4 beeps with Asrock Z77 extreme4

[Kenetix]

Hello guys,

I'm having trouble with Windows 8.1 and (possibly) my RAM. Everytime I format the computer, it runs smoothly for a few days, but after that, I start getting random reboots (without any warning). After shutting down, the mobo beeps 4 times (short beeps) and it tries to restart (it usually succeeds on the 2nd attempt). I've read the 4 short beeps could be happening because of some RAM problem, but i'm not sure if it's a configuration problem in the BIOS or really a bad ram module...
These are my specs:
Intel Core i5 3570K
Asrock Z77 Extreme4
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC 2Gb
8GB (4x2) G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600 (F3-12800CLD8D-8GBXM)
PSU: Corsair CX600M

Also, I have to say that after (randomly) removing one of my ram modules (actually, the most accesible module) the computer starts and runs (so far) without any issue. I find it hard to believe that i happened to remove the faulty module (chances are 1/2) so I'm more inclined to think that it's all have more to do with a configuration problem in the BIOS (?)

As one last piece of info, all these problems started happening after happily using W 8.1 for like 2 months, I woke up one day and my computer started acting up like this...


What do you guys suggest? Should i enter the RAM clocks manually in BIOS? Try to update BIOS? (I think asrock hasn't updated it in like forever) or run a Memtest?

Cheers ;D

 

[junkeymonkey]

well as you said it worked fine for two months ... what changes did you do when this started?? you need to back track then things and remove each one and see if resolves.. [ new hardware, drivers, windows up date, what ever ] if you use one stick of memory at default setting will it run ? any swollen or cracked capacitors ? power supply fail ? any power surges or lighting strikes ? also did you load any of the asrock ''fast'' stuff?? I run a asrock z87 and figured I would stay away from them things myself.. I also run g-skill 2x8gb on it with no issues with xpm settings..

now also are you saying that it don't even make the bios screen? you turn it on and it fails instantly ?


you said up top---- ''' I've had this mobo for little over a year, and things started to happen after i decided to install windows 8.'''

then you said --- ''' as I mentioned, i'd had W8 for like 2 months before this started to happen. '''

so now I don't know .. you changed something two months ago and caused the issue -- or something on the board just failed as things do--

if you got a extra or spare hard drive or bootable dvd or pen drive [nothing fancy] and download a copy of Linux [mint is easy to work with] and run it on the board to see if it will run fine on that if so then you can look at more software related issues with the windows ..

 

[Kenetix]

well as you said it worked fine for two months ... what changes did you do when this started?? you need to back track then things and remove each one and see if resolves.. [ new hardware, drivers, windows up date, what ever ] if you use one stick of memory at default setting will it run ? any swollen or cracked capacitors ? power supply fail ? any power surges or lighting strikes ? also did you load any of the asrock ''fast'' stuff?? I run a asrock z87 and figured I would stay away from them things myself.. I also run g-skill 2x8gb on it with no issues with xpm settings..

now also are you saying that it don't even make the bios screen? you turn it on and it fails instantly ?


you said up top---- ''' I've had this mobo for little over a year, and things started to happen after i decided to install windows 8.'''

then you said --- ''' as I mentioned, i'd had W8 for like 2 months before this started to happen. '''

so now I don't know .. you changed something two months ago and caused the issue -- or something on the board just failed as things do--

if you got a extra or spare hard drive or bootable dvd or pen drive [nothing fancy] and download a copy of Linux [mint is easy to work with] and run it on the board to see if it will run fine on that if so then you can look at more software related issues with the windows ..

Hello again junkey,

I firmly believe it's got soemthing to do with the ram configuration and how the mobo handles the ram, because as I mentioned whenever I get the error, removing one ram stick gets me past the boot up screens and into windows without any fan restart or weird bootlop.
What i've done so far is to manually set the RAM clocks in BIOS, because I read somewhere that it might fix it. So far so good, but i can't say for sure this'll work in the long run.

As for the Windows thing, yeah, i said that things started happening after I decided to install Windows 8, 2 months after installation (I'm sorry if didn't make that clear), just wanted to point out that everything was OK with W7.

Regarding any events that might have triggered this issue, I really have no idea, because as I said earlier, I just woke up one day and the computer started to act up. I'm sure that had anything weird ocurred the previous days, i would probably remember :/

Also, about the Linux thing. I highly doubt i would be able to choose where to boot from, because as I said, the bootlop won't even let the screen turn on and show the "MS-DOS" kind of text all PCs have when booting up.

 

[junkeymonkey]

Also, about the Linux thing. I highly doubt i would be able to choose where to boot from, because as I said, the bootlop won't even let the screen turn on and show the "MS-DOS" kind of text all PCs have when booting up.

it will boot right from the dvd or pen drive .. but your saying that it fails before it gets to the bios as in you turn it on and it fails right then?

 

[Kenetix]

Also, about the Linux thing. I highly doubt i would be able to choose where to boot from, because as I said, the bootlop won't even let the screen turn on and show the "MS-DOS" kind of text all PCs have when booting up.

it will boot right from the dvd or pen drive .. but your saying that it fails before it gets to the bios as in you turn it on and it fails right then?

Yes, as I mentioned, whenever it happens, the computer runs for about 5 seconds as it beeps four times, then fans turn off and it starts over. It's so fast that the screen won't show anything, so no chance to use the BIOS or the boot settings.

Cheers.

 

[junkeymonkey]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-on_self-test

ok read this and see if it help determine a issue .. as you once said it works with one stick of ram so you may get with gskill and have them replace your kit and see if one may have failed ..

you can remove things from the board like hd , optical drive, vidcard and hook display to onboard and see if you can get back to the bios and look it over and reset it to default. then retry with just the hd. or the vid card one at a time to see if one of them is triggering the issue..

 

[Kenetix]

Hello again guys

I haven't had much time to log into the forum but I can happily announce that I'm no longer getting the error ever since I manually set the clocks in BIOS. Its been 2 weeks and I haven't had any problem.
Just wanted to drop by to thank you both and leave this here written for anyone experiencing the same thing in the future.
I'll let you know if anything goes wrong. Hopefully not.
Cheers!