Okay, right now i'm using my sister's computer. This one is downstairs and mine is upstairs if this will have anything to do with it. This computer that is having problems is a Dell. Now, to the problem. When I go to turn on the computer I get a couple of "beeps" coming from the tower, about 4, then the fan in the back will go on. If I turn on the monitor, nothing happens. It's like the computer isn't really on actually. Now, I recall this happening to me before but I don't remember what happened. If someone can just give me some advice if maybe you can help me fix it, or if I have to go inside the computer I'll just call Dell. Just thought i'd come here 1st. Remember, to get the 1,000 credits, my computer must be back to NORMAL.
There's a couple of things wrong with your Dell System. 1. The Power Supply could be possibly be bad. 2. The memory could be bad. 3. Your onboard graphics could be bad. Unless you have an aftermarket video card added in. 4. The Boot Drive could be bad. 5. Also a heat issue could be a problem. Have you clean your CPU heatsink resently? Try opening up your desktop and blow out dust and other gunk out of your comp. I would try to do trial and error. Try to reseat your memory. It's probably loose. You can PM me and I'll give you my AIM SN so I can help you out further.
could you turn it back on again and listen for the beeps listen to see if they are long or short and write them down
Does the computer shutoff, or does it just loop through a blank screen? Most BIOS errors like that are related to RAM. Is there any chance you can take the RAM out of the Dell, and test it in another computer? If it is indeed the RAM, testing it in another computer will not cause it any harm (in case you wondered.)
Take apart your computer and make sure that your hard drive is set as the master boot drive... You may have it set as a cdrom or sometin... at least check it... I know a friend who had this problem and just unplugging his ide cables and plugging them back in would fix it
AMI BIOS BEEP CODES 1 short DRAM refresh failure 2 short Parity circuit failure 3 short Base 64K RAM failure 4 short System timer failure 5 short Process failure 6 short Keyboard controller Gate A20 error 7 short Virtual mode exception error 8 short Display memory Read/Write test failure 9 short ROM BIOS checksum failure 10 short CMOS shutdown Read/Write error 11 short Cache Memory error 1 long, 3 short Conventional/Extended memory failure 1 long, 8 short Display/Retrace test failed AWARD BIOS BEEP CODES 1 long, 2 short Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information Any other beep(s) RAM problem. Merged Post: AMI BIOS BEEP CODES 1 short DRAM refresh failure 2 short Parity circuit failure 3 short Base 64K RAM failure 4 short System timer failure 5 short Process failure 6 short Keyboard controller Gate A20 error 7 short Virtual mode exception error 8 short Display memory Read/Write test failure 9 short ROM BIOS checksum failure 10 short CMOS shutdown Read/Write error 11 short Cache Memory error 1 long, 3 short Conventional/Extended memory failure 1 long, 8 short Display/Retrace test failed AWARD BIOS BEEP CODES 1 long, 2 short Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information Any other beep(s) RAM problem. IBM BIOS No Beeps No Power, Loose Card, or Short. 1 Short Beep Normal POST, computer is ok. 2 Short Beep POST error, review screen for error code. Continuous Beep No Power, Loose Card, or Short. Repeating Short Beep No Power, Loose Card, or Short. One Long and one Short Beep Motherboard issue. One Long and Two Short Beeps Video (Mono/CGA Display Circuitry) issue. One Long and Three Short Beeps. Video (EGA) Display Circuitry. Three Long Beeps Keyboard / Keyboard card error. One Beep, Blank or Incorrect Display Video Display Circuitry. hope that helps
Take the Motherboard from one computer and put it into the original broken one, check then if it works. Also try changing the Power Supply, my computer did something similair to yours, and it was the Power Supply that was out. Hope this helps.
1 long and 3 short typically are due to bad video output solution, new videocard. a beep, a pause, a beep a pause and then two beeps typically refers to a dead CPU/motherboard I think most Dells use pheonix BIOS so it is likely the second one. also, there is one problem you can't fix "It's a Dell"
You have bad electricity or you need to update your bios insert the cd when the computer starts and restart.
