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I've got an unusual problem with my computer. When ever I reboot my computer it won't boot, I get a few beeps from the BIOS and nothing else, however if I wait for a few minuets the computer will boot perfectly.

I tried to count the beeps and I get around 7-9 of them; the first two are noticeably closer together than the rest. [Edit: I'm now reasonably confident it's 1 long followed by 8 short beeps. That would be a display related issue: http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/amibeep.htm]

My BIOS is American Megatrends Inc and version P1.80, the Motherboard is an ASRock X58 Extreme (both according to dmidecode)

Here's an output from LSPCI, I'm not sure what else might be useful but I can provide whatever's asked.

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub to ESI Port (rev 13)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 13)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 13)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev 13)
00:14.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub System Management Registers (rev 13)
00:14.1 PIC: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub GPIO and Scratch Pad Registers (rev 13)
00:14.2 PIC: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Control Status and RAS Registers (rev 13)
00:14.3 PIC: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Throttle Registers (rev 13)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
00:1a.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 1
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 2
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 6
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 90)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JIR (ICH10R) LPC Interface Controller
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SATA AHCI Controller
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SMBus Controller
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
02:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6315 Series Firewire Controller
02:00.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6415 PATA IDE Host Controller (rev a0)
03:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB360 AHCI Controller (rev 02)
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GT200b [GeForce GTX 285] (rev a1)
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-Core Registers (rev 05)
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 05)
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QPI Link 0 (rev 05)
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QPI Physical 0 (rev 05)
ff:03.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller (rev 05)
ff:03.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder (rev 05)
ff:03.4 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Test Registers (rev 05)
ff:04.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Control Registers (rev 05)
ff:04.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Address Registers (rev 05)
ff:04.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Rank Registers (rev 05)
ff:04.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Thermal Control Registers (rev 05)
ff:05.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Control Registers (rev 05)
ff:05.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Address Registers (rev 05)
ff:05.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Rank Registers (rev 05)
ff:05.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Thermal Control Registers (rev 05)
ff:06.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Control Registers (rev 05)
ff:06.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Address Registers (rev 05)
ff:06.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Rank Registers (rev 05)
ff:06.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Thermal Control Registers (rev 05)

Update: ok I installed lm-sensors and here's the output.

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0:       +58.0°C  (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:       +59.0°C  (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 2:       +58.0°C  (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 3:       +57.0°C  (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

it8720-isa-0a10
Adapter: ISA adapter
in0:          +0.93 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
in1:          +0.06 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
in2:          +3.25 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
+5V:          +2.91 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
in4:          +3.04 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
in5:          +2.94 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
in6:          +2.14 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
5VSB:         +2.96 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)
Vbat:         +3.28 V  
fan1:        1869 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)
fan2:           0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)
fan3:           0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)
fan4:        1106 RPM  (min =   -1 RPM)
fan5:        225000 RPM  (min =   -1 RPM)
temp1:        +39.0°C  (low  =  +0.0°C, high = +127.0°C)  sensor = thermistor
temp2:        +56.0°C  (low  =  +0.0°C, high = +127.0°C)  sensor = thermistor
temp3:       +127.0°C  (low  =  +0.0°C, high = +127.0°C)  sensor = thermistor
cpu0_vid:    +1.650 V
intrusion0:  ALARM

The Nvidia Settings tool gives the following info: Target: GPU, Provider: GPU Internal. Temperature: 51 C Target BOARD, Provider: LM64: Temperature 45C

If it helps here's the summery from sensors-detect

Driver `it87':
  * ISA bus, address 0xa10
    Chip `ITE IT8720F Super IO Sensors' (confidence: 9)

Driver `adt7475':
  * Bus `NVIDIA i2c adapter 3 at 5:00.0'
    Busdriver `nvidia', I2C address 0x2e
    Chip `Analog Devices ADT7473' (confidence: 5)

Driver `coretemp':
  * Chip `Intel digital thermal sensor' (confidence: 9)
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    Did you check you MOBO manual to see if the beeps mean anything? they usually have some meaning... Apr 4, 2012 at 15:19
  • I recorded the beeps properly and listened a few times. I think it's 1 long followed by 8 short beeps. It might possibly be 10 very short beeps though, the first one does sound like a long beep. I didn't find any beep codes in my mother board manual but a quick search did find a page for American Megatrends: bioscentral.com/beepcodes/amibeep.htm According to this it appears to be a problem with the graphics card Apr 4, 2012 at 16:00
  • Then test switching graphics card. If you don't have a spare, try just unplugging it and see if the beep signal changes. Apr 4, 2012 at 17:29

1 Answer 1

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Check your temperatures. I had this problem with a computer that ran far too hot, which didn't crash the computer (though it throttled the CPU down), but a restart would fail since the BIOS would not let the computer start at that high temperature.

This is consistent with that your problem goes away after a few minutes, when the components have cooled down (most likely the CPU).

Solution for me: install an extra fan.


Update after temp details became available: 60°C on your cores is not low by any means. The 127°C mark from temp3 is most likely just a sensor error.

60°C on your CPU might very well be something that the BIOS complains about. If you have a somewhat working CPU fan, the high temp is probably caused by bad air circulation in the chassi. Try installing an extra chassi fan.

First and foremost, it would be good to conclude that the temperature actually is the problem, though. Run the computer without the side plate on the chassi and monitor with sensors to see if the CPU temp drops to, say ~40°C. Then try a restart. If it works then, its most probably temperature related.

If the temp never drops that low, perhaps your CPU fan is clogged with dust. Google for cleaning methods and see if its efficiency goes up.

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  • Now I have the beeps properly recorded I'll install a temperature monitor. Apr 4, 2012 at 16:02
  • @BenjaminConfino: Do you have dual accounts at SU? :-) Apr 4, 2012 at 16:04
  • Nope ;) I just wasn't paying attention and posted without logging in the first time. Apr 4, 2012 at 16:08
  • Temperature details are loaded up and in the moderation queue. Apr 4, 2012 at 16:52
  • Ok, I tried booting into diagnostic mode without the sideplate. Even on that low load temp2 was consistently above 60C. The air coming of the CPU felt nice and cool, but the fan looks EXTREMELY dusty so I'm going to try cleaning that and seeing if it helps. Fingers crossed :) Apr 5, 2012 at 10:32

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