No boot : 9 beeps error SOLVED

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

For all those, who experience the same problem and cannot find a
proper answer among the flood of nonsense suggestions and
quotations...

Contrary to so many posts that say that your motherboard had gone bad,
or that your CPU is toast, or other nonsense like that...

This is what you have to do:

1) Find the battery on the motherboard that stores the CMOS
settings.

[ In my case it was easy to see -- it's a quater-size
watch-type battery. Hard to miss. ]

2) Remove it, and replace with a new one. The life expectancy
of this battery is 2 years. Mine lasted 6 without problems,
until one day I could no longer boot...

3) Find the jumper on the motherboard that clears the CMOS.

[ The motherboard documentation will tell you where it is. ]

4) Clear the CMOS, using that jumper.

[ The procedure will obviously vary from one manufacturer
to the next.In my case (TYAN), I was following the
instructions from my motherboard's documentation, but
it was not working, and I started to suspect that, in fact,
my motherboard is a gonner.

Turns out the procedure was wrong! To reset the CMOS, I did
not have to move the jumper to another position -- I had
to remove it altogether. Boot the computer without the jumper.
(Nothing will happen, and everything will be black). Then
put the jumper into the proper position, and boot again.


5) When the computer boots it will display the message that your CMOS
settings are incorrect, and will stop and halt almost immediately.
This is expected.

Enter the BIOS and reset it to BIOS defaults.

[ In AMI BIOS it can be done blindly (ie, if VGA is not working,
and nothing is displayed, by pressing F5 (Setup Defaults) soon
after entering the BIOS. Here is the procedure if you have to
work blindly as I had since my AGP card would not be recognized;
by default, the BIOS would direct a video signal to the PCI card,
which I did not have. A special setting must be done in the BIOS
to tell it that my primary display is AGP. ]

Power up
[DEL] to enter BIOS (some MB use F1, I've even seen F2)
[F5] to "Load Setup Defaults"
[ENTER] to confirm
[F10] to "Save and Exit"
[ENTER] to confirm

After this your computer should come back.

Good luck,
-- Nick

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 00:31:01 -0400, Nick Monyatovsky
<---@---> wrote:

>For all those, who experience the same problem and cannot find a
>proper answer among the flood of nonsense suggestions and
>quotations...
>
>Contrary to so many posts that say that your motherboard had gone bad,
>or that your CPU is toast, or other nonsense like that...
>
>This is what you have to do:

I hate to break it to you, but the problem you experienced
has multiple potential causes and you're looking somewhat
naive to disount the more common ones like "motherboard gone
bad" and calling them "nonsense". Generally posters make
suggestions of what "could" be the problem but not a
situation where "there is no other possible thing, no matter
how remotely unlikely, that could be the cause instead".
Every system is exposed to it's own variables that can (and
do) differ from the next system or one in a hypothetic
laboratory environment.

The fact is that some boards do what you described with a
drained battery and others do not, but usually it's more
than just a drained battery, BUT on the other hand since
your system was 6 years old, yes you should've checked all
things that wear over time first, like the battery, fans,
capacitors.

If there weren't any suggestions to check the battery, it
could be that nobody though of it "that time", on your
particular post, or it could instead be that people get
tired of posting same exact thing time and time again,
hoping that a cursory search of resources like Google Groups
would've revealed the typical troubleshooting methods to
use. With such a large and comprehensive knowledgebase as
Google groups available to anyone online, it would not be
unreasonable to expect that if someone had a system that
still wouldn't run, that the problem is less likely
something simple and obvious like the battery.

Regardless, it's good to know it's working again, and yes,
checking the battery is one of the basic steps anyone should
take when their system won't post.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Hi Kony,

You mentioned caps aging in your message.
Is there an easy way to check them if they don't
look bulged or burnt or unusual?
Just curious.
Thanks,
Mike




