Acer Aspire 1800, Service Manual

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Chapter 4 58
PhoenixBIOS POST Tasks and Beep Codes
When you turn on the PC, the BIOS first performs a number of tasks, called the Power-On-Self-Test (POST).
These tasks test and initialize the hardware and then boot the Operating System from the hard disk.
At the beginning of each POST task, the BIOS outputs the test-point error code I/O port 80h. Programmers
and technicians use this code during troubleshooting to establish at what point the system failed and what
routine was being performed. Some mainboards are equipped with a seven-segment LED display that
displays the current vaule of port 80h. For production boards which do not contain the LED display, you can
purchase an installable “Port 80h” card that performs the same function. If the BIOS detects a terminal error
condition, it issues a terminal-error beep code (See following), attemps to display the error code on upper
left conrner of the screen and on the port 80h LED display, and halts POST. It attempts repeatedly to write
the error to the screen.
If the system hangs before the BIOS can process the error, the value displayed at the port 80h is the last
test performed, In this case, the screen does not display the error code.