No Beep/video on startup :(

[Instigator]

Just few days back, my PC's monitor turned blank all of a sudden. I thought it had something to do with the monitor itseft. However, when I plugged it in to another computer the monitor worked fine.
Then I thought maybe the video card has gone bad. So I tried rebooting my computer and I dont hear any beeps, which was quite weird. So the video card problem cancelled out.
I then looked up some sites and found out maybe the PSU is not working properly, so I replaced that and still the same problem.
I have restarted PC without RAM, no beeps.
Reseated RAM several times, no beeps.
Tried a different video card, no beeps.
Unplugged everything and plugged them back in, still no beeps.:confused:

I've check another thread on this forum concerning similar problem...tried everything there..still no success.

Now I really don't know what else I can do to fix this problem.:(

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[karthik]

Have you checked whether the in board speaker is connected well or damaged?
Recently I came across HP-Media Centre PC that does not produces any sound.
I'm sure I'm not deaf;)
Your system specifications details ?

[ski]

Do a barebones with just the PS, MB, CPU, RAM, video card, monitor, and KB installed.
If no luck, then install the RAM in different slots one stick at a time.
If no luck, then either swap out the PS, MB, and RAM, or have them tested.
This link shows how to test the PS:
http://www.ochardware.com/articles/psuvolt/psuvolt2.html

Note: It's possible for a system to not beep with bad RAM.

[Sylvander]

1. If you connect only the absolute minimum...
PSU, mobo, CPU+heatsink+fan, internal speaker...

2. No on-switch [short the connections to see if that works, therefore switch is faulty]
No video card.
No RAM

3. If you want to go all the way you take the mobo out of the case and have it connected on a non-conducting surface to eliminate the possiblity of a short.

4. The PSU should go to full power, the BIOS's POST should run, and test, and the 1st RAM test should fail, and then the POST should generate warning beeps.
That lets you know that the POST is running & working; a good sign.

5. Then if you [shut down and] add the video card back in and startup, you should still get RAM warning beeps [POST still running].

6. Then you [shut down and] connect one stick of RAM and Startup, you should no longer get RAM warning beeps, but some other warning beeps because the keyboard isn't present & working.

7. [Shut down and] connect the keyboard and Startup and those warning beeps should cease.
With the keyboard connected the POST should get at least as far as a display signal being generated by the video card.
Assuming that the monitor is OK and the connection from video card to monitor also OK, then you should see a display.

See the list below of all the steps in a generic Phoenix BIOS's POST...
It will give some idea of what might be causing a POST to halt.

8. Keep adding hardware one item at a time [switch off before connecting of course] and see if the POST gets so far as to generate a single short beep before attempting to boot from a drive.


