PHOENIX BIOS Beep codes

This document gives troubleshooting tips for PHOENIX BIOS Beep codes when you hear beep codes and your desktop board does not boot up successfully.

PHOENIX BIOS Q3.07 OR 4.X

Beep Code	Descriptions / What to Check
1-1-1-3	Verify Real Mode.
1-1-2-1	Get CPU type.
1-1-2-3	Initialize system hardware.
1-1-3-1	Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values.
1-1-3-2	Set in POST flag.
1-1-3-3	Initialize CPU registers.
1-1-4-1	Initialize cache to initial POST values.
1-1-4-3	Initialize I/O.
1-2-1-1	Initialize Power Management.
1-2-1-2	Load alternate registers with initial POST values.
1-2-1-3	Jump to UserPatch0.
1-2-2-1	Initialize keyboard controller.
1-2-2-3	BIOS ROM checksum.
1-2-3-1	8254 timer initialization.
1-2-3-3	8237 DMA controller initialization.
1-2-4-1	Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller.
1-3-1-1	Test DRAM refresh.
1-3-1-3	Test 8742 Keyboard Controller.
1-3-2-1	Set ES segment to register to 4 GB.
1-3-3-1	28 Autosize DRAM.
1-3-3-3	Clear 512K base RAM.
1-3-4-1	Test 512 base address lines.
1-3-4-3	Test 512K base memory.
1-4-1-3	Test CPU bus-clock frequency.
1-4-2-4	Reinitialize the chipset.
1-4-3-1	Shadow system BIOS ROM.
1-4-3-2	Reinitialize the cache.
1-4-3-3	Autosize cache.
1-4-4-1	Configure advanced chipset registers.
1-4-4-2	Load alternate registers with CMOS values.
2-1-1-1	Set Initial CPU speed.
2-1-1-3	Initialize interrupt vectors.
2-1-2-1	Initialize BIOS interrupts.
2-1-2-3	Check ROM copyright notice.
2-1-2-4	Initialize manager for PCI Options ROMs.
2-1-3-1	Check video configuration against CMOS.
2-1-3-2	Initialize PCI bus and devices.
2-1-3-3	Initialize all video adapters in system.
2-1-4-1	Shadow video BIOS ROM.
2-1-4-3	Display copyright notice.
2-2-1-1	Display CPU type and speed.
2-2-1-3	Test keyboard.
2-2-2-1	Set key click if enabled.
2-2-2-3	56 Enable keyboard.
2-2-3-1	Test for unexpected interrupts.
2-2-3-3	Display prompt "Press F2 to enter SETUP".
2-2-4-1	Test RAM between 512 and 640k.
2-3-1-1	Test expanded memory.
2-3-1-3	Test extended memory address lines.
2-3-2-1	Jump to UserPatch1.
2-3-2-3	Configure advanced cache registers.
2-3-3-1	Enable external and CPU caches.
2-3-3-3	Display external cache size.
2-3-4-1	Display shadow message.
2-3-4-3	Display non-disposable segments.
2-4-1-1	Display error messages.
2-4-1-3	Check for configuration errors.
2-4-2-1	Test real-time clock.
2-4-2-3	Check for keyboard errors
2-4-4-1	Set up hardware interrupts vectors.
2-4-4-3	Test coprocessor if present.
3-1-1-1	Disable onboard I/O ports.
3-1-1-3	Detect and install external RS232 ports.
3-1-2-1	Detect and install external parallel ports.
3-1-2-3	Re-initialize onboard I/O ports.
3-1-3-1	Initialize BIOS Data Area.
3-1-3-3	Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area.
3-1-4-1	Initialize floppy controller.
3-2-1-1	Initialize hard-disk controller.
3-2-1-2	Initialize local-bus hard-disk controller.
3-2-1-3	Jump to UserPatch2.
3-2-2-1	Disable A20 address line.
3-2-2-3	Clear huge ES segment register.
3-2-3-1	Search for option ROMs.
3-2-3-3	Shadow option ROMs.
3-2-4-1	Set up Power Management.
3-2-4-3	Enable hardware interrupts.
3-3-1-1	Set time of day.
3-3-1-3	Check key lock.
3-3-3-1	Erase F2 prompt.
3-3-3-3	Scan for F2 key stroke.
3-3-4-1	Enter SETUP.
3-3-4-3	Clear in-POST flag.
3-4-1-1	Check for errors
3-4-1-3	POST done--prepare to boot operating system.
3-4-2-1	One beep.
3-4-2-3	Check password (optional).
3-4-3-1	Clear global descriptor table.
3-4-4-1	Clear parity checkers.
3-4-4-3	Clear screen (optional).
3-4-4-4	Check virus and backup reminders.
4-1-1-1	Try to boot with INT 19.
4-2-1-1	Interrupt handler error.
4-2-1-3	Unknown interrupt error.
4-2-2-1	Pending interrupt error.
4-2-2-3	Initialize option ROM error.
4-2-3-1	Shutdown error.
4-2-3-3	Extended Block Move.
4-2-4-1	Shutdown 10 error.
4-3-1-3	Initialize the chipset.
4-3-1-4	Initialize refresh counter.
4-3-2-1	Check for Forced Flash.
4-3-2-2	Check HW status of ROM.
4-3-2-3	BIOS ROM is OK.
4-3-2-4	Do a complete RAM test.
4-3-3-1	Do OEM initialization.
4-3-3-2	Initialize interrupt controller.
4-3-3-3	Read in bootstrap code.
4-3-3-4	Initialize all vectors.
4-3-4-1	Boot the Flash program.
4-3-4-2	Initialize the boot device.
4-3-4-3	Boot code was read OK.

