Today i opened up my (old) computer to reinstall a pci card that had become mislodged. When i turned it back on, there was no picture, and there was about 3 short beeps from the pc speaker. Just wondering what the beeps mean, why there's no picture and if my pc has finally broken.
According to this page, three short beeps is a memory errory. Have you touched anything else without being fully grounded? If so it could have zapped the memory, controller or motherboard. You might have to take to a repair shop to check it now.
lasergtx: how do i know what bios i have? it's actually one long, 2 short beeps
That particular combination of Long + Short + Short beeps indicates a Video Card problem.
Maybe it isn't seated correctly in the slot, or maybe it has failed.
If you decide to buy a replacement, make sure that it is the correct version of AGP (4x or 8x). The edge connector is different for these 2 types and if you get the wrong one, you will damage the Video Card and / or motherboard.
Beeeep beep beep and video card sounds family. Had a PC with the video card half seated and I suspect it broke something as that card never worked again and the beeeep beep beep was all too familiar.
'Yesss my new computer bits from the store all assembled. This is going to be one killer of a gaming rig.'
Press power button..
'BEEEEEP BEP BEP'
....If you've got a AGP or PCI-E video card in there then its pretty easy to bump those things. Lots of tiny wee pins. I had a situation not long ago where a user's monitor fell off the table and the video card wasn't screwed in correctly or tight enough. Turns out the monitor falling off actually pulled the graphics card out of its socket ever so slightly. ..BEEEEP BEP BEP.
If you are confident - get yourself a static wrist strap from somewhere like Dick Smith - and wear it!!. Turn off the computer and disconnect from the mains.
Try removing and reseating any cards plugged into the PCI sockets (sockets on the motherboard towards back of machine usually) You can also try removing and reseating the memory strips also located on the main board. If you have more then the video card plugged into the PCI sockets, try removeing them all and test to see if machine still beebs.
If you are not confident - find a PC person who is....
In my experience, unless you are careless with connectors and physically damage them or connect them incorrectly in some way, it's relatively rare to actually break something while you're prodding around inside, even if you've been a bit sloppy with antistatic precautions.
If there is a problem, it's nearly always that something has become dislodged after pulling stuff around.
it goes without saying that you should always make sure the PC is switched off and unplugged before doing anything, and if possible, ground yourself with an anti-static wrist strap.
Check that all connectors are properly seated, not just the PCI, AGP etc. cards but also the RAM strips, ribbon cables to the hard disks and CD / DVD drives and so on.
Particularly with video cards, especially if the PC case isn't exactly square and rigid, (often the way with older machines) the card might seem to fit OK in its slot until you tighten the screw that holds it to the back of the case, and then it pulls out slightly at the opposite end. If that's the case, it may well cause a problem, which you might be able to sort out by carefully bending either the card's mounting bracket or the PC case flange where the card attaches.
Blue screen faults can be caused by RAM failing to seat properly, as I found out myself recently.
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