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My Uncle's PC (That I built) won't stop beeping during POST. HELP!

I

Insomniac

Senior member
Background
I built my uncle a PC about 2 years ago. All of a sudden, when they turned it on, it started beeping. The beeping is short, long, short, long and does not stop until you turn the PC off. (It sounds like the sirens from police cars in London) They had not moved the PC or opened it up prior to this happening.

System Components
Abit WX6 (i810e Chipset)
Celeron 533 MHz (Retail, PPGA)
64 MB SDRAM (1 DIMM)
CNet 56K Modem (PCI)
10 GB WD HDD
52X (??) Creative Labs CD-ROM
HP 8110i CD-RW Drive
3.5" FDD
230W Power Supply

Things they tried
[*]Reset the CMOS. (Using the Jumper to Discharge)
[*]Made sure the Modem was seated properly.
[*]Checked All connectors. (Power, IDE, Fan Wires, etc.)
[*]Removed and reinstalled the memory.

I tried searching the newsgroups and saw other people mention that beep, but nothing definite was posted about what that beep means. Any help would be appreciated.
 


<< Try this website: http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/

If that doesn't help, do a search for "BIOS beep codes" on at http://www.google.com and you'll get a bunch of hits.

I've never experienced a short-long-short-long beep before.

Good luck. >>



I searched all over the place. I found some mention of that beeping pattern in newsgroups, but no one ever said what the cause was or how/if they fixed it.

It is an alternating short-long that never stops. It's not like your standard short-short-long, pause, repeat where you can get the pattern. This is just continuous. I've never encountered this "pattern".
 
download and fun memtest86 on your uncles computer, this will tell you if it is the memory or not, run it for at least a few loops, preferably over night or something, although that probably isn't necessary.
 
i agree that you should check the error codes, but i guess if there is nothing seriously wrong with the computer, you can always disconnect the internal speaker =P
 
It won't go anywhere. It just starts beeping. No display even. Could it be system monitoring related? I just don't understand why Abit adds these codes to the Award BIOS and then turn around and not share this information.
 
DaiShan: I don't see how you could run memtest unless you put the RAM into another machine. Is that what you meant?
 
Is the bios Award? If so this page might help (actually most bios's beep codes are covered here).

But if it sounds like a london police cars, its not short tone / long tone, but instead high tone / low tone. And this page says that is a CPU problem. Try reseating your cpu.

...................edit.....................
I realized that I forgot to link to the site...........😱 Bios Central
 
memtest 86 is a program designed to test RAM, it rights and accesses it, to try to find potential problems.
 


<< LOL, I don't think the pc boots to windows like this >>


PC's don't alternate long-short beeps in any BIOS I've ever heard of. All beeps are the same length.

CAN WE ALL SAY VIRUS CHECK?????
 
It's aliens communicating from outerspace. See, the SETI program really works . . . although it's a little confused in the translation. (Maybe it should have been SOS from space? Don't the aliens know anything?)


Really, you need to get with your relatives and ask them what happened right before the system failed. What there a power outage, lightning strike, downloaded "fun", or other stuff someone doesn't want to talk about?
 


<<

<< LOL, I don't think the pc boots to windows like this >>


PC's don't alternate long-short beeps in any BIOS I've ever heard of. All beeps are the same length.

CAN WE ALL SAY VIRUS CHECK????? >>



newp i've heard it before actually. this might not be too good =\ as the link a few posts above states it might be a cpu problem. i just remember when this happened to me i had a dead cpu, and 2 dead sticks of ram....everything else seemed to be unneffected.
 


<<

<< LOL, I don't think the pc boots to windows like this >>


PC's don't alternate long-short beeps in any BIOS I've ever heard of. All beeps are the same length.

CAN WE ALL SAY VIRUS CHECK????? >>



A virus couldn't affect POST. Unless the BIOS was overwritten, right? I'm 99.99% certain this didn't happen. They got this beeping sound a day or two before. They flipped the switch on the back of the PSU (not the 115/240 one) that cuts off power. Then it worked. Then the next time it happened, flipping that switch didn't help.
 


<< Sounds like an overheat alarm. Check the heatsink and the fan on the processor. >>



I had them remove the HSF and CPU. Then reinstall it. Nothing.

Also had them disconnect everything so there was only the MB (including onboard video/audio), CPU/HSF, Memory and a Hard Drive. No luck there.

Also had them swith the two fan headers thinking maybe the CPU fan wasn't spinning fast enough. Same result.
 


<< newp i've heard it before actually. this might not be too good =\ as the link a few posts above states it might be a cpu problem. i just remember when this happened to me i had a dead cpu, and 2 dead sticks of ram....everything else seemed to be unneffected. >>



I told them to call around and see if anyone will take a look at it for no charge. If it is the CPU, then it is covered by a warranty. Although, if they have to pay for shipping, they might as well just buy a new one so they can be back in business immediately.

If anyone has any other ideas, please share. I'll post when I know what was wrong for sure.
 


<<

<<

<< LOL, I don't think the pc boots to windows like this >>


PC's don't alternate long-short beeps in any BIOS I've ever heard of. All beeps are the same length.

CAN WE ALL SAY VIRUS CHECK????? >>



A virus couldn't affect POST. Unless the BIOS was overwritten, right? I'm 99.99% certain this didn't happen. They got this beeping sound a day or two before. They flipped the switch on the back of the PSU (not the 115/240 one) that cuts off power. Then it worked. Then the next time it happened, flipping that switch didn't help. >>

I've never had it happen, I can't remember it ever happening to anyone I've ever heard of, but it is possible if they were not running Windows NT4 or 2000 (XP wasn't out then), or if they ever had a floppy in drive while booting.

Anything can happen with an unknowing user and even experienced users who are unaware of certain hazards.
 
Try to boot with both CD drives disconnected.

Then try to boot with only CPU/fan, RAM, video installed on the mainboard with only keyboard, mouse (PS/2 types) and PSU connected and no other devices connected or inserted (no drives of any type [HD, CD/DVD/RW], no sound, no modem).

See what happens.
 


<< Try to boot with both CD drives disconnected.

Then try to boot with only CPU/fan, RAM, video installed on the mainboard with only keyboard, mouse (PS/2 types) and PSU connected and no other devices connected or inserted (no drives of any type [HD, CD/DVD/RW], no sound, no modem).

See what happens. >>



I had them try it that way, except the HDD was still connected. I haven't heard back from them yet. They were supposed to try and find someone to take a look at it.

I appreciate everyones help.
 
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