# [SOLVED] "Machine Check Error" on [very] cold boot

## VinzC

Hi again.

I've had this problem twice already and twice in the same circumstances: I power off my computer, unplug the power cord or simply turn off the general outlet switch (the surge protector on the floor), go back after a while, plug the computer back in and power it on; the computer performs the usual BIOS checks then displays this message "Machine Check Error" on top of a black screen. (At this stage it's my nice extlinux graphical boot menu that I expect...) It then enters a reboot loop from then on until I power it off with the soft switch on the front of the case. The problem disappears and the computer boots normally after I power it on again.

Does anybody have an idea what displays this message? Is it the BIOS or syslinux?

Thanks in advance for any info.

----------

## flirek

is date/time reset in bios? maybe battery on motherboard is near fail (very low capacity) and cause some problems in POST. 

after power is avalable for some time, battery get little better, and next reset is going ok.  just speculation.

----------

## VinzC

Thanks for your hints, flirek.

I didn't notice the clock skewed at all. I'd say it didn't though I didn't check. Fact is it's a brand new machine and motherboard. And I had the problem, too, after switching off the power even for a very short while, which of course doesn't plead against the battery argument.

Note that I suspected a MBR virus (that I would have contracted from Windows) could do that for that's what I stumbled upon once or twice in my researches. So I overwrote the MBR with that of syslinux/mbr.bin. But I never powered off the machine ever since. I'll check and report anyway.

----------

## VinzC

Got back from a long week-end after hard-powering off all my electrical devices, the machine got up without a hickup. So I guess overwriting the master boot record with Syslinux MBR did solve the issue.

Thanks for your lights anyway, flirek.

----------

