Bios beep codes

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John Upham
Posts: 7179
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:29 am
Location: Cove, Hampshire, England.

Bios beep codes

Post by John Upham » Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:34 pm

I have an HP Compaq dx300/microtower PC which has been hibernating in my loft for around a year.

I attempted to boot it and the bios produced a sequence of 5 short beeps followed by a gap. This sequence repeated four times and then stopped.

The power LED continues the sequence visually.

The monitor reveals a blank screen.

Key board and mouse and connected.

The HP site says "not all beep codes are listed" which is a curious but true statement.

I'm confident that this forum includes beep code experts!

The graphics dept appears to be integrated into the mother board.

The bios battery gives a correct EMF of > 3.0 Volts. (I was hoping the battery had died of neglect)

I have reseated the RAM.

Help would be much appreciated! :D
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Ian Kingston
Posts: 1071
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:16 pm
Location: Sutton Coldfield

Re: Bios beep codes

Post by Ian Kingston » Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:47 pm

No expert, but I found this:

http://www.5starsupport.com/info/beep_codes.htm

If it's an AMI BIOS the situation doesn't look good.

E Michael White
Posts: 1420
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:31 pm

Re: Bios beep codes

Post by E Michael White » Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:07 pm

No need to panic. The beeping noise is coming from the car behind, as the traffic lights have turned green and you are holding up an ECF board member on his way to a photo shoot.

Paul McKeown
Posts: 3732
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:01 pm
Location: Hayes (Middx)

Re: Bios beep codes

Post by Paul McKeown » Fri Sep 23, 2011 5:26 pm

What is the BIOS?
Do you have a POST card? The POST code is much more informative than the beep code...

Paul McKeown
Posts: 3732
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:01 pm
Location: Hayes (Middx)

Re: Bios beep codes

Post by Paul McKeown » Fri Sep 23, 2011 5:38 pm

I also came across this which says: "5 short beeps: BIOS recovery successful"! Been flashing have you? :lol: