comp beeps 5-6 times and monitor shuts off

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by clamup1, Apr 2, 2009.

  1. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    i got a free comp from a friend of mine. its faster than the one im on now. i have an assumption( i know where those get me but.........)
    1. when you put a hard drive that has an os on it, the comp should run the os right/wrong

    when i checked out the comp when i got it, it would run the bois and wouldnt go any farther. ( i was told that the comp didnt have an os) the bios said it had 514 kb ( yes kb) of chached mem. ( i thought that was ram) it also said it had 1014 memory (dont know what that was)

    i bought 2 gb of ram, as said above the comp beeps 5-6 times and the monitor goes to sleep. with the 2 hd's from my old comp.

    i have two diff vid cards and have tried both. my building skills go as far as putting new cdrws, hd and new ram in a comp. i dont know what i did but i hope it can be fixed.
     
  2. jlphlp

    jlphlp Master Sergeant

    Hi Clam,

    If the comp is OK it will usually boot the OS on the disk but may not find all the drivers. Usually you will have to download Audio and Video drivers and maybe a few others. What OS are you trying to run? What Mother Board do you have etc.

    Good Luck, JIm
     
  3. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    sorry about that. its a dell mb REV.a02 ( i dont know what to look for) im trying to put xp home on it. i got 2 gb but it also said 1024. so i dont know if i got 2 gb or 2 1024 sticks of ram. it has pent 4 HT processor

    before i put the ram in i could get into the bios but now i cant. i just looked at the ram and the #'s are diff. i bought pc3200, what was in the comp was pc3200u. does that make any diff?
     
  4. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    its running at 3.06 ghz and i dont rem the rest sorry. if i can get it running i can give you details.
     
  5. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    it sounds like Memory issue and myself are having the same prob
     
  6. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    OK, from the sound of this, I figure the make is a Dell, and the model could be a Dimension 2400 or similar. You can't just go swapping HDDs (hard drives) with a Dell, unless it came from a Dell. Usually that works, but sometimes it doesn't. There is that one or maybe two times out of ten it won't boot past the MBR (Master Boot Record).

    Do you have a service tag you could Private Message (if you feel comfy with that) so we can get the mobo info needed to further diagnose your issues?

    Or, you can use it to chat with a Dell service tech online. Your service tag is the most important thing you need to obtain the proper software.
    Dell.com>Support>Downloads & drivers>Enter Service Tag.

    After you enter the tag, it will list the updates for your particular PC, as shipped.

    The ship date with an older Dell often influences what chipset it has. And in addition, the proper BIOS upgrade can be obtained. A02 is an early version, and may be part of your memory issues.

    Do you have the recovery CD(s), and did you get a 1GB x 2 kit?
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2009
  7. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    the mekanic. i cant send you a pm. i dont have enough psots. i got on the dell website and looked at the bios of what is in my comp. i also called the people i bought the ram from. (which i should of done in the first place) it seems i bought ram for a server and the wrong kind. same as memory issues guy. im hoping my old hdds run on the new comp. i can reformat the one that came with it but would really like to use the old ones.the right ram (hopefully) is on its way. so ill find out if it works in a few days. ill keep you posted
     
  8. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    oh its a dell dimension 4600. 3.06 ghz, no ram (2gb coming) pent 4 ht, no disks
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2009
  9. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    So, you purchased ECC RAM. You already know you can run PC-3200 memory. You can also run an 800MHz processor. Dell's general specs say max 3.0, but get into chat and ask them if it can do better.

    http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/specs.htm#1106230

    If it can go 3.2GHz, here's the cheapest one I could dig up in an 800MHz FSB 512K cache:

    http://www.pcprogress.com/product.asp?m1=pw&pid=INP4-800-320OEM

    It would be a little more than a marginal increase in performance, since you are matching the processor and memory frequency.

    I don't think you could switch up to a 1MB cache, but asking wouldn't hurt...
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2009
  10. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    the mekanic- when i chatted with the people from dell, they said you cant run pc3200 on it. i had to run 2700. i got the 2700. im doing this project to get a faster comp without buying a new one. i can build one for $900.00 that is faster, has more ram, and hdd space then the ones dell,hp ect sell. but the wife wont let me right now. gotta save some money.

    i didnt know you could buy processors that cheap.

    do you go to dell for the BIOS upgrade?

    thanks for your help

    clam
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2009
  11. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    If it can go 3.2GHz, here's the cheapest one I could dig up in an 800MHz FSB 512K cache:

    are you talking about oc the comp? i want to try oc the new new comp i get down the road.
     
  12. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    Yes, you have to go to Dell to get the BIOS upgrade. To get info specific to your PC, you need to enter a service tag.

    Dell.com>Support>Downloads & Drivers>Enter Tag

    The page will have all the relevant updates for your specific model.


    That processor I mentioned would be the max upgrade for your present PC, if the BIOS and chipset are capable. Dell can say for sure.


    This is my new mobo. I didn't want to spend the money right now, but Tigerdirect were the only ones who had it left in stock in the micro version with one PCIe slot. With the ATX, it has two. I really don't need two video cards, and my Compaq's board (it's a microATX) has never had a BIOS update from Dell, only it's sister board. They say the other board's BIOS will work with mine, but this one is much more upgradeable. I play games on the 36" TV, so dual monitors are not an issue.


    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4471412&CatId=3504
    What's your desired build?
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2009
  13. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    i seem to have miss placed the paper with all the details on it. but what i remember intel core 2 quad, xfx mb, 2 gb ram(can put 4) 250 gb hdd, 512mb vid card.

    i spent 3 hours scowering tiger direct for stuff that was compatable with each other. my only ? right now is trying to figure out if my mb is compatable with my hd. something about ATA 300. ive never built a comp from the ground up. but i read in another post that its not as hard as people think. i consider myself a fairly intelligent person so ill give it a try.
     
  14. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    SATA, and EIDE are two completely different animals. EIDE is the second oldest method of connector and came into use somewhere around 1994 or so. IDE goes back further. A ribbon cable with 39 pins in the drive is the usual. There are 40 and 80 conductor ribbon cable types. Usually in speeds of 100 (fast)/133 (ultra) MB/s when P4 processors came along. Earlier models had speeds of 33 and 66.

    The next gen is SATA, (serial ATA) they run at 3.0 GB/s these days, and 1.5 not too long ago. The newest type are 6 GB/s. The cables are usually red with black molded ends. Only 4 pins on this model.

    All are technically considered ATA, as designated by ANSI.
     
  15. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    Mekanic- i got the comp running. i had to buy a new hdd, ram and download some drivers from dell, but its running like a dream. ty
     
  16. clamup1

    clamup1 Private E-2

    thanks for your help
     

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