Win7 machine is in constant reboot after bios beep

Topic

New Reply

Need help to determine what problem might be after my machine keeps rebooting after bios beep. I can only stop reboots by doing a force start. I built this machine over 4 years ago and have not had any problems. I assume it’s a hardware glitch which I am not equipped to handle so brought computer to local repair shop. He’s checked the system drive (I have 3 HDDs) and said that it’s OK. He’s guessing that it could be a power supply problem so he suggested that a new power supply be installed to see if it fixes my problem. If this does not fix problem he doesn’t have a clear direction. Could be memory, MB, etc. Does anyone think this is the right approach? Can’t he check power supply without installing a new power supply? Any help or comments will be appreciated.

Thanks, Ralph

Reply | Quote

Replies

Did the tech or you boot it up into the Advanced Boot options to select Disable auto restart on system failure ?

This may produce a BSOD with a Stop Code for the hardware guys to better diagnose.

Will it also work when booted up into Safe Mode with Networking ?

Reply | Quote

Can’t get beyond single beep from bios and then it starts the restart loop. I tried starting with windows 7 disk but my disk was not detected. I thought I had bios setup to read from dvd drive if system disk was detected but doesn’t seem to be working. I thought single beep from bios was a no problem beep. Thanks for your help.

Reply | Quote

I thought single beep from bios was a no problem beep.

Unfortunately no (unless it’s an IBM mainboard). Did you look at the beep code link I posted in #3.

Depending on the mainboard/BIOS combo, it might have onboard diagnostics built-in… have you checked?

Reply | Quote

Unfortunately no (unless it’s an IBM mainboard).

You sure about that Rick? My AsRock mobo indicates success with a single beep as does an Asus mobo which I was working on the other day.

Reply | Quote

If he doesn’t have a dedicated PSU power checker, an ordinary multimeter or a spare PSU for a temporary swap then it’s a bit of a surprise. The mainboard manufacturer’s manual should be able to identify the cause of a single beep but it depends on the manufacturer of the BIOS. Memory faults tend to be either 1 short beep or 3 short beeps but, again it depends on the BIOS. Have a look here for some common beep codes.

Hope this helps…

Reply | Quote

Have you tried disabling the auto reboot yet – my Post #2

Reply | Quote

Hi Ralph,

Can you get into the boot options menu?

When you switch the PC on keep pressing F8 and a menu should show. Try selecting Last Known Good Configuration.

Reply | Quote

No, I’m not sure. 🙁 The beep code article I linked to seems very dated. That’s why I asked ralphf about the mainboard manufacturer.

Reply | Quote

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode?
If that works try booting into Safe Mode with Networking as recommended
If that works try booting into Safe Mode and selecting Last Known Good Configuration as recommended
You might have a chance at some further troubleshooting

On the Win7 disk that wasn’t detected try that disc on another computer
I would also try a System Repair disc (Create one on another computer if you have to)
If the Win7 disk attempts to work on another computer and the System Repair disc isn’t detected either, you might have a faulty DVD drive

When you built the machine did you get the manual for the motherboard you installed?
Do you have diagnostic lights on the computer?
If so look into your motherboard manual for the diagnostic information on those lights
Watch them carefully when the computer boots up and then shuts down and check the diagnostic information on those lights
If you do have the manual it should also include the beep codes for your motherboard
I suspect that just that 1 beep should be ok
If you do not have the manual, can you get one on-line?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Reply | Quote

I’m old school, this being a desktop – correct?, try carefully removing everything except motherboard and power supply & test; add one device & test, add another device & test, repeat until a device declares itself as bad, or, until everything is back in. However, for this to work, one has to know the post beep codes and “normal noises” as opposed to “un-normal noises.” Back when Fred Flintstone feeted his car around town, I had to do this with desktops several times. If hardware doesn’t reveal itself, back to software fiddling & testing.

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

Reply | Quote

?, try carefully removing everything except motherboard and power supply & test

You will also need memory and a CPU!

