ENG | The Self-Hosting Chronicles: Server Found Dead! You Won't Believe What Happened Next!

How removing CMOS battery can bring PC back to life

This weekend, I faced every tech enthusiast’s nightmare. Over the weekend, I updated my home server, made all regular backups, copied them to an external harddrive and restarted it as a final step, ready to head out on my bike.

Nothing happened, except CPU fan was running at full speed. After connecting monitor and keyboard, all I got was a desperately blank screen. Pressing the reset button only displayed the BIOS logo, and the keyboard remained unresponsive.

In the evening, with resignation setting in, I contemplated the painful possibility of returning my server. I made fun that stupid device failed after 367 days, while it had two years warranty (great considering it’s refurbished PC). I returned original RAM and harddrive. As expected, it did not boot.

Then I had one last redemptive thought: What if I tried disconnecting the CMOS battery? I had no other options left, and at the very least, it could reset possibly corrupt BIOS settings.

I dismantled the cover and the CPU fan again to reach the battery. I removed it, waited a few moments, then reinserted it. I powered up the machine.

To my astonishment and relief, it booted into the OEM Windows 10 installation. So, I swapped out the SATA SSD for the NVMe drive with Linux, changed back the RAM, and voilà—my server is alive and kicking once more.

Thankfully, Fujitsu Esprimo Q956 is really easy to disassamble, just one screw is holding NVMe drive.

If you ever find yourself in a similar nightmare, facing a seemingly dead PC, don’t despair. Removing the CMOS battery might just be the key to resurrect your machine. This simple troubleshooting step could save you from the horrors of having to return your device.

Sometimes, the smallest components can hold the greatest power to bring our devices back from the brink of death.