Ami Bios - 3 beeps on boot

[Toad]

OK, this thread is related to the VXD error thread.

I thought it was RAM, but now the computer wouldn't boot with the new stick of RAM in it after only a few days. It gives the initial beep as it starts to boot and the gives three beeps and shuts itself off.

According to what I've read, this is a "base 64k RAM failure".

So, I swap out the new RAM and put one of the old sticks in that I though was bad and... ta-daaa... it boots right up and runs.

So I d/l DocMemory RAM Diagnostic. The old RAM passes all the tests.

Now I'm thinking this isn't and never was a RAM problem.

Any thoughts on what would give VXD errors when up and running and then also intermittently fail to boot with the three beeps?

Swapping apparently good RAM in and out sometimes gets it to boot and run fine.

Motherboard? Power Supply? CPU?

I'm not really a techie.. I just try to be one without sleeping in a Holiday Inn... so thanks in advance for any advice.

[SKurj]

3 beeps...  is a definite indicator of where the problem lies.. i just don't remember which..

I think its a video adapter failure...


lol or keyboard...


SKurj

[Eagler]

"One of my troubleshooting books says for Ami Bios, several short beeps means
defective motherboard; 2 long 1 short means synchronization of monitor adapter;
3 short means errors in the first 64k of RAM; another reference,not specific to
a particular bios says 1 long 2 short means video bad."

Guess it depends on how long ur beep is

[jonnyb]

vxd files are Windows virtual device driver files.  They aid in making your hardware run.  Intermittent failures of devices that are caused by vxd files are not uncommon in Windows 9x. What happens is that in an attempt to shorten boot time, Windows compresses a lot of commonly used vxd files (video drivers are an example) into one big vxd file called vmm32.vxd.  Although this is good in theory, it is not always reliable.  Some of the symptoms are crashes, BSOD, and shutdown issues.

A failure in RAM *MAY* be a cause here, but I'd suggest looking at a way to upgrade your vmm32.vxd file.  You can download one from here:

http://ftp://ftp.fluidlight.com/pub/nospin_files/VXD_FIX.zip
for Windows 98, 98SE and ME

The instructions are in a readme in the zip file.  One thing to note, you will need your Windows install CD around.

As far as the 3 short beeps happening intermittently, I wouldn't look at the memory.  It seems to be the motherboard here, as you have swapped out memory you thought was bad only to have the same memory begin to work again.

Hope some of this helps...

[Hussein]

Every time if you play with your ram sticks and the puter wont boot, check ram seating and doublecheck!

Some ram sticks are so tight on the socket that you have to literally force them in. I've had DDR sticks lock in with the center piece still out of contact - that's right, the whole stick bent enough for the ends to snap in locked position.

The ram started working only after I pressed it from the middle part with both my thumbs and almost all of my body weight. I wasn't sure if the ram would seat or the whole motherboard break in 2 pieces (actually I put extra support under the dimm sockets before doing this) and finally they slipped in and system booted ok.

[Toad]

How embarassing!

This whole episode turned out to be a "dustbunny" in some of the exposed pins on a GeForce2GTS card.

I let an expert friend of mine listen to the beeps on boot over the phone and he said "swap in another video card and see what happens".

It booted right away.

I looked at my trusty old GeF2 card to see if it had toasted itself and I saw a bunch of dust between a double row of exposed pins on the card. So I did a good clean up on the card and the computer.

Just for fun I swapped the old card back in and added all the RAM, including the one I thought was bad.

It booted just fine.

However, in all the thrashing, some Windoze files got trashed and I had an FAT error that Scandisk could not fix.

Fortunately I have nothing important on that HD but Games.

Dustbunnies. I'll be more careful in the future.

[jonnyb]

LOL!

That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!

Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide!  It's a killer!

[lord dolf vader]

if one has alot of dust in it as most do i hit it with the lawn blower in the garage i find it works wonders.