New
#11
Do these codes help maybe?
Takes 2-4 times power on / off before booting (2 beeps) Mystery
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New #12
any ideas fellas? I'm dying here..
I can't even consistently boot to a W7 DVD / USB.. Just the two beeps and black screen.
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New #13
Please put the original CMOS battery in the machine
then take out all memory and boot
then follow part 3 of RAM - Test with Memtest86+
Dell beep codes are triplets 1-3-2 see the Dell Precison 490 User manual.
Some other BIOS report 2 beeps as either POST success or POST failure. it depends on the mfgr.
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New #14
Thanks for chiming in Slartybart.
I've checked the manual many times and am aware of the triplets. However, this system is not making any triplet beep codes.
Also, I've managed to run the windows memory test other times from advanced start up, and it's come back clean.
Do you still think it's important to do the steps you recommended above?
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New #15
Oh, man. Mike, I'm so sorry. I'd have bet a ton of money that it was the PSU.
I have seen in a few places that two beeps on a Dell can mean that no RAM is detected. That means either some of the RAM is defective, or something's up with the motherboard.
Like I say, this happened to me with BIOS chips and IDE controllers... killed by my dying PSU.
I strongly agree with Slartybart's suggestions!
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New #16
OvenMaster,
thanks very much for your empathy, and your response! On your suggestion (backing Slartybart's), I decided to give the ram reseat another go (I had done this yesterday with no luck). Low and behold, it booted to my W7 disc on the first go!
now, I had also commandeered a new cmos battery from my Dad's PC, but it that wasn't working on the first few boots.
I can't be exactly sure if it was the PSU, the CMOS, the RAM, or what, but in any case, there is a fresh W7 Installing as I write, and I'm VERY VERY VERY Grateful to the three of you guys for taking the time to support me during my hell week.
1000 thanks!
M14
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New #17
Oh Man.. I Jinxed it.
Problem is back with a vengeance.
And it started like 5 times in a row no problem while installing.
Doh!
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New #18
Are you certain the battery from your dad's machine is what your dell needs? 75481 - Bios Battery (3V, 190MAH) For Dell Computers
I asked you to put the original one back in, but I don't see where you did that.
I also asked you to pull all memory and try restarting.
Then you need to put ONE memory stick in and test in each slot.
Then put the other (assuming 2) in a slot and test, then move that SAME memory to the other slot and test.
It might actually be a bad memory stick and the only way to test this is one at a time. Or it might be a bad slot - again testing ONE stick in one slot ONE at a time.
Maybe you did this, but I can't see what you see and you haven't sufficiently explained all of your efforts.
It is promising that you got that far, so hopefully it's just a bad memory stick.
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New #19
Slartybart,
thanks for the feedback.
I'm pretty sure the battery from my Dad's system is compatible, as it is the same model (Panasonic CR 2032 3V) and his PC was also a Dell. To be safe, I went and bought a brand new 2032 battery today.
I have experimented with pulling all ram (except for 2 sticks), but I will try that again systematically.
However, I have a new problem. I got it going, and installed windows 7 again, but upon reboot, it now goes to a screen that says:
[Serial ATA AHCI BIOS, etc etc et]
then
Controller Bus#00, Device#1F, Funciton#02: 01 Ports, 01 Devices
and it's stuck on this black page (with the above text). I'm able to see the screen offering me F2 or F12 when I start the PC, but it always ends up on this screen.
I will note that at some point today before this, I had reset the bios settings to factory default, and did change the date later (to a newer time, when installing the new battery).
Any tips?
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New #20
update:
So I figured out it was a ATA vs AHCI problem.. (possibly because I had reset the bios).
Got past that black screen by some steps I found online. Now it's set to ATA and I'm trying a second W7 install again.
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