PC Problem

[pjphilli]

Hi
For some months and with increasing frequency my astro PC fails on start up with the following symptoms:
- Both the Green power light and the Red hard drive activity light are immediately lit continuously and a loud beeping of about 1 second frequency comes directly from the PC. The PC can then only be turned off at the rear power switch.
Repeated turn off/turn on with about 1 minute delay between gives the same results.
But, if I go back in the morning the PC often starts normally.
Any suggestions?
Cheers Peter

[Exfso]

Sounds as though you have a hardware failure trying to happen. The POST or power on self test is indicating that all is not well..

[OICURMT]

You will need to publish your BIOS type and motherboard type. The beep you hear is a P.O.S.T. (Power On Self Test) diagnostic beep, which will tell you what has failed.


OIC!

<Late Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-on_self-test >

[kustard]

As the others have said, you're PC is having POST hardware issues. If you can find out the maker of your motherboard then you can google for what BIOS it uses. Knowing this BIOS will let you google for the POST codes which will tell you exactly what is wrong.

[Kal]

Another link you might find useful. You can generally tell what BIOS your machine has through the very first splash screen on powerup.

http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

[Tandum]

Continous single beeps is ram.
Pull em out, clean the contacts with a clean cloth and put em back in.
Contact cleaner is better if you have got any.
Been seeing a lot of that with all the moisture about.

Oh, and don;t touch the contacts, that just introduces contaminants.

[Screwdriverone]

Hi,

Also, one of the very first things that powers up is the video card. Normally if this fails, you only get beep beep beep, when the PC boots and then everything stops (except the beeps).

If it is a desktop PC, try unplugging the video card and cleaning the contacts the same way Robin suggested and then reseat it. If it is a laptop, then I dont know how you would go about this.

No doubt, when you take off the case, there will probably be a lot of dust. Clean/blow/vac this out as it often works its way down into the connectors and randomly disconnects the connectors by getting between the conductors. Worse when the PC is hot, which is probably why it fires up in the morning when everything is cool.

Worth a shot, I suspect you are getting NO video when the beeps occur as you didnt mention anything on the screen, and I have had about 3-4 video cards do this to me in the past.

Hope it helps.

Cheers

Chris

[Tandum]

Video alarm is normally 4 short beeps grouped together, pause and repeat but if the ram is dirty the video won't be far behind.

[Screwdriverone]

Ah yes, thanks Robin, I was trying to remember the sequence from memory...beep beep beep beep, pause and repeat...

Cheers

Chris

[pjphilli]

Hi All

Thanks for all your advice. I will bench test the PC after going through all the checks you have mentioned. I have mother board details so I will follow up on the POST codes. I am in Sydney so the 7 days of very hot and humid weather may have been a problem. Time to give the PC a good clean anyway.

Cheers Peter

[ZeroID]

Beep codes can be googled, I do it all the time ( can't be bothered remembering them ). Video connection to laptop is normally under the keyboard and does give problems, just pulling and reseating them often helps, pretty difficult to clean inside them.
To lift your keyboard normally the bezel across the top with the indicator buttons just clips in, ( DELL has a wee indentation at one end for your tiny screwdriver to slip into ) and a careful lifting up will pop it out. Couple of tiny screws at the top and the keybd should lift. Watch for the kybd connector plug and the locating tabs when you re-assemble.
Also pays to reseat the Hard Drive connector, pop the HD out, plug it in once or twice.
Good luck