Hello every one,

------ Description of the situation ---------
I would like to ask about something I faced twice. My cousin's Intel PC was beeping continuously and I could not count the beeps (to check what is wrong according to a relative post about BIOS beeps) but after I removed and replaced the hard disk, floppy and CD-room the PC came to normal life and works fine!

After a while I travelled from Greece to Albania my homeland (I mention this because the power supply network is not very good, the PC often cannot start cause of low power) and I faced the same situation with an ATHLON PC, I did the same things and it worked. But after some days the same thing happened. We fixed the PC the same way again and decided to use a special device to adjust the low power (you know the volt) but unfortunately the PC has had the same problem.

------- The question ------
Is this the fault of the very low power in that extend that even the special device cannot help?
Could the low power cause such a trouble?
Why the PC works every after I remove and replace (with powering the PC in the between) the hard disk, floppy and CD-ROM devices?

---------- The end -------
I would appreciate it if some one could answer even one of my questions!

Thank you a lot,
Melsi

:-) Hi Melsi,

Welcome to PCHF. We have some amazing hardware people on this site, unfortunately, they are not currently online. I am sure that one of them will be online soon, and will be able to help you sort out your questions and difficulties.

I am sorry that this is not my area of expertise, and I would not have any idea where to begin. Be patient and I am sure you will receive lots of help.

Take care,

TTFN

T

Hello,

It is very nice to hear from you. Yes I will wait, as I am very curious to learn about it.

Thank you a lot,
Melsi

Hey there Melsi

Normally continous beeping is caused by either RAM or Video Card not being installed properly, the fact that you remove and replace those devices (hard drive / cdrom e.t.c) and it starts working again doesn't make much sense.

If this proplem occurs again could you do the following:

Instead of removing everything could you try remove them one at a time. For example remove and replace the hard drive and see whether it works.
If it doesn't then proceed to do the same to the floppy and then the CD-ROM.

We want to establish exactly where this fault could be coming from.

My theory is that it could be a problem with the IDE cable that connects to your drives, could you try replace it and see whether you have problems.

Could you also tell us how you have your system connected:

• Is you CD-Rom and Hard drive running on the same IDE cable
• How do you have the jumpers set on the CD-ROM and Hard drive

Onto the power problem.

Low power can cause alsorts of various problems so it wouldn't surprise me if this is what is causing the problems with booting the machine.
If is doesnt boot again would you be able to do the following (before you do what I mentioned above)
- Try to disconnect the power cable from the back of the PC and then plug it back in. See if your PC turns on now !
If it does then it is definately a power issue.

Because you are having these issues with more than 1 PC I assume it is a power problem more than anything else.

Okay, that's a good idea, I should pay more attention to removing the devices one by one.

I can say that I have done this partially. When I started replacing them I remember that it was the floppy that caused the same problem but by re-removing and re-replacing it, everything went okay. To tell you the truth, I will keep in mind what you said about IDE Cable, I believe it has many chances to be the reason of the fault, it is
a considerable option.

In addition, I didn't know that video card and memory cause continuous beeping, I will remeber it
(as I will travel back to Albania again).


What is more, Floppy, hard disk and CD-ROMS have all their own cable. I have also checked that jumpers are okay
(i remeber hard disk is either primary or cable select}.

Finally, I am thinking not just to remove the devices one by one but to go further by using the PC only with the hard disk for a couple of days and then replace the rest one by one. I am sure this way thing will be clear to understand everything.

And an other thing, what made me remove and replace the devices is the fact that I always (almost) have to power my PC (here in Greece) without a Hard Disk before I switch them (I have 3 hard disks, Linux, winxxp, 2000). Other wise I get a disk boot failure for the new replaced hard disk. So I considered that something (like magic) happens by powering without devices.

Any way ... computers my friend ... who knows what is going inside there ... on the other hand, I believe is the best machine ever made!

Thank very much zimbo,
Melsi

No problem Melsi, let us know how you get on and remember to recommend us to your friends.