Fan stays on and starts beeping

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Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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I opened my system to double check the wattage of my psu. I live in Florida, on the water, so it's EXTREMELY dusty from all of the sand and let me tell you, it was really dirty inside. (it always is). I've cleaned this before: I use a can of OFFICE DEPOT CLEANING DUSTER to blast all of the dust bunnies loose, then I use a very small powerpack vacuum to suck it all out. Now, I was taught to be EXTREMELY careful and to try not to touch or contaminate anything and I was very careful, as I always am. I've installed memory, a new GPU and cleaned this out before with no problems. But now it's beeping and won't load WINDOWS 7 for me. Usually when I turn it on, the fan kicks on for about 3 seconds, then goes off, it beeps once and then loads. NOW, I turn it on, the fan stays on and it starts to beep about every second nonstop and it won't load the os. Any ideas? I am not computer savvy, but I'm also not an idiot. I can understand what to do if it's explained to me in layman's terms, so if anybody can walk me through a troubleshoot, I'd be ever so grateful.

I have a DELL Inspiron 530, basic with only a little ram upgrade and GPU upgrade - HELP!!!

Thank you in advance,

Nyphrodel

RECAP: The fans turn on and do not stop. I'm sure one runs quietly in the background, but the really loud one at start up STAYS ON, then it starts to beep.
 
Solution
alexoiu
Hi, Make sure that the RAM and graphics card are properly inserted (remove and insert them again).
Does the graphics card require additional PCIe power? If yes, is/are the cable/s connected?
What is the beeps pattern (1 long 2 short, 2 short...)?
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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So your system's been beeping after the upgrade or after cleaning it? Also can you tell us what kind of beep codes are your hearing? like three long and one short beep....anything like that? This could be a ram refresh error...but I am just guessing at this point.
 
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alexoiu

alexoiu

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Hi, Make sure that the RAM and graphics card are properly inserted (remove and insert them again).
Does the graphics card require additional PCIe power? If yes, is/are the cable/s connected?
What is the beeps pattern (1 long 2 short, 2 short...)?
 
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Solution
Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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First of all, thank you for the quick response. I installed the upgrade a couple of years ago, so it's not from that. I just opened up to check PSU, saw how dirty and cleaned it up before closing up the case. And I am not hearing a beep code, it is just a steady and consistent beep every second. Any ideas?
 
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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Well if it's AWARD BIOS then it's likely a ram error. I would start with alex's suggestion above. Ensure that while cleaning out your pc, you've not knocked something out.
How many sticks of ram have you got there? If it's more than one, then try booting up with just one stick of ram.
 
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Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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As I said in my response to satyamdubey, I made the upgrades several years ago, so that is not the problem. Today, I just cleaned it out. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, I apparently did not explain clearly. It is just a steady and consistent beep. Thank you for your time and patience.

 
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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Okay, you can also try hard-resetting the BIOS and see if that helps. Turn off all power to your system. Leave everything plugged in though. Turn off monitor and the speaker also.

Now take out the cmos battery (the coin type battery in the mobo)

Press the cpu power button to discharge all the static electricity.

re-insert the battery and then power up your system and see if that works.
 
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vsdagama

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I have had this constant beeping noise aswell on one of my older machines.
In my case, it meant the system (CPU?) was overheating. It would beep and continue to beep all the time.
I would suggest making sure the CPU fan is doing ok and check all the other fans in the system for irregularities.

And as mentioned above, try re-inserting the battery.
 
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Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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Just a reminder - my fans go on and DO NOT TURN OFF. Normally, they only run for 3 seconds, shut off and then it beeps and fully boots. Why would they be stuck on like that and not shut down? Well, I'm sure that one of them runs quietly in the background, but the really loud one at the beginning stays on and does not stop.

 
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Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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Since my fans were stuck on and running like a jet engine, I decided to unplug the fans in case the connections weren't secure. I unplugged the fan that blows out the back of the case, the fan to the mobo and the fan in the psu.I reconnected them all and I am now getting 4 beeps and a pause, 4 beeps and a pause and so on. Can you tell me what that means?

 
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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It's hard to say. That's coz I have neither heard such beep code nor is any info available on it on the net.
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm
http://www.bioscentral.com/postcodes/dellbios.htm
Have you tried running with just one ram stick? at this point you may also plug out, dust and re-seat your ram and gpu.

Keep posting the symptoms though and someone would surely come along and solve the issue. Did you try resetting the BIOS with the method I described earlier?

 
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Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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UPDATE: After cleaning all fans and connections, I plugged them beck in and then I received the 4 beep code. After a little research I found it to mean a ram issue. So I removed each of the sticks blasted them and the sockets and reconnected them as well. I turned my machine on and BaBing! it started up as usual. So, I'm not sure what happened here because I did not get the four beeps in the beginning...I suspect a fan connection was not secure and while checking and cleaning those I somehow touched a memory stick and screwed with it's connection as well. So I ended up creating another issue maybe? and my original problem was the plugs for the fans? Hard to say, but I'm thrilled not to have to be at the mercy of another repair tech.

I tell you all, little by little I am learning more and more each day thanks to the kindness of the people on these forums. With luck (as today) I will be able to continue making these little upgrades and repairs and maybe one day I really will build my own system...

Thanks to Everyone that takes the time to help all of us n00bs out here. What would we do without you?

Nyphrodel :)

2nd Update:

After going over all responses once again before closing this thread, I realize that alexoiu suggested very early in the discussion, to unplug and reinsert my ram. In my anxiety and fear of a downed system, I thought since I had put the upgrade in so long ago that the ram couldn't be the issue, I therefore ignored his suggestion. Then when I unplugged the fans, I subsequently got the 4 beeps, telling me I then had a ram issue, my trouble was ended. So, whether it was a loose plug or a loose memory stick, or both I'll never know. But if I would have taken alexoiu's advice, I MAY have solved this issue sooner. I wanted to post a thanks to alex for the post. I hope by picking you for "best answer" it is in some small way a reward of sorts...

Thanks again to all poster's who take the time to advise us n00bies :)
 
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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^nice to hear your machine's up and running. It seems though you have not yet picked alex's solution for best answer and the thread is still open. So go ahead and do that as it's very helpful for others having same kind of a problem as they wont have to sift through all the responses :).

Glad we could help.

good luck
-Satyam
 
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Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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Hi Satyam,

Maybe you can help, I've already pm'd Alex asking for help and haven't heard back. I've had issues on the board before and I have been able to pick "best answer" to close the thread, but there is no available button this time. Could it be because I typed in the "your answer" box? I have no idea what to do. I can't stand to have untidy, incomplete, uselessjunk floating around like this. I searched "how to close a thread" but couldn't find an answer. Do you have any idea what to do?

Thanks,

Nyphrodel

 
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Nyphrodel

Nyphrodel

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Sorry I took so long to respond Satyam, I was away for a bit :sleep: Umm...I didn't even know you could open it as a discussion thread, so I'm sure opened as a question. I know that I tapped the "ask the community" box when I opened the thread, so that would mean a question not discussion, correct? At any rate, thanks for contacting a moderator. Please let me know what I need to do to assist :)

 
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