rrrr... !@#@!#

[Lilwolf]

So I just bought a new (used) computer for my arcade machine.  Its an HP with an E8400 processor, few gig mem... good hard disk... in a small footprint.  Got it cheap on ebay..  Everything was going well, but then I went to buy a small footprint video card that is compatible with soft15khz... Got an ATI that should be fast enough for SF4, good to go...

put it in... 7 beeps...

send it back, get another one 3 weeks later... put it in...  7 beeps...

so I don't send this one back because I want to check the motherboard...

I pull the board out of the case... put in a known working video card (non-small footprint) and guess what... !@# 7 beeps!

Now it looks like I will have to buy a new motherboard, case, power supply, video card... JUST because this !@# slot is bad.... RRRRRRRR

I'm now wondering if I should just buy another computer and swap processors or something...

I'm so pissed

[Haze]

So I just bought a new (used) computer for my arcade machine.  Its an HP with an E8400 processor, few gig mem... good hard disk... in a small footprint.  Got it cheap on ebay..  Everything was going well, but then I went to buy a small footprint video card that is compatible with soft15khz... Got an ATI that should be fast enough for SF4, good to go...

put it in... 7 beeps...

send it back, get another one 3 weeks later... put it in...  7 beeps...

so I don't send this one back because I want to check the motherboard...

I pull the board out of the case... put in a known working video card (non-small footprint) and guess what... !@# 7 beeps!

Now it looks like I will have to buy a new motherboard, case, power supply, video card... JUST because this !@# slot is bad.... RRRRRRRR

I'm now wondering if I should just buy another computer and swap processors or something...

I'm so pissed

Sure it's not just a bios setting you have to change before putting the card in, or a jumper somewhere on the motherboard (yes, they still exist, even on the modern 'jumperless' boards)

[mlalena]

Also, a PCI (not AGP or PCI Express) card would also be good enough for MAME.
Wouldn't work for SF IV if you were also running PC games on the cab.

[ark_ader]

Do you have more than one card in the PC? 

If so take all the cards out and just have your video card.

This could be a good indicator that your power supply is not supplying enough juice.

[Malenko]

does the video require external power plug? Have you tested the card in another machine?

[Savannan]

yes, I agree with the post above ... see if it has a connecter 6 pin power connecter on the video card. If it does then you NEED to connect that.

[Lilwolf]

Already checked for motherboard settings... nope...  And I've been building pc's for years, I know about the power connectors...

But just found the next !@# piece to it.  I put the test video back into the original video card (the full size I tested it with)... guess what... now ITS not working...  So the test video card was an ATI1900XT, gone...

I'm having a bad !@# day

[bpark42]

The beeps are telling you what is wrong.  Specific series of beeps mean certain problems, but the meaning varies between BIOS manufacturers.  What kind of BIOS is it?  If you don't know, then what is the manufacturer and/or model of the motherboard?  You should be able to see that somewhere on the board itself if you don't have documentation.

And your video card is probably fine.  If it is a problem with some core component of the motherboard, it probably wouldn't affect the video card.  ...or did you actually put the card in a different system after putting it in the 7-beep system?  (not sure if I read your last comment right)  If it truly killed the card to where it won't work in another system then at a minimum that motherboard is garbage.  Processor and RAM may be usable.  Hard to say, but it is generally safe to test these particular components in a new, working board.

[DJ_Izumi]

Looking up, 7 beeps on most motherboards is not a video failure, that would be 8 beeps.

Assuming he's counting accurately, it seems that the majority of mobos use 7 beeps for a CPU error or general failure on the motherboard.  This would also explain why cards that used to work don't work now but work in other machines.  Either the CPU is failured or is missseated or the mobo itself died.

I have to say, for someone who 'been building pc's for years' I'd think that researching the beep code during POST (or diagnostic LEDs if the mobo features that) would be the first thing you'd look up.  Those systems are there for a reason afterall; to keep you from being utterly blind when you try diagnose the failure.

[Lilwolf]

Its not really a question of what went wrong.  I have the manuals..  It was the video card...

The annoying part... working pc... pull video card to test other machine... put it back... original machine doesn't come up anymore... sigh...

So it could be 100% something different happened at the same moment I opened it, but I don't think so... 

[DJ_Izumi]

Its not really a question of what went wrong.  I have the manuals..  It was the video card...

The annoying part... working pc... pull video card to test other machine... put it back... original machine doesn't come up anymore... sigh...

So it could be 100% something different happened at the same moment I opened it, but I don't think so... 

What does the manual say about seven beeps then?  Every piece of documentation I can find where a bios beeps seven distinct times puts thas a a CPU or general failure.  If the card was causing the problem, if it was dead, or even missing in most cases it should have beeped 8 times.

Maybe the PSU is shot, it's over volting and damaged part of the motherboard, and by putting video cards in that power problem then damaged the video card?

Cause reguardless, it looks like there's a CPU or mobo failure here unless your manual says 7 beeps means something else.

[ark_ader]

Its not really a question of what went wrong.  I have the manuals..  It was the video card...

The annoying part... working pc... pull video card to test other machine... put it back... original machine doesn't come up anymore... sigh...

So it could be 100% something different happened at the same moment I opened it, but I don't think so... 

What does the manual say about seven beeps then?  Every piece of documentation I can find where a bios beeps seven distinct times puts thas a a CPU or general failure.  If the card was causing the problem, if it was dead, or even missing in most cases it should have beeped 8 times.

Maybe the PSU is shot, it's over volting and damaged part of the motherboard, and by putting video cards in that power problem then damaged the video card?

Cause reguardless, it looks like there's a CPU or mobo failure here unless your manual says 7 beeps means something else.

+1

[Nacimroc]

Agree with above! The beeps could be your RAM faulty which would be an easy and cheap fix! Def worth checking as the last 2 times I fixed beeping it was RAM either not seated correctly or faulty!

[Lilwolf]

really really... I don't need diagnoses... there is onboard video... been working for months without a video card... plug one in, beeps... read manual... says bad video card.

but anyway...

[Malenko]

really really... I don't need diagnoses... there is onboard video... been working for months without a video card... plug one in, beeps... read manual... says bad video card.

but anyway...

then why make the thread? anyway, did you disable the onboard?



























just  kidding.

[DJ_Izumi]

If I was putting video cards into a motherboard, multiple cards at that, and after each time they never worked agian in any OTHER computer, I'd be pretty freakin' terrified of that system.  "Oh, the onboard video works" still doesn't explain the tendancy to KILL video cards.

Something on that motherboard ain't right, though it could just be a coincidence that the two cards died after being put in that mobo.  Sacrifice a third card and see what happens.