Three beeps -- not during POST

[Bob Day]

It's happened several times in the last few weeks.
I'll be happily using my computer -- surfing the
Internet, writing a document in Word, or
whatever ... then, suddenly, black (not blue) screen
and a three beep code: beep,beep,beep, pause,
beep,beep,beep, pause, etc. If that happened
during POST, that would indicate an error in the
first 64K of memory. But it doesn't occur during
POST. And yesterday, I ran memtest86 for over
three hours with no errors.

Windows XP, MSI 694T Pro mainboard, 1 GHz
Pentium III Celeron, 512MB ECC PC133,
AMIBIOS, fans working, heat OK.

I've surfed the Internet but haven't found anything
helpful. Does anyone have a clue about what might
be causing the black screen and the three beep code?

-- Bob Day

 

[Dragonteeth]

It's happened several times in the last few weeks.
I'll be happily using my computer -- surfing the
Internet, writing a document in Word, or
whatever ... then, suddenly, black (not blue) screen
and a three beep code: beep,beep,beep, pause,
beep,beep,beep, pause, etc. If that happened
during POST, that would indicate an error in the
first 64K of memory. But it doesn't occur during
POST. And yesterday, I ran memtest86 for over
three hours with no errors.

Windows XP, MSI 694T Pro mainboard, 1 GHz
Pentium III Celeron, 512MB ECC PC133,
AMIBIOS, fans working, heat OK.

I've surfed the Internet but haven't found anything
helpful. Does anyone have a clue about what might
be causing the black screen and the three beep code?

-- Bob Day

Of course try re-seating the cards inside.

It could be your power supply is faulty. (For example, a lower reliable
amperage than needed, or an unstable amperage.)
I've heard of similar - very odd - problems occurring due to up-and-down
performance from a PSU.
Try running it with any device you can spare removed from the system, and
only one RAM stick (if you have more than one), for awhile, and see if the
problem goes away - or reduces noticeably in frequency.

If it makes no difference at all, then at least you know it isn't the parts
you removed. But it would point at either the motherboard, video card, or
PSU.

If it *is* a flakey PSU, at least they are about the cheapest part inside to
replace.

Best of luck

 

[Bob Day]

Of course try re-seating the cards inside.

It could be your power supply is faulty. (For example, a lower reliable
amperage than needed, or an unstable amperage.)
I've heard of similar - very odd - problems occurring due to up-and-down
performance from a PSU.
Try running it with any device you can spare removed from the system, and
only one RAM stick (if you have more than one), for awhile, and see if the
problem goes away - or reduces noticeably in frequency.

If it makes no difference at all, then at least you know it isn't the parts
you removed. But it would point at either the motherboard, video card, or
PSU.

If it *is* a flakey PSU, at least they are about the cheapest part inside to
replace.

Thanks for the suggestions. I started by reseating everything
this morning. We'll see what happens...

-- Bob Day