Hi. I'm by no means a computer hardware expert, but I tried to put an extra stick of RAM (from another computer) into my computer (- stupid me!). And now it doesn't want to boot at all anymore; I can only hear 3 long beeps when I try to turn on the computer. See, I made a mistake: I thought the slots were all the same, so I tried to force a DDR RAM stick into a DIMM slot. Apparently, one of the side hooks that keeps the DIMM stick in place at that particular slot was broken, so it fit (or, so I thought). Therefore, I tried to power on the computer. I got the long beeps for the first time. After I figured out the incompatibility, I removed the stick of RAM I was trying to put in, from the DIMM slot, and I was hoping that the computer would be the same as before. But no, I still get the long beeps and the monitor says "no source connected". I got no idea what to do to make the computer work again. Could I have damaged the other stick of RAM that was in place since before I tried to put in the new one? Maybe some static electricity damaged something while I was working in there? I have no idea how to fix something like this. Can someone help, please?
Well, I'm no expert in RAM at all, but if you google your computer make and try and find the type of motherboard you have, you should be able to find what three long beeps means for that particular motherboard and maybe help you pinpoint the problem. Hope this helps!
http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml This link should help you identify what your motherboard is trying to tell you by beeping, hope it helps.
reseat your old ram & try clearing the cmos as have found that to work sometimes to kickstart a stubborn system
Hi. Thanks a lot for the replies. I had spoken to a buddy of mine, who knows better, and he said the three beeps indicate a RAM problem. So, I assumed he was right. (That's why I mentioned everything I did with the RAM sticks. Besides, I didn't do anything else as drastic as trying to put in extra RAM.) Now, after your message, I'm not so sure that's what the beeps are referring to - but what else can it be? The motherboard says "ATX" and "PC400" on it. That's all I know. I have no idea if it's IBM or AMI or Phoenix... (I couldn't find ATX or PC400 on the page you suggested.) Thanks anyway, again, though. P.S. The problem is still there. If anyone has any more suggestions, please tell me. Thanks in advance.
Oh, sorry, Ddp, I must have missed your first post while I was typing the reply for Delta36. I did put the old RAM in place, yes, but it still didn't work. Also, in order to clear the CMOS, the motherboard User Manual says to move the jumper cap of JBAT1 to pins 2 and 3 for a short while. (It didn't help.) But it doesn't say whether I should briefly connect the power supply while the cap is still on pins 2-3. I only did the cap switch, for a minute or so, while the power was disconnected. Is this what you meant by "clearing the CMOS"? Thank you.
Hi. The computer seems to work now. (I left it alone for a couple of days, and, when I tried to turn it on just now, it booted into Windows.) Thank you very much for the help.
