Computer Won't Start II: The High-Pitched Whine

[Dr. Boogie]

So I wanted to clean up my old computer and give it to my brother, but now for some reason, it emits a continuous piercing beep whenever it's on and doesn't post. The MB has one of those LED debugging displays, but the code it's showing is listed in the manual as "reserved".

Anyone have any insight?

[Chojin]

I had a computer that did the whine thing but would still start up. The whine was coming from the power supply.

Another thing you should check is whether it's any of the fans - put a finger in the middle of each of them to stop them.

[Tadao]

This post confuses me. I understand this part, "but now for some reason, it emits a continuous piercing beep whenever it's on" but I don't understand the "doesn't post" part. Does that mean that it won't count down the ram and run through the bios?

[MetalMilitia]

If the high pitched noise is coming out of the motherboard speaker, it's probably trying to tell you there is a memory problem or something.

[Dr. Boogie]

Originally Posted by Tadao

This post confuses me. I understand this part, "but now for some reason, it emits a continuous piercing beep whenever it's on" but I don't understand the "doesn't post" part. Does that mean that it won't count down the ram and run through the bios?

Yeah. When it's on, it does nothing but run the fans and make that noise.

[Tadao]

That sounds like bad RAM to me. Try replacing the memory with known working ones. I bet itwill work.

[Dr. Boogie]

I replaced the old RAM with some new RAM, but no luck. It does show a different code on the LED debugging display, but it's a code for "Detect Memory" according to the manual.

[MetalMilitia]

If the older memory is rated at a different speed or latency that that which was replaced you may need to reset your BIOS (either though a jumper or by removing the battery) before it is detected.

[Dr. Boogie]

Resetting the BIOS didn't seem to help. And yes, I did remember to switch the jumper back after resetting.

[Tadao]

The ram is too good probably.
Or in the wrong order...

I may be very wrong though.

[Dr. Boogie]

Hell if I know. I decided to shoot an email to the company that made my mobo and ask them what their damn codes mean.

[Archduke Tips]

What exactly did you do to clean it up? It would be easier to diagnose the problem if you could talk about what you did before the problem occurred.

I would start by pulling one RAM module at a time to see if one of them is bad. I would do this with the old RAM and leave out the new RAM, that way you can eliminate any problems with incompatible RAM.

[Dr. Boogie]

Eventually the problem took care of itself. Clean/swapping parts didn't do anything, but when I pulled out the GPU, it still wouldn't start, but it wouldn't make the noise either. Putting a new one in didn't help, but then when I replaced the old one, it worked fine. Which is odd because I had removed and replaced the card several times before then.

But whatever. That's computers for you.