BIOS question

Recently I was given a machine that has what appears to either be a Vid card problem but more than likely a BIOS issue.

Upon boot I get the standard 1 long, 2 short beep warning and a blank screen. Now, I've already swapped out cards to no avail. My question is now how to access the BIOS to either correct the problem or to reflash the BIOS to correct the error. I believe this machine is running WInME but I'm not sure. I also know that it could be a board problem but before I try for a new board I'd like to exhaust all my other options. I figure I'd try the experts here before I start pulling out hairs trying to figure out what the hell the deal is.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance to all that reply!!

 

If you get a post error, it means there is a hardware issue somewhere at hand, a bios issue would allow you to boot up with a single beep post and you could acess it through there. You can try finding the online manual for it, and see what exactly those beeps mean, good luck.

 

Omegamerc...

The 1 long, 2 short beep warning IS a video related error. I have already swapped out the orig card with several others along with trying different slots to rule out the possibility of a bad slot, and still have the same problem, which leads me to believe it's either a problem with the BIOS or a bad board, hence my question here.

Any suggestions?

 

Sorry must of missread, if your swapping videocards and presumably they work on a different board, then your pci/agp slot has gone sour, nothing much beyond that you can do. you can also try popping out the CMOS video card and for 5~ minutes and popping it back in, that would reset all your bios settings.

 

Ok, here's some info for those more experienced than myself.

The machine is a Dell XPS T600r - Motherboard is an Intel AA722396-112

I have been trying to find illustrations for this board to locate the CMOS card as suggested by Omegamerc to no avail.

It is diffucult to me to fix this thing as I am not used to working with CMOS or BIOS settings and I am apprehensive about touching something if I'm not sure what I'm doing.

ANY and ALL help is GREATLY appreciated.

 

I think Omegamerc meant to say "CMOS battery".

I'm not a fan of popping the CMOS battery to clear the CMOS. As far as I'm concerned, that method is a last resort. It's easy to damage the battery socket. There are easier ways to clear inappropriate settings.

But before you clear the CMOS, bear in mind that you may have to restore some of the non-default settings. Also make sure that your hard drive configuration settings are set for AUTO; if they're not, make a note of what they are and restore those settings before you try accessing the hard drives(s) after clearing the CMOS.

First, try going into the BIOS settings and selecting Setup Defaults (or words to that effect). That may be all you need to do.

If not, find the mobo's CLR CMOS jumper and move it to the other pair of pins on its three-pin header and leave it there for >5 sec. Then put it back where it was. Some mobos may require that you also remove the battery for this to work properly. If there's no jumper, you may have to leave the battery out for much longer.

You'll need the mobo manual to be sure that the jumper is there, what the proper position should be, and whether you also need to remove the CMOS battery. If you haven't done it already, download that manual from Intel's or Dell's website. It's something you should have at hand if you're messing about inside the case in any event. Try these links -- use the ones appropriate to your chipset:

For more info, see the "manuals" here - the Updates contain more info about the bios version numbers used, on what pcb (board revision) number.

SE4440BX-3 :
Technical Product Specification (manual):
ftp://download.intel.com/design/motherbd/oem/72698401.pdf

Motherboard Specification Update:
ftp://download.intel.com/design/motherbd/oem/73824203.pdf
......
SE440BX-2:
Technical Product Specification (manual):
ftp://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/se440bx2/72163201.pdf

Motherboard Specification Update:
ftp://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/se440bx2/72585615.pdf

Support page:
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/se440bx2/

Results of search for: SE440BX-2 - lots of other info for this board:
http://search.intel.com/corporate/s...Code=en&MimeType=ALL&version=2.0&q1=se440bx-2 ...
(info taken from the page found at <http://www.lanyoncomputers.com.au/corner/threadview.jsp?post=6293&thread=4121> by googling your mobo number)

The mobo manual will also contain lots of info about the BIOS settings. And should also tell you what you need to know about flashing the BIOS -- and do bear in mind that if you do a BIOS flash incorrectly, you'll likely end up with a mobo that you can't use and which will require technical expertise to resuscitate. That could easily cost more than the mobo is worth.

And now that I've written all that -- bear in mind that anyone who offers advice on re-setting mobos without having read the manual is either offering stock advice which may not be the best advice for your particular mobo -- or is guessing. That includes me.

Go get the manual.

 

Rob M,

I also came to the conclusion that Omegamerc meant the CMOS battery.

If I had the ability to access either the BIOS, CMOS or drive settings I would however I cannot get past the post-up beeps. The screen stays blank and all further action comes to a halt. As I've stated, I've swapped out Vid cards and still remain without a working system. This has what led me to believe it's either a BIOS or board issue.

Would you concur?

I'm also not a big fan of pulling the battery but I'm almost to the point where I've got nothing to lose.....

