Beeps! Your computer tells you something

Posted on April 4, 2010, 7:12 am

A beep from your computer at startup can take your whole day. Just ask someone who lit the PC and has suffered the agony of several beeps and then nothing. When you buy a computer, it will arrive with the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) pre-installed on a EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chip on the main / motherboard. When you start your the computer CPU (Central Processing Unit), sends control the PC BIOS EPROM. The BIOS is a part of POST (Power-On Self Test) of the computer. Once the BIOS receives the green light from the processor starts his magical journey through all components and devices connected to the computer. CMOS (Semiconductor Complementary Metal Oxide), contain data that is accessible by the BIOS. Basically, CMOS is the reason that you can unplug your computer and retain the information and start the BIOS. CMOS maintained on the motherboard in a state still supported by a battery installed on the main board. Like the human mind, when we wake in the morning, your brain remembers that we have eyes, ears, nose and so on. We know that the city we live you can go to work, stop at the post office, grocery store and back home without having to spend time perusing a map for directions to each. Your computer runs much the same way. Without a memory device to load the computer on which is the case, the operating system and other software would literally take the time to locate each part of the PC and its components whenever they are loaded. Fortunately, the BIOS is responsible for the processor, operating system and components. How does the BIOS. Each computer comes pre-loaded with the BIOS of the motherboard. Motherboard manufacturers are working long hours with BIOS manufacturers to ensure that the information in the BIOS is specific to the requirements and components of the motherboard. Although there are a number of BIOS manufacturers, the two most popular AMI (American Megatrends Incorp.) and VIA. BIOS simply, is a program and not a real device. It is the software that informs the computer to boot from all devices (input and output) connected to the PC. The BIOS also lets you know when there is a problem. It accomplishes this by checking the known devices makes sure they are still in place. When the BIOS detect a problem, it sends a series of beeps to the motherboard speaker. This series tells the user what the problem is at least as well as the BIOS can determine. Say your video card has taken the path of the computer model XT, meaning that the BIOS is dead or not installed. The BIOS sends a series of beeps to the PC speaker on board to inform you of the problem. Pretty neat! The problem is no BIOS manufacturer uses the same tone series. Therefore it is important for you to know the BIOS software manufacturer for your specific PC. We’ll explain how to find it later. How do I know if the BIOS work? It helps if your computer starts and you get one short beep, the BIOS is working and has found and relayed information on the devices I / O with the CPU. If Turn on your computer and nothing happens at all, the problem is probably in your diet (which implies that you have correctly plugged in) the BIOS is working, but the computer can not start because of a power problem. If all goes well, the BIOS will find all the input devices attached / output, please send a single short beep inside speaker and the computer will start the boot process. OK, so who is the boss. ? BIOS, CMOS and POST? If we choose, what would be the (power-on, self-test) POST. The POST is simply the process of using the BIOS CMOS information to start the computer. Remember, the BIOS information is stored in the CMOS memory maintained by a battery on board. Three ways to change and / or update the BIOS. Unlike ROM (read only memory) BIOS EPROM may be amended or updated. The duration of the modification of software is known to flash EPROM. You can have more heard someone say that they need to flash the BIOS with a new update. Do not worry if you’ve never heard this speech, well, maybe you should worry a little. Computer components of change on a daily basis and the BIOS must be sufficiently flexible to be able to change with them. All computers allow the user to modify the BIOS software and how the computer responds to input devices and output. The standard is to offer the user a means for the software via a keyboard shortcut startup. Normally, this button is the F2 key, the Del (Delete) and, in some cases, the F1 key or a combination of keys. Start your computer and watch the lower left corner of the screen. This should let you know what button to Press to access the BIOS setup. The BIOS setup, sometimes called the CMOS setup, allow the user to changes on the fly and save them. Say you have added an external modem to your PC serial port communication Number 1 (COMM1), and no matter how many times you install the drivers, you can not get the PC or Windows recognize. Chances are that the BIOS does not know that the modem exists. Enter the BIOS setup and no change to allow the use of COMM1 to solve the problem and let the PC know that a device exists on that port. This is the most common use of the BIOS and also easiest to do. CAUTION: It is equally easy to screw everything up your system by making changes in the BIOS. So be careful and make sure you know how and what change. Change the wrong configuration can make your computer unusable. There, we warned you twice, because We want you to think twice before changing the BIOS. The second is the updated BIOS Flash Manufacturer BIOS. It is software that the manufacturer of the BIOS sends periodically to ensure the BIOS comply with new equipment and standards. You can normally get this update software for the manufacturer and Sometimes the motherboard manufacturer. Be careful. be very careful to install the software and be positive that is your specific BIOS. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions exactly. The third way is to replace BIOS chip. Replacing the chip may be your only recourse and should be left to professional computer repairers. How do I know which BIOS I have? It is also easy, the computer will tell you. If you’re fast enough, you can see the BIOS name and version on the screen when you turn it on. If you’re not a speed reader you can access the BIOS setup and retrieve information from the setup. You can also contact the motherboard manufacturer and find the BIOS has been installed on this board. As mentioned previously, the beeps mean something. They can give you information about problems that the BIOS meetings. Contact the manufacturer of your BIOS to see what each beep means series. Armed with this information you may be able to understand why your PC has stopped working and avoid scratching your head and seeing what large question mark hovering over your PC.