Long string of Beeps on startup. Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming7 MoBo

[Jenkins44]

This began last night after a shutdown. Not much changed except me unhooking my second monitor (taking it to work with me.) The PC still boots and runs fine. The series of beeps is very hard to describe and goes on for upwards of 2:15. I've uploaded the video to youtube to better try to understand what kind of string this is. You can also hear the fan speed/powder changing over and over. Please if anyone can help it would be appreciated. The MoBo also displays the letters "AO" on it but that has been there for a long time.

https://youtu.be/drBKuZoql_c

 

[Darkbreeze]

AO means "All Ok", as in, no problem codes were detected or triggered.

Has this system been together for a long time and just started doing this or did you recently assemble this system? Yes, I realize the Z97 platform is several years old but many people buy old parts so it could be a recent assembly.

Does it do this only when you shutdown after being in Windows or if you power on and go into the bios and then manually shut the system down by holding down the power button, does it still do it?

What Windows version are you running?

What are your full hardware specs?

As far as the long beeps after shutdown, the first thing I'd do is replace the CMOS battery. If that doesn't cure the problem, and it might well be the issue (Have you noticed, or checked, if the motherboard is retaining it's BIOS settings after it has been shut down?), I would strip out everything except the bare minimum.

No drives connected, no graphics card connected (Use integrated graphics temporarily but REMOVE the graphics card from the motherboard), nothing but the power supply, memory, cpu and cpu cooler. Well, and case fans.

Power on, go into bios, go out, shut down, see if it still beeps. If not, start adding things back in one at a time starting with the graphics card and then re-check the shutdown to see if it still does it.

Off the top of my head I'm going to say this sounds like a problem with the motherboard or power supply, but it could be many things really. Pretty unusual, and not one we usually see. Does it do this for several minutes even though the system is already shut down or does it not allow the system to shut down until the beeping stops?

 

[Jenkins44]

Hey and thanks for your quick answer. I brainfarted and wrote shutdown in the title.. This is happening on startup not shutdown. My apologies. This system was put together 5 years ago so the board is old and the problem started last night. It only beeps after a full shutdown, not on restart. The PC will still boot and runs fine after the beeping stops. The beeping stopped after 2:15 after startup

Other specs are:
-i7-4790k
-16gb corsair vengeance ddr3
-windows 7
-gtx 1070
-750w power supply

I havent tried any sort of hard boot nor have I gone into BIOS yet.

Everything was fine last night. I did download a game, messed with a few monitor settings and graphics settings for a different game and unhooked my 2nd monitor to take it to work with me. I did have this strange glitch after messing with the monitor where the aspect ratio was all off, the refresh rate and resolution was locked in COD and it looked like ot wasnt recognizing the gpu. I fixed it pretty easily by just restoring COD graphics settings back to default and redoing them. I also unhooked the 2nd monitor to fix this. I'm not very tech savvy with these things so bear with me.

 

[Darkbreeze]

IS there a specific code BESIDES AO that it hangs on during the beeping sequence?

The beep codes would seem to indicate that is is a hardware issue, not software, because no windows related software or settings are even initiated at any point during the time in which the motherboard runs it's POST test sequence, therefore anything related to Windows settings, drivers or configuration could cause the motherboard to beep.

Plus, if it was related, it would do it during restart as well.

I think the first thing to try is going into the bios and checking to see if the date and time are correct. If they are not, replace the motherboard CMOS battery. If they are, check to see if the boot order is correct. If they are, I would try doing a hard reset of the BIOS using the following procedure.

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

If the system will not POST after resetting the CMOS, then there is a hardware or BIOS configuration problem of some kind. Go back into the BIOS and make sure that the time and date are still correct and that the boot order is right. Also, since you are running Windows 7, make sure that in the secure boot settings it is not set to UEFI/Windows 8/10 but rather to "other". Also, find the compatibility support mode setting and make sure that is set to CSM enabled, since Windows 7 does not fully support UEFI configurations.

