Pc beepes then restarts

[indyjones]

Hi all

Hoping somebody could help,

My server has just developed a problem, when switching the machine on it beeps once then instantly restarts, then keeps on repeating that process.

Googling has brought up a possible ram fault but before i dismantle the system anything else it could be? happened after a bios update.

Oh its a Gigabyte board.

Many Thanks

 

[Shamus MacNoob]

Did you reset all options after the bios update?, load default settings and see if that helps.. If you think RAM is there more than one stick? If so remove all and test one by one ...

 

[indyjones]

Thanks Shamus, but unfortunately it wont get that far it only stays on for 2-3 seconds

 

[lancer]

you could try this indy, unplug the power cable and then take out the cmos battery for 1 min, putting it then back in will reset the system to default, if this still produces the same results i would bet it is the mem, as thats generally what happens. you could try taking all the memory out and putting a stick in at a time and see which one is the culprit also.

 

[American Zombie]

Did it not beep at all on startup before?

My board beeps once which indicates POST tests have passed.

 

[indyjones]

tried unplugging the battery already. Its not the standard post beep is longer then the board resets itself

 

[LordOfLA]

cpu overheat most likely.

long beep and reset is last ditch attempt at saving the cpu.

 

[lancer]

its a long beep, i think the memory one is usually a repeatitive beep.

 

[LeeJend]

Did it ever work after the bios flash? IF it did not then you messed up the flash and unless the board has a dual bios that you can cross load it is now a paperweight, not a computer. You might be able to buy a replacement bios chip from the MB vendor.

Considering you already reset the CMOS, and if the MB ever worked after the flash, then you might have developed a hardware problem. Follow the boot checkout sequence I posted elsewhere it will isolate the problem. Good luck finding it, it was long and a while back.

One other possibility is that the new bios implements the fan speed or over heat protection differently. Make sure you have the fan speed sensor (yellow wire) plugged into the MB CPU HFS header. If your current HSF does not have a sensor, plug another HSF in so it reports working status to the BIOS.

I'l go try and find that boot up fault isolaiton post...

 

[Shamus MacNoob]

Does it seem warm inside the box? Whatabout Video card what do you have ? maybe switch that out

 

[indyjones]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys it is appreciated, unfortunately it has not worked since the bios flash
I have had a bad flash before but that time there was no post beeps, the fans would just spin and yet that board became a paperweight.... hmmm will try swapping out the memory tommorrow and see if that helps other wise i found that there are techniques to bring your board back from the grave

I did it. With Win XP i made a MS-DOS startup disk.
I copied my old bios 'thisbios.bin' and awdflash.exe
I wrote this in an autoexec.bat file

awdflash thisbios.bin /sn /py /cc /r

I restart the computer insert disk and bios updated...

 

[Shamus MacNoob]

Yes there are ways to force a bios flash, and that might be your only way out !!

 

[indyjones]

Right quick update here, firstly its not a heat issue the side of the case is currently off and everything is cool (well not running too hot anyway).
I have disconnected everything, still does the same switch on beeps for about 3-4 seconds the reboots and does it again, and again..........
The display (on board) never initializes either so I cannot check the bios.
Tried leaving the battery out for an hour (unplugged) still no joy, I took the ram stick out though and does the same thing this means its either the ram or the board........
Will have another check on Sunday as I need to dismantle some shelves to get the system out.

 

[Shamus MacNoob]

Thats why I would throw in any old videocard a defective videocard will prevent POST ... it is right after the memory check in the POST order ...

 

[indyjones]

hmmm could chuck my old geforce 1 SDR card in it mind you if the onboard video has gone the board would need to go back anyway

 

[indyjones]

Quick update, it looks fatal tried some different ram in it same problem. I doubt the 'flash trick' will help as it does not give me enough time just 3-4 seconds of beep then a reboot.
Weird thing is though it appears that the ram is dead too as I could not use it it in my other system........ looks like an RMA job luckily its still under warrenty

 

[indyjones]

Sorry forgot about this.
Just to close got my board RMA'ed fine and as an extra bonus I got a much nicer board Q965 -> G33 because my old one was no longer availible.
The ram had also died but its now back up and running and I am very happy with it (save the horrible noise from the seagate drives)
Once again thank you everyone for your help

 

[bobsalot]

You mentioned it wasnt the heat problem, which is good i suppose.

About a year ago..my pc started doing the same things..beeping then restarting.

Turned out one of the cooling fans inside the machine wasnt working.

So mine was a heat issue.

Just thought i'd say. =]