Boot up issue

I have a very strange problem these days with my computer and I was wondering if anyone would have some potential fixes for me?

When my computer is up and running, I experience no difficulties whatsoever. But with increasing frequency my computer will not wake from a hibernate. I try to reset it, however I am greeted with several "beeping" sounds, followed by nothing whatsoever. It happens so often now that it seems that I won't be able to start my computer again. I've unplugged all the perifials with limited success. It seems that this solution sometimes works, but not consistently, and it is getting worse and worse. Today, I tried booting up, and my power button simply lit up orange instead of green. It sat there for about a minute and then turned green and went through the beeping.

More on the beeping now. I think it may be some error code. It beeps 6 times with all the beeps sounding identical, but the pauses in between beeps varying length in a pattern similar to this:

(beep) long (beep) short (beep) short (beep) long (beep) short (beep)

The whole sequence takes about five seconds to complete. And afterwards-nothing. No bios screen, no monitor activity at all...just nothing.

Any words of wisdom out there? Thanks very much for any help you can offer!

Hi trevzilla -
Can you please list the exact make and model -

Thank You -

The computer is a Dell Optiplex 320. The Motherboard is original, but several other components have been Frankensteined in there. I have three hard drives, I believe a different Video Card, and added RAM. None of these modifications are new though. The computer has been working fine for probably about a year since my last modification.

Thanks!
Trev

I have three hard drives,

Was there a specificreason for replacing the HDDs ??
I feel that this sounds like another one ?? I will look for diagnostics on it -

Regards -

Today, I tried booting up, and my power button simply lit up orange instead of green

Disconnect/Reconnect all external and internal cables, connectors from PSU to mobo. Include also the CMOS battery. Disable hibernate to differentiate the result.

@noknojon

If I remember correctly, the drive that the OS is on is the original drive. I simply added the other two to increase storage space. They are all only 80gb drives. (I've been meaning to upgrade to a 1TB drive, but haven't been looking forward to the reinstall of my OS etc.) Looking forward to hear about what you find on HDD diagnostics. (Or were you implying I should try and run a diagnostic utility on my drives?)

@jhayz

I'll give the disconnect/reconnect a try. Will post an update on the results after I get a break from my job, and get a chance to tinker more with my computer.

Thanks!
Trev

AMI BIOS Beep codes that can occur
6 short - Keyboard controller Gate A20 error

Also see http://www.bioscentral.com/postcodes/dellbios.htm

Also see above by jhayz

My computer has booted a couple times successfully. It seems that the keyboard was the issue, although I got the error code a couple times without the keyboard connected.

It also seems that my computer acts up each time it hibernates, but is fine when I do a proper shut down. I have a different keyboard plugged in now, and I'll let it hibernate again to see if I can make the issue happen again.

Thanks again for all your help! I'll keep this thread updated on my progress!

Trev

Hi Trev -
Personally I would not use the Hibernate function, but if you do, here is some quick info to read.
There are a few M/soft items listed that may help with Hibernate problems.
Visit How to disable and re-enable hibernation on a computer
The FixIt links relate to Enable and Disable Hibernate.
If you Disable the Hibernate function first, and then Enable it after that, you may find a part fix.
See the 2 M/soft FixIt items and First use - Microsoft Fix it 50466 then, Second use - Microsoft Fix it 50462.
Doing it this way you will Disable first and then re-Enable the hibernate function
A bit of extra information is also on the page for you to read.

Regards -

Well, I think I'll take your word, and simply disable hibernate all together. I just let the computer Hibernate with the new keyboard, and the difficulty waking it up still occurred.

To wake it up I had to unplug power and my Ethernet cable. Otherwise it simply wouldn't wake up.

Anwyay, I've disabled hibernate via your link, and again, I'll keep updating on whether or not it is working better.

I'll certainly try my older (better) keyboard again!

Again, thanks for all the invaluable help!
Trev

Here's the update. Hibernate is disabled. I turned my computer off properly last night, and tried starting it this morning. I was greeted once again with the beeping error.

This time I simply unplugged the ethernet cable and tried rebooting. Lo and behold it worked no problem.

So with that said, why could the ethernet cable be causing this problem, and do you think there is a fix such that I don't have to unplug it every time I start the computer and replug it in?

Trev

Ethernet is for the network adapter/device. Is that what you mean unplugging?

Yes, that is what I was unplugging. The Ethernet cable from the Network adapter.

However, I have just run into the latest problem... And it's the worst it has ever been.

My computer won't boot at all anymore. No more. Nothing. Finito...

I have now literally unplugged everything. All periphials are unplugged (Monitors, Keyboard, Mouse, Webcam, Speakers, Printer, Microphone, Ethernet Cable which plugged into an onboard Network device)

I've replaced the Motherboard Battery with a brand new one.

I've unplugged my extra video card. (Only on board video would be on...)

I've unplugged All PCI devices. (A wireless network card)

I've unplugged my RAM.

I've Unplugged all my hard drives.

Then I've plugged in the powersupply which is essentially connected to only the motherboard. When I do this and hit the power button, all I get in return is a flashing orange light on the power button. No error codes. No Bios. No Nothing. (I figure it'd at least give me consistent beeping since the ram is missing, but I get nothing) I tried booting up each time I unplugged a device and nothing changed.

Does this mean my motherboard has bit the dust? Could it be my powersupply? Any thoughts on the matter are certainly appreciated!

Trev

Replace or reinsert the CMOS Battery for it could be drained. Disconnect power supply connector from mobo for a couple of minutes. Boot with only the required bootable drive first.

Well, here's what I've learned in the past week or so. (Sorry about the long time getting back to this, but the holidays have been busy!)

I just removed and reinserted my CMOS battery. Before doing so, I checked the voltage of the battery using a multimeter, and yes, it was reading a full 3V. So the battery is very new.

I just plugged my RAM back in, and my video card, and only hooked my hard drive which contains my operating system up. I also disconnected the power supply from the Mother Board for several minutes, reconnected it, and tried booting up again. Nothing has changed. All I am greeted with is a little flashing yellow powerbutton.

Now while writing this post, something interesting just happened. My computer used to operate in this fashion. When the power supply got power, the fan would "warm up" by spinning a few times. I could hear this. I'd plug my computer in, the fan would go, then stop. I'd then hit the power button and the fan would start up again and go for the rest of my session. Now when I plug in my computer I am never even greeted with that "warm up" fan that I used to get. However, while writing this post, I allowed the flashing orange light to just keep flashing for a minute or two. Then the fan did it's thing, but immediately stopped along with the flashing orange power button. I hit the power again, got a fan for a split second, then nothing. I JUST tried a third time, and this time I am greeted with the very beginning error code that this thread started about (1 beep, 3 beeps, then 2 beeps) and the fan is running...What should I try next? Bad power supply maybe? Could it be the MOBO or is this not sounding like a bad MOBO?

Needless to say, I am completely lost! Again thanks for any and all help you are offering! Hopefully we can get this sorted out before long! :D

Trev