Booting prob - 1 long, 2 short beeps - Please help

JLamyJLamy UK
edited July 2003 in Hardware
My machine sometimes refuses to boot without beep error. As title says I get 1 long, then 2 short beeps. If I leave it going then I think it loads windows etc, but nothing on screen. Its an intermittent problem. Normally occurs after a long period of being switched off (anything from 1 hr i guess). I have to turn it off then on again, this sometimes works, if not I have to repeat this step however many times to get it going OK. Some times it does take quite a few times of this power cycling to get it going so can be quite frustrating. What could be wrong and suggestions on how to fix please?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • adh2020adh2020
    edited July 2003
    The beeps are for POST (Power on Self Test) of the motherboard. They can mean different things for different Bios, but it is likley that yours is Award and your motherboard is detecting a problem with your video card, backed up by the fact that you get nothing on the screen when this problem occurs.

    http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm#4


    This is my first POST by the way (if you pardon the pun! I just could not resisist) - So hello to all you Icrontic Users

    adh
  • AgeekAgeek
    edited July 2003
    Typically one long is RAM assignment-- this can be main RAM or video RAM. Combined with no video, best thing I can say is to check that the monitor connector on video card is not loose (sometimes vidoe cards will trigger beeps if not monitor attached to them), and I woudl make sure the video card is not hot and that it and the RAM sticks are seated right. Possible a real overheated monitor could do this kind of thing as it could feed back to video card and cause it to error, but much less likely than the things mentioned before this.
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited July 2003
    Thanks. Could it be a faulty AGP slot as the same happens to the last GFX card that is in it. Funny thiung is that I dont need to bang the PC or anything to get it working. All I have to do is switch power on and off til it does! Go figure???!!!!
  • AgeekAgeek
    edited July 2003
    Well, one way to isolate to video is to stick an old PCI video card in if you or a friend has one. With the AGP out. If it boots, take an air can and blow any dust or hair out of the AGP socket (fellow had this angora cat, angora cat hair is both staticy and has this habit of getting in sockets and keeping things from contacting well) and try again once.

    Yes, could be bad socket, but unless mistreated they tend to be bad from day one if bad. The other thing that CAN happen is corrosion of the contacts in the socket(moisture and electrolysis). IF you do this with power off and motherboard disconnected from PSU and let the stuff dry, good wipe with a swab soaked with rubbing or pure isopropyl alcohol over socket contacts (gentle, several times) and then a good dry with a hair dryer or an hour of air drying before reassembly might do wodners arfter the air can thing.

    The Radio Shack contact cleaner pen is filled with pure isopropanol, and if no swabs or rubbing alcohol handy might be just as good. I use swabs because they are trashable afterwards and keep the pen for field use(tip is not changeable). About the only advantage of pure isopropanol is no water content-- but if you get the contacts dry rubbing alcohol cannot cause corrosion. The isopropanol will also work faster, but is poisonous worse than rubbing alcohol.

    Please do NOT use an automobile garage's air compressor to blow out a computer-- fast way to get fine oil droplets from the compressor's lube system all over everything and that is a REAL PITA to clean up after.
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited July 2003
    Wow, that sounds like an awful ot of work!
  • thesittingduck2thesittingduck2
    edited July 2003
    JL
    When you said all you had to do is turn power on and off and everything would work fine. The first thing that comes to mind is that there might be a problem with your Earth connection.

    Check if you can that there is no rescedue voltage when this happens?
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited July 2003
    How do I check for that then?
  • thesittingduck2thesittingduck2
    edited July 2003
    There is the crud way ofcourse :)
    But you probably need a voltmeter. And more able help than from me ;)
  • AgeekAgeek
    edited July 2003
    Well, there is a way to improve a mobo-earth bond (power grounding route).

    Take a small jumper cable, one with small alligator clips at both ends, fasten one to the panel the mobo is mounted on (do not let the clip tougch the mobo at all, best if clip is an inch away from mobo or more), and the other to any of the mount screws on the back of case that hold the PSU onto case (note that PSU chassis\cover DOES hae a ground bond to the ground on the 3-prong power cord (and if you are uing a two-prong adapter, that IS a large part of the problem). If suddenly no problem, the case ground bonding was at least a large part of the problem.

    That is the "safe crud way."
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