Code_Beeps_POST Routine Description
02h Verify Real Mode
03h Disable Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI)
04h Get CPU type
06h Initialize system hardware
07h Disable shadow and execute code from the ROM.
08h Initialize chipset with initial POST values
09h Set IN POST flag
0Ah Initialize CPU registers
0Bh Enable CPU cache
0Ch Initialize caches to initial POST values
0Eh Initialize I/O component
0Fh Initialize the local bus IDE
10h Initialize Power Management
11h Load alternate registers with initial POST values
12h Restore CPU control word during warm boot
13h Initialize PCI Bus Mastering devices
---------------------------------------------
14h Initialize keyboard controller
16h 1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM checksum
17h Initialize cache before memory Auto size
18h 8254 timer initialization
1Ah 8237 DMA controller initialization
1Ch Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller
20h 1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh
22h 1-3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller
24h Set ES segment register to 4 GB
28h Auto size DRAM
29h Initialize POST Memory Manager
2Ah Clear 512 kB base RAM
2Ch 1-3-4-1 RAM failure on address line xxxx*
2Eh 1-3-4-3 RAM failure on data bits xxxx* of low byte of
memory bus
2Fh Enable cache before system BIOS shadow
32h Test CPU bus-clock frequency
33h Initialize Phoenix Dispatch Manager
36h Warm start shut down
38h Shadow system BIOS ROM
3Ah Auto size cache
3Ch Advanced configuration of chipset registers
3Dh Load alternate registers with CMOS values
41h Initialize extended memory for RomPilot
42h Initialize interrupt vectors
45h POST device initialization
46h 2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice
47h Initialize I20 support
48h Check video configuration against CMOS
49h Initialize PCI bus and devices
4Ah Initialize all video adapters in system
4Bh QuietBoot start (optional)
4Ch Shadow video BIOS ROM
4Eh Display BIOS copyright notice
-----------------------------------------------
4Fh Initialize MultiBoot
50h Display CPU type and speed
51h Initialize EISA board
52h Test keyboard
54h Set key click if enabled
55h Enable USB devices
58h 2-2-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts
59h Initialize POST display service
5Ah Display prompt "Press F2 to enter SETUP"
5Bh Disable CPU cache
5Ch Test RAM between 512 and 640 kB
60h Test extended memory
62h Test extended memory address lines
64h Jump to UserPatch1
66h Configure advanced cache registers
67h Initialize Multi Processor APIC
68h Enable external and CPU caches
69h Setup System Management Mode (SMM) area
6Ah Display external L2 cache size
6Bh Load custom defaults (optional)
6Ch Display shadow-area message
6Eh Display possible high address for UMB recovery
70h Display error messages
72h Check for configuration errors
76h Check for keyboard errors
7Ch Set up hardware interrupt vectors
7Dh Initialize Intelligent System Monitoring
7Eh Initialize coprocessor if present
80h Disable onboard Super I/O ports and IRQs
81h Late POST device initialization
82h Detect and install external RS232 ports
83h Configure non-MCD IDE controllers
84h Detect and install external parallel ports
85h Initialize PC-compatible PnP ISA devices
86h Re-initialize onboard I/O ports.
87h Configure Motherboard Configurable Devices
(optional)
88h Initialize BIOS Data Area
89h Enable Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMIs)
8Ah Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area
8Bh Test and initialize PS/2 mouse
8Ch Initialize floppy controller
8Fh Determine number of ATA drives (optional)
90h Initialize hard-disk controllers
91h Initialize local-bus hard-disk controllers
92h Jump to UserPatch2
93h Build MPTABLE for multi-processor boards
95h Install CD ROM for boot
96h Clear huge ES segment register
97h Fix up Multi Processor table
98h 1-2 Search for option ROMs. One long, two short
beeps on checksum failure
99h Check for SMART Drive (optional)
9Ah Shadow option ROMs
9Ch Set up Power Management
9Dh Initialize security engine (optional)
9Eh Enable hardware interrupts
9Fh Determine number of ATA and SCSI drives
A0h Set time of day
A2h Check key lock
A4h Initialize typematic rate
A8h Erase F2 prompt
AAh Scan for F2 key stroke
ACh Enter SETUP
AEh Clear Boot flag
B0h Check for errors
B1h Inform RomPilot about the end of POST.
B2h POST done - prepare to boot operating system
B4h 1 One short beep before boot
B5h Terminate QuietBoot (optional)
B6h Check password (optional)
B7h Initialize ACPI BIOS
B9h Prepare Boot
BAh Initialize SMBIOS
BBh Initialize PnP Option ROMs
BCh Clear parity checkers
BDh Display MultiBoot menu
BEh Clear screen (optional)
BFh Check virus and backup reminders
C0h Try to boot with INT 19
C1h Initialize POST Error Manager (PEM)
C2h Initialize error logging
C3h Initialize error display function
C4h Initialize system error handler
C5h PnPnd dual CMOS (optional)
C6h Initialize note dock (optional)
C7h Initialize note dock late
C8h Force check (optional)
C9h Extended checksum (optional)
CAh Redirect Int 15h to enable remote keyboard
CBh Redirect Int 13h to Memory Technologies
Devices such as ROM, RAM, PCMCIA, and
serial disk
CCh Redirect Int 10h to enable remote serial video
CDh Re-map I/O and memory for PCMCIA
CEh Initialize digitizer and display message
D2h Unknown interrupt
The following are for boot block in Flash
ROM
E0h Initialize the chipset
E1h Initialize the bridge
E2h Initialize the CPU
E3h Initialize system timer
E4h Initialize system I/O
E5h Check force recovery boot
E6h Checksum BIOS ROM
E7h Go to BIOS
E8h Set Huge Segment
E9h Initialize Multi Processor
EAh Initialize OEM special code
EBh Initialize PIC and DMA
ECh Initialize Memory type
EDh Initialize Memory size
EEh Shadow Boot Block
EFh System memory test
F0h Initialize interrupt vectors
F1h Initialize Run Time Clock
F2h Initialize video
F3h Initialize System Management Manager
F4h Output one beep
F5h Clear Huge Segment
F6h Boot to Mini DOS
F7h Boot to Full DOS

[odin942zx]

I have the same problem, but nothing seems to work

this has happened before, and i used to be able to fix it by just re-seating the RAM, but now, it wont work at all...

i put in a POST card, and the display gave me the error code C1

how exactly should i initialize POST management error if i can barely turn it on?

when i push the power button, the fans spin up, and i can hear the drivevs spin up, but nothing really happens, and my screen remains blank...

[alex666]

First and foremost: did you mobo beep before? If yes, then now when you turn it on, are your fans (cpu fans especially, case fans) spinning, are any lights on the mobo lighting up? Or is it just deader than a doornail?

Oh geez, this thread has been dead for weeks now.

[odin942zx]

well the lights on the motherboard come on, and all the fans spin up normally

it's as if it's working completely fine, but there's no beeps or display

i dont know if my internal speakers work, because since i installed a linux drive in my computer, my POST does not beep anymore

i know for a fact that there is no problem with the monitor or power supply

this problem started up when i started adding more memory

i have already leaving it the way it was before i added the extra stick of memory, but it still does not do anything

i have re-seated everything

i highly doubt that the memory chips are faulty

i think that my mother board is just bad or something- it had a faulty on-board NIC, and the IDE is a bit screwy...

i just wanted to see if there was anything i could do without having to get an entirely new motherboard

[Sylvander]

"i put in a POST card, and the display gave me the error code C1"
I'm no expert on such things, but...
I notice...
"C1h Initialize POST Error Manager (PEM)"
My take on this is...
The BIOS is unable to initialize the "POST Error Manager"; which is one of the BIOS's programs.
I'd guess at 2 reasons...
1. The BIOS code is corrupted.
OR more likely...
2. The BIOS's code is being "shadowed" into some region in RAM, and that region of RAM is faulty. [Clean the contacts or try different RAM]

[odin942zx]

i tried different RAM, but that didn't work

how would i go about flashing the BIOS or fixing this problem if i cant get the computer to boot or to do anything?

[mjc]

It is unlikely that a BIOS flash would fix it...

The POST process is failing too early to let you get to a point that you would be able to flash it. About the only thing to do is to order a new BIOS chip...preferably already flashed with the latest BIOS for the board. (But I don't think that will help overly much.)

i think that my mother board is just bad or something- it had a faulty on-board NIC, and the IDE is a bit screwy...

I think that sums it up...

Have you tried a new CMOS battery...it is the cheapest (only about $3) thing to do, so if it doesn't help you aren't out the $15-30 a new BIOS chip will run or more trying other things. I think this board has POSTed its last time...

[odin942zx]

yea, probably...

well thanks for the help