Beeping when pc booting.........

Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping noise
with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting. When
I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine. This
happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it as
the pc's performance is working normally?




--
bernard8950

bernard8950 <bernard8950.2ka2mq@news.computerbanter.com> wrote:

> Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping
> noise with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops
> booting. When I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc
> works fine. This happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this
> or just leave it as the pc's performance is working normally?

3 beeps is usually a memory problem.

Try running memtest86+ for hours and see what it says about the memory.

bernard8950 wrote:
> Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping noise
> with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting. When
> I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine. This
> happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it as
> the pc's performance is working normally?
>

Worry.

Open it up, check the capacitors, make sure the cards and ram are
seated properly. Run memtest86+ (www.memtest.org)

<paulmd@efn.org> wrote in message
news:1168581213.125293.177110@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...
>
> bernard8950 wrote:
>> Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping noise
>> with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting. When
>> I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine. This
>> happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it as
>> the pc's performance is working normally?
>>
>
> Worry.
>
> Open it up, check the capacitors, make sure the cards and ram are
> seated properly. Run memtest86+ (www.memtest.org)

I second the motion on your capacitors and the card reseating.

Possibly a PSU issue as well. It's definately something that will get worse
over time.

How old is the PC? What model?

Noozer Wrote:
> paulmd@efn.org wrote in message
> news:1168581213.125293.177110@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...-
>
> bernard8950 wrote:-
> Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping
> noise
> with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting.
> When
> I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine.
> This
> happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it
> as
> the pc's performance is working normally?
> -
>
> Worry.
>
> Open it up, check the capacitors, make sure the cards and ram are
> seated properly. Run memtest86+ (www.memtest.org)-
>
> I second the motion on your capacitors and the card reseating.
>
> Possibly a PSU issue as well. It's definately something that will get
> worse
> over time.
>
> How old is the PC? What model?

System: Asus A8NSLI; AMD ATHLON SAN DIEGO 3700; EVGA nVIDIA7800GT; 2G
RAM(CRUCIAL); HIPER 580WATT PSU; REALTEK ON-BOARD SOUNDCARD; BIOS:
PHOENIX GROUP

My pc was built about 3 months ago someone. This beeping only started
about 2 months ago. I'm no technician but what are these capacitors and
where are they situated? What do I have to do to get them seated
properly? I can manage the sound, memory & graphic cards.




--
bernard8950

bernard8950 wrote:
> Noozer Wrote:
> > paulmd@efn.org wrote in message
> > news:1168581213.125293.177110@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...-
> >
> > bernard8950 wrote:-
> > Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping
> > noise
> > with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting.
> > When
> > I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine.
> > This
> > happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it
> > as
> > the pc's performance is working normally?
> > -
> >
> > Worry.
> >
> > Open it up, check the capacitors, make sure the cards and ram are
> > seated properly. Run memtest86+ (www.memtest.org)-
> >
> > I second the motion on your capacitors and the card reseating.
> >
> > Possibly a PSU issue as well. It's definately something that will get
> > worse
> > over time.
> >
> > How old is the PC? What model?
>
> System: Asus A8NSLI; AMD ATHLON SAN DIEGO 3700; EVGA nVIDIA7800GT; 2G
> RAM(CRUCIAL); HIPER 580WATT PSU; REALTEK ON-BOARD SOUNDCARD; BIOS:
> PHOENIX GROUP
>
> My pc was built about 3 months ago someone. This beeping only started
> about 2 months ago. I'm no technician but what are these capacitors and
> where are they situated? What do I have to do to get them seated
> properly? I can manage the sound, memory & graphic cards.
>
>
>

Capacitors are soldered on. They are removable only with a soldering
iron. It's not how their situated, but whether or not any of them are
bulging or leaking. Even a little bit.

They can be replaced, but it's usually cheaper to replace the whole
motherboard if you have bad ones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
http://www.badcaps.net/ident/

At 3 months old, if you have bad caps, you should contact asus for a
new motherboard under warranty.


>
> --
> bernard8950

bernard8950 wrote:
> Noozer Wrote:
>> paulmd@efn.org wrote in message
>> news:1168581213.125293.177110@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...-
>>
>> bernard8950 wrote:-
>> Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping
>> noise
>> with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting.
>> When
>> I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine.
>> This
>> happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it
>> as
>> the pc's performance is working normally?
>> -
>>
>> Worry.
>>
>> Open it up, check the capacitors, make sure the cards and ram are
>> seated properly. Run memtest86+ (www.memtest.org)-
>>
>> I second the motion on your capacitors and the card reseating.
>>
>> Possibly a PSU issue as well. It's definately something that will get
>> worse
>> over time.
>>
>> How old is the PC? What model?
>
> System: Asus A8NSLI; AMD ATHLON SAN DIEGO 3700; EVGA nVIDIA7800GT; 2G
> RAM(CRUCIAL); HIPER 580WATT PSU; REALTEK ON-BOARD SOUNDCARD; BIOS:
> PHOENIX GROUP
>
> My pc was built about 3 months ago someone. This beeping only started
> about 2 months ago. I'm no technician but what are these capacitors and
> where are they situated? What do I have to do to get them seated
> properly? I can manage the sound, memory & graphic cards.
>
>

The first question I'd ask, is whether the BIOS is up to date. Did you
check and make sure the processor stepping you've got, is supported
by the BIOS currently in the machine ? Note that some processors listed
here, need a more recent BIOS than some of the others.

