Dell Optiplex GX270 - 2 short beeps

Question

A static discharge happened in my Optiplex GX270 a few years ago, and I just now got around to replacing things. I've replaced the motherboard because I think it was the problem part, and the hard drive because it failed later.

Between that incident and now, turning on the computer did nothing, not even the POST. The orange LED on the motherboard was on, and even the fan didn't turn. I confirmed recently that the processor works by putting it in another computer. At that point the diagnostic lights were GYGG, and no beep code.

On the new motherboard, everything seems to be working, but I have no video (though the monitor acts like it is receiving a signal). Orange LED is on, power button is solid green, diagnostic lights are GGGY, and there are two short beeps.

What's the issue?

Answer 1

Reference Dell OptiPlex GX270 Systems User's Guide

Diagnostic lights

To help you troubleshoot a problem, your computer has four lights labeled "A," "B," "C," and "D" on the back panel. The lights can be yellow or green. When the computer starts normally, the patterns or codes on the lights change as the boot process completes. If the POST portion of system boot completes successfully, all four lights display solid green. If the computer malfunctions during the POST process, the pattern displayed on the LEDs may help identify where in the process the computer halted.

The following table shows the meaning of the light pattern GGGY (I don't see your other light pattern GYGG in the full table):

Beep Codes

Your computer might emit a series of beeps during start up if the monitor cannot display errors or problems. This series of beeps, called a beep code, identifies a problem. One possible beep code (code 1-3-1) consists of one beep, a burst of three beeps, and then one beep. This beep code tells you that the computer encountered a memory problem

The following table shows all of the beep codes: