no boot..just beeps 1

[KarateLois]

After recovering from a virus almost completely, we were working on making the sound work ( it sounded like machine gun fire)and someone got into the BIOS and I think they set it to "optimum settings," or whatever that option says, and saved and closed bios. After that we got nothing on startup but beeps...lots of them..one long and eight short followed by two short and then 1 short.

I got onto the motherboard's site and e-mailed them about the beeps to find out their meaning. Meanwhile we tried clearing the CMOS memory by moving the cap from 1-2 to 2-3 and back having nothing to lose. It didn't get better or worse. Only now we don't even get the fan on 1-2, only on 2-3.

I pulled the battery and put it back in..no change. I'll try replacing it with a new one. Meanwhile, still no video, just the fan and beeps.

Motherboard is an ECS Elitegroup P4S5A. OS is Win98se. Computer is a bit more than a year old with a geForce card.

Any other ideas about what to do?

Thanks.
Lois

 

[Grenage]

Rather than taking out the battery, have you tried switching the BIOS jumper to clear?

 

[KarateLois]

Not sure how to do that...I found the manual at

http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/manual_m.htm

under P4 but it doesn't tell how. I found JP4 (which was the CMOS) and I have found 1, JP2 and JP3. Can you steer me in the right direction?

 

[ReddLefty]

You should still be able to return into the BIOS. It sounds like the settings reset your video card settings. There are usually 2 settings for the video card: AGP or PCI. You must tell the BIOS which one the video is booting on.

If that is not it, there are only 3 things that make it beep: Memory, CPU or Video. If those 3 work, your system will show signs of life. If any of those are missing or fail, it will beep accordingly. (check manual)

If all else fails, remove EVERYTHING but those three items and try to boot. It should beep... if it doesn't, then mix and match those last three and listen to the beeps. Eventually, you'll be able to narrow it down to which item is faulty.

If you get no beeps at all after removing all but the video, memory and cpu, then your motherboard may need some looking into.

good luck.




"In space, nobody can hear you click..."

 

[pudda]

Video memory or chipset fried is my guess. Have changed out a number of GeForce cards lately, all with the same beep codes you described. Pull the card and look for burnt components, most likely the rectifiers...

The test continues...

 

[BadBigBen]

Yep, take a look at that gfx card (the GeForce) if it isn't sitting right/tight in it's slot it will beep like crazy (actually like you said)...

ben

 

[Grenage]

Page 16 of the manual shows JP4 to be the CMOS jumper.

 

[KarateLois]

I took the cap off of 1-2 on J4 and moved it to 2-3, rebooted to the sound of fan and beeps,then moved it back to 1-2 and rebooted. That is supposed to clear the CMOS memory, but now the fan only goes on when the cap is on 2-3 which is supposed to be the clear setting. That has me stumped! I still cannot get into the bios or find a way to reset it. Today I will try ReddLefty's suggestion to pull everything and so on. I did pull the GeForce card and it looks sound but I will double check today. It was also suggested t me that I pull out the button battery and restart holding down insert, to reset BIOS, but that didn't work either. I did e-mail the motherboard company and they sent an auto-response saying i will hear from them in a few days. I welcome any other suggestions, and I don't give up (yet).

 

[ReddLefty]

There are known viruses that were able to wipe the BIOS. You might want to get the new BIOS update from your motherboard company and update for starts. You may no longer have a BIOS.. hehe.

See

http://www.sarc.com

for W32.Mypics.Worm.36352 or W32.Magistr.24876@mm (this one was popular)




"In space, nobody can hear you click..."

 

[KarateLois]

EUREKA!!!! I removed the sound card and, poof, all is well. I guess the original problem..no sound...took a back seat to my fear that I messed up the CMOS. I followed a few on-screen prompts and except for a few drivers that need to be releaded, I guess all I have to do now is buy and install a new sound card to replace the one messed up by the virus.
THANKS to all of you who made suggestions and followed my progress. I've learned so much from all you had to share. All I can say is I'm glad I have a second computer..without it I would not have been able to find you and I'd have a huge repair bill on my hands!!

 

[BadBigBen]

Glad to hear that you got your problem solved...

*Big Smile* to ya...

Ben

 

[edfair]

Unlikely that the virus hurt your sound card. It is a collection of chips that responds to instructions forwarded from the operating system.

You may have had a virus for a long time with no problems showing up. And then you found it when the sound started to fail.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[ReddLefty]

Ed's got a point. You might of created an IRQ conflict when you played with the BIOS. IRQ 5 is usally used for sound cards, but if you moved it to something else and the video was on it, the video might of not been able to start up, hence the beeps and no go on the start. That's why I said: "Rip everything out but memory, video and cpu". When all else fail, go back to the basics.

Your sound card may be defective, but like Ed said, highly unlikely that the virus got to it. You should check your BIOS and make sure your IRQ and PCI settings are at AUTO. If your sound card is a PCI, then try plugging it back in after. Now that you now the source of the problem, maybe you can isolate it and fix it now.




"In space, nobody can hear you click..."