 

Here's some info on Diagnostic lights, do you have? and see second link for Beep codes (Three Dell service manual for the model you posted):
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps600/en/SM/adtshoot.htm#wp1053346
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps600/en/SM/about0.htm
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps600/en/SM/specs0.htm

Here's BIOS guide FREE:
http://www.rojakpot.com/freebog.aspx
This will explain most any BIOS setting and provide recommended setting ( it takes out the guess work, BIOS Aint no big deal).
Before you make any changes write down the settings you have. (this ofcoarse only works if you can access bios "LOL")

Also note when ever your reset your system CMOS/BIOS either via Jumper or Removing battery the BIOS will revert to Default settings.
Default settings are what is considered safe settings in most cases, Almost always not the best or Optimal.

I also want to add not all MOBO's CMOS/BIOS can be reset by Jumpers, sometimes the only way is the battery.
Removing the battery is no big deal just be careful.

If you do reset the CMOS, the first thing to do is try to access BIOS Before trying to boot into windows
If you are able to access bios then check all settings adj as needed then save & exit

 

ASUS,

First, a BIG thanks for taking the time researching those links however that system looks nothing like what I'm working with.

Regardless, I've come to the conclusion after reading your reply that pulling the battery is going to be my best bet. As I've stated, I'm not all that experienced with BIOS/CMOS settings nor do I know how to access them if necessary.

I'm assuming the settings are in the "setup" mode on boot, so once I've reinstalled the battery and IF I actually get the machine to boot up (providing the battery is still good) my next step should be........?

Also, considering I'll have no prior CMOS/BIOS settings to work with any suggestions as to where I could find the prior settings that this mobo may have had prior to this issue? I have tried locating info on this board with the model # and have failed at every turn.

Many thanks again......

 

Maybe.

It sounds like your system is hanging during the POST or immediately after -- but before the BIOS screen comes up. That's almost certainly a hardware issue; it's not likely that the BIOS has had a chance to start loading any software at all.

But do bear in mind that the POST does interrogate some peripherals -- especially hard and floppy drives. If a peripheral is interrogated by the BIOS and returns an unexpected result, the BIOS could hang - but the problem is in the peripheral, not the BIOS or the mobo it's on.

You might try the "cardboard test": pull the motherboard out of the case and disconnect everything from it except the PSU, video card and monitor, and a single strip of known-good RAM. Lay it on a piece of cardboard (to protect the surface under it and prevent shorts) and short the mobo connections for the power switch. If the problem does not go away, it's likely to be in the parts you didn't disconnect. Swap them out one by one to see which one is faulty.

 

Rob M.

The system is running for a mere 3 to 5 seconds when the beeps occur. The h/d will spin up and then the beeps occur stopping all further progress. I have, on a whim, removed each mem card and tried them one at a time, in different slots, to see if perhaps it was a mem card problem. Like I said, the machine is barely started and then will hang following the beeps. No POST, no peripheral testing, nada. The screen stays black and all activity ceases. Knowing that the beep pattern is linked to a Video problem is what led me to swap out cards and I have tried not only agp cards, I have also tried pci cards as well all with the same result. Knowing the system is hanging up so early on after powering up has led me to believe it's a board or slot problem yet before I splurge on a new board I'd like to try and exhaust all other options. (BIOS/CMOS reset etc) I have removed the sound and modem and network cards, leaving them out while booting and still have the same issue. I have also swapped out the IDE ribbon to the hard drive, yet still nothing. The diag lights read as - #1 & #2 = Amber - #3 & #4 = Green. Dell Support states that the diag lights detect a memory issue http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps600/en/SM/adtshoo8.jpg (Memory modules are detected, but a memory failure has occurred)
yet even after swapping out memory the problem still persists.

 

If you got the beeps, the system went into the POST. You didn't get the POST results on-screen; ergo, the system hung during the POST. Without a diagnostics card, you've no way of knowing where in the POST it crashed, or what caused the crash, or what peripherals got checked by the POST. The beeps you got confirm that at least one peripheral was checked -- the video card.

The fact that the HD spun up only confirms that it got power on the 12v line. It says nothing about whether the drive's electronics are functional. That gets checked during the POST.

I don't know enough to comment on the Dell diagnostic lights. I'm not familiar with the proprietary features that Dell often uses.

You've done the work that suggests that it's not likely to be a connected peripheral. So I agree -- the likely problem is the mobo or the BIOS. The former is more likely than the latter, especially given that a BIOS reset has had no effect.

And if it is in fact the BIOS that's gone south on you -- well, now you can appreciate why a BIOS flashing gone awry is not fixable without tools and expertise that are not available to the average user and most geeks. Replacing the mobo would likely be cheaper. And certainly easier.

One last thought: you haven't said whether you can get into the BIOS setup. Usually, you have to give the command that gets you into BIOS Setup before the POST results appear on-screen. That command varies -- check with the mobo manual or Dell if you don't have that information. For a Dell P133, the command was [Ctrl+Alt+Enter], but I have no idea whether that has changed in more recent machines.

 

Rob M.

I haven't reset the BIOS yet but considering we both agree it's now either the BIOS or board, pulling the battery is my next move.