Boot Problem

[Bill Dungsroman]

Hey kids.

So, my stupid gaming rig occasionally fails to boot properly. It will just go BEEEEEEEP (one second pause) BEEEEEP until I shut it off with a long poer button depress. Then, usually it will boot when I power up again, with a Safe Mode warning and a prompt to change something in CMOS (although, it boots up normally whether I go into Setup or not).

The fuck? I'm loathe to screw around with Setup parameters unless I'm sure of what I'm supposed to be doing, you know? Suggestions?

[Chris Nahr]

First of all, get the manual for the motherboard (from the manufacturer's website if you don't have it) and find out what this morse code means.

Since it boots on second attempt I suspect the CMOS battery might be dying. In this case you need a new motherboard, as these batteries usually cannot be replaced.

[Sam Jones]

Since it boots on second attempt I suspect the CMOS battery might be dying. In this case you need a new motherboard, as these batteries usually cannot be replaced.

??

Maybe I'm mistaking the CMOS battery for something else, but on all the mobos I've ever seen, there's a round, flat cell that can be removed/replaced. This is done as part of flushing the CMOS, in conjunction with setting the relevant jumper.

[Efthimios G.]

I am certain that the other people here have found or will find what is the problem.
The only thing I want to say is that I had a similar problem few years ago and the motherboard died on me after a while.

[Houngan]

Since it boots on second attempt I suspect the CMOS battery might be dying. In this case you need a new motherboard, as these batteries usually cannot be replaced.

??

Maybe I'm mistaking the CMOS battery for something else, but on all the mobos I've ever seen, there's a round, flat cell that can be removed/replaced. This is done as part of flushing the CMOS, in conjunction with setting the relevant jumper.

Yep, it's battery type 2032, I think, in most of them. I used to harvest batteries from old computers for a fiber-optic sight I have on my paintball gun.

H.

[Chris Nahr]

So can you actually buy new batteries of that type? I was under the impression that they were unique little snowflakes and impossible to find at retail.

[XPav]

CR2032-type batteries are bog standard -- you can find them everywhere. You can't say that for all those small batteries though. I used to work at Officemax many years ago, and those were all kept up at the counter.

[Bill Dungsroman]

You gotta be kidding me. I just replaced the fucking mobo in my rig (because I melted it playing FEAR on a 7800GT OC in a substandard case) like a month ago. And now the battery is dying and I need to replace it again?

I checked the manual, and I can't find any references to what the beeps mean. It tells me what each thing in Setup is for, adding a disclaimer each time that screwing with Setup could bonk your PC out. So, you know, I'm a little hesitant.

[wisefool]

You'll want to check manufacturer's website, perhaps email them if you cannot find (not sure how bad phone support is, never had to call them before.)

You may get lucky with say googling "award 4.51 beep codes" but be aware that different manufacturers can and do change beep codes.

Are you using a funny passive heatsink that doesn't return RPM information to the fan? That's one of the more obscure problems I've run into. If you replaced mobo and it's happening again it seems unlikely that it's the motherboard battery. You can easily test it with a multimeter, see if the battery returns the 3.3v or whatever it is supposed to.

[MatthewF]

According to this website:

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.

Do you have more than one stick of RAM in there? If so, try pulling one and restarting your computer a few times, see if it goes away. If it doesn't, do the same for the other.