W6-LI System Board Manual
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 W6-LI has completed POST; any other tone from
the speaker indicates something other than a POST
error. These tones
are not described in the tables on the
following pages.
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 tables list all beep codes and POST
routines.
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Appendix C: Beep and POST Codes
Appendix
C