Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Appendix I BIOS error codes
IBM BIOS
Indication
Meaning
One short beep
Normal POST - no error
Two short beeps
POST error - see screen for error code
No beeps
Power missing, loose card, or short circuit
Continuous beep
Power missing, loose card, or short circuit
Repeating short beep
Power missing, loose card, or short circuit
One long and one short beep
System board error
One long and two short beeps
Video (mono/CGA display adapter)
One long and three short beeps
Video (EGA display adapter)
Three long beeps
Keyboard error
One beep, blank/incorrect
Video display circuitry
display
AMI BIOS
Indication
Meaning
One short beep
DRAM refresh failure
Two short beeps
Parity circuit failure
Three short beeps
Base memory (64 KB) RAM failure
Four short beeps
System timer failure
Five short beeps
CPU failure
Six short beeps
Keyboard controller error
Seven short beeps
Virtual mode exception error
Eight short beeps
Display memory failure
Nine short beeps
ROM BIOS checksum failure
One long and three short beeps
Base/extended memory failure
One long and eight short beeps
Display/retrace test failure
Award BIOS
Indication
Meaning
One short beep
No error during POST
Two short beeps
Any non-fatal error
One long and two short beeps
Video error
One long and three short beeps
Keyboard controller error
