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July 4th, 2015 13:00
Inspiron 15 (3521) Beep Code 1 - Mismatch RAM the issue?
My Inspiron 15 (3521) no longer boots. I'm getting a single beep pause then beep and it doesn't boot to BIOS. Looked up the beep codes and its says "System Board: BIOS ROM failure" and points to a corrupt BIOS or ROM error. Of course this happens 3 months past my warranty. Called Dell support and they said the motherboard is bad and I could go the depot route and mail it in and pay for a motherboard replacement. I decided to get a used laptop on ebay instead (its on the way). After further inspection, I found that my laptop was configured with a Kingston and Crucial 4GB RAM sticks. Could this be the cause of the BIOS corruption? I'm just worried I replace the motherboard and have the same issue. I've never heard of a manufacturer mixing RAM companies like this on the same PC.
DELL-Todd S
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July 8th, 2015 13:00
Hi,
I wouldn't think that the memory chips (if they are faulty) would cause the system to present the 1-beep error code for motherboard or BIOS errors. (Anything is possible of course, but unlikely).
I think back in the day of true DIMMs (duo in-line mem modules) you really had to match up manufacturer memory in order for it to work properly but these days as long as the speeds match up you should pretty much be good to go on memory.
Did you by any chance try to go into the BIOS on that system (hit F2 when you see the Dell splash screen come up - before Windows would start loading) and see if you can access BIOS? If so, then try to reset BIOS to the factory settings (an option within the BIOS screens). Probably not going to work but at least it's something you can try while waiting for the replacement motherboard to arrive.
Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll see if I can help you out.
Todd
bryansays
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July 8th, 2015 14:00
Hi Todd, Thanks for the clarification regarding the RAM. Unfortunately, I can't get into the BIOS. When I turn on the laptop, all it does is the beeping.
DELL-Todd S
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1.8K Posts
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July 9th, 2015 09:00
Unfortunately, looks like you'll be needing that replacement motherboard. That's what you got the used laptop off ebay for, correct?
Good luck with the replacement and I hope everything works out well for you.
Todd