BTW
Have you tried just getting into BIOS?

PS
One beep has meant ok on any computer I can remember. (OK thats a limited sample)

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for all the help guys. continues in same sequence until I hold down the start button to do a hard shutdown. My local repair tried a different power supply but it still had same issue. Now he says it’s probably a MB or CPU issue and I need to replace both to tune of around $600. It currently has an ASUS P7P55D-ELX MB with an Intel Core I5 650 processor. Both cost me around $ 314 4 years ago. Does this sound reasonable?

Reply | Quote

The single beep indicates the mobo and detected hardware devices are fine.

Do you see any error messages in this reboot cycle?

Have you tried resetting the BIOS? (you’ll find the instructions in the user manual, usually involves shorting a jumper on the mobo)

Reply | Quote

I can’t boot bios. After first beep it goes into auto reboot. The bios screen flashes for less than a second and it goes into reboot until I do forced shutdown. Local PC tried different power supply to no avail. Now suggesting a new MB and CPU to tune of $600. Currently have Asus P7P55D – E LX MB with Intel Core I5 650 CPU. He says new install will cost around $600. Seems a little high to me. My original cost for both 4 years ago was $314. Does this sound reasonable to you? I may give Asus a call but am getting a little old for this stuff so may bite the bullet. Again thank you all for your help.

Ralph

Reply | Quote

…The bios screen flashes for less than a second and it goes into reboot until I do forced shutdown…

The fact that the BIOS screen “flashes for less than a second” indicates the cause is not the motherboard itself. If the motherboard was truly dead then you wouldn’t be seeing the BIOS screen flash.

In my experience the reboot loop you describe is most likely to be caused by RAM errors. The most common cause of RAM errors is tarnished contacts (over an extended period of time, with the repeated heating/cooling cycles of normal computer use, the gold-plated contacts on the RAM modules become tarnished).

You can clean the RAM contacts by carefully rubbing them using a soft white pencil rubber, then brush off any particles using a soft brush (soft toothbrush or small paint brush).

Another possible cause is corruption of the BIOS/CMOS code. Most ASUS motherboards I have seen have had jumper pins on the motherboard (look for “CLR_RTC” or similar). You can try disconnecting the mains power cord from the PSU, then fit a jumper to the “clear CMOS” jumper pins for a minute or so (have a look in your motherboard’s manual).

Many times I have used a different method to reset the BIOS/CMOS after the jumper method hadn’t helped. Use the following steps to load the backup copy of the BIOS and reset the CMOS to default settings:

1. Unplug the mains power cord from the power supply unit (leave the cord disconnected during steps 2. through 4.).

2. Remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard.

3. Use a suitable screwdriver (or some other suitable metal object) to short out the +/- contacts in the CMOS battery holder.

4. While the +/- contacts are shorted, press and release the PC’s power-on switch about 10 times (uses residual power stored in the motherboard’s capacitors to force the motherboard to load the backup copy of the BIOS and resets the CMOS settings to defaults).

5. Refit the CMOS battery and plug the mains power cord back in to the power supply unit.

6. Power on.

If the above steps have worked then you will need to enter BIOS/CMOS settings and adjust the settings (time/date, boot device order, etc.) to suit your needs.

Reply | Quote

The single beep means everything is fine in the BIOS’ (an OS in itself) preliminary checks (and the reason it is audio is it precedes handing the code over to the low rez video driver built into the BIOS). The fact the BIOS screen momentarily flashes on the screen before reboot probably means the BIOS is failing just after the video loads.

One of the last checks the BIOS does before handing over to the boot sector on the boot drive is confirm the presence of a boot drive and a working optical drive (ODD) so you should see the HDD LED flash on the case (if any) and the LED on the ODD flash as the ODD momentarily spins up to indicate it is working, present and whether a disk is inside or not (it will completely spin up and stay spinning if a disk is present).

I am guessing the ODD LED never comes on (flashes)?

Try a different keyboard and mouse if available. The keyboard is tested during the BIOS routine (and LEDs on it may flash), but I am unsure of the mouse being tested until the OS loads on non-UEFI MBs. If no spares leave them off in the minimal build (below) if it boots up then add one back and repeat.

Unfortunately your board does not look like a dual BIOS design—otherwise I would recommend switching to the backup BIOS. You can read your manual to see if I have overlooked something.

I assume the CMOS reset did not work. It would have been the first thing to try I would have recommended as well though I am not optimistic. Were it me, I would strip my components out of the case and build a minimal build (CPU+HSF+MB+1 stick of RAM+PSU) outside the case on a non-conductive surface. Clean up all parts and inspect them closely before putting them together. I see the MB uses all solid caps so leakage is not an issue.

Unless it is a bad RAM stick determined in your minimal build I am guessing the BIOS failed.

As a last resort with nothing to lose you may (unlikely) be able to reflash the BIOS using ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 method supported by your board. If it is just the BIOS routine and not the hardware that has failed then a flash drive with the latest code might rescue it. Read manual or Google for procedure.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P7P55DE_LX/overview/

Reply | Quote

Of course I could look it up instead of assuming 1 short beep means everything is OK:

http://support.asus.com/pcassistant/pdf/BeepTable_en-us.pdf

“If your screen (monitor) capables of displaying POST message on the screen, please kindly follow the following beep codes with relative suggestions:

One short Cannot detect keyboard.
Please try the following suggestions in turns to resolve this issue:
1. Try re-connect the keyboard after shutting down your system.
2. Try replacing your keyboard.

One short All other errors found at POST stage.”

So I’d try reconnecting keyboard, another keyboard (PS/2 better than USB) or no keyboard (if none; may cause its own error) and see what happens for a fast test.

Reply | Quote

When you say the BIOS screen just flashes – is that say F2 – Set up or say F8 for the Advanced Boot options ?

A Win 7 Repair disk could get you into the Advanced Boot options to try the suggestions while in there.

One way to check if it could be the motherboard is to remove the RAM modules then switch on to see if you get the memory error beeps – this probably works better on a desktop than a laptop as I get nothing on this Toshiba laptop.

If you get the correct beeps then the mobo may be okay – no beeps usually means it isn’t.

A quick check to see if it is the RAM and you have more than one stick, is to try booting with just each installed or you can create a bootable disk for Memtest 86+ and run on just one RAM module at a time.

This article will show you how to use Memtest 86+ although while memory errors can be obscure, your machine doesn’t seem to be displaying the typical symptoms. http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/246994-guide-to-using-memtest86/

Reply | Quote

It has been 9 days since the OP was last here. Give it a rest. I am guessing he paid someone to figure it out or bought a new PC as he hinted in his last post.

Reply | Quote

I’m back. After thinking about it for a while I decided to go ahead and buy a new motherboard (Gigabyte) and new CPU (Intel I5) and do some open heart surgery and replace the kaput motherboard and CPU. I disconnected all my devices, pulled out the old MB with CPU, reinstalled the new MP and CPU and finally reconnected all my devices. I said a prayer, pushed the power button and lo and behold the machine booted up fine. It even recognized my SSD and brought up windows 7. I said wow that was easy. Everything seems to be working the same as it did on my old motherboard. I said can I really get away with this. I had only one problem with not being able to load the audio driver for Realtech and sound blaster but while loading the nvidea driver for my video card nvidea also loaded audio drivers that I’m able to use so it looked like my audio issue was resolved. Then I called Gigabyte tech support to ask best way to connect my ssd and other 2 hd’s and dvd and blue ray drives. During this discussion I mentioned what I had accomplished and he told me because I installed a new MB I would need to reinstall Windows 7. I thought by loading all the Gigabyte drivers that I could circumvent this problem What he said made sense but do I really need to reinstall windows 7. Could I get your opinions. I don’t want to do the dreaded reinstall. Since it’s been so long since I’ve done a windows install can someone point me in the right direction as to how best I can do this? Do I just install windows 7 over the existing version and go from there. I’ve got all my data stored in my laptop. Begging for help.
Thanks, Ralph

