[CentOS] beeps and a slow boot

Fred Smith fredex at fcshome.stoneham.ma.us
Tue Jul 8 21:31:53 UTC 2014


On Tue, Jul 08, 2014 at 02:08:36PM -0400, m.roth at 5-cent.us wrote:
> Michael Hennebry wrote:
> > On Tue, 8 Jul 2014, m.roth at 5-cent.us wrote:
> >> Michael Hennebry wrote:
> >>> On Mon, 7 Jul 2014, Pete Travis wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Asus and the like don't make BIOS, they get it from AMI or Phoenix or
> >>>> whatever.  It will usually say in POST screens or in the setup itself;
> >>>> failing that, it  might be etched on the chip itself.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks.  That enabled me to find
> >>> http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/amibeep.htm
> >> <snip>
> >>> The beep codes say memory.
> >>> I ran memtest86 overnight and it passed.
> >>> That said, I'm not sure how good memtest86 is.
> >>> Could you suggest a memory test program that might find
> >>> in a few hours what POST found in less than two minutes?
> >> <snip>
> >> 1. How many processors on the m/b? I don't mean cores....
> >> 2. If 1, take out *all* DIMMS but one, and boot. then add them back in.
> >
> > Could you suggest memory test software that might find
> > in a few hours what POST found in less than two minutes?
> >
> > If (more likley when) I crack the case,
> > I'll try the above program after reseating.
> 
> Sorry, don't have one. But since POST finds it - doesn't it tell you? -
> crack the case, and start removing memory. Make sure you don't have a
> static charge, though unless you're somewhere cold, or the a/c's set to
> cryogenic, you shouldn't have a charge, and just carefully take out DIMMs
> from the (one?) bank, and rePOST.

If you're concerned about static charges damaging components here are
some steps I'd follow in that situation:

When the PC is plugged into the AC line, its chassis SHOULD be grounded
via the ground wire in the AC cable. However, just having the PC turned
OFF doesn't mean that there's no power inside the case, given the
"soft" switch that's used to control the on/off state, so you don't
want to pull RAM out unless:
1. the power cord is disconnected (which means the chassis is NOT ground), or
2. your PS has a small switch on the back, outside the case, that you 
   can use to completely shut off the power (many do, but not all). If
   you can do this, the chassis should remain as ground.

So, if you can verify #2 above, all you gotta do is make sure you
grab bare metal on the chassis, tightly, before you touch any of the
internal components, RAM, whatever. This will drain off any static
charge you may have and make it safe to handle RAM, etc.

If you can't do #2, then I suppose next best is:
--turn it off
--touch the metal case to discharge yourself
--remove the cover
--touch the case again to make sure you're static-free
--pull the AC plug
--wait a minute for internal circuitry to lose charge (if there are LEDs
  on the motherboard--to, e.g. indicate RAM power, and some motherboards
  have such LEDs--wait until they go completely off.)
--then mess with the RAM/etc.

-- 
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