bios post message

Hi,

What computer do you have? How old is it? Sounds like some power supply issue.

Rich

i wonder if it said 'overclocking'?

the power here fluctuates wildly and sometimes is way low. i was using a battery backup which sometimes didnt have enough juice to run itself. now i have nothing between me and the outlet.

the guy came over today and did nothing but check out my videos and music bytes...tomorrow morning i will try another place. i am not sure anyone around here ever went into the bios. all the clever computer fellows have gone overseas for the big bucks...

i have an HCL...a year old.

i am checking out stuff on the internet about the bios-there was another message i didnt like too about cpu loading error, something like that. i mean it is trying to tell me something, right? so far what i am coming up with looks pretty involved-i could handle it, and they say the potential for blowing your pc up is very small, but i would like to find someone else who knows what it is all about.

Yes, this is going to be a difficult one to diagnose. If you have erratic power supply, there may have been some damage done to the circuitry.

Rich

If the actual power going to your outlets is 'fluctuating wildly', then that could be causing an issue. You should try contacting your computer manufacturer about this, or if you have the computer model number, you can look up the motherboard that is in it and find out what the post code really means (maybe).

Do you hear any beeps when you start up your computer?

Have we established what kind of computer he has?

It sounds as though your referring to it as though its a laptop?

Anyhow, there have been loads of instances with various companies and various computer parts where the solder that is used is cheap stuff. It gets to hot and over time can short stuff etc... Idk could be the problem. If its a laptop. Best bet, get another one. If you don't need a CD drive. Get the new MSI Wind Netbook when it comes out.

Amazon.com: MSI U210-008US 12.1-Inch Black Netbook - 5 Hour Battery Life: Computer & Accessories

Remember, it does NOT have a place to put CD's, DVD's, or any type of disc. Commonly referred to as the optical drive.

yes, i hear at least one beep when it starts up-i think the motherboard is asus? HCL is made in india and they told me that there was no need for a surge protector because it was part of the computer itself. electricity here is unstable, and of course the weather is a killer for electronics, so i thought an indian made puter would be the best bet since they know what they are dealing with.

this is a desktop. i used to have a dell laptop which i brought here from america and it was just about worthless, wouldnt run in the heat. most things are designed to run up to 35 degrees C, but it is above that at least half the year here.

also there is no help for customers that i can find, they just want me to register which i most likely did, but thereis no way to sign in anywhere and get help that i can see. the more i can learn before i try to ask someone else to look at it the better, because at least i may be able to evaluate the guy's knowledge before i let anyone get their hands on it. the biggest danger now is that someone will really make a mess out of it, i think.

Well, try to find out the model number for the computer, or the motherboard brand and model as a starting point.

I did some googling on this problem It can be so many things. I guess sometimes the BIOS has to be reset to the original settings. Others recommended that the monitor be taken off the computer and directly into the outlet. Sometimes it is problems with the motherboard. It is a really difficult problem to diagnose without a skilled technician. Apparently this is a pretty common problem with ASUS motherboards.

Rich

my monitor is plugged directly into the outlet. what did they mean was the purpose of doing that? i mean would it solve a problem or point to something?

Did you install/upgrade any of your computer's hardware before this began to happen?

You can try powering off your computer, unplugging it, and opening the case (make sure you do this away from carpeted floor and touch something metal before you go inside the computer to avoid static electricity).

Once you're in the case you should be able to see the brand name and model number of the motherboard, and then we could figure out the error code using the post beeps when you start it up. You can also try resetting your bios while you're in there by removing the cmos battery and putting it back in after waiting a minute.

The theory was that the monitor might be drawing off too much power from the computer supply.

This type of problem, unfortunately, is so hit or miss. Maybe if you provide the computer model number, there may be some FAQ available from the manufacturer that may provide some clues.

Rich

i know its asus...and i saw that when it asked me what i plugged in to the back of it one time-freaked me out. also there is a way to see the system information but i forgot how-it might have been accessed from the start menu and typing in a command in the run window?
when i look at the system information stuff it doesnt mention that, and i know i saw it somewhere. i also saved how to get to it but i dont know where i saved it...getting really hard to keep my stuff organized these days, i am collecting so much information so fast and not having time to properly file things.

of course i have no papers or manuals (very often the case in india, the land of consumer neglect and ignorance) and there is a number on the outside of the case-707341002932 (on the box the case was packed in there is the number 707341002921, interestingly enough) and on the box is another number A1J16266.

i am not too keen on opening the case myself and poking around in there, especially since i can barely see these days (cataracts). and i am a little worried about having anyone open it up because people here are pretty fearless, they will rush in to anything whether they know anything about it or not and always try to lead you to believe they are experts. (it isnt deception of roguery, just a cultural thing i think).

the message goes away as though something self corrects-but then it appears again when it goes into auto shutoff behavior.

no, i didnt change anything just before this happened other than i stopped running the UPS battery backup, and just plugged it directly into the wall socket. it was after that this problem started. for some time before that i had trouble when the voltage dropped and the battery backup would kick into start with the amber light flashing, as though it didnt have enough juice to power itself.

if you saw the electrical situation here you would die-wires are too long and not heavy enough to withstand a load and sometimes loose and dragging on the ground. in fact, three elephants were electrocuted just the other day here in this little town where i live. i didnt know we ever had three elephants in this town! well, we dont any more...you should see the fuseboxes-like tons of wires all stuffed together, and even in my refrigerator connections are showing bare wires without any spaghetti on them...it's a circus.

how can the beeps tell you anything? when they beep, and if it is more than one beep it ismighty close together, there is nothing on the monitor.

was there something you mentioned before that i could do if i had the model number of the cpu? or was that the motherboard you were referring to?

by the way, i ran across a really cool photo some guy took of his cpu when he opened it up after a huge crack or popping noise, and found out some of the capacitors blew their tops right off! i guess things could always be worse...

