I'm getting a beep that's been going on for five times and my screen isn't showing any picture.
I'm getting a beep that's been going on for five times and my screen isn't showing any picture.
Hi everyone, I'm starting a new thread here. My computer is having trouble and I can't fix it myself. It's been happening for months. Sometimes the PC doesn't turn on at all. When it tries to start, my motherboard beeps five times (sometimes one long beep followed by five short beeps, sometimes just one short beep then five short ones). Also, the video card shows no picture after the computer starts up. I took this computer to a repair shop and asked them what was wrong with me. They said that when they turn on my PC at their test bench, it works fine and I get all of my pictures and videos. That is very confusing for me! Maybe it's because I have too many cables connected? Sometimes if I cut the HDMI cable from my monitor, the computer starts up normally without any beeping or picture, but when I reconnect the cable to get the video back on, it goes back to beeping five times. This happens every time I restart my PC after using the same HDMI cable for a month. Now I don't think that is the problem with the cable because it started beeping again this morning when I took the computer back to the repair shop! The technician called me today and said on his test bench, everything works fine now. But then he told me that my PC still has problems even though it doesn't beep five times anymore. That leaves me very confused because if there was a problem with the CPU (which is what I think the beeps might mean), why would the computer work perfectly at their shop? Also, sometimes when I turn on my PC randomly without doing anything else, everything just works fine again and no one sees any problems. I tried this last year too but it still happens sometimes. My computer specs are: - Huananzhi X99 BD4 - Intel Xeon E5-2670 V3 - 64 GB RAM (4 sticks of 16GB DDR4 ECC) - Gainward Ghost RTX 3060 12GB - Corsair CV550 550W PSU I don't know what to do anymore. What should I do? I took out all my RAM sticks and tried turning on the computer without any of them, but it still beeps five times. If there is a CPU problem, why would the PC work at their test bench? I hope you can help me figure this out!
Welcome to the forums, new guy! You have 64 GB of RAM made from four sticks that each hold 16 GB. Did you try using just one stick? What about your power supply unit? It's a Corsair CV550 with a 550-watt rating. How old is this thing and what was it supposed to run on before? Have you checked if the motherboard needs an update for BIOS? You have a Gainward Ghost RTX 3060 card that holds 12 GB of video memory. Because the RTX 3000 series has big sudden jumps in power usage, I would not use a badly built PSU like this to run a GTX 3060. This video is from last year but the problem is still the same. What did you do when that happened before? I took my PC to a repair shop and the tech said it starts up fine there, which makes me confused. The only thing different about your home setup and this PC shop is the wall outlet (the power source). I'm guessing you might have a ground issue. One more sign is where you need to take the system apart again if things go wrong. If your motherboard BIOS is an AMI type like this link, https://www.lifewire.com/amibios-beep-co...:text=Five short beeps mean there,try reseating any expansion cards , then you might need to put some of the sticks back in.
Hello! Thanks for getting back to me! I will write in numbered points so we stay on track with your last message. 1. About the RAM: I took out only one stick because the cooler is blocking it, and taking them all apart takes too much time (I'm not a pro at this, so I'll just keep them as safe). 2. About the power supply: It was new in 2023 on Mercado Livre, which is an e-shop here in Brazil like Amazon. 3. About the BIOS: I went to Huananzhi and saw that my BD4 has a newer BIOS from 2022, but my current one is older (from 2021). Since I don't know how to update it and am scared of messing something up, I didn't try yet. 4. About the graphics card: Do you think my Corsair CV550 is too weak for a 3060? I checked some tools that say the wattage needs to be at least 120W, but my PC only uses about 400W. Are you sure I need to change the power supply? My money is tight right now, and I don't want to spend more yet, but when I can afford it, I will get a new one. 5. About the HDMI issue: I had to unplug the HDMI cable every time my PC turned on so it wouldn't beep five times. I did this for almost a year until last month when I changed the cable and the problem stopped working again... wait, no. It started happening all over again last week with a brand-new cable. 6. About the power strip: My technician told me that maybe my power strip is bad because it's a generic one. If the PC beeps again, I should turn on the computer and plug it directly into the wall outlet instead of using the strip. Maybe it's just a power problem? Also, by the way, both my power strip and my desk are very dusty. I think that could be the cause hahaha...
You might have a problem with your screen. Those sounds are real because the graphics card is working, but it only makes noise when it can't find any monitor plugged into it (this happens on startup for UEFI systems). You could try using a different port or maybe switch to HDMI instead of the DisplayPort cable just in case... even if you hear those beeps right away during boot, and if windows starts up with its own drivers, does your screen finally turn on?
I already checked my computer with the HDMI cable unplugged from the graphics card, and it was still beeping five times. Once, even after cutting power to everything else like a mouse, keyboard, speakers, webcam, and peripherals, only the HDMI plug stayed connected to the RTX while the other one was off, and it kept beeping—that is odd. About three hours ago, I went back to the tech support shop, but they fixed my PC so it works now. When I plugged in all the cables and turned it on, the usual startup beep played, and the screen showed up normally. However, when it tries to load Windows as you said, BitLocker stops us from getting past the start screen first. Even though I can type with a keyboard that still works fine without video, once Windows actually starts, there is no video output at all and I cannot do anything.
is that why my computer starts beeping up there? if my Windows doesn't see the screen, then the graphics card isn't even getting a signal from it. really, does that mean my setup is just a TV instead of a monitor?
Yes. If my PC beeps five times, my keyboard and mouse still work. If I type the BitLocker password correctly even without video, the mouse and keyboard turn off quickly, but when Windows loads after the BitLocker screen, the keyboard and mouse light comes back on, meaning it would be on the logon screen to type my password but since there is no video, I can't do anything. Yes, I use a monitor. My monitor is a 24-inch Samsung T35F.
can you check if the hdmi cable is sitting properly? maybe your pc case is blocking it from going all the way in. but could this just be a connection problem instead? either the monitor can't turn on because of the edid eeprom, or the cable itself is broken/not fully plugged in (or just too long). did you test the hdmi output on the gpu before?