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...=en-us&cache=1

You can also temporarily try running the system with just one stick of
RAM. Any slot will do, but with much older processors, B1 might be the
best slot for one stick (due to the limitations on single channel
operation on pre Revision E processors). See if the start up symptoms
change, depending on what hardware is plugged into the machine.

If you have things like a USB card reader, try unplugging it. Also
try unplugging any unnecessary other USB devices you've got.

One problem here, is there is no guarantee that any "beep code" listing
is up to date. Sometimes there are beep patterns that aren't listed.
Giving Asus Tech Support a call, may uncover some other suggestions.
Not everything they discover about a product, is on an Asus FAQ page.
(And seeing as I cannot find a beep listing for any of the A8N-SLI,
Tech Support may be your only hope.)

Another thing, is high end Nvidia video cards have a 10% failure rate.
Does the video card work well while gaming ?

Paul

Paul Wrote:
> bernard8950 wrote:-
> Noozer Wrote: -
> paulmd@efn.org wrote in message
> news:1168581213.125293.177110@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...-
>
> bernard8950 wrote:-
> Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping
> noise
> with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting.
> When
> I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine.
> This
> happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it
> as
> the pc's performance is working normally?
> -
>
> Worry.
>
> Open it up, check the capacitors, make sure the cards and ram are
> seated properly. Run memtest86+ (www.memtest.org)-
>
> I second the motion on your capacitors and the card reseating.
>
> Possibly a PSU issue as well. It's definately something that will get
> worse
> over time.
>
> How old is the PC? What model?-
>
> System: Asus A8NSLI; AMD ATHLON SAN DIEGO 3700; EVGA nVIDIA7800GT; 2G
> RAM(CRUCIAL); HIPER 580WATT PSU; REALTEK ON-BOARD SOUNDCARD; BIOS:
> PHOENIX GROUP
>
> My pc was built about 3 months ago someone. This beeping only
> started
> about 2 months ago. I'm no technician but what are these capacitors
> and
> where are they situated? What do I have to do to get them seated
> properly? I can manage the sound, memory & graphic cards.
>
> -
>
> The first question I'd ask, is whether the BIOS is up to date. Did you
> check and make sure the processor stepping you've got, is supported
> by the BIOS currently in the machine ? Note that some processors
> listed
> here, need a more recent BIOS than some of the others.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/y9nndf
>
> You can also temporarily try running the system with just one stick of
> RAM. Any slot will do, but with much older processors, B1 might be the
> best slot for one stick (due to the limitations on single channel
> operation on pre Revision E processors). See if the start up symptoms
> change, depending on what hardware is plugged into the machine.
>
> If you have things like a USB card reader, try unplugging it. Also
> try unplugging any unnecessary other USB devices you've got.
>
> One problem here, is there is no guarantee that any "beep code"
> listing
> is up to date. Sometimes there are beep patterns that aren't listed.
> Giving Asus Tech Support a call, may uncover some other suggestions.
> Not everything they discover about a product, is on an Asus FAQ page.
> (And seeing as I cannot find a beep listing for any of the A8N-SLI,
> Tech Support may be your only hope.)
>
> Another thing, is high end Nvidia video cards have a 10% failure rate.
> Does the video card work well while gaming ?
>
> Paul

On checking back my record I suspect the beeping may be related to a
graphic problem. I replaced my previous graphic card(6800gt) with a
7800gt. While installing the card I accidentally broke one of the side
clips which holds it in place. However I did, at the time, manage to
screw the card in and push the other clip to sit it firmly in place.
The graphic's fine. Perhaps I ought to have another look at the card
to ensure that it is still sitting firmly. Incidentally, my pc is 14
months. not 3 months old(how time flies when you're enjoying yourself).
Is there a danger that the m'board could become damaged if the beeping
becomes a recurrent problem, now that the possible cause of the problem
has been detected? I will obviously, also check that the memory sticks
are in place too.




--
bernard8950

bernard8950 wrote:
>
> On checking back my record I suspect the beeping may be related to a
> graphic problem. I replaced my previous graphic card(6800gt) with a
> 7800gt. While installing the card I accidentally broke one of the side
> clips which holds it in place. However I did, at the time, manage to
> screw the card in and push the other clip to sit it firmly in place.
> The graphic's fine. Perhaps I ought to have another look at the card
> to ensure that it is still sitting firmly. Incidentally, my pc is 14
> months. not 3 months old(how time flies when you're enjoying yourself).
> Is there a danger that the m'board could become damaged if the beeping
> becomes a recurrent problem, now that the possible cause of the problem
> has been detected? I will obviously, also check that the memory sticks
> are in place too.
>

A visual check certainly wouldn't hurt. Whatever the problem is, it doesn't
sound like it has become too serious yet, since you can work around it
by cycling the power once.

What is a bit strange, is the beep pattern doesn't repeat. I thought the
normal BIOS beep error patterns were supposed to repeat. They shouldn't
stop after playing the pattern once.

Paul

bernard8950 wrote:
> Spmetimes when I switch on my pc to boot up it makes three beeping noise
> with a short pause in between each beep and then it stops booting. When
> I switch it on again it will boot normally and the pc works fine. This
> happens sometimes only. Should I worry about this or just leave it as
> the pc's performance is working normally?
>
>
>
>
By my standards, failing to boot does not constitute "working normally".
Your user's manual or the motherboard maker or the BIOS provider should
provide an information page telling you what the beep codes mean. The
system is unlikely to improve on its own.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com