The pattern of beeps whether its the number of beeps or the length ofthose beeps will give you an indication of the actual problem. Its adistress signal from the computer in a morse code likepattern. Unless you have a diagnostic cardto tell you more about the particular problem, you will have to use thecharts below to decipher the computer error and get your machine backup and running.
Quick jump to:
Standard IBM Error Codes | AMI Beep Codes | Phoenix Beep Codes | Award Beep Codes | LED Diagnostic Lights | BIOS Upgrades
Standard Original IBM POST Error Codes ↑↑↑up↑↑↑
| 1 short beep | Normal POST - system is ok |
| 2 short beeps | POST Error - error code shown onscreen |
| No beep | Power supply or system board problem |
| Continuous beep | Power supply, system board, orkeyboard problem |
| Repeating short beeps | Power supply or system board problem |
| 1 long, 1 short beep | System board problem |
| 1 long, 2 short beeps | Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA) |
| 1 long, 3 short beeps | Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) |
| 3 long beeps | 3270 keyboard card |
IBM POST Diagnostic Code Descriptions ↑↑↑up↑↑↑
100 - 199
| System Board |
| 200 - 299 | Memory |
| 300 - 399 | Keyboard |
| 400 - 499 | Monochrome Display |
| 500 - 599 | Color/Graphics Display |
| 600 - 699 | Floppy-disk drive and/or Adapter |
| 700 - 799 | Math Coprocessor |
| 900 - 999 | Parallel Printer Port |
| 1000 - 1099 | Alternate Printer Adapter |
| 1100 - 1299 | Asynchronous Communication Device,Adapter, orPort |
| 1300 - 1399 | Game Port |
| 1400 - 1499 | Color/Graphics Printer |
| 1500 - 1599 | Synchronous Communication Device,Adapter, orPort |
| 1700 - 1799 | Hard Drive and/or Adapter |
| 1800 - 1899 | Expansion Unit (XT) |
| 2000 - 2199 | Bisynchronous Communication Adapter |
| 2400 - 2599 | EGA system-board Video (MCA) |
| 3000 - 3199 | LAN Adapter |
| 4800 - 4999 | Internal Modem |
| 7000 - 7099 | Phoenix BIOS Chips |
| 7300 - 7399 | 3.5" Disk Drive |
| 8900 - 8999 | MIDI Adapter |
| 11200 - 11299 | SCSI Adapter |
| 21000 - 21099 | SCSI Fixed Disk and Controller |
| 21500 - 21599 | SCSI CD-ROM System |
AMI BIOS Beep Codes ↑↑↑up↑↑↑
| 1 Short Beep | One beep is good! Everything is ok,that is ifyou see things on the screen. If you don't see anything, check yourmonitor and video card first. Is everything connected? If they seemfine, your motherboard has some bad chips on it. First reset the SIMM'sand reboot. If it does the same thing, one of the memory chips on themotherboard are bad, and you most likely need to get anothermotherboard since these chips are soldered on. |
| 2 Short Beeps | Your computer has memoryproblems.First check video. If video is working, you'll see an error message. Ifnot, you have a parity error in your first 64K of memory. First checkyour SIMM's. Reseat them and reboot. If this doesn't do it, the memorychips may be bad. You can try switching the first and second banksmemory chips. First banks are the memory banks that your CPU finds itsfirst 64K of base memory in. You'll need to consult your manual to seewhich bank is first. If all your memory tests good, you probably needto buy another motherboard. |
| 3 Short Beeps | Basically the same thing as 2 beeps.Followthat diagnosis above. |
| 4 Short Beeps | Basically the same thing as 2 beeps.Followthat diagnosis above. It could also be a bad timer. |
| 5 Short Beeps | Your motherboard is complaining. Tryreseatingthe memory and rebooting. If that doesn't help, you should consideranother motherboard. You could probably get away with just replacingthe CPU, but that's not too cost-effective. Its just time toupgrade! |
| 6 Short Beeps | The chip on your motherboard thatcontrols yourkeyboard (A20 gate) isn't working. First try another keyboard. If itdoesn't help, reseat the chip that controls the keyboard, if it isn'tsoldered in. If it still beeps, replace the chip if possible. Replacethe motherboard if it is soldered in. |
| 7 Short Beeps | Your CPU broke overnight. Its nogood. Eitherreplace the CPU, or buy another motherboard. |
| 8 Short Beeps | Your video card isn't working. Makesure it isseated well in the bus. If it still beeps, either the whole card is bador the memory on it is. Best bet is to install another videocard. |
| 9 Short Beeps | Your BIOS is bad. Reseat or ReplacetheBIOS. |
| 10 Short Beeps | Your problem lies deep inside theCMOS. Allchips associated with the CMOS will likely have to be replaced. Yourbest bet is to get a new motherboard. |
| 11 Short Beeps | Your problem is in the Cache Memorychips onthe motherboard. Reseat or Replace these chips. |
| 1 Long, 3 ShortBeeps | You've probably just added memory tothemotherboard since this is a conventional or extended memory failure.Generally this is caused by a memory chip that is not seated properly.Reseat the memory chips. |
| 1 Long, 8 ShortBeeps | Display / retrace test failed.Reseat the videocard. |
Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes ↑↑↑up↑↑↑
These audio codes are a little more detailed then the AMI codes. ThisBIOS emits three sets of beeps. For example, 1 -pause- 3 -pause 3-pause. This is a 1-3-3 combo and each set of beeps is separated by abrief pause. Listen to this sequence of sounds, count them, and rebootand count again if you have to.| 1-1-3 | Your computer can't read theconfiguration infostored in the CMOS. Replace the motherboard. |
| 1-1-4 | Your BIOS needs to be replaced. |
| 1-2-1 | You have a bad timer chip on themotherboard.You need a new motherboard. |
| 1-2-2 | The motherboard is bad. |
| 1-2-3 | The motherboard is bad. |
| 1-3-1 | You'll need to replace themotherboard. |
| 1-3-3 | You'll need to replace themotherboard. |
| 1-3-4 | The motherboard is bad. |
| 1-4-1 | The motherboard is bad. |
| 1-4-2 | Some of your memory is bad. |
| 2-_-_ | Any combo of beeps after two meansthat some ofyour memory is bad, and unless you want to get real technical, youshould probably have the guys in the lab coats test the memory for you.Take it to the shop. |
| 3-1-_ | One of the chips on your motherboardis broken.You'll likely need to get another board. |
| 3-2-4 | One of the chips on your motherboardthatchecks the keyboard is broken. You'll likely need to get anotherboard. |
| 3-3-4 | Your computer can't find the videocard. Is itthere? If so, try swapping it with another one and see if itworks. |
| 3-4-_ | Your video card isn't working.You'll need toreplace it. |
| 4-2-1 | There's a bad chip on themotherboard. You needto buy another board. |
| 4-2-2 | First check the keyboard forproblems. Ifnothing, you have a bad motherboard. |
| 4-2-3 | Same as 4-2-2. |
| 4-2-4 | One of the cards is bad. Try yankingout thecards one by one to isolate the culprit. Replace the bad one. The lastpossibility is to buy another motherboard. |
| 4-3-1 | Replace the motherboard. |
| 4-3-2 | See 4-3-1 |
| 4-3-3 | See 4-3-1 |
| 4-3-4 | Time of day clock failure. Tryrunning thesetup program that comes with the computer. Check the date and time. Ifthat doesn't work, replace the battery. If that doesn't work, replacethe power supply. You may have to replace the motherboard, but that israre. |
| 4-4-1 | Your serial ports are acting up.Reseat, orreplace, the I/O card. If the I/O is on the motherboard itself, disablethem with a jumper (consult your manual to know which one) and then addan I/O card. |
| 4-4-2 | See 4-4-1, but this time is yourParallel portthat's acting up. |
| 4-4-3 | You math coprocessor is havingproblems. Run atest program to double-check it. If it is indeed bad, disable it, orreplace it. |
| Low 1-1-2 | Your motherboard is having problems |
| Low 1-1-3 | This is an Extended CMOS RAMproblem, checkyour motherboard battery, and motherboard. |
Award BIOS Post Codes ↑↑↑up↑↑↑
Unfortunately there aremany versions of the Award BIOS, and they are supported not by onecompany, but by the motherboard maker. Award's website states "AwardSoftware software products are sold to a board or system manufacturer("hardware vendor"), who customizes them further before selling thesystem. Award Software cannot supply upgrades for a BIOS that has beensubsequently modified by hardware vendors."
To make matters worse, Award BIOS merged with PhoenixTechnologies in 1998. The hardware vendor that designed your system isthe best source for bug fixes and answers about your system, but afterso many mergers the Award BIOS is a difficult one to support.
Dell Diagnostic Light Codes ↑↑↑up↑↑↑
Oncertain Dell computers, bios error codes are displayed by a series ofLED light diagnostic codes. There are 4 lights on the front panel ofmachines with this issue. Different patterns of on, off, and blinking,and different colored lights will indicate an error code for themachine. Visit the Dell site for a list of these LED diagnostic codes.
BIOS Upgrades ↑↑↑up↑↑↑
Withso many advances in technology, sometimes your computer may need a BIOSupgrade to take advantage of new devices, or make your computer performbetter.eSupport.comis the world's oldest and largest provider of BIOS Upgrade technologywith nearly 15 years of unparalleled excellence in the industry.eSupport.com is the OFFICIAL AUTHORIZED BIOS upgrade and support centerfor Award BIOS and AMI BIOS (American Megatrends Inc.).
Take advantage of their free tools to examine your BIOS and learn more.
BIOS Agent
The BIOS Agent is a simple, easy to use program that willautomatically identify your computers BIOS and other systeminformation. You'll quickly identify:
- BIOS Date
- BIOS Type
- BIOS ID String
- BIOS ROM data
- Motherboard OEM data
- Motherboard Chipset
- CPU data
- Memory data
- Super I/O data
The BIOS Wizard is a simple and easy to use program that will examine and identify the BIOS and Chipset on your system.
Source: http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml
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