Motherboard Beep Codes

[Pezzy]

Hi all.

I did some searching on these forums, and I see that others have also asked about beep codes; I even found this outside link:

PCGuide - TSX - BIOS Beep Codes

Anyway, I'll describe my situation, and please tell me what you think.

First, I'll try to answer some questions that might get asked anyway:
No, I am not overclocking.
No, there have been no recent "changes" to my system.
No, I don't think this is a "heat" issue, as the situation that I am about to describe was from a "cold boot" (computer had been off all night).

My motherboard is a Gigabyte EP35C-DS3R. In the manual, it says this about beep codes:

The following Award BIOS beep code descriptions may help you identify possible computer problems.
(For reference only.)
1 short: System boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps: Power error

When I powered on my computer today - expecting to hear the usual one short beep that everything's A-Okay - I head many short beeps right in a row. I turn to look at the screen, and it had not even reached the BIOS splash screen. I hear my system and case fans blowing.....and all those beeps.

How many beeps? I'm not sure. I guess I was just shocked and not hearing the usual one short beep and then going to the Windows logon.

After these many beeps in a row.....the system just powers down and is silent for a moment. And then without me touching anything, it just starts back up by itself and then does it's one short beep, then on into Windows.......and here I am now.

From this boot-up error, since it never even got to the motherboard splash screen (let alone the Windows screen), there's not going to be a log of this somewhere, is there?

So what do you think? From the manual's info I listed above, I'm thinking either:

1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
OR
Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
OR
Continuous short beeps: Power error

Although, from what I can remember, I don't think they were continuous long beeps, so I'm leaning away from the graphics card insertion issue. Besides, if that was the problem, wouldn't I have had to open the case and more firmly situate the graphics card for the system to boot?

So, the other choices:
BIOS ROM error? What exactly does that mean? When I Googled it, the results mentioned that item known as "checksum error"; that's not what I got. That's happened in the past when I cleared my BIOS.

Continuous short beeps: Power error? How about that one? By power, is it referring to the PSU itself? My PSU is a Corsair TX 750W. It's about a year or year-and-a-half old.

Or by "power", is it referring to the AC power that's coming from my wall socket?

The problem did not repeat itself, or else I could be more precise on the exact amount of beeps. But like I mentioned, after it did these many beeps, the system shut down by itself, was quiet a moment, then powered back up by itself and booted normally.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Pez

 

[Slaymate]

Try reseating the video card.

I don't see any mention of beeps for a memory issue. A bad memory stick is a very common problem that usually causes a system to beep. If your PC has more than one stick of memory then you should try to boot the PC with just one stick installed. If that doesn't work then try it with the other stick of memory.

 

[carnageX]

Try what Slaymate suggested. If none of that works, try clearing your CMOS.

 

[Pezzy]

Hi; thanks for the replies.

Well..........I turned off my computer last night, and then today when I booted up......no BIOS splash screen, and......NO BEEPS at all. The CPU fan is running, case fans are spinning, my GX2 graphics card's 6-pin & 8-pin plugs are lit up with the proper color, motherboard Phase LED lights are lit up, LAN light connection on motherboard is lit up....but nothing is showing up on-screen......nada thing.

Unlike yesterday, the system did not automatically power down and then restart itself. Everything "appears" to be running, but nothing is showing up on-screen and no response from me by pressing anything on the keyboard ((pressing Delete to enter BIOS setup, etc.).

So........I shut down, pull the power plug, and then check all of my connections. Even though my graphics card was firmly seated and "clicked" into place, I pulled it out, checked the two 6-pin & 8-pin connectors (secure), and then put it back in its PCI-e slot.

I pulled out the CMOS battery for about a minute. Popped it back in.

I booted back up, and now I hear the one system beep (good), and then I get a BIOS screen with that "checksum error" message, but, this is "normal" when resetting the CMOS. I choose "last good configuration", and then everything boots smoothly.

Any idea what the heck's going on? This stuff is still shaking me up a little bit.

Yesterday I got those bunch of beeps and nothing on-screen; then an automatic power-down and a "normal" re-boot.

Today, the system "appears" to be running when booted, but, NO BEEPS, nothing on-screen, it just hangs there, no automatic power-down.

Maybe I did something "right" when I checked my graphics card's connections, and then also popped the CMOS battery out then back in. But still...............

If my video card was the culprit, wouldn't I see signs of it "slowly dying"? Things like artifacting? Or can a graphics card "suddenly" go bad?

What about the CMOS battery? I didn't change it and put in a new one; I just popped it out and put it back in a minute later.

Keep in mind: The computer that I'm using to place this post on this message forum.....it's the computer that I'm describing the problems with; one-and-the-same!!!

What other stuff can I look at or try to prevent this from happening? This should be something basic, right? It's not like it's a problem with Windows 7, a corrupt OS; I'm not even getting into Windows. This is all happening during the boot-up process.

Any more ideas anyone?

Thanks!
Pez

 

[carnageX]

Sometimes the BIOS settings can get a bit messed up.

As for the checksum error, try replacing the battery or going into the BIOS and hitting the "Reset to defaults" while in the BIOS menu.

Pretty sure it wasn't a GPU problem, since resetting your CMOS seemed to work.

 

[patonb]

Your psu could be throwing out bad power.