You will also probably need to reset the memory XMP profile settings if your memory is supposed to be faster than 1333mhz.

Truthfully, you may have a dying motherboard happening, but try these steps first and see what shakes out.

It would also be a good idea to double check that the memory and graphics card are both fully seated by removing and reinstalling them.

 

[Jenkins44]

Thank you for your detailed reply. I will begin testing things tonight after work.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok. Let me know, we'll try to get this figured out.

 

[Jenkins44]

Ok so update:

Reseated the RAM, turned computer back on (with nothing plugged into any USB) booted with no beeps.
To make sure everything was fine, put everything that was plugged into a USB back into it's spot (It reinstalled some drivers because I think I put them into different slots) did a shutdown, waited a bit, and then booted up.....

Not only did it beep, it beeped for a total of 12 minutes before it stopped. It seems to only go through the beeping sequence when it's completely shut down but will not do it if the computer is just restarted (may need to test this more.)

I wiped graphics drivers and reinstalled them as well. I also booted from a complete shutdown with nothing plugged in except monitor (display port) and ethernet cable. I'm at a loss here. I know you mentioned something about going into BIOS but i'm really not qualified to go in there and mess around with things unless i'm probably walked through. I just don't know enough about playing around with BIOS. I'm convinced this has something to do with something I messed with yesterday. Who knows.

This is no specific code on the Mobo while it's booting, it shows some jumbled numbers/letters right as it starts and then just goes to AO within a few seconds.

 

[Jenkins44]

Also, after several shutdowns and reboots, the length of the beeps is back to it's normal 2 minute range. I did, however, notice a very minor change one time in the sequence on the last one. In the last reboot, there was one sequence that was beep beep beep, instead of beep beep beep beep. Idk just thought i'd mention. Both the guy who built it for me and another friend of mine who knows way more than me are completely stumped.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Unplug all the USB stuff and try it again from a cold boot (Shut down). You said it didn't beep when you unplugged all the USB components. Try it again and see if it's one of your USB devices OR one of the USB ports on your motherboard may be bad.

If it still beeps again with all the USB stuff unplugged then do as described below, which is a repeat of what I explained above.

I want to know if it does this when there is nothing plugged in except the memory, cpu, power supply and CPU cooler. No USB. No graphics card. No hard drives or SSDs. Well, the monitor needs to be connected as well, but connect that to the iGPU coming out of the motherboard and make sure the graphics card is completely removed. These are not just to waste time, these are important steps.

 

[Jenkins44]

Removed CMOS battery last night, waited a minute, turned back on, still beeping. Unplugged all USB drivers (Mouse, Keyboard, Wireless Headset USB, and Micro USB, and even the display port) did a cold boot, still beeping. Have not done the reseating of GPU or cold boot without GPU yet. Will try that tonight if I get time. I have had a few cold boots where the duration was shorter (once or twice.) Had one cold boot where the beeping stopped after about 15 seconds.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you tried replacing the CMOS battery with a new one yet? I would do that before you go any further. Your board is old enough to warrant it, especially since some boards get one installed at the factory that might have been the last of a batch that was sitting around for a while and was already half dead when it was initially installed. I've seen boards that were only a year old need to have the CMOS battery replaced before on more than one occasion.

For two bucks, it's a sure bet as the first step when it comes to any weird motherboard related errors.

After that, I would REALLY recommend following the instructions at the link below and bench the motherboard with minimal hardware connected.

How to properly bench test your motherboard​

 

[Jenkins44]

The guy that built is supposed to come by this weekend to help me out a bit on it. I'm going to fooll with it some more tonight when I get home from work. Time after work is limited at the moment but I sincerely appreciate your help!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sure thing. No problem at all.

 

[Jenkins44]

Haven't touched a thing on this in a few days. Last 2 reboots (cold) the last 2 days have yielded no beeps. So who knows

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, that's weird. Did the builder not end up coming to help you with it?

 

[Jenkins44]

He wasnt able to get up here this weekend