I decided to write this post when my friend tendered complaint about his computer not boot up but kept giving noises all around, i ask him to decipher the problem with the noise his computer is making, seeing the look on his face i knew he does not know anything about these error beep codes and their meanings.
if a system error is taking place before video utilization, the last line of defense is to interpret the BIOS Beep Code. In this article, i will take a detailed look at the beeps that are issued by various BIOS manufacturers and i will provide you with resources for more detailed information, understanding these noises will allow you to troubleshoot a multitude of hardware problems.
What is BIOS Error Beep Code?
To make sure that each Computer component is correctly functioning , Each time a users turn on his/her computers the BIOS receive information about the major system components and perform a special task called Power On Self Test (POST), at the conclusion of POST the computer will beep one or twice these beeps inform you that your hardware are in good health, so if you did not hear this "all is well beep" or your computer did not show screen or boot to window stage, this means something is wrong with your hardware, and so if the test identifies any hardware problem the BIOS will display an error message on the monitor, But if the failure occurred before the BIOS could access the Video card? the BIOS will initiate special beep codes "BIOS Error Beep Code" to alert the users of the problem. if you know the meaning of these error codes then you can converge your troubleshooting attempt to that specific area.
NO OF BEEPS DESCRIPTION
1 Faulty Memory Refresh
3 Failure error in first 64K
4 System Timer Failure
5 CPU error - undetectable
6 BIOS cant switch CPU into protected Mode
7 CPU exception
8 Missing video adapter or faulty memory
9 ROM and BIOS check on mismatch
10 System board cant retrieve CMOS during POST
11 Failed L2 cache or L2 cache disabled
Shorts - Post failed
1 long 2 Shorts video failure or video BIOS ROM
1 long 3 Shorts video failure video DAC or RAM
1 long 3 shorts Convention/extended memory test failure
1long 8 shorts Display test Failure
1 long POST passed
2 very short Post passed
2 long Memory map failure
3 long Processor self fest
For DELL (all are short beeps separated with pauses)
3-2-4 Keyboard controller test failure
3-3-1 Non volatile RAM power loss
1-3-1 or 2-4-4 RAM problem
4-2-2 Shutdown failure
For IBM Personal Computer ( Thinkpad and Desktops) (all are short beeps separated with pauses)
Continuous beep Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem
1-1-1-3 Verify real mode
1-1-2-1 Get CPU type
1-1-2-3 Initialize system hardware
1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh
1-2-1-1 Initialize Power management
1-3-3-1 DRAM auto-resize
1-4-2-1 CMOS RAM read/write failure
1-4-3-3 Auto-size the cache
2-1-2-1 Intialize BIOS interrupts
2-1-1-1 Set initial CPU Speed
2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice
2-1-3-1 Check Video Configuration against CMOS
2-1-4-3 Display copyright notice
2-2-2-3 Display prompt "press F2 to enter setup
3-3-4-1 Enter setup
3-431-1 Check for errors
4-2-1-3 Unknown interrupt error
4-2-3-1 Shutdown error
4-3-2-4 No complete RAM test
When you notice that your computer does not boot up and keep giving noises all you need to do is listen carefully to the speaker or your system and make a clear notice for the specific beep (you can on and off your system to make sure it repeat the same beep) and simply look up for the corresponding error description.
All the above listed are not guesswork or predicted, however it may change according to your BIOS Setup or Board Configuration, if you have any comment regarding this post i will be happy to hear them, you can leave all your comments here or add or follow me on Google +, Facebook and Twitter and
if a system error is taking place before video utilization, the last line of defense is to interpret the BIOS Beep Code. In this article, i will take a detailed look at the beeps that are issued by various BIOS manufacturers and i will provide you with resources for more detailed information, understanding these noises will allow you to troubleshoot a multitude of hardware problems.
To make sure that each Computer component is correctly functioning , Each time a users turn on his/her computers the BIOS receive information about the major system components and perform a special task called Power On Self Test (POST), at the conclusion of POST the computer will beep one or twice these beeps inform you that your hardware are in good health, so if you did not hear this "all is well beep" or your computer did not show screen or boot to window stage, this means something is wrong with your hardware, and so if the test identifies any hardware problem the BIOS will display an error message on the monitor, But if the failure occurred before the BIOS could access the Video card? the BIOS will initiate special beep codes "BIOS Error Beep Code" to alert the users of the problem. if you know the meaning of these error codes then you can converge your troubleshooting attempt to that specific area.
NO OF BEEPS DESCRIPTION
1 Faulty Memory Refresh
3 Failure error in first 64K
4 System Timer Failure
5 CPU error - undetectable
6 BIOS cant switch CPU into protected Mode
7 CPU exception
8 Missing video adapter or faulty memory
9 ROM and BIOS check on mismatch
10 System board cant retrieve CMOS during POST
11 Failed L2 cache or L2 cache disabled
Shorts - Post failed
1 long 2 Shorts video failure or video BIOS ROM
1 long 3 Shorts video failure video DAC or RAM
1 long 3 shorts Convention/extended memory test failure
1long 8 shorts Display test Failure
1 long POST passed
2 very short Post passed
2 long Memory map failure
3 long Processor self fest
For DELL (all are short beeps separated with pauses)
3-2-4 Keyboard controller test failure
3-3-1 Non volatile RAM power loss
1-3-1 or 2-4-4 RAM problem
4-2-2 Shutdown failure
For IBM Personal Computer ( Thinkpad and Desktops) (all are short beeps separated with pauses)
Continuous beep Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem
1-1-1-3 Verify real mode
1-1-2-1 Get CPU type
1-1-2-3 Initialize system hardware
1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh
1-2-1-1 Initialize Power management
1-3-3-1 DRAM auto-resize
1-4-2-1 CMOS RAM read/write failure
1-4-3-3 Auto-size the cache
2-1-2-1 Intialize BIOS interrupts
2-1-1-1 Set initial CPU Speed
2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice
2-1-3-1 Check Video Configuration against CMOS
2-1-4-3 Display copyright notice
2-2-2-3 Display prompt "press F2 to enter setup
3-3-4-1 Enter setup
3-431-1 Check for errors
4-2-1-3 Unknown interrupt error
4-2-3-1 Shutdown error
4-3-2-4 No complete RAM test
When you notice that your computer does not boot up and keep giving noises all you need to do is listen carefully to the speaker or your system and make a clear notice for the specific beep (you can on and off your system to make sure it repeat the same beep) and simply look up for the corresponding error description.
All the above listed are not guesswork or predicted, however it may change according to your BIOS Setup or Board Configuration, if you have any comment regarding this post i will be happy to hear them, you can leave all your comments here or add or follow me on Google +, Facebook and Twitter and
;
