Understanding Beep Codes on a Dell Desktop Personal Computer

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction to Beep Codes
2. Dell Desktop Systems
3. Diagnostic LED Indicator Guides

Introduction to Beep Codes

Dell has a long tradition of building diagnostic indicators into our computers. These indicators can be useful in helping to diagnose and resolve any issues that your personal computer might experience while starting up. I have given a guide to the various codes for each family of desktop below.

If the display cannot show any errors that your computer might emit a series of beeps during start-up.

1. 3 means 3-3-3-3...That is 3 beeps and 3 beeps and ...: Endless looping until user presses the power button to shut down the computer.

2. The delay between each beep is 300 milliseconds. The delay between each set of beeps is 3 sec, and the beep sound lasts 300 milliseconds.

3. After each beep and each set of beeps, the BIOS should detect if the user presses the power button, if so, BIOS will jump out from looping and perform the normal shutdown process and power computer.

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Dell Desktop Systems

• Inspiron
• XPS
• Vostro
• OptiPlex
• Precision

 

Inspiron Desktops

Beep/LED Codes.

Power LED Blinking/Beep Code
LED/Beep Code	Fault Description	Faults	Suggested Action
1	Motherboard: BIOS ROM Failure	Motherboard, covers BIOS corruption or ROM error.	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
2	Memory	No Memory (RAM) detected	Troubleshoot the Memory.
3	Motherboard: Chipset	Chipset Error (North and South bridge error Time-Of-Day Clock test failure Gate A20 failure Super I/O chip failure Keyboard controller failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4	Memory	Memory (RAM) Failure	Troubleshoot the Memory.
5	Real-Time Clock Power Failure	CMOS battery failure	Try reseating the CMOS Battery and run the Dell Diagnostics if that does not resolve the issue.
6	Video BIOS	Video card/chip failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
7	Central Processing Unit (CPU)	Central Processing Unit (CPU) Failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.

 

Power LED Status	Power State
Off	Power is off, or the computer is in an S4 (hibernate) or S5 power state.  LED is blank.
Solid White	The computer is in power-on state.
Solid Amber	The system board cannot start initialization. There may be an issue with the system board, memory, processor, or the power supply.
Blinking Amber	The system board cannot start initialization or in an S3 power state. There is a power problem, a device may be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed.

XPS Desktops

Repetitive Beep Code	Error Description	Suggested Next Step
1	Possible motherboard failure - BIOS ROM checksum failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
2	No RAM detected Note: If you installed or replaced the memory module, ensure that the memory module is seated properly.	Troubleshoot the Memory.
3	Possible motherboard failure - Chipset error	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4	RAM read/write failure.	Troubleshoot the Memory.
5	Real Time Clock (RTC) power fail	Try reseating the CMOS Battery and run the Dell Diagnostics if that does not resolve the issue.
6	Real-Time Clock failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
7	Video card or chip failure.	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
8	Processor failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.

Vostro Desktops

Beep/LED Codes.

Power LED Status (Flashing Amber)	Beep	Description	Failure Coverage	Suggested Action
	1	BIOS ROM checksum in progress or failure. BIOS Chip	System board failure, covers BIOS corruption or ROM error.	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
	2	No RAM Detected	No memory detected	Troubleshoot the Memory.
	3	Chipset Error (North and South Bridge Chipset, DMA/IMR/Timer Error for Intel platform); Chipset Error Time-Of-Day Clock test failure. Gate A20 failure Super I/O chip failure. Keyboard controller test failure.	System board Failure (Power LED Blinking Amber)	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
	4	RAM Read/Write failure	Memory failure	Troubleshoot the Memory.
	5	RTC Power Fail	COMS battery failure	Try reseating the CMOS Battery and run the Dell Diagnostics if that does not resolve the issue.
	6	Video BIOS Test Failure	Video card failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
	7	CPU Failure	CPU	Run the Dell Diagnostics.