Reply | Quote

…Then I called Gigabyte tech support to ask best way to connect my ssd and other 2 hd’s and dvd and blue ray drives. During this discussion I mentioned what I had accomplished and he told me because I installed a new MB I would need to reinstall Windows 7…

You should not have to reinstall Windows. You will have to re-activate Windows, and install the drivers for your new motherboard from Gigabyte’s support website.

I regularly have to replace failed motherboards in customers’ computers. With Vista and later I can remember only one case when I had to do a repair-reinstall to get past a BSOD that was stopping me getting into Windows (including Safe Mode). In all other cases it was necessary only to re-activate Windows and install the drivers.

Reply | Quote

If you can’t reach the bios perhaps a reset of the Cmos would be a good idea, some thing may have scrambled the settings. Do this after following Sudo’s advice w/ a minimal amout of installed hardware( disk drive is not required to reach the Bios. In general remove the quarter sized battery on the Mother board with the computer off and unplugged for a couple of minutes, touch a bare metal part of the case before touching anything inside to avoid an ESD problem (static)

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

Reply | Quote

We need troubleshooting information

BTW unless it’s proven otherwise, 1 beep at startup sounds normal to me
— What does your computer tech say about that?
Also does he have a bootable flash drive?
— Maybe your BIOS is set to boot to the DVD drive but there is a problem with it

Asus P7P55D-E LX User Manual
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/438789/Asus-P7p55d-E-Lx.html#manual
It only includes Chapter 1 for product information and Chapter 2 for BIOS information
Page 30 has jumper information
Page 40 has on-board LED’s
Page 41 has running the support DVD
Page 43 Managing and updating your BIOS
— Save a copy of the original motherboard BIOS file to a USB flash disk in case you need to restore the BIOS in the future. Copy the original motherboard BIOS using the ASUS Update utility
Page 45 Recovering the BIOS

Page 49 Entering BIOS Setup at startup
— You probably already know this but we don’t Press during the Power-On Self Test (POST).

Further down there is also a section for Related Manuals for Asus P7P55D-E LX
— Maybe one of them goes beyond only the 2 pages already pointed out
— Right now I’m interested but not limited to diagnostics approach and it would be nice to find procedural troubleshooting procedures

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Reply | Quote

…Asus P7P55D-E LX User Manual
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/438789/Asus-P7p55d-E-Lx.html#manual…

Sorry cmptrgy but that link is outside any ASUS website.

The real link to that motherboard’s user manual is at P7P55D-E LX Manual (choose your OS and language).

Reply | Quote

Thanks Coochin. In summary it seems to me diagnostic and troubleshooting procedures are needed and I hope the manual includes that.

Edit: I checked the manual in that link. Even though I didn’t check every single page, the table of contents, only 2 chapters and a total of 70 pages appear to be all the same. Ralph do you have the manual from when you built your computer?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Reply | Quote

…it seems to me diagnostic and troubleshooting procedures are needed and I hope the manual includes that…

From many years experience working on customers’ systems I can suggest it is always best to first look up the motherboard’s model# or laptop’s model# on the manufacturer’s website rather than downloading anything from some 3rd party website after doing a google search.

Reply | Quote

Hello, Ralpf. I would suspect the cooling of the CPU. Did you check the inside of the case? Are all of the fans working OK? Look for dust, hairballs, etc. Try and get a can of compressed air and blow over the heat spreader fins on short bursts.
If that was already taken care of, are you confident that there is enough thermal paste between the cPU and the heat spreader?
For the sake of it, change the battery (a new one costs less than $3 dlls.).
Come back and tell us the story when and if you did resolve it.

Reply | Quote

OK, ErnieD mentioned the cpu heatsink/fan as a possible cause of instant overheating and instant re-boot.

