Zeraph

The computer won't start up, was working fine before. Nothing comes up on the screen. But it does beep, 1 beep continously. So I figure, OK its probably the RAM, but then I take out the RAM and I get no beeps, wth? (And no it still doesn't start up) I also tried moving the RAM to different slot and it gives no beeps.

The 4 lights on the back, indicate in the manual that it is stuck on early chipset initialization, if that helps.

It's windows XP, kingston pc 2100, athlon, k7n420 pro by msi


On a semi unrelated note, what do the black chips on the RAM do? Because we bought some new RAM to test it, but this new RAM only has one side covered in the black chips (4 of them) but our old RAM has both sides covered (8 total). As far as whats on the sticker and what we asked for they are identitcal. Oh and when the new RAM was installed it was the same thing, 1 continuos beep.

thanks

R3d

the chips on the ram are the memory themselves.. single side are called SIMM's (single inline memory module) and both sides are DIMM's (dual inline memory module)

for the sinlge beep.. how long does it last?.. are there any other beeps? how old is your power supply or video card?..

Zeraph

huh, they must have mis labeled it then because it says its DIMM. So whats the difference in compatibility? Any?

The beeps last about 2 seconds with 5 second intervals. Only one type of beep. The computer is 4ish years old.

MooseMan3000

The beep is a POST code. It should tell you exactly what the problem is (in theory).

After a little googling, I found the k7n420 manual at http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppor...?UID=10&kind=1

However, that doesn't seem to mention anything on the POST codes (I just skimmed, though). You'll need to either look in the original documentation or give them a call and ask them. Hope you find it.

vinaur

They have a bunch of beep codes over here, but without knowing what BIOS you have it's kinda hard to tell what's wrong. The closest code is that of IBM, which is 3 long beeps and that's a keyboard error code. Could also be your video card.

Zeraph

Ok, apparently that information is just wrong. In doing some more research, here's what I found:

"black boxes = individual RAM chips

You'll usually find 4, 8, or 16 chips on a module. The number of chips varies depending on the capacity of the module and/or the denisty of the individual chips.

If you have a 512MB module with 16 chips, each chips is 32MB in size, but if you have a module with only 8 chips, each chips is 64MB. Since the chips are the same size, the 64MB chips are denser."

Which has nothing to do with SIMM or DIMM, apparently most places don't even carry SIMM anymore. Please know what youre talking about if youre going to post advice, I wasted a significant amount of time thinking we got the wrong RAM.

As for the beeps, already know it most likely means bad memory, especially since the video card is integrated, which I think means it can't be bad unless the motherboard is, and since its beeping it can't be the motherboard. And now that we've tried new RAM, I guess that means its a bad connection? Ive tried using compressed air to clean it, nada. Is there anyway to clean it more thoroughly? Can the connectors be replaced? Or would I have to replace the whole motherboard?

MooseMan3000

So he was misinformed. Don't be an ass hole. He was trying to help, and you get pissed off at him? Take it to a fucking computer shop and pay $50 dollars an hour for them to work on it, but do NOT mouth off because someone else didn't offer advice that you found helpful.


No, it doesn't "most likely" mean bad memory. And yes, it CAN be the motherboard. I don't know if you read the page that vinaur posted, but that gives very clear examples of what the codes can mean. Many of those are motherboard issues. When you're through being a misinformed ass hole, and you're ready to listen to advice, then come back here.

Zeraph

The only ass hole I see here is you. I didn't call him any names, I only asked that he please (note the word please, I tried to be as polite as I could) not give advice where he really doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. It's not so hard, really, all you have to do is not post. And anyway, if he has the right to post whatever, well then so do I. And I would not call my post "mouthing off". If you would like an example of mouthing off, please re-read your post.

Yes, I probably erred in not checking his information sooner than I did and I probably got more angry than I should have, but there are other circumstances that has put a lot of stress on me, but I'd hardly think my post deserved such harsh criticism, they are words, it's not like I went over to his house and beat the shit out of him.

Sounds like most of your anger is coming from somewhere else.

Zeraph

Re looking at my post, I'd say the only thing Im guilty of is the poor wording on:
"Please know what youre talking about if youre going to post advice"

Clearly we can't know for sure if what we are talking about is right, it should have read something more like, "please think twice when posting technical advice. Your answers, if wrong can negatively effect me and other people"

crafty

It's already been said - the beep codes indicate the problem.

Did you really have to take the time to tell someone he was wrong and he shouldn't post? You don't know what's wrong.. so maybe you shouldn't post? He didn't say it was definite, but if you had a spare stick of ram to try maybe it would have worked? Who knows.

mikec

I'm confused here..........the black chips on a stick of ram are the memory. the stick is a circuit board, and the chips are the physical memory. some sticks have memory on one side only (SIMM), some have chips on both sides (DIMM). Here's an explanation, and it took about 20 seconds to find, by googling "DIMM" - http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/DIMM.html

wtf? Zeraph you owe R3d an apology.

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vinaur

I think Wikipedia does a better job explaining this. And it does look like R3D was right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMM

mikec

wikipedia, webopedia, it's all pedia baby

__________________
Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

n0nsensical

First, SIMMs and DIMMs won't even fit in the same sockets so you'd know if you got the wrong kind. Second, DIMMs do not necessarily have RAM chips on both sides of the board. The "dual" only refers to the fact that there are two "banks" of chips whereas SIMMs have only one (each bank, for example, may hold 32-bit words either with 4 8-bit wide RAMs, 2 16-bit wide RAMs, or what have you. Each chip is one RAM.).

That said, I'm sure we've all made factual errors in our posts even when we think we know what we're talking about. I think the best way to handle that is simply to politely correct it and not imply anything about that person's continued posting. SIMM and DIMM have both become rather archaic terms and there are SO many other acronyms that determine whether memory will play nice together, SDRAM, DDR, RIMM, DDR2, ECC, it goes on and on, so you should be as SPECIFIC as possible.

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jamesconrad

OK if you are getting one beep it is probably the video card. One beep means that everything soldered to the motherboard is OK (including the RAM and Processor - which aren't soldered to the motherboard).

If you do not have graphics then maybe you just installed a new video card? Is video coming from it now? Do you have a seperate video card or is it "onboard" (does your monitor plugin by the mouse and keyboard?)

You are probably not getting any beeps when you move the RAM because some mother boards require that RAM be installed starting with the first slot (this slot is usually closest to the processor (which you can recognize by the big fan on top of it)). If the RAM is not in the first slot than your machine will not POST (Power On Self Test), and will not beep.

You can always go down to your local Computer store buy a cheap video card that works with your computer. Plug it in. Plug the monitor into the new video card. If you now have video, it's the video card. If you don't still don't get video return the card, and just tell them it didn't work (don't tell them you were using it to test your computer!

If it works and you don't like the video card you just bought, take it back and exchange it for a better one. The store should have no problems with that.

vinaur

Just found a site with insane amount of POST codes and POST procedures. Thought someone might find it useful.
http://www.unicore.com/techsupport/award/postcodes.htm