Resolved my computer is beeping

Hi All,
I have a problem with my computer.
At first I heard a few beeps then some more beeps and now after about a week the beep is constant.
It only stops when I turn the computer of. This beeping does not come from the speaker. I unplugged my hard drives one at a time and the beeping is still there. It might be coming from the power supply. Is there a way to test this without removing the power supply?
If I keep running my computer and the power Supply is the problem, do I risk damaging anything in my computer?
Thanks for your help
Sven

 

Hi Sven, From your System Details I would think your PSU is being worked at 450Watts. But have you tried checking your RAM?
Are all connectors clean and tight? Neil.

 

Power supplies should not be "beeping ". They don't have speakers so I suspect it is a BIOS beep code indicating an error. Depending on the pattern of beeps as noted by TonyT, it could be your PSU, but you need to count the beeps and discern a pattern to make sure.

Note virtually all motherboards have either a small integrated speaker, or they have a 2-pin connection on the motherboard's front-panel I/O header for a small system or case speaker. Unfortunately, not all cases come with speakers (most don't anymore) so in those cases, the error beeps are not heard. I always add a speaker in my builds if the motherboard does not have one (yeah, they are 4-pin connectors, but just two pins are used).

When all was working well, you should have 1 single beep to indicate the system passed POST (power on self test). If these beeps have the same tone and seem to come from the same source, then for use it is the BIOS indicating an error.

That said, you did not say if the computer still runs okay - even though it is beeping. If it still runs, your CPU is good but I would check your CPU fan to make sure it is still spinning.

If me, I would swap in a known good PSU. If still beeping, I would try one stick of RAM at a time.

 

The beeping may be because it is overheating. Check in the CMOS/BIOS Setup for current temperature(s) and setting(s) and let us know what you find.

 

thanks to all of you,
the beep during POST sound different then what I hear. it is more of a squeal and it was when it started intermittent short and long and now it is constantly. so it is getting bad. there never was a pattern that I can hear just beeps or squeals. The only checking I did was the hard drives and they are fine. I am out of town at the moment and can not check anything. After I am back, this weekend, I will unplug and re-plug all devices and ram.
Thanks for you help, I will let you know what happens at that time.

Thanks again
Sven

 

A squealing noise can be caused by a failing fan bearing. Use something like a popsicle stick to briefly stop each fan from turning (one at a time) and see if the noise stops.

 

Yeah, I've oiled a few of them in my time.

I wonder if lithium grease would do a better job?

 

I will try to stop the fans. lets say I find the one that squeals, I don't think WD40 will work here, correct?
Sven

 

I've had some temporary luck with 3 in One oil - which is a lightweight general purpose lubricating oil (10W I believe).

 

I wouldn't risk dripping/slinging oil on electronics. New case fans start at $2.99 (USD) including shipping (US).

 

Fans use sealed, permanently lubricated bearings and should NOT be oiled - ever! And certainly not with a "penetrating" oil which will break down any "grease" that is remaining.

I agree with SpywareDr, momentarily touch the center hub of the fan. If the noise is coming from the fan, touching the hub will change the rotation speed which will change the pitch of the noise.

I also agree to replace the fan, rather than lubricating it. And while you can find them for $3.00, spending a little more will get you precision ball or fluid bearing which will likely last longer and make less noise.

Measure across the fan to ensure the correct size. Case fans typically come in 80mm, 92mm, or 120mm sizes. Get the largest your case will support for maximum flow and least amount of noise.

 

Maybe todays fans are sealed, but I have oiled several of them and they have stopped making any noise. That tells me that they are NOT sealed.

 

They are sealed to the extent they do not let dust in, or the grease/lubricant out. "Penetrating" oils are designed to and can seep in the tiniest of cracks and do some good. But again, computer fan motors are not lubricated with oil, but grease, and very often silicone based (not petroleum based) grease so the overall affect is the motor grease is broken down. Any benefit should be considered a temporary solution to hold you over until a new fan is ordered, received and installed. This is particularly true and important for fans used to cool heat generating and heat sensitive devices like CPUs, GPUs, and chipsets.

That said, if the bad fan is a CPU, GPU, or chipset fan, I would advise not using the computer until the fan is replaced as a squealing fan is already an indication of bearing damage. While a drop of oil may squelch the noise, the damage is done and the motor may seize at any moment.

 

Thanks to all of you,
When I get back home, I will test and try to find what is going on. I will then report back and hopefully take the correct advice to fix this problem

again, thank you
Sven

 

I go along with Bill. No sprays or lubricants should be used - dust and hair particles will be attracted to the liquid and you now have introduced another problem.
Diagnose which fan is noisy and renew it. Full stop. Neil.

 

I'm am back in town and here is what did:
I went to this site: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000995.htm that tells m it could be a keyboard or other peripheral device.
So I disconnected everything including Printer, Scanner, External DVD drive, Keyboard and Mouse. No luck.
I unplugged both hard drives, my card reader, my internal DVD drive. no luck
I stopped both fans, in he power supply and on top of my CPU. no luck
I removed the memory sticks and reinserted them one at a time n to different slots.
I only have 2 memory sticks of 8 gb each, so that was easy. no luck.
I am stumped, I guess the next step would be to remove the add on cards for my scanner and my card reader. I will do that later this afternoon/evening.

Anything ells I can check?
Could it harm my computer if it constantly beeps?
If not, can I unhook the speaker?
The computer is running just fine. no problems what so ever.

Thanks for all your help
Sven

 

Is it a separate internal speaker that's beeping or one of those little piezoelectric speakers that's soldered to the motherboard?

Have you tried resetting the BIOS to factory defaults? (Take pics of the current settings first though).

 

Update:
I removed the add on cards and there was no change.
I then removed the Memory sticks and tried to boot.
it gives m 3 long beeps and then repeats it over and over, but the constant beep is gone at that time. as soon as I plug in the memory again, the beeping starts.
Do I have bad memory sticks? both of them?
Has my motherboard gone bad?
I did go into the Bios, and enabled Smart for the hard drives cause I was thinking one of them is going bad. And I did press on Load default settings

BTW, Windows lists 16 GB memory in System

the sound is coming rom the front of the box so I say it is the system speaker

Any thing else I can check?

Thanks
Sven