Beep and POST Codes
Beep codes are a series of beeps sent through the speaker which indicate
a problem during the Power On Self Test (POST). If text appears on the
video screen, the LPM30 has completed POST; any other tone from the
speaker indicates something other than a POST error. These tones are
not described in Table B-1.
The beep error codes are a series of beeps. The duration of the beep
tones are constant, but the length of the pauses between the beeps varies.
For example: a 1-3-3 beep code will sound like one beep, a pause; three
beeps consecutively, another pause; and then three more beeps.
One beep code is often misunderstood. If a video card is not installed or
is failing, the system board will generate a long-short-long-short beep
code. This is often interpreted as a 1-2-1 beep code. But POST errors
always vary in the length of the pause and not the duration of the beep
tone.
Another way of identifying a POST error is to use a device called a
POST card. This peripheral card is inserted into one of the ISA slots
and has an LED (or LCD) read out showing the contents of port 80h.
The following table provides a list of all beep codes and POST rou-
tines..
B
B-1
