[SOLVED] iMac 2009 Beeps - 3 Short, 3 Long, 3 Short

guymarshall

Honorable
Jan 25, 2015
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This iMac from 2009 shows a black screen when booting and plays 3 beeps: 3 short, 3 long and then 3 short. I have swapped out the RAM for sticks I know work. Is there anything else I can try? I haven't tried AHT but am not sure how to get it to work if it won't display anything.

Thanks in advance :)
 


I was hoping that wasn't the case but it explains why everything I tried didn't work haha! If it helps I looked at the board LEDs and the 4th one was unlit? There isn't a 3rd LED so just wondering what the 4th one being off means.
 
you sure its not 3 long 3 short 3 long ?

Because I found this at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202768
Three long tones, three short tones, three long tones: EFI ROM corruption is detected, and your Mac is in EFI ROM recovery mode. Newer computers automatically recover from a corrupted ROM; when this occurs, a progress bar appears on the screen during ROM recovery mode. Don't disturb your Mac while the ROM recovery takes place. When recovery is complete, your Mac restarts.

 


Yeah it's a common misconception and people usually read it as 3 long to start with but this one is an SOS from the computer instead of OSO, but thanks anyways :)