OptiPlex Desktops

Diagnostic Beep Codes
Code	Cause	Suggested Resolution
1-1-2	Microprocessor register failure	Contact Technical Support
1-1-3	NVRAM	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-1-4	ROM BIOS checksum failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-2-1	Programmable interval timer	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-2-2	DMA initialization failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-2-3	DMA page register read/write failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-3-1 through 2-4-4	DIMMs not being properly identified or used	Troubleshoot the memory modules and the memory slots.
3-1-1	Secondary DMA register failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-1-2	Primary DMA register failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-1-3	Primary interrupt mask register failure	Contact Technical Support
3-1-4	Secondary interrupt mask register failure	Contact Technical Support
3-2-2	Interrupt vector loading failure	Contact Technical Support
3-2-4	Keyboard Controller test failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-3-1	NVRAM power loss	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-3-2	NVRAM configuration	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-3-4	Video Memory Test failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-4-1	Screen initialization failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-4-2	Screen retrace failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-4-3	Search for video ROM failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-2-1	No time tick	Contact Technical Support
4-2-2	Shutdown failure	Contact Technical Support
4-2-3	Gate A20 failure	Contact Technical Support
4-2-4	Unexpected interrupt in protected mode	Contact Technical Support
4-3-1	Memory failure above address 0FFFFh	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-3-3	Timer-chip counter 2 failure.	Contact Technical Support
4-3-4	Time-of-day clock stopped	Contact Technical Support
4-4-1	Serial or parallel port test failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-4-2	Failure to decompress code to shadowed memory	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-4-3	Math co-processor test failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-4-4	Cache test failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.

 

Note: Starting from the D4 generation of OptiPlex models onwards (that is 7010/9010/9010 AIO), the beep codes will be eliminated, replaced by a single memory error pattern. Now only no memory failure conditions generate the beep code, the beep pattern is 1-3-2 (1 beep, then 3 beeps, then 2 beeps). This beep code tells you that the computer encountered a memory problem. The new beep codes emit only memory failure symptoms. Occasionally, reseating the memory modules may fix the beep code errors.

Precision Workstations

Beep Code	Description	Suggested Resolution
1-1-2	CPU register test in progress	Contact Technical Support
1-1-3	CMOS read/write test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-1-4	BIOS ROM checksum in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-2-1	Timer Test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-2-2	DMA initialization in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-2-3	DMA page register read/write test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
1-3-1	RAM refresh verification in progress or failure	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
1-3-2	1st 64K RAM test in progress or failure	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
1-3-3	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure (multi bit)	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
1-3-4	1st 64K RAM odd/even logic failure	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
1-4-1	1st 64K RAM address line failure	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
1-4-2	1st 64K RAM parity test in progress or failure	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
1-4-3	Fail-safe timer test in progress	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
1-4-4	Software NMI port test in progress	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-1-1	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 0	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-1-2	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 1	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-1-3	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 2	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-1-4	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 3	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-2-1	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 4	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-2-2	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 5	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-2-3	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 6	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-2-4	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 7	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-3-1	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 8	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-3-2	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit 9	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-3-3	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit A	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-3-4	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit B	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-4-1	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit C	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-4-2	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit D	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-4-3	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit E	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
2-4-4	1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure - bit F	Troubleshoot the memory and memory slots.
3-1-1	Secondary DMA register test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-1-2	Primary DMA register test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-1-3	Primary IMR test in progress or failure	Contact Technical Support
3-1-4	Secondary IMR test in progress or failure	Contact Technical Support
3-2-2	Interrupt vector loading in progress	Contact Technical Support
3-2-4	Keyboard controller test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-3-1	CMOS power fail and checksum test in progress	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-3-2	CMOS Config info validation in progress	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-3-3	RTC/Keyboard controller not found	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-3-4	Screen memory test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-4-1	Screen initialization test in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-4-2	Screen retrace tests in progress or failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
3-4-3	Search for video ROM in progress	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-2-1	Timer tick interrupt test in progress or failure	Contact Technical Support
4-2-2	Shutdown test in progress or failure	Contact Technical Support
4-2-3	Gate A20 failure	Contact Technical Support
4-2-4	Unexpected interrupt in Protected Mode	Contact Technical Support
4-3-1	RAM test in progress or failure above address 0FFFFh	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-3-2	No memory in Bank 0	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-3-3	Interval Timer Channel 2 test in progress or failure	Contact Technical Support
4-3-4	Time-Of-Day Clock test in progress or failure	Contact Technical Support
4-4-1	Super I/O chip failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4-4-4	Cache test failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.

 

Note: More recent models have eliminated the beep codes which where replaced by a single memory error pattern. Now only no memory failure conditions generate the beep code, the beep pattern is 1-3-2 (1 beep, then 3 beeps, then 2 beeps). This beep code tells you that the computer encountered a memory problem. The new beep codes emit only memory failure symptoms. Occasionally, reseating the memory modules may fix the beep code errors.

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If you require further assistance, please contact Technical Support.

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Diagnostic LED Indicator Guides

• Understanding Beep Codes on a Dell Notebook PC
• A reference guide to the Precision Workstation Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the Dell OptiPlex Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the XPS Desktop Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the Vostro Desktop Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the Inspiron Desktop Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the Precision Mobile Workstation Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the Latitude Notebook and Tablet Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the XPS Notebook Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the Vostro Notebook Diagnostic Indicators
• A reference guide to the Inspiron Notebook Diagnostic Indicators

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