"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:31b2i1lehk82hu9tr8miqjpm45s9d7degt@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 00:31:01 -0400, Nick Monyatovsky
> <---@---> wrote:
>
>>For all those, who experience the same problem and cannot find a
>>proper answer among the flood of nonsense suggestions and
>>quotations...
>>
>>Contrary to so many posts that say that your motherboard had gone bad,
>>or that your CPU is toast, or other nonsense like that...
>>
>>This is what you have to do:
>
> I hate to break it to you, but the problem you experienced
> has multiple potential causes and you're looking somewhat
> naive to disount the more common ones like "motherboard gone
> bad" and calling them "nonsense". Generally posters make
> suggestions of what "could" be the problem but not a
> situation where "there is no other possible thing, no matter
> how remotely unlikely, that could be the cause instead".
> Every system is exposed to it's own variables that can (and
> do) differ from the next system or one in a hypothetic
> laboratory environment.
>
> The fact is that some boards do what you described with a
> drained battery and others do not, but usually it's more
> than just a drained battery, BUT on the other hand since
> your system was 6 years old, yes you should've checked all
> things that wear over time first, like the battery, fans,
> capacitors.
>
> If there weren't any suggestions to check the battery, it
> could be that nobody though of it "that time", on your
> particular post, or it could instead be that people get
> tired of posting same exact thing time and time again,
> hoping that a cursory search of resources like Google Groups
> would've revealed the typical troubleshooting methods to
> use. With such a large and comprehensive knowledgebase as
> Google groups available to anyone online, it would not be
> unreasonable to expect that if someone had a system that
> still wouldn't run, that the problem is less likely
> something simple and obvious like the battery.
>
> Regardless, it's good to know it's working again, and yes,
> checking the battery is one of the basic steps anyone should
> take when their system won't post.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 16:39:19 -0400, "Mike Hollywood"
<noone@nowheret.net> wrote:

>Hi Kony,
>
>You mentioned caps aging in your message.
>Is there an easy way to check them if they don't
>look bulged or burnt or unusual?
>Just curious.
>Thanks,
>Mike

You can remove them from the board (or there is a circuit
floating around to test caps in-circuit but I don't recall
any details about it) to do it, but generally speaking
unless it's one of those PCChips boards where it looked like
they left every 3rd capacitor off the board to cut costs,
you should be ok if they look fine, ie- the odds of it being
the caps are then lower than (some other as yet unobvious
problem). It's all about odds to a certain extent, where to
look first and how much time to spend since a thorough test
of every little chip is beyond the common skills of PC
technicians and not cost-effective in how long it would take
relative to the value of the equipment in other cases.

Caps can certainly fail without looking bad but in general
the failures seen on motherboards are in the power
regulation areas and they do burst, or at least swell and
discharge, it is visible.

A board with marginal caps may seem less stable before they
fail though, if you have further concerns about the caps
then describe the make, model, values of the largest caps
used.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 00:31:01 -0400, Nick Monyatovsky <---@---> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

>This is what you have to do:
>
>1) Find the battery on the motherboard that stores the CMOS
> settings.

>2) Remove it, and replace with a new one..

>3) Find the jumper on the motherboard that clears the CMOS.

>4) Clear the CMOS, using that jumper.
>
> To reset the CMOS, I did
> not have to move the jumper to another position -- I had
> to remove it altogether. Boot the computer without the jumper.
> (Nothing will happen, and everything will be black). Then
> put the jumper into the proper position, and boot again.

I recall that the CMOS RAM on older motherboards that had RTC chips
(eg Dallas) with sealed on-chip batteries sometimes needed to be
cleared in this way. This was because there was no way to disconnect
the battery from the RAM. These chips had a pin which was dedicated to
clearing the RAM but it required that the chip be powered up, ie the
chip's logic had to be involved in the process.

-- Franc Zabkar

Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 16:39:19 -0400, "Mike Hollywood"
<noone@nowheret.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:

>Is there an easy way to check [caps] if they don't
>look bulged or burnt or unusual?

The accepted method for testing electrolytic caps in-circuit is with
an ESR (equivalent series resistance) meter. Unfortunately when many
caps are connected in parallel it is difficult to isolate the faulty
one(s) because one good one can make five bad ones look OK.

-- Franc Zabkar

Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:31b2i1lehk82hu9tr8miqjpm45s9d7degt@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 00:31:01 -0400, Nick Monyatovsky
> <---@---> wrote:
>
>>For all those, who experience the same problem and cannot find a
>>proper answer among the flood of nonsense suggestions and
>>quotations...
>>
>>Contrary to so many posts that say that your motherboard had gone bad,
>>or that your CPU is toast, or other nonsense like that...
>>
>>This is what you have to do:
>
> I hate to break it to you, but the problem you experienced
> has multiple potential causes and you're looking somewhat
> naive to disount the more common ones like "motherboard gone
> bad" and calling them "nonsense". Generally posters make
> suggestions of what "could" be the problem but not a
> situation where "there is no other possible thing, no matter
> how remotely unlikely, that could be the cause instead".
> Every system is exposed to it's own variables that can (and
> do) differ from the next system or one in a hypothetic
> laboratory environment.
>
> The fact is that some boards do what you described with a
> drained battery and others do not, but usually it's more
> than just a drained battery, BUT on the other hand since
> your system was 6 years old, yes you should've checked all
> things that wear over time first, like the battery, fans,
> capacitors.
>
> If there weren't any suggestions to check the battery, it
> could be that nobody though of it "that time", on your
> particular post, or it could instead be that people get
> tired of posting same exact thing time and time again,
> hoping that a cursory search of resources like Google Groups
> would've revealed the typical troubleshooting methods to
> use. With such a large and comprehensive knowledgebase as
> Google groups available to anyone online, it would not be
> unreasonable to expect that if someone had a system that
> still wouldn't run, that the problem is less likely
> something simple and obvious like the battery.
>
> Regardless, it's good to know it's working again, and yes,
> checking the battery is one of the basic steps anyone should
> take when their system won't post.
Congrats, Kony, for a well-written and informative article. I think we
would all benefit from re-reading this from time to time to remind ourselves
to keep an open--as well as a diagnostic--mind when approaching problems.
Especially enjoyed the absence of finger-pointing/accusations--just good,
logical approaches. s

 

[herojig]

anyone know if this applies to a 9 beeping macbook. all diagnostics and online info say apple care. but i am in a jungle in nepal and that's not possible, but motherboard batteries are everywhere. thx.

 

[edcredible]

I was hoping to find a method to fix my roomba, but instead fell upon this forum. Very interesting problem you guys are facing. Wish I was more tech savy to understand though . All the best though. If anyone has any idea how to fix a broken roomba send me an email. Cuz my Roomba is going in circles!!!

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.computer,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

For all those, who experience the same problem and cannot find a
proper answer among the flood of nonsense suggestions and
quotations...

Contrary to so many posts that say that your motherboard had gone bad,
or that your CPU is toast, or other nonsense like that...

This is what you have to do:

1) Find the battery on the motherboard that stores the CMOS
settings.

[ In my case it was easy to see -- it's a quater-size
watch-type battery. Hard to miss. ]

2) Remove it, and replace with a new one. The life expectancy
of this battery is 2 years. Mine lasted 6 without problems,
until one day I could no longer boot...

3) Find the jumper on the motherboard that clears the CMOS.

[ The motherboard documentation will tell you where it is. ]

4) Clear the CMOS, using that jumper.

[ The procedure will obviously vary from one manufacturer
to the next.In my case (TYAN), I was following the
instructions from my motherboard's documentation, but
it was not working, and I started to suspect that, in fact,
my motherboard is a gonner.

Turns out the procedure was wrong! To reset the CMOS, I did
not have to move the jumper to another position -- I had
to remove it altogether. Boot the computer without the jumper.
(Nothing will happen, and everything will be black). Then
put the jumper into the proper position, and boot again.


5) When the computer boots it will display the message that your CMOS
settings are incorrect, and will stop and halt almost immediately.
This is expected.

Enter the BIOS and reset it to BIOS defaults.

[ In AMI BIOS it can be done blindly (ie, if VGA is not working,
and nothing is displayed, by pressing F5 (Setup Defaults) soon
after entering the BIOS. Here is the procedure if you have to
work blindly as I had since my AGP card would not be recognized;
by default, the BIOS would direct a video signal to the PCI card,
which I did not have. A special setting must be done in the BIOS
to tell it that my primary display is AGP. ]

Power up
[DEL] to enter BIOS (some MB use F1, I've even seen F2)
[F5] to "Load Setup Defaults"
[ENTER] to confirm
[F10] to "Save and Exit"
[ENTER] to confirm

After this your computer should come back.

Good luck,
-- Nick

 

[Sergio Thomas]

Thanks alot, it sure solved my problem, and yea i have read some posts where they said it was whether my CPU or my power supply that was gone, and dusty, heat problem as well as lack of ventilation were among the causes. Thanks once again my PC is running again, all i had to do was change the battery as u have said to do