CPU goes "beep"

[mvolke1]

This may be too difficult a problem to ask on the forum, but some of you may have experience with this.

My cab is built. I test everything on the PC before taking it apart to put in the cocktail.

I have everything installed, double-checked, and flip it on to enjoy "gaming nervana."

Only problem is, my CPU starts making random beeps and boops. No image on the monitor, thought the I-Pac button glows, as does the light on the mother board. The fans kick on, but the CD drawer does not open.

Any thoughts or similar experiences you have had?

Thanks.

[KDOG]

That's the POST. Check your mobo manual for the problem code.
Also double check again and make sure all cards, ram, cables and heatsink are all secured.

[mvolke1]

Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure what the POST is, but I'll check it out.

[CheffoJeffo]

I'm not sure what the POST is, but I'll check it out.

Power On Self Test -- basic diagnostics.The pattern of beeps should correspond to a pattern in the manual and tell you what is wrong.

Cheers

[mvolke1]

Sounds simple enough. Thanks for your help.

It's been a bit aggrevating being so close...(as the cheesey love song goes) but so far away. 

[leapinlew]

Yeah, whats the amount and length of the beeps.

2 short and 1 long is usually a monitor error.

Be grateful your getting to POST. It's more aggrivating when you hit the power button and you get nothing...

[mvolke1]

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/bpv02555/bpv02555.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

This is the user manual for my CPU. Thanks for the help. I guess I am lucky getting to the POST. Hopefully, I'm not too far away. You folks are money! 

[ahofle]

That certainly is an old motherboard (over a decade old).  And you say this all worked before you 'took the PC apart'?  How exactly did you take apart the PC? I assume you mean you unscrewed the motherboard from the case and mounted the mobo and drives in the cocktail?

[mvolke1]

That certainly is an old motherboard (over a decade old).  And you say this all worked before you 'took the PC apart'?  How exactly did you take apart the PC? I assume you mean you unscrewed the motherboard from the case and mounted the mobo and drives in the cocktail?

I don't think it's that old. It's a P4 1.7 Ghz.

But I took it apart one piece at a time. I labeled all the cables to make sure they went in the proper way when reconnected.

I did take each part out and placed them in the cocktail. Why do you ask?

[ahofle]

Your link above is for an old Pentium motherboard, and the manual says it was written in 1995. 

I only ask about how much you took apart so that maybe you could reverse your steps to try and figure out where something went wrong.

[cw]

how many beeps are you hearing? 

and who did the bios...

ami bios

http://www.sysopt.com/tutorials/article.php/3552501

award, ibm, phoenix

http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=1576


  hope this helps...

[mvolke1]

I think that's the wrong manual for my CPU. Mine's the HP Vectra VL 420. I'll have to keep searching for a manual. Damn.

Thanks for the note.

I did take it apart one thing at a time. Hopefully, it's something simple. Thanks for your help.

[kelemvor]

Take out any cards and put them back in to make sure they are in nice and tight.  Video Cards, Memory sticks, sound card, etc.

[torez]

What are your settings on your drives (master, slave, cable select)?  Master always goes at the end of an ide cable.  Try CS first for ease of use.
Try to plug in just the necessary components and, if it works, then adding one at a time.

[_) (V) (-)]

Funny you mention the cd drives don't open.
Do they light up when you turn on the power?

Maybe you have an IDE (flat ribbon type) cable plugged in backwards...
Check for the red stripes, they should be on the #1 pin side of the connectors, usually marked with an arrow, a #1 or something.

[RayB]

A backwards hard drive cable will usual cause the "no video, 1 beep"

[MameMaster!]

I use the XArcade PCB and have noticed that if I accidently plug/unplug the PS2 cable (from the keyboard plug on the PC to the XArcade PCB) it will create beeps when I power up the PC.....

The way I've resolved this is to turn the PC off....unplug/plug back in everything....restart..... and that seems to solve the problem....

My PC is from 2002....so it's only 4 years old and emits these "beeps".

And uh, also make sure you have at least 1 keyboard plugged in either PS2 or USB....because the PC is expecting to see one at all times.

I hope that works. 

[mvolke1]

You all rock! Thanks.

I'm going to try some of these things out when I get home from work. Hopefully we'll have some luck.