MSI KT3 Ultra2: system beeps, 1 long, 3 short - EDIT: CULPRIT = Voodoo3

[BeastBuy]

EDIT: Just wanted to issue this FYI for those that may encounter the same oddity: After swapping out memory, and getting the same results, I swapped out the ancient Voodoo3 (agp) for a new GF4 MX420, and voila, no more beeps, yay.

Hi all, some help please. When booting this system at defaults (100mhz FSB) everything is fine, but at that setting the processor is rated at 1250mhz, not ideal since it's a 1.67ghz Athlon XP 2000+ cpu. According to the instruction booklet, users should manually up the FSB to 133mhz for processors that support it, so that's what I did. After saving and exiting the BIOS, 4 beeps (1 long, 3 short) were issued along with a red flash on screen. Then the system proceeded to boot "normally."

My findings after some testing: Changing the FSB to anything other than 100mhz will yield the beep alert, along with the color flash on screen, sometimes red sometimes green.

Even though the system boots "normal" after that, I wouldn't feel at ease using it at 133mhz FSB with such an oddity at bootup.

Any and all advice/ideas are welcome, thanks all.
(I'm going to kick myself if it's something simple! )

Motherboard: KT3 Ultra2
Ram: generic DDR 333 (seitec)
Video Card: Voodoo3 (AGP)
Processor: AMD XP 2000+
(purchased at Mwave.com)

 

[Iron Woode]

what did your diagnostic lights show?

Did you actually set it to 133 or 266?

I never had that problem. It is possible you have a bad board.

Could be a ram issue.

 

[BeastBuy]

Since the boot process doesn't really hang anywhere, the diagnostic lights don't offer any useful information. It's just a momentary flash of color on screen coupled with a series of beeps, and a normal system boot following that. Anyone know where I can find a chart that details the meaning of the beep sequences?

I manually set the FSB to 133mhz. Actually, just to test I tried 102-105 and all of them cause the beep alert, so it seems like anything over 100 is problematic. A voodoo3 is pretty old so I will get a newer video card to pop in later tonight and will probably try out a friend's stick of DDR 333. We'll see tonight.

As far as it being a bad board, it could very well be the case. This is actually the 2nd board, I returned the first because it wouldn't even POST. Pretty crappy luck if this one is bad too.

By the way, the system is running on an Antec 300watt smart power p/s, that came with an Antec slk1600.

 

[DieHardware]

Beep codes: 1 2

 

[Jayczar]

I had the same exact problem with the same board.
The diag LED`s proceeded to light up all green and the
system runs fine so I am not gonna worry about it.

 

[BeastBuy]

Thanks for the beep codes, this will make the hunt much easier, DieHardware. I'll explore further tonight.

Jayczar: How long have you been running your system in its current state? You've experienced no problems despite the beep message? Thanks for your input!