Intrusion feature there.

[phillpower2]

Hi Ilaena
It may remain one of lifes mysteries as to why this happened, the connection on the MB may have been loose and without physically checking it you will not know so for peace of mind you could open the case and check, other than that you could check in the BIOS you should be able to disable the Chassis Intrusion feature there.

[Ilaena]

Do you have more thorough instructions as to how to disable the P5Q Pro's Chassis Intrusion feature? Like step by step? He's never had to use this feature before so he is unsure how to go about doing so.
He's checking the connections now, though everything seems to be tight so far.

[Digerati]

The vast majority of computers do NOT have the chassis intrusion feature on their case. Note this is sensor that detects when the side panel has been removed. It was commonly used years ago on servers, but it is rarely implemented today for PCs. And while most motherboards still support this feature (a simple setting in the BIOS Setup Menu), most cases do not.

Assuming no one (or thing) was inside the case moving wires between the case and motherboard around, I suspect he needs a new CMOS battery. At least, that is what I would try first, if it happens again.

[Ilaena]

It did just happen again after he got in there to clean and look at the connections, he is getting into BIOS now to try and figure out how to turn the feature off, and I believe we will be replacing the battery later today as well. It seems very finicky as it did it once this time as well, and then went into Windows next time, as he forgot to push the button for BIOS. Hopefully these two things will make this go away- as new motherboards are not really in the budget right now. ><

[Digerati]

The motherboard manual will have an illustration of the motherboard and from there you should be able to see where any chassis intrusion wires connects.

[Ilaena]

The motherboard is jumpered correctly- we can not find the setting in BIOS to turn this feature off. Where in BIOS would this be?

[Digerati]

In looking at your manual (Page 2-32), it seems there is no setting in the BIOS for this. The feature is automatically enabled if the jumper is removed. If you are certain the jumper is on the correct 2 pins, then I am afraid I am at a loss. I would still try a new battery.

Before removing the old battery, make sure computer is unplugged from wall, and you touch bare metal of the case interior before reaching in. I recommend taking the battery with you to the store as most battery counters recycle.

[Ilaena]

Do jumpers go bad by any chance? And if so where can we obtain a new jumper? He also reset CMOS, so we are waiting to see if we get an error again. Thanks for the advice with the battery. ^_^

[PcTestCard]

If the PC case comes with such feature, try reset the BIOs and check the case lock.

Sometimes, dusty interior may cause some static and that may trigger the alarm.

Hope this helps!
Bill
Tech Manager
PcTestCard.com

[Digerati]

Sometimes, dusty interior may cause some static and that may trigger the alarm

That's a new one - got a link? Certainly, dust inside the case is bad because it acts like a heat trapping blanket. And rapidly moving dust particles banging into each other and other things can create static. But I don't see moving dust inside a case causing static because all the parts are tied to a common ground - thus preventing a difference of potential (static buildup).

Do jumpers go bad by any chance?

Not unless physically damaged. Any computer shop will have jumpers laying around.