IBM BIOS Beep codes

This document gives troubleshooting tips for IBM BIOS Beep codes when you hear beep codes and your desktop board does not boot up successfully.

Beep Code	Descriptions
No Beeps	No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
1 Short Beep	Normal POST, computer is ok.
2 Short Beep	POST error, review screen for error code.
Continuous Beep	No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
Repeating Short Beep	No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
One Long and one Short Beep	Motherboard issue.
One Long and Two short Beeps	Video (Mono/CGA Display Circuitry) issue.
One Long and Three Short Beeps.	Video (EGA) Display Circuitry.
Three Long Beeps	Keyboard / Keyboard card error.
One Beep, Blank or Incorrect Display	Video Display Circuitry.

AMI BIOS Beep codes

This document gives troubleshooting tips for AMI BIOS Beep codes when you hear beep codes and your desktop board does not boot up successfully.

Beep Code	Descriptions
1 short	DRAM refresh failure
2 short	Parity circuit failure
3 short	Base 64K RAM failure
4 short	System timer failure
5 short	Process failure
6 short	Keyboard controller Gate A20 error
7 short	Virtual mode exception error
8 short	Display memory Read/Write test failure
9 short	ROM BIOS checksum failure
10 short	CMOS shutdown Read/Write error
11 short	Cache Memory error
1 long, 3 short	Conventional/Extended memory failure
1 long, 8 short	Display/Retrace test failed

Customize Windows XP Bootable CD

Enterprise computer system or helpdesk administrators could make life easier by customizing original Windows XP bootable CD to include latest service pack.

Home users too, will be happier as reinstalling time shorten by using an Windows XP bootable CD integrated with latest XP service pack files.

Not a really complicated work to make a new bootable Windows XP CD that integrated with XP SP2 or latest XP service pack files. Here are the steps, which may served as reference to make a new Windows 2000 bootable CD integrated with Windows 2000 SP4 service pack files.

1. Go to My Computer, click on Tools menu, click on Folder Options, click on View tab, go to Advanced Settings, double click on Hidden Files And Folders, select Show Hidden Files And Folders option, deselect Hide Extensions For Known File Types checkbox, deselect Hide Protected Operating System Files checkbox.

This step is to turn on options to show hidden files and shown file extensions.

2. Assuming the D:\ drive has more than 1GB free disk space. Create a folders on D:\ drive, namely D:\NewXPcd folder name.


3. Open CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive where the XP bootable CD is inserted. Press CTRL+A to select all folders and files of XP bootable CD-ROM. Press CTRL+C to copy the selected files and folders. Paste the copied contents to D:\NewXPcd folder created earlier.

4. Download the full Network Installation version of XP SP2 to D:\ drive where the NewXPcd folder exists. After download completed, rename that single executable file (Windowsxp-kb835935-sp2-enu.exe) as XPsp2.exe filename.


5. Click Start button, click Run menu, type

D:\XPsp2.EXE /integrate:D:\NewXPcd


in the Open textbox, click OK button to start. When a message confirms that the action is complete, click OK.

6. Almost done. The D:\NewXPcd folder should contains the Win51ic.SP2 file. If this file exists, XP SP2 service pack files has successfully integrated.

However, simply burn an image of this folder contents would not able to make a bootable CD-ROM, as the original boot code from the original Windows XP bootable CD does not exists in the folder.

Microsoft doesn't provide a tool to extract the boot code, but suggests to use a third party tool called Bart's Boot Image Extractor (BBIE) to do the job.


7. Create a new folder at D:\ drive, namely D:\BBIE folder name. Download a copy of BBIE program and save it into D:\BBIE folder. If it is a zip file, extract the contents to the same folder.

8. While the original Windows XP bootable CD-ROM still inside the drive (assuming it is E:\ drive), go to Start button, Click on Run menu, type cmd in the Open textbox, click OK button to bring up Command Prompt windows.


9. Type cd D:\BBIE and press ENTER. Type bbie E: to get BBIE creates the Image1.bin image file inside D:\BBIE folder. Copy the Image1.bin to D:\NewXPcd folder.

10. Lastly, choose Nero or any others CD burning software to burn an bootable image format of the D:\NewXPcd folder contents to a blank CD, to make a new Windows XP bootable CD-ROM integrated with SP2 or the latest Windows XP service pack. 

BIOS Beep Code Definition

When power turn on, most computer system will first executing Power On Self Test (POST). If POST encounters any errors, it will generate beep tones (via the functioning chassis speaker), known as BIOS beep code, to alert the operator.

Different manufacturers might define different BIOS beep code definition. It is better to consult respective manufacturer for precise BIOS beep code definition.

Most of the BIOS beep code of an IBM compatible PC are related to random access memory (RAM) or central processing unit (CPU).

RAM related problems could be due to faulty RAM chip or improper RAM contact with RAM slot.

1. Disconnect power cord from power supply.
2. Unplug the RAM module carefully.
3. Clean the contact with non-static cloth.
4. Restore the RAM module carefully to the slot firmly.
5. Power on to perform POST testing again.
6. If that doesn't work, replace a known good RAM to eliminate RAM possibility.

CPU related problems could be due to a faulty CPU, overheat, or improper CPU contact with CPU slot.

1. Disconnect power cord from power supply.
2. Unplug the CPU with care.
3. Blow away dust found in the CPU heat sink and slot with a blower. Don't blow by mouth to prevent moisture accumulated within the contacts!
4. Restore CPU to the slot with care.
5. Power on the computer system for POST testing again.