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If your PC beeps during startup, in most cases these are error messages. In this article, we will show you what the different sounds mean.
Phoenix BIOS – What it means when your PC beeps
If you have a motherboard with Phoenix BIOS, it will give you error messages at short intervals.
- 1-1-3: Error reading or writing from CMOS. Run the BIOS setup.
- 1-1-4: Checksum error in BIOS. Update it or reinstall it.
- 1-2-1, 1-2-2, 1-2-3: System timer or DMA controller broken. In this case, you have no choice but to buy a new board.
- 1-3-3, 1-3-4, 1-4-1, 1-4-2: RAM error. Check that the RAM is seated correctly in the slot.
- 3-1-1, 3-1-2, 3-1-3, 3-1-4: Register broken. Here, too, you will need to buy a new motherboard.
- 3-2-4: Keyboard controller faulty. You may need to replace the board.
- 3-3-4, 3-4-1, 3-4-2: Graphics card defective. Either it is not seated correctly in the slot or it is broken.
- 4-2-1, 4-2-2, 4-2-3, 4-2-4: These may be errors in the timer interrupt, the shutdown circuit, gate A20, or an unauthorized interrupt request. The motherboard must be replaced.
- 4-3-2, 4-3-4: Problem with the real-time clock or timer. The board can no longer be repaired and must be replaced.
- 4-4-1: One of the serial interfaces is faulty. You can disable it in the BIOS and replace it with an external card.
- 4-4-2: One of the parallel interfaces is faulty. Here, too, you must disable it in the BIOS and then replace it.
- 4-4-3: The coprocessor test has failed. Remove it.
AMI BIOS – What the beeps mean
If everything is OK with your motherboard with AMI BIOS, you will hear a beep when booting.
Anything else indicates an error.
If your motherboard with AMI BIOS is working properly, you will hear a beep when booting.
If everything else happens, there is an error.
- Short (1x): There is an error with the RAM. Either it is not plugged in correctly or the modules are incompatible.
Remove the RAM modules one at a time and restart the PC between each removal. This will help you identify which module is faulty. - Short (4x): Faulty motherboard. Replace the battery and check whether the error still occurs.
- Short (5x): Defective processor. Either the clock speed is too high or it is not being cooled sufficiently.
- Short (6x): In most cases, this sequence indicates that the keyboard is broken. Replace it and see if the error persists.
- Short (7x): Interrupt triggered by the processor. It is probably clocked too high or there is a contact problem on the motherboard.
- Short (8x): Graphics card not found. Check whether it is seated correctly in the slot. If it is seated correctly, it is probably defective.
- Short (9x): Checksum error. Perform a BIOS reset.
- Short (10x): Read error in CMOS. The motherboard must be replaced.
- Short (11x): Battery is empty. In this case, replace the BIOS battery.
- Short (3x) + Long (3x) + Short (3x): RAM is defective and must be replaced.
- Long (1x) + Short (1x): Motherboard error. This can have many causes. It is therefore best to reset your entire BIOS.
- Long (1x) + Short (2x): PC cannot find the graphics card. Check that it is correctly seated in the slot.
Award BIOS: These error tones are available
The Award BIOS reports with a short beep when booting. This means that everything is OK. All other tones indicate that there is a problem.
- Short (2x): Video error. Follow the instructions on the screen to fix the error.
- Long (1x) + Short (1x): Either a RAM module is broken or it is not seated properly in the socket.
- Long (1x) + Short (2x): The graphics card is either loose in its socket or defective.
- Long (1x) + Short (3x): An error has been detected in the keyboard. It is best to replace it.