---------- Post added 09-16-2009 at 01:35 AM ----------

egads-look what i found here. so many articles so little time...where to file all this stuff? Google

Yeah good luck with that Salima, it all looks complicated stuff.

Well, if you can get the motherboard brand and model number for sure, then the POST beeps can tell you what the problem is, if you get the chart for your specific motherboard. If it's an ASUS, I would think it's pretty standard, but I have no idea what hardware they might be using in indian computers.

The thing to listen for in the beeps is the pattern. i.e., 1 long beep followed by 2 short, 1 short beep, 2 long, or are does it beep continuously for some time? Of course even if we can figure this out, there is little you yourself can do if you are not familiar with computer hardware and are uncomfortable going into the case. You'll need to get a technician regardless.

You say that you stopped using the UPS battery backup system before this started. Why? If I were you, I'd go back to the UPS and see if that straightens it out. If it is indeed a power issue, then this will probably help (sounds like it was helping), and it won't hurt anything by plugging your computer through the UPS.

yes, you have a point. i was wondering if i should try the ups again. there were two reasons i disconnected it-one being i suspected it was jacking up my electricity bill and costing me about four times as much as my internet connection, and the other was because it had begun to start this stupid beeping like it wasnt even backing up anything, which i connected possibly to when the current incoming was low-like when the water punp motor outside is running and my floor fan slows down, the lights get dim and the battery backup starts beeping. but at least it would prove that the start up was never a problem for the pc as long as there was enough current to run the ups...would it?

i probably ought to try that before i talk to anyone else about it. also in the meantime i am going through the geek forums to see if i can find one for dummies...

here is a great link that i think describes a lot about the problem, but i have to think about it and see what else is out there.
Overclocking Failed! message...But I'm not!!

hey, thanks for your interest by the way!

Try the UPS again and see if it solves your problem. The beeping that you hear is indeed an indicator that you are running on battery power, as the power supply was not sufficient at the time.

well, adding the ups didnt help. so i called a friend who looked at the pc and said it is most likely the power supply but he didnt have the thing he uses to test it so he would come back in two days. he also said there is a problem with the electricity because there is huge current running around inside the machine.

well, he never came back again and then the world commanded my attention in other areas. so yesterday i got one hell of a shock turning the thing on. i think i have to get the electricity problem fixed first. the landloed is here for a couple days out of town, i will tell him about it and see what he can do. proibably he will calla friend who will say he fixed it for nothing but the problem will remain, and i will have to hunt down a real electrician and pay him myself. that is the first issue, and probably more bigger then the pc problem. this whole house is badly wired i am sure of that-my frig chugs like a steam engine when the power cuts off sometimes, and i am amazed the compressor hasnt died.

that's the story so far...does it jive with what you know?

Whats a frig chug?

Do you have problems entering bios? Try pressing F2 or some similar key on bootup to get there and see if settings are too fast. My guess is that the memory system is having problems. One possibility is that the memory isn't seated well in its socket. Another is that in BIOS the memory latencies are set too low or that the memory is running at too high a speed or that the memory voltages are too low (but be careful about increasing the memory (DRAM) voltages too much, since this can damage the cpu). If your bios (i.e., the bios program itself and not its settings) is not right and if you are able, you could try to update the bios by downloading the latest bios for your motherboard from your motherboard's website (or from the website of your computer manufacturer). Be careful doing this, though, since a bad install of bios or an install of a bios incompatible with your motherboard can lead to a bios so corrupt the computer is unusable, in which case a new bios chip has to be installed. If you can get into bios and it's corrupted settings themselves (stored in CMOS) that are causing the problem, you might try setting everything to default or initial values. There may actually be an option in the BIOS ennabling you to do this all at once. Alternatively, as a last resort, on the motherboard there might be a button or jumper that you can use to clear the CMOS chip, which essentially sets things to motherboard default and in particular would probably enable the bios to be accessible if it's not. Of course, changing BIOS settings might cause minor problems if hardware has been installed that required special settings. It might be the power supply unit is part of the problem; i've read that with age (and I'm guessing heat as well) the capacitors can wear out somewhat making the power supply less capable of producing the required voltages; still, by tweaking down performance slightly maybe you could make do.

I'm not a computer expert, but I built my last computer, and because I had bought cheapo memory that was either defective or incompatible that took a good deal of study to diagnose and replace, I am familiar with memory problems.

Another thought that comes to mind is that maybe your CMOS battery is failing or dead. Perhaps as a result the CMOS keeps getting gibberish in it, which causes the BIOS (and booting) to fail a few times until it decides it needs to reset the CMOS values to what the bios considers a default or prior good state, whereupon the computer can boot. A symptom of this would be if the system time is unusually erroneous.

Did you get the error message exactly right? I don't know what devoltage means, and googling the expression yields nothing basically. The easiest way to repair something is often just to google the exact error message.