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My Award BIOS sometimes repeats its "everything's OK" single beep

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BritJim

BritJim

Technical User
Apr 10, 2007
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I have been using the setup described below for a very long time, the only significant recent addition (apart from a nice new Lenovo 2440x 24" widescreen monitor with LCD backlight) is the addition of 2GB to the previous somewhat sparse 1GB of RAM, but sad to say that's the reason behind this new thread...

So, with my original 1GB of DDR-DRAM, the PC booted up and always emitted one single beep during the process.
But now that I've added two more 1GB banks of DDR-SDRAM, the BIOS sometimes emits a second beep 7 or 8 seconds after the first. When this occurs, the boot process then continues as normal and the PC functions as before other than reporting the RAM now as 3GB.

Thinking there might be some mismatch between the old & new RAM banks, I tried fitting just the two new banks and heard always only one beep. Fitting the old bank together with the new, no matter in what order (old-new-new or new-new-old) the BIOS sometimes emits a second beep.

The old 1GB bank is labelled so:
takeMs 1GB DDR 400 CL3 PC3200
The two new 1GB banks are labelled similarly:
Kingston ValueRAM 1GB DDR 400 CL3 PC3200
Both old & new banks carry memory chips on both sides of the PCB

My SiSoftware Sandra reports the RAM as follows:
Total Memory: 3GB DDR-SDRAM
---
Bank0/1 - A0: DIMM 1GB/64 @ 400Mt/s
Bank2/3 - A1: DIMM 1GB/64 @ 400Mt/s
Bank4/5 - A2: DIMM 1GB/64 @ 400Mt/s
---
Bank 0: 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-7 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) CR2
Bank 1: 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-7 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) CR2
Bank 2: 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-7 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) CR2
Bank 3: 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-7 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) CR2
Bank 4: 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-7 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) CR2
Bank 5: 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-7 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) CR2
(note from me: all reported by Sandra as "3.0-3-3-7"
---
Memory Module 1
Manufacturer: Kingston
Type: 1GB DDR-SDRAM
Technology: 16x(64Mx8)
Speed: PC3200U DDR-200
Standard Timings: 3.0-3-3-8 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS)
Set Timing 200MHz: 3.0-3-3-8 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS)
(note from me: this time Sandra reports "3.0-3-3-8")
---
Memory Module 2 (same as 1)
---
Memory Module 3
Type: 1GB DDR-SDRAM
Technology: 16x(64Mx8)
Speed: PC3200U DDR-200
Standard Timings: 3.0-4-4-8 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS)
Set Timing 200MHz: 3.0-4-4-8 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS)
(note from me: this time Sandra reports "3.0-4-4-8")

I have checked my BIOS settings and see nothing untoward. Speed is shown as 200MHz; I can change this upwards but not downwards.

Anyone any ideas, please?

--------------
Win2K Pro, V5.0.2195 Bld 2195, SP4 + all updates
AMD Athlon 1.8GHz processor with Cool'n'Quiet
Award Modular BIOS V6.00PG
3GB RAM
Mozilla Firefox 3.5.2
Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.23
Kaspersky Internet Security 7 inc. Firewall
MailWasher Pro 6.1
 
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As you know the single short beep indicates that all is well in BIOS land...

you should note the length of the beeps, either short or long, that would clarify it further...

usually, on AWARD/PHOENIX BIOS, one long beep followed by another long beep a short time after, indicates a seating or corrosion problem with the RAMs, but this is continuous as it will beep again and again...

two short beeps followed closely after another, indicates a small or minor error, which it would allow you to rectify and then continue with the POST, e.g. when you clear the CMOS...

now to your beep code, it could indicate that all is well in BIOS land, and the second that it rectified the minor differences in the RAM modules used... this would explain why it only emits a singular beep when you use the NEW or OLD ram alone, and when you mix them you get the double beep...

but I would not worry too much over this, as everything else is working fine... or if you are worried, then get another 1GB stick from the Kingston flavor...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
 
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Thanks for those wise words, BadBigBen. Regarding what the beeps sound like, the simple answer is that the twin-beep beeps sound exactly like the 'BIOS OK' beep repeated twice and there's no sign (or sound!) of beeps of different duration. Also, I reckon the period between the two beeps, if they occur, is too long for these to be linked as one signal.
Temporarily, I'm operating with only 2 of the 1 GB sticks plugged in, thereby avoiding the problem.
As soon as (if) I get round to reflashing to the latest BIOS (something I've never done before, hence the hesitation), I plan to report here the results of inserting the third 1 GB stick.
 
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I finally got around to updating the BIOS, which is now version FG dated 2006/07/05, the latest available according to Gigabyte.
Sadly, this made no difference at all: as soon as I insert 3x 1GB modules, the "second OK beep" returns.
I've spent some time looking at a couple of Gigabyte forums and my problem is apparently not unknown by any means. The only suggestions found there didn't help me, so I've returned to just 2x 1GB modules (the Kingston ones).
FYI the suggestions were to increase the DIMM voltage in BIOS by +0.1V or +0.2V which I tried to no avail. Another was to decrease the clock rate below the default 200MHz, but I couldn't try this because in my BIOS 200MHz is already the minimum: I could increase this (but I didn't!) but not decrease.
 
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A fairly long time ago I emailed Gigabyte Taiwan to ask about this problem...
Because no reply had arrived, I searched for and found the Gigabyte forums (one in the UK, one in Germany) mentioned in my last post. There's been no helpful response from these either, so in effect I'd given up on fitting 3x 1GB modules as indicated.
Suddenly an answer has arrived from Taiwan! I was referred to P14 of the GA-K8VT800 manual - and I didn't even know such a thing existed, having not received one with the PC on purchase. This can be found at
Here, the answer is clear: Gigabyte recommend a maximum of 2x double-sided DDR400 RAM modules be installed even though there are three RAM sockets. So I must live with 2GB of RAM unless I fit DDR333 modules, in which case 3x can be installed, but I'm not about to pay out yet more money just to suffer a reduction in speed!
 
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