PHOENIX BIOS BEEP CODES Below are the beep codes for PHOENIX BIOS Q3.07 OR 4.X Beep Code Description / What to Check 1-1-1-3 Verify Real Mode. 1-1-2-1 Get CPU type. 1-1-2-3 Initialize system hardware. 1-1-3-1 Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values. 1-1-3-2 Set in POST flag. 1-1-3-3 Initialize CPU registers. 1-1-4-1 Initialize cache to initial POST values. 1-1-4-3 Initialize I/O. 1-2-1-1 Initialize Power Management. 1-2-1-2 Load alternate registers with initial POST values. 1-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch0. 1-2-2-1 Initialize keyboard controller. 1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM checksum. 1-2-3-1 8254 timer initialization. 1-2-3-3 8237 DMA controller initialization. 1-2-4-1 Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller. 1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh. 1-3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller. 1-3-2-1 Set ES segment to register to 4 GB. 1-3-3-1 28 Autosize DRAM. 1-3-3-3 Clear 512K base RAM. 1-3-4-1 Test 512 base address lines. 1-3-4-3 Test 512K base memory. 1-4-1-3 Test CPU bus-clock frequency. 1-4-2-4 Reinitialize the chipset. 1-4-3-1 Shadow system BIOS ROM. 1-4-3-2 Reinitialize the cache. 1-4-3-3 Autosize cache. 1-4-4-1 Configure advanced chipset registers. 1-4-4-2 Load alternate registers with CMOS values. 2-1-1-1 Set Initial CPU speed. 2-1-1-3 Initialize interrupt vectors. 2-1-2-1 Initialize BIOS interrupts. 2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice. 2-1-2-4 Initialize manager for PCI Options ROMs. 2-1-3-1 Check video configuration against CMOS. 2-1-3-2 Initialize PCI bus and devices. 2-1-3-3 Initialize all video adapters in system. 2-1-4-1 Shadow video BIOS ROM. 2-1-4-3 Display copyright notice. 2-2-1-1 Display CPU type and speed. 2-2-1-3 Test keyboard. 2-2-2-1 Set key click if enabled. 2-2-2-3 56 Enable keyboard. 2-2-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts. 2-2-3-3 Display prompt "Press F2 to enter SETUP". 2-2-4-1 Test RAM between 512 and 640k. 2-3-1-1 Test expanded memory. 2-3-1-3 Test extended memory address lines. 2-3-2-1 Jump to UserPatch1. 2-3-2-3 Configure advanced cache registers. 2-3-3-1 Enable external and CPU caches. 2-3-3-3 Display external cache size. 2-3-4-1 Display shadow message. 2-3-4-3 Display non-disposable segments. 2-4-1-1 Display error messages. 2-4-1-3 Check for configuration errors. 2-4-2-1 Test real-time clock. 2-4-2-3 Check for keyboard errors 2-4-4-1 Set up hardware interrupts vectors. 2-4-4-3 Test coprocessor if present. 3-1-1-1 Disable onboard I/O ports. 3-1-1-3 Detect and install external RS232 ports. 3-1-2-1 Detect and install external parallel ports. 3-1-2-3 Re-initialize onboard I/O ports. 3-1-3-1 Initialize BIOS Data Area. 3-1-3-3 Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area. 3-1-4-1 Initialize floppy controller. 3-2-1-1 Initialize hard-disk controller. 3-2-1-2 Initialize local-bus hard-disk controller. 3-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch2. 3-2-2-1 Disable A20 address line. 3-2-2-3 Clear huge ES segment register. 3-2-3-1 Search for option ROMs. 3-2-3-3 Shadow option ROMs. 3-2-4-1 Set up Power Management. 3-2-4-3 Enable hardware interrupts. 3-3-1-1 Set time of day. 3-3-1-3 Check key lock. 3-3-3-1 Erase F2 prompt. 3-3-3-3 Scan for F2 key stroke. 3-3-4-1 Enter SETUP. 3-3-4-3 Clear in-POST flag. 3-4-1-1 Check for errors 3-4-1-3 POST done--prepare to boot operating system. 3-4-2-1 One beep. 3-4-2-3 Check password (optional). 3-4-3-1 Clear global descriptor table. 3-4-4-1 Clear parity checkers. 3-4-4-3 Clear screen (optional). 3-4-4-4 Check virus and backup reminders. 4-1-1-1 Try to boot with INT 19. 4-2-1-1 Interrupt handler error. 4-2-1-3 Unknown interrupt error. 4-2-2-1 Pending interrupt error. 4-2-2-3 Initialize option ROM error. 4-2-3-1 Shutdown error. 4-2-3-3 Extended Block Move. 4-2-4-1 Shutdown 10 error. 4-3-1-3 Initialize the chipset. 4-3-1-4 Initialize refresh counter. 4-3-2-1 Check for Forced Flash. 4-3-2-2 Check HW status of ROM. 4-3-2-3 BIOS ROM is OK. 4-3-2-4 Do a complete RAM test. 4-3-3-1 Do OEM initialization. 4-3-3-2 Initialize interrupt controller. 4-3-3-3 Read in bootstrap code. 4-3-3-4 Initialize all vectors. 4-3-4-1 Boot the Flash program. 4-3-4-2 Initialize the boot device. 4-3-4-3 Boot code was read OK. forgot these ones off the other list.
