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#1
phedup

phedup

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Hi ,

I have a big prob, my pc was on running fine, I left the room came back to a black screen with a white cursor in the upper left corner.
I pushed power button to restart and the pc just beeps, 5 long, then 3, 2, 1 . there are pauses between, the keyboard is dead when this happens.
I have been trying to make sense of what went on here, heres some background,
this is a dell dimension 8200,phoenix bios plus 1.10 a03
I can't get any kind of definative answers about the beep codes,
heres a bit of background

about a month ago my cpu fan was really loud, so I removed it and cleand it, reinstalled it and it remained loud, at the same time I had an issue with suspected malware and had a member of this web site help me download and clean fwiw heres a link to that issue http://www.geekstogo...ic/283299-help/
shortly after that fix my fan quieted, I took a flashlight to look at the fans through the back of the case and they were both operating , (cpu & psu) I don't think the cpu fan was running as fast as usual but thought perhaps its because I cleaned it well. : (
then fast forward to above, now I have a crapped out sysytem
the pc doesn't boot bios, goes directly to black and beeping, I have been able to turn it on a couple of times and get it to show different messages..
blue screen saying ..page fault in monopaged area....
once I was able to get it to load windows recovery console a message said the file AIC78U2.SY_ is corrupted,
I have removed the cmos battery and let it sit, no help
I have removed and reseated the memory... rebooted and got a message that said memory read write failure
with each card amounts as 000000
I am at a loss , what could have caused all this??? the fan?? the cpu fried ??a virus??? the mobo??? the psu????

I would scrap the whole thing but theres alot of stuff i want off the hard drive pics of my now deceased mom and my kids.
any help is appreciated
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#2
phedup

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bummp
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#3
rshaffer61

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Sorry for the wait but we are very busy. Please be patient and we will try to assist you quickly.
Depending on your bios the beep codes mean different things.
How to Interpret Computer Error Beep Codes

When the computer makes those funny sound via the system speaker, it's not doing it because it wants to be heard.
The computer is trying to talk to the operator/technician and tell them what's wrong.

Beep Codes : This is for most bios types and\or manufacturers.
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#4
rshaffer61

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It sounds like a memory issue to me but we need to take steps to check it.
Is there more then one memory module installed in the system?
Have you tried to take out one module and boot with only one?
Did you change the modules and try to boot with the other module?
Seeing that the system does turn on and powers up it would show the PSU is working.
No video could be the actual video or the memory again.
It could be a mobo failure as the sequence of beeps you described does not show on the phoenix bios list.
The data on the hd should be safe and if you have access to another system then you can backup the data on another hd.
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#5
phedup

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Ok Thankyou for clearing up the cross post, sorry.
could you tell me is it at all possible to have a pc do this just because a fan is on its way out?? if the fan isn't working 100% or the power supply same deal if it were that??
as far as the bios codes, I am not seeing any for the 5, 1, 2, 3 sequence.
thankyou for your help, again I apologize about the cross post, I feel sorta frantic, sorry.
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#6
rshaffer61

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Even if the cpu fan is out the system would still post for a minute or two till the cpu heated up. Then with most recent systems the system would shutdown to protect the cpu from damage. In your case you are getting no post at all. With the beep code you are getting I personally suspect a failed mobo or bad memory.
I would suggest trying the steps for memory testing I outlined above and if that doesn't produce positive results I am afraid the issue is the motherboard.
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#7
123Runner

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Some more added info that is pointing to memory failures.

The Dell 8200 has diagnostic lights on it. What are they indicating? 8200 diagnostic lights

Another search gave me the beep sequence of 5-1-2-3. It belongs to another Dell unit, but shows the sequence as memory read/write failure. Dell 530 Beep codes
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#8
phedup

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Hi there,
I did take out the memory one at a time and rebooted each time still have the beeps, should I have done it differently?
I have found this info what does it mean??Could it explain my codes??

Phoenix BIOS Plus or v1.0 BIOS Post Codes:

01 CPU register test in progress
02 CMOS read/write failure
03 ROM BIOS checksum failure
04 Programmable interval timer failure
05 DMA initialization failure
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#9
phedup

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Oh and the lights on the back are ab yellow cd green which does apply to the memory failing. Could all of the memory be bad?? and does this rule out the mobo being the problem???
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#10
phedup

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Ok weirdest thing I removed the memory again making sure its all seated right, removes cmos battery again, tried it again, still beeps.
left it for about an hour or more came back and pushed the power button for the gazillionth time expecting the usual, but this time it loaded, i'm on borrowed time I know, I feel like any minute its gonna crash, .
Its in the process of running the disk error check , any suggestions as to what I should be doing while its running??
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#11
rshaffer61

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Nothing let the chkdsk run uninterrupted.

left it for about an hour or more came back and pushed the power button for the gazillionth time expecting the usual, but this time it loaded

Your description could be a failing cmos battery also.

Could all of the memory be bad??

Yep most certainly

and does this rule out the mobo being the problem???

Possibly as it is confirmed in two different locations that it''s the memory.
This could be some good news at least. Replacing memory is a lot cheaper then replacing a mobo.
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#12
phedup

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Well chkdsk ran , told me nothing of any problems,, pc is still running , I never rebooted, I was able to burn my photos onto a cd, next is my taxes and such.

I still don't know what went on here with this system but am glad its on, and will continue to rake out all of my important items.

I dont want to do any type of investigative/ repair "ish" type of work to it until I get all that I care about off of it.

after that if it dies, I wont freak.

What do you suppose is going on here from a troubleshooting standpoint??

why is this working?????
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#13
rshaffer61

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I think your memory is failing and that is why it works sometimes and it won't other times.
I'm pretty sure your cmos battery may be low so replacing that is inexpensive. Less then 5 bucks for a battery.
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#14
phedup

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Ok Is there any way to test this to be sure??
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#15
rshaffer61

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Testing your memory....

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:

Posted Image

8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:

Posted Image

10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:


Posted Image

It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.

Posted Image

The following image is the test results area:

Posted Image

The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.
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