XPS 8700, won't start, continuous beeps

Question

I have an XPS 8700 that seems to be dead. Nothing happens at all when I try to turn it on. Whenever the power cord is plugged in, there is a faint, high pitched, very fast continuous beeping. It doesn't stop, and isn't separated into groups of beeps (for the beep code). It's about 3 beeps per second, and is incessant. If you press the power button on the tower, the beeping gets even higher pitched, but still nothing turns on. When you release the power button, the pitch drops back down to what it was.

I've uploaded a video clip where you can hear the beeps. https://youtube.com/shorts/OsJV-gXwqMk. (The clicking you hear is me pressing the power button on the tower.)

Nothing else happens at all. No fans, no other noises, nothing on the monitor. You can see in the video that the indicator light on the motherboard does come on when the power cord is plugged in, so the board is receiving power (right?)

Steps I have already tried:

• Replacing the CMOS battery.

• Unplugged everything (peripherals, power cord, CMOS battery), held power button down for a minute, let everything sit unplugged for a while.

• Unseating and reseating all RAM cards.

• Reseated the video card.

• Ensured all internal connections are tight, nothing is loose or came unplugged as far as I can tell. (But this is my desktop that stays in the same place, and powered on almost 24/7, so I didn't expect any loose connections.)

I have a feeling it's going to be the motherboard, which I would hate to replace on this tower that is already so old. But I don't have an extra grand to throw down for a new desktop right now, so I'm hoping for a quick fix.

JOcean · Answer

This chart lists the beep codes and 3 beeps does refer to MB problems. When you pulled the CMOS battery did you leave it out for at least 15 minutes before installing a new battery?

Dgjax · Answer

Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, it doesn't just beep 3 times, a space, and then repeat. It beeps nonstop. (I mentioned 3 beeps per second just to give you an idea of how fast the beeps are.) You can hear the beeps in the YouTube link I posted.

And no, I did not leave it for 15 minutes before reinstalling the CMOS battery but I will try that now.

Thanks

Dgjax · Answer

I removed the CMOS battery for over 15 minutes and reinstalled it. Unfortunately, that did not solve the problem.

redxps630 · Answer

That is an interesting noise on the video you uploaded. I would not call it a beep but more like rapid chirping. anyway, it does not matter how you call it. I do not think that is any kind of system error beep. If I guess it is the power supply unit dying on you. try a different working 24/4 pin ATX psu. I have a hunch that the noise would disappear, although still do not know whether your motherboard would POST.

on your video there is also another intermittent low knocking sound, almost like a mechanical drive trying to spin but fails, like a bad floppy drive. can you explain if that additional sound is real?

Re: You can see in the video that the indicator light on the motherboard does come on when the power cord is plugged in, so the board is receiving power (right?)

the orange light only means there is 5V standby from psu which is on when power is connected to wall. you are correct that it is receiving 5V SB. it does not mean anything else.

RoHe · Answer

If you're using a power strip or surge protector, remove those and connect PC directly to a known working outlet. Have you tried a different keyboard or at least disconnected this one?

PrIsMaTiSmX · Answer

I have this same issue, Found any fix as of yet? Do you have the stock PSU? If so, what happens when you press the button on the back?

Pigman4U · Answer

Sorry to say, I have the same problem now. I leave my XPS 8700 on all the time, and this morning I found that it had crashed. I was able to bring up task manager and try a restart, but 20 minutes later it was still trying, so I did a forced restart. That was the last time it was semifunctional. The fast high pitched chirping sound is coming from the BEEP transducer on the motherboard. Pushing the test button on power supply makes the noise go away, and I do get the green LED on p.s. to light. Holding down the power button raises the frequency of the chirping.

Very frustrated!!!

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XPS 8700, won't start, continuous beeps

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