Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Computer Beep Codes

Different motherboard manufactures use different beep codes to diagnose problems. You can use these codes to diagnose why your computer may not be starting. If you don’t know your motherboard manufacturer you can look at your screen when it first starts and it should tell you or you can try using the standard IBM codes. Here are the most common codes.

Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes:

BEEP CODE

WHAT IT MEANS

POSSIBLE CAUSE

1 - 1 - 2

CPU / motherboard failure

Defective CPU / motherboard

1 - 1 - 3

CMOS read/write failure

Defective motherboard

1 - 1 - 4

BIOS ROM failure

Defective BIOS chip

1 - 2 - 1

Timer failure

Defective motherboard

1 - 2 - 2

DMA failure

Defective motherboard

1 - 2 - 3

DMA failure

Defective motherboard

1 - 3 - 1

Memory refresh failure

Defective memory

1 - 3 - 2

64K memory failure

Defective memory

1 - 3 - 3

64K memory failure

Defective memory

1 - 3 - 4

64K memory failure

Defective memory

1 - 4 - 1

Address line failure

Defective memory

1 - 4 - 2

Parity error

Defective memory

1 - 4 - 3

Timer failure

Defective motherboard

1 - 4 - 4

NMI port failure

Defective motherboard

2 - 1 - 1

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 1 - 2

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 1 - 3

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 1 - 4

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 2 - 1

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 2 - 2

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 2 - 3

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 2 - 4

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 3 - 1

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 3 - 2

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 3 - 3

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 3 - 4

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 4 - 1

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 4 - 2

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 4 - 4

64K memory failure

Defective memory

2 - 4 - 4

64K memory failure

Defective memory

3 - 1 - 1

Slave DMA failure

Defective motherboard

3 - 1 - 2

Master DMA failure

Defective motherboard

3 - 1 - 3

Interrupt controller failure

Defective motherboard

3 - 1 -4

Slave IC failure

Defective motherboard

3 - 2 -2

Interrupt Controller failure

Defective motherboard

3 - 2 - 3

3 - 2 - 4

Keyboard control failure

Defective motherboard

3 - 3 - 1

CMOS batter failure

Defective CMOS battery

3 - 3 - 2

CMOS configuration error

Incorrect setting

3 - 3 - 3

3 - 3 - 4

Video memory failure

Defective video card or memory

3 - 4 - 1

Video init failure

Defective video card or memory

4 - 2 - 1

Timer failure

Defective motherboard

4 - 2 - 2

CMOS shutdown failure

Defective motherboard

4 - 2 - 3

Gate A20 failure

Defective motherboard

4 - 2 - 4

Unexpected interrupt

Defective processor

4 - 3 - 1

RAM test failure

Defective memory

4 - 3 - 3

Timer failure

Defective motherboard

4 - 3 - 4

RTC failure

Defective motherboard

4 - 4 - 1

Serial port failure

Defective motherboard

4 - 4 - 2

Parallel port failure

Defective motherboard

4 - 4 - 3

Coprocessor failure

Defective motherboard or CPU.

9 - 2 - 1

Video adapter incompatibility

Use a different brand of video card

AMI BIOS Beep Codes

BEEP CODE

WHAT IT MEANS

POSSIBLE CAUSE

1 Beep (No video)

Memory refresh failure

Defective memory

2 Beeps

Memory parity error

Defective memory

3 Beeps

Base 64K memory failure

Defective memory

4 Beeps

Timer not operational

Defective motherboard

5 Beeps

Processor error

Defective processor

6 Beeps

8042 Gate A20 failure

Defective CPU or Motherboard

7 Beeps

Processor exception

Defective processor

8 Beeps

Video memory error

Defective video card or memory

9 Beeps

ROM checksum error

Defective BIOS

10 Beeps

CMOS checksum error

Defective motherboard

11 Beeps

Cache memory Defective

Defective CPU or motherboard

Award BIOS Beep Codes:

BEEP CODE

WHAT IT MEANS

POSSIBLE CAUSE

1 Long, 2 Short

Video adapter failure

Defective video adapter

Repeating

Memory error

Defective memory

1 Long, 3 Short

Video adapter failure

Defective video adapter or memory

High freq. beeps

CPU is overheating

CPU fan failure

Repeating High, Low beeps

CPU failure

Defective processor

Standard IBM Post Beep Codes:

BEEP CODE

WHAT IT MEANS

POSSIBLE CAUSE

1 Beep (No video present)

Normal POST

2 Beeps

POST Error - code shown on screen

0 Beeps

Defective power supply or system board

Defective power supply or system board

Continuous Beeps

Defective power supply, system board, or keyboard

Defective power supply, system board, or keyboard

Repeating Beeps

Defective power supply or system board

Defective power supply or system board

1 Long, 1 short Beep

Defective system board

Defective system board

1 Long, 2 short Beeps

Defective display adapter

Defective display adapter

1 Long, 3 short Beeps

Defective display adapter

Defective display adapter

3 Long Beeps

3270 keyboard card

3270 keyboard card

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