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BIOS Beep Codes

The document discusses BIOS beep codes, which are audible tones emitted by a computer's BIOS during startup to indicate whether the Power-On Self-Test (POST) completed successfully or detected an issue. It provides tables listing the beep code patterns used by common BIOS manufacturers like AMI, Award, and Phoenix to signify different component errors, such as issues with memory, CPU, motherboard, or video adapter. Paying attention to these beep codes can help diagnose hardware problems preventing a computer from starting up properly.

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602 views2 pages

BIOS Beep Codes

The document discusses BIOS beep codes, which are audible tones emitted by a computer's BIOS during startup to indicate whether the Power-On Self-Test (POST) completed successfully or detected an issue. It provides tables listing the beep code patterns used by common BIOS manufacturers like AMI, Award, and Phoenix to signify different component errors, such as issues with memory, CPU, motherboard, or video adapter. Paying attention to these beep codes can help diagnose hardware problems preventing a computer from starting up properly.

Uploaded by

prashaachar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BIOS Beep Codes

What is a BIOS Beep Code?


When you power on a computer the BIOS immediately takes control of the computer and performs
the P.O.S.T (Power On Self Test). At the end of the POST the computer will play an audible 'BEEP'
through either the PC's internal speaker of through speakers attached to the sound card (if you have
a built-in sound chip). If the POST completed successfully without detecting any problems with then
system will play a single short beep to let you know the test is complete and the computer will
continue to startup and load the operating system.

If during the POST the BIOS detects a problem it will normally display a visual error message on the
monitor explaining what the problem is. However, if a problem is detected before the BIOS initializes
the video card, or a video card is not present or not detected then the BIOS will play several 'BEEPS'
through the speaker to let you know there is a problem. Depending on the type of the BIOS you have
the BIOS may play beeps in a specific pattern to indicate what the problem is, or play the same beep
a number of times indicating the problem. It is very important that you pay close attention to the
number and/or pattern of the beeps your computer plays on startup.

Below is a table of the most common AMI, Phoenix and Award BIOS beep codes.

AMI (American Megatrends International) BIOS Beep Codes.


AMI BIOS uses beeps of the same length and pitch. The error is displayed as a number of beeps. For
example, 4 beeps indicated a timer failure.
BEEP CODE MEANING POSSIBLE CAUSE
1 Beep (No video) Memory refresh failure Bad memory
2 Beeps Memory parity error Bad memory
3 Beeps Base 64K mem failure Bad memory
4 Beeps Timer not operational Bad motherboard
5 Beeps Processor error Bad processor
6 Beeps 8042 Gate A20 failure Bad CPU or Motherboard
7 Beeps Processor exception Bad processor
8 Beeps Video memory error Bad video card or memory
9 Beeps ROM checksum error Bad BIOS
10 Beeps CMOS checksum error Bad motherboard
11 Beeps Cache memory bad Bad CPU or motherboard

Award BIOS Beep Codes


Award BIOS uses beeps of varying duration. A long beep will typically last for 2 seconds while a short
beep will last only 1 second. Award BIOS also uses beeps of different frequency to indicate critical
errors. If an Award BIOS detects that the CPU is overheating it may play a high pitched repeating
beep while the computer is running.
BEEP CODE MEANING POSSIBLE CAUSE
1 Long, 2 Short Video adapter failure Bad video adapter
Repeating (Endless loop) Memory error Bad memory or bad connection
1 Long, 3 Short Video adapter failure Bad video adapter or memory
High freq. beeps (while running) CPU is overheating CPU fan failure
Repeating High, Low beeps CPU failure Bad processor

Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes


Phoenix BIOS uses beep code patterns to indicate problems. In the table below the '-' indicates a
brief pause between beeps.

Example: 1 - 1 - 2 would sound like BEEP <pause> BEEP <pause> BEEP BEEP

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