im currently trying to diagnose a problem with a friends laptop... when i go to boot i get no video and i get a 2 short beep post error..... I reseated the memory, even tried one stick at a time.....still no change..... i just recently started to get into laptop repair and need some input on this situation....if anyone has any suggestions please post them, as any help is apprecfiated
ScubaBud, if no video than can't see what is doing. jaydeeX3, IBM 2 short beeps POST Error - error code shown on screen . see if there is a switch for lcd & crt AMI 2 Short Beeps Your computer has memory problems. First check video. If video is working, you'll see an error message. If not, you have a parity error in your first 64K of memory. First check your SIMM's. Reseat them and reboot. If this doesn't do it, the memory chips may be bad. You can try switching the first and second banks memory chips. First banks are the memory banks that your CPU finds its first 64K of base memory in. You'll need to consult your manual to see which bank is first. If all your memory tests good, you probably need to buy another motherboard. phoenix 2-_-_ Any combo of beeps after two means that some of your memory is bad, and unless you want to get real technical, you should probably have the guys in the lab coats test the memory for you. Take it to the shop. Award Unfortunately there are many versions of the Award BIOS, and they are supported not by one company, but by the motherboard maker. Award's website states "Award Software software products are sold to a board or system manufacturer ("hardware vendor"), who customizes them further before selling the system. Award Software cannot supply upgrades for a BIOS that has been subsequently modified by hardware vendors."
i had even tried to hook the laptop up to a regular monitor, and nothing...i get no video on the CRT monitor either....i think it may be the video card, and if it is, then that sucks cuz the one that im working on isnt user replacable....it is soldered directly to the mobo.... Yeah DDP, i tried the memory thing, took one stick out, left one in, switched them around, still nothing...looks like its time for that person to get another mobo...
......I have found 2 beeps is either bios corruption or dead mobo. If you switch out the memory and still get the beeps with no video then you might have to dig a hole . Sorry.......
you know what DDP, i dont know ill have to check that out in the morning.... Im fixing it for my instructor in school.... and its there... Yeah go figure my Computer Systems Repair Instructor dont know how to fix a laptop...and i hadnt really messed with them until the other day, and then he gave me his today.... Which is fine with me...Just more knowledge
jaydeeX3 Does this Laptop have a slot for an additional Video card? Dell usually gives options for either one or the other. If it does, then you may be able to un jumper or turn off in cmos the video built into the MB. When you are working in the blind, it doesn't hurt to try all combinations to make sure that one of the devices is not causing a conflict. Is it just stopping at two beeps? Did you try and remove the HD and boot with a CD?
Scuba i would love to take a look at the cmos, but i have no video to look at it.....ive tried connecting it to a crt monitor still with no luck....so im gonna keep trying to fix it with some of the suggestions you guys gave me....see if any work ...if not it was worth a shot....better to be sure nothing will fix it before they go and buy a new board...thanks all you guys for your input
jaydeeX3 I understand that you haven't any screen. Obviously something is causing it along with a boot that doesn't get past the two beeps. Video on the MB that might and I say "might" have a jumper to turn it off, etc. Maybe the two beeps is a "No Monitor" beep, who knows until you see what the manufacturer of the board has to say and also the manufacturer of the bios. That something once removed or replaced, etc. could then allow hopefully either the completion of the boot or a screen so as not to be in the blind, (if a jumper could shut off the video portion of the MB and allow an external CRT to then be used.)
