Mobiles-Computers Tips & Trickz

BIOS Beep Codes

When a PC starts up, the first thing it does is run a Power-on Self Test (POST) to test the computers hardware. If it detects an error, you will be notified by either a number of audio beeps or an error message on the screen. This page helps to explain what the error message or audio beeps mean.

Standard Original IBM POST Error Codes

Code	Description
1 short beep	System is OK
2 short beeps	POST Error - error code shown on screen
No beep	Power supply or system board problem
Continuous beep	Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem
Repeating short beeps	Power supply or system board problem
1 long, 1 short beep	System board problem
1 long, 2 short beeps	Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA)
1 long, 3 short beeps	Display adapter problem (EGA)
3 long beeps	3270 keyboard card

IBM POST Diagnostic Code Descriptions

Code	Description
100 - 199	System Board
200 - 299	Memory
300 - 399	Keyboard
400 - 499	Monochrome Display
500 - 599	Colour/Graphics Display
600 - 699	Floppy-disk drive and/or Adapter
700 - 799	Math Coprocessor
900 - 999	Parallel Printer Port
1000 - 1099	Alternate Printer Adapter
1100 - 1299	Asynchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1300 - 1399	Game Port
1400 - 1499	Colour/Graphics Printer
1500 - 1599	Synchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1700 - 1799	Hard Drive and/or Adapter
1800 - 1899	Expansion Unit (XT)
2000 - 2199	Bisynchronous Communication Adapter
2400 - 2599	EGA system-board Video (MCA)
3000 - 3199	LAN Adapter
4800 - 4999	Internal Modem
7000 - 7099	Phoenix BIOS Chips
7300 - 7399	3.5" Disk Drive
8900 - 8999	MIDI Adapter
11200 - 11299	SCSI Adapter
21000 - 21099	SCSI Fixed Disk and Controller
21500 - 21599	SCSI CD-ROM System

AMI BIOS Beep Codes

Code	Description
1 Short Beep	System OK
2 Short Beeps	Parity error in the first 64 KB of memory
3 Short Beeps	Memory failure in the first 64 KB
4 Short Beeps	Memory failure in the first 64 KB Operational of memory or Timer 1 on the motherboard is not functioning
5 Short Beeps	The CPU on the motherboard generated an error
6 Short Beeps	The keyboard controller may be bad. The BIOS cannot switch to protected mode
7 Short Beeps	The CPU generated an exception interrupt
8 Short Beeps	The system video adapter is either missing, or its memory is faulty
9 Short Beeps	The ROM checksum value does not match the value encoded in the BIOS
10 Short Beeps	The shutdown register for CMOS RAM failed
11 Short Beeps	The external cache is faulty
1 Long, 3 Short Beeps	Memory Problems
1 Long, 8 Short Beeps	Video Card Problems

Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes

Note - Phoenix BIOS emits three sets of beeps, separated by a brief pause.

Code	Description
1-1-3	CMOS read/write failure
1-1-4	ROM BIOS checksum error
1-2-1	Programmable interval timer failure
1-2-2	DMA initialisation failure
1-2-3	DMA page register read/write failure
1-3-1	RAM refresh verification failure
1-3-3	First 64k RAM chip or data line failure
1-3-4	First 64k RAM odd/even logic failure
1-4-1	Address line failure first 64k RAM
1-4-2	Parity failure first 64k RAM
2-_-_	Faulty Memory
3-1-_	Faulty Motherboard
3-2-4	Keyboard controller Test failure
3-3-4	Screen initialisation failure
3-4-1	Screen retrace test failure
3-4-2	Search for video ROM in progress
4-2-1	Timer tick interrupt in progress or failure
4-2-2	Shutdown test in progress or failure
4-2-3	Gate A20 failure
4-2-4	Unexpected interrupt in protected mode
4-3-1	RAM test in progress or failure>ffffh
4-3-2	Faulty Motherboard
4-3-3	Interval timer channel 2 test or failure
4-3-4	Time of Day clock test failure
4-4-1	Serial port test or failure
4-4-2	Parallel port test or failure
4-4-3	Math coprocessor test or failure
Low 1-1-2	System Board select failure
Low 1-1-3	Extended CMOS RAM failure