Stump the Puzzler

Message Log 06.20.1998

Problem: On boot-up the monitor shows the AMI BIOS title, then shows the
CPU speed, then starts counting while is says "WAIT".  At that point I hear
a continous beep/tone coming from somewhere.  The high pitch tone (beep)
continues for approx 3 mins then stops.  The screen never go past the
"wait" status.

I see the HDD and the CD ROM lights as it boots-up but I never see the
Floppy drive-A lights up.  I can not check the BIOS settings because the
boot process stops before it goes to the BIOS setting.  I have an Intel
430TX motherboard with Pentium 166MHZ MMX CPU.  Can you help me
troubleshoot this problem?  Thanks.

Jim

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Hi James,

Unfortunately, this looks like a potential "take it to the shop" problem. I
checked the "BIOS Survival Guide" Web site:

http://burks.bton.ac.uk/burks/pcinfo/hardware/bios_sg/bios_sg.htm

and the "AMI BIOS Survival Guide":

http://www.adfa.oz.au/Hardware/BIOS/AMIBIOS.html

and the American Megatrends (AMI) home page:

http://www.ami.com/

I also visited the Intel site where three different "flavors" of the 430TX
motherboard are listed.

http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/

I did not have time to investigate these sites in depth so you might want
to visit them for more information.

I was not able to find any information regarding a "beep" three minutes
long. This does not match any of the standard POST error beeps for the AMI
BIOS.

If I were in this situation, the first thing I would try is reseating the
memory chips and checking the other chips on the motherboard to make sure
they have not backed out of their sockets (be sure to observe anti-static
precautions when working inside the PC case).

If this did not make any difference, I would switch the memory SIMM's to
see if I could isolate a failing memory chip.

I also have an older ISA diagnostic "POST Probe" adapter from Micro 2000
http://www.micro2000.com/postprobe.htm that I would try, but since it cost
me almost as much as a computer, it is beyond the reach of most users.

If that did not help, it would be time for me to sent the unit back to the
manufacturer as I do not have the specialized equipment to troubleshoot a
motherboard in depth.

I hope this info is of some use to you. Let me know what happens.

I Remain,
L. R. Kephart
LAROKE Microcomputer Consultants
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