May i add one more possibility? It’s the power on/off switch on the computer case. A faulty power switch may allow switch-on for a second or two then cut out. Unlikely to be the cause …. but possible!.

Reply | Quote

It’s the power on/off switch on the computer case.

Modern cases have a momentary on function not an on/off mode. The switch IS off after one releases it. The P/S switch could be a culprit.

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

Reply | Quote

I agree with Coochin, RAM would be first suspect with this sort of problem.

If you have more than one stick of RAM then pull one of them out and see if it starts. If it does start then the pulled one is the culprit. If not, put it back in and pull the other one etc. Be aware that some mobos require the RAM to be in one or the other socket if there is only one stick present.

If that doesn’t isolate the problem then try to reset the CMOS as Coochin describes.

As an aside, your tech does not sound competent, not to mention his rip-off charges – he’s basically covering every eventuality as a cure and also making a healthy profit – $1200 is a ridiculously high figure! Based on UK prices, which are higher than US, $225 should get you a decent equivalent AMD CPU and Asus or Gigabyte mobo – unless you’re an extreme gamer you need spend no more than that for a pretty quick machine.

Try the RAM and/or a cmos reset first though.

Hope this helps

P.S. You can currently buy a ready built Fujitsu Esprimo P420 Desktop Intel Core i5-4440 3.3GHz Windows 7 + 8.1 Pro 64 bit for $595 in the UK and I’m sure you could beat that in the US.

Reply | Quote

“he told me because I installed a new MB I would need to reinstall Windows 7”
— Did he say why?
— Is it because due to new hardware you cannot activate your Windows 7?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Reply | Quote

He didn’t say exactly why but did mention something about having problems later with devices. I just checked device manager settings and it looks to me like all the devices have updated drivers including the Intel “9” chipset for storage devices and the CPU as an Intel core I5-4690K CPU with LGA 1150 socket. It’s looking good so far. I loaded the drivers from the provided Gigabyte CD because I just wanted to get them all loaded ASAP, and now I will go to website to get the latest updates. Outlooks seems to running OK too so I’m going to stay the course as long as I can. BTW I was able to active Office 2010 when asked as I believe it recognized the new MB as a different computer. Haven’t heard anything from Windows 7 yet. I’ll keep you informed as I continue my journey. :o:

Reply | Quote

Many years back swapping motherboards could lead to all sorts of problems including total inability to start Windows as it didn’t have the necessary hardware drivers.

This does seem a lot better now but it is well worth your time ensuring you have the latest drivers installed. Windows may have installed it’s default drivers for your hardware initially which are not optimal and you are following the correct process to ensure they are up to date.

YMMV.

Personally speaking, unless I swapped like for like I would do a clean install.

Regarding Office, If you were able to activate Office 2010 you should be good to go with that.

Reply | Quote

I’ve never had to replace a motherboard and I would stay the course also.
— When you do all of your Windows Updates I suspect Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) will be part of the process which in turn will ask you to activate your OS when it’s needed.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Reply | Quote

— When you do all of your Windows Updates I suspect Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) will be part of the process which in turn will ask you to activate your OS when it’s needed.

It can pop up all it wants! I have retail installation keys (not oem) for both my O/S’s and they activate automatically.

Reply | Quote

You are correct Browni and I have seen it many times but the OP hasn’t seen that yet; I hope it happens that way for him and as you mentioned, he should be ok since the Office 2010 was ok he should be good to go. I just mentioned what I did in case it doesn’t happen automatically.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Reply | Quote

Hi guys, I’m still cruising along OK. I was able to activate Windows 7 when asked without any problems. Even my desktop icons are working OK and Acronis True Image which can be finicky ran without any issues. Right now I’m just cruising along and am amazed. BTY it cost me around $300 for a bundled I5-4690K CPU and Gaming 7 Gigabyte motherboard. Again, thank you all for your comments and help. This is a great forum.
Ralph

Reply | Quote