Boot Problems

[SPARKY]

After having graphics card problems, went into CMOS settings and loaded optimal defaults (lord knows why!). Restarted the pc and all i get is continuous beeps and a blank monitor. Someone please help me.

I've got: Pentium 3 600, 128meg Ram, Nvidia Geforce 256 Graphics Card, Windows 98 Second Edition.

[This message has been edited by SPARKY (edited 11-16-2000).]

[Paleo Pete]

Here is a link to the PC Guide's BOOT PRocess Troubleshooting (http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/index.htm) which gives a list of beep codes for Award, AMI and Phoenix BIOS. Continuous beeps is usually memory or video problem. If you have a certain pattern of beeps, you'll have to look it up according to your brand of BIOS.

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[herbert]

Try clearing the CMOS RAM. This stores the BIOS settings. Consult your motherboard manual and look for CLEAR CMOS. Make sure the power is off if you do this! The default BIOS settings will be loaded when the machine restarts.
Some more info here: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bios/comp_CMOS.htm

If you can't find the manual, you might be able to remove and replace the battery to clear the RAM.

I'm not sure about beep codes. I read a few years back that they weren't used anymore. Certainly, you will get this kind of continuous beeping if there's no memory installed. You'll also get it if the monitor isn't plugged in!

[Paleo Pete]

Herbert I have to correct you. (unusual...you normally post good info...keep it up!)

You can turn on the machine without a monitor and it will boot. No beep code will be given. The video beep code is given when you have a video card problem, or none installed. The monitor is one of the things you can unplug while the computer is running and not cause any damage. That's how I sometimes test suspected bad monitors. (Printers can also be unplugged or plugged in, anything else cannot, with the exception of USB devices. NEVER plug or unplug a mouse or keyboard.)



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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

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[SPARKY]

Thanks for the reply. However, after clearing the cmos settings as described in the motherboard manual and replacing the battery, the computer continues not to work and still beeps continuously. Is there anything else i could try?

[Paleo Pete]

Remove and reseat the video card.

Try another video card, then if that doesn't do it, try known good memory.

Continuous beeps is bad video or memory.

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[herbert]

Well Pete, we usually have our monitors connected so we aren't aware of this behaviour.

I've just tried my machine without a monitor as a test.
I get one long and three medium beeps.
Then I get the usual short startup beep.
Windows 98SE then fails to load and issues a fatal exception message, presumably when the video driver is loaded.

Another machine I worked on beeps continuously without a monitor attached.

I too was unaware of this until recently. Seems to be a function of the video card.

Older machines behave as you've described.

Sparky, does the machine do anything but beep? Is the hard disk LED showing disk activity? What does it do if you put a floppy in and reboot? Is the floppy read? Is there any activity you can describe?

[SPARKY]

There does seem to be a bit of hard drive activity and the hd led lights up for only a few seconds. The floppy doesn't read at all. I've tried inserting a new video card but still nothing happens, just continuous beeps.

[herbert]

Are you sure the video card is inserted properly? It needs to be level in the socket and pushed firmly down. Fitting cards is a problem with some cases.

What were the graphics card problems you had originally? What did you do exactly to solve them?

[Paleo Pete]

Thanks for the info herbert, now I know newer machines might have a problem if the monitor is not connected. Might also be related to ATX form factor boards, cases and power supplies. Older and AT board machines can be turned on and will work, mine does, and lots of others I've tried.

Again, thanks for the info.

SPARKY If you can get your hands on some known good memory, try it. Could also be a bad motherboard, something in the video channel gone haywire, or burned out.

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[SPARKY]

I'm pretty sure the video card is inserted properly but i'll have another go. The graphics problems started when i turned the computer on one day and the mouse cursor on the screen was all blocky. no programs loaded up and a dark green screen was all that was visible. The computer continued to crash thereafter. After going through safe mode a few times, i tried reinstalling the drivers etc, but nothing seemed to work. By this time i had had enough so i decided to format the hard drive and reinstall windows. After windows had been reinstalled, the first thing i attempted to do was install the video card drivers. Installation went smoothly and i was prompted to restart the computer. As soon as windows restarted,the mouse cursor went all blocky again and all that was visible was a dark green screen again. On rare occassions when the computer did manage to load correctly, the resolution wouldn't go above 16 colours or 640 x 480. I then borrowed a 4mb pci video card off a friend and replaced it with my 32mb agp card. The computer then worked correctly. I replaced my agp card and took out the pci card. The computer worked correctly. The resolution would even go up to 32bit. However, on starting up the computer the next day, it crashed and would only let me go up to 256 colours and a resolution of 640 x 480. This is when i went into cmos.

[herbert]

Have you looked here? http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/awardContinuous-c.html
I don't know which BIOS you have - that page is for AWARD.

You seem to have eliminated the video card by replacement. We are apparently left with the system memory or the motherboard as the likely cause. I don't see you can do anything but test or replace your memory as the next step.

[herbert]

It's not necessarily the ram or motherboard. There's a lot to eliminate before it comes to that.

I would start to disconnect devices, one at a time, then plug the machine in and switch on to see if the beeping has stopped. If not, unplug, reconnect the device, and try the next one.

Start with the IDE ribbon cables. The position of the red stripe on them is normally next to pin 1 on the IDE connectors. Make a note of the orientation. Disconnect them at the motherboard. Also disconnect the power connectors from the IDE hard disk(s) and CDROM(s).

If that doesn't fix it, try the floppy next. Exhaust all the possibilities. Sound card, keyboard, mouse, the lot.

This is the "most likely culprit" order but it probably makes more sense to do the easiest first.

[SPARKY]

OK. I'll give it a try and let you know how i got on. Thanks.

[Rayista Geoff]

Just to throw my 2 cents in here. If you're 100% sure that you're getting *continuous* beeps (some beep codes run to 8 or more beeps), that in my (albeit limited) experience is a bad motherboard. Built a new system a few months ago and was initially shipped a faulty motherboard, and continuous beeps is what I got. (Fortunately, I'd bought most of the other parts from a store around the corner, and so was able to take pieces back one by one and have them tested until I could be sure it was a bad motherboard.)

Geoff