# Solved: Verifying DMI Pool Data



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Hey guys. This one has been annoying me.
Hardware is not my strong point so bare with me. 

We had a power outage the other day. 
Ever since then, my computer will occassionally hang at boot up.

Particularly when it reaches "*Verifying DMI Pool Data*..."

Sometimes it will do it, other times it won't.

How can I troubleshoot this?

(*Windows 98*)


----------



## norton850 (Mar 9, 2004)

This could be a software (corrupted files), hardware or BIOS problem. I guess what's odd is that it isn't happening all the time. I suppose I would start with something easy and check the connections to the hard drive.


----------



## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

Try enabling "Reset Configuration Data" or "Force update ESCD" in the CMOS setup. (Usually found in the PNP/PCI config section). If you still have problems, clear the CMOS and see if it corrects the problem.

Good luck.

Kilowatt


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Thanks guys. I will check the connections first.

It is very strange. The power outage apparently surged my router. So I now have the cable modem plugged directly into the computer.

It all started after that but I didn't think a router would have that effect simply by bypassing it.

I just booted up now fine with no problems. 

But I will try your suggestions if it should happen again.

Thanks


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Ugh, happened again. Pretty bad too. I have to keep rebooting until it will finally make it past the screen.

Checked the connections, they all seem fine.

So I will try the other suggestions.
I've never tried that before so I'm a bit nervous.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Kilowatt1 has pointed you in the right direction. Unfortunately when that fails you are usually looking at a hosed motherboard. Usually continued rebooting has no effect. I think you may have damaged some capacitors on the board or power supply and they are not reaching full capacity in a normal boot.


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

I will try Kilowatts suggestions. :up: 

I cannot even think about a hosed mobo or PSU because I just put a brand new mobo and PSU in. I will be beyond upset if that is the case.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

The great majority of the cases of hanging on the "verifying DMI pool" that I have seen have involved corrupted configuration data. In those cases it just never goes past that stage unless some combination of the following resets it: resetting configuration data, reloading the setup defaults; removing external drives and doing both the former.

On the other hand my own, ancient personal experience, with a system that required multiple boot attemps to get it to come up had to do with a component failure. In that case it turned out to be a blown capacitor that couldn't reach a full charge when starting from a cold state. But this was on a "pre Windows" operating system in the days when it was half-way practical to do component level troubleshooting if you had some technical ability.


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Any chance I could get more info on what I need to do here?

It's my first time and I want to make sure I do it correctly. 



kilowatt1 said:


> Try enabling "Reset Configuration Data" or "Force update ESCD" in the CMOS setup. (Usually found in the PNP/PCI config section). If you still have problems, clear the CMOS and see if it corrects the problem.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Let me try to fill in, in case Killowatt1 does not come back online soon.

Have you located the "reset configuration data" option in the BIOS?

http://www.pcmech.com/show/bios/343/

Your BIOS will tell you how to change options; typically this is done by selecting, (highlighting) the option and using the page up/dn or +/- keys to "toggle" the available options.

Then you return to the main page and select something like "exit with saving". If you have made no changes then you would exit without saving.

This should accomplish the basic deed.

Clearing the CMOS can be accomplished one of two ways: either by locating the pin jumpers for doing this, usually near the CMOS battery itself, or just by removing the CMOS battery for a minute or so; you can unplug the PC before doing this and also press the power button down for a few seconds to ground out any stored charges once the battery has been removed.


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Thanks Rog 

I have printed these instructions out. 

Oddly enough, the problem hasn't occured today. Not yet anyway.

Next time I reboot, I will go into the BIOS and see if I can locate Reset Configuration Data (ESCD).

And if the problem should occur again, I will proceed with your instructions.

Thanks so much.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

No problem; I have high hopes you won't see it again -- it's just not sounding like the typical issue anyway.

There is the oft chance that the CMOS battery may be dying though, and perhaps that could account for it. They typically have a system life of about 3-5 years. I still have the original one on my Win98 system box -- lord knows why I haven't seen it biting the dust -- but probably any month now.


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

I hope you're right. 

It hasn't happened today.

And the weird thing is, this starting happening when I took away the router and had the modem plugged into the comp.

But today I got a new router and it isn't happening.

Is that even possible?


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Well it certainly isn't "reasonable" and since hardware is usually an area where I tread litely, I hesitate to speculate on what might have happened regarding the BIOS' settings and detections.


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Hi 

I'm hoping to "Unsolve" this thread as a new problem has developed.

The original issue had gone away for unknown reasons after I hooked up the new router.

But since last night, now I don't even seem to reach the "Verifying DMI Pool Data..." screen.
Just as I am about to reach it, the computer reboots itself.
It's like a constant boot loop.

Ideas?


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I would suggest a couple of things here:

1 > test the ram

2 > go back to post 10 and try those suggestions. You might as well change the CMOS battery while you're at it.

Here are some software ram testers, but if you have more than one module, I'd also try swapping out one at a time.

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
http://www.memtest86.com/

If it's neither of those and can't boot in Safe Mode either, I think you are looking at a damaged motherboard or power supply.


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Thanks Rog. I will try these.

I was able boot into Safe Mode when this was happening.
Cause of course, after it would reboot itself, I'd get the screen with the Safe Mode option.

I had also read another thread from this site that the problem could be the floppy drive not being detected.
Is that possible?

I never thought to look to see if the drive light went on.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Being able to reboot in Safe Mode changes the picture substantially.

Then it's less likely to be any of the issues I was alluding to, and more likely to be an IRQ or hardware conflict. Still it's possible that resetting the configuration data may sort it out.

Since this problem was originally related to the router, you might try disabling anything for that or the network card in the Device Manager for a test.

This is still a good reference:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q188867


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Thanks for the reference. :up:

This is getting pretty bad.

I started it up, it rebooted after Verifying DMI Pool Data this time.

Instead of Safe Mode, I selected Normal Mode - which I guess was a bad idea.

I then got the BSOD which said: *An exception 06 has occurred at 0028:00000017 in VxD.

This was called from 0028:00013202 in VxD. It may be possible to continue normally.*

Then that took me to the desktop - just wallpaper - with another error:

*There is a problem with your display settings. The adapter is incorrect, or the current settings do not work with your hardware.*

I hit OK - which led to another BSOD: *A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0028: C0003E25 in VxD VMM (01) + 00002E25. The current application will be terminated.*
I got about 3 or 4 more BSOD's after that, all different. Didn't write those down. Finally I got to the desktop which was only wallpaper and nothing else.

I have printed out all your suggestions.

Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this. 
I've been considering reinstalling Windows.
But then again - it could be hardware related.


----------



## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

My money is on a bad video card.


----------



## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Let's restore a prior registry first; hopefully you had scanregistry enabled in msconfig and there are recent ones.

Boot to a command prompt via the Startup Menu options. At the prompt enter:

*scanreg /restore* and use your arrow keys to select a prior started registry.

If no luck, go back and run *msconfig* from Safe Mode. Select the Advanced tab and load the 640 VGA mode drivers (like Safe Mode). You will need to reinstall your Video drivers if this gets you an unerring boot.

My suspicion however is that most "VMM" errors are due either to ram problems or overheating. Is the fan working and the case dust free? Try reseating the ram and video card while you are in there.


----------



## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

Hey guys...

Yeah, I'm really gonna do some work with this system.

I honestly think I am going to upgrade to Win2K for starters.

But I will definitely check the RAM and video card as well.

And yes, ScanRegistry is checked in msconfig.

All fans are working fine. This new mobo and PSU was only put in around May.
I had also added a case fan to cool it down.


----------

