On Power on 5 beeps from the BIOS

[hcvv]

On Power on five(5) beeps are given. That is repeated.

According to information I found this points to a CPU problem.

Earlier, sometimes the Pc would not start on Power up. Even the HP flash would not be shown.

Mostly it worked OK in the morning (sometimes on second or thisrd try), but  a reboot or boot quick after shutdown almost always failed.

I openend the case and removed dust and reseated the memory strip.

Now the situation is as told above: 5 beeps and no more.

Anny suggestions or is this unrepairable?

[hcvv]

Forgot to mention.

This is a HP Pavillion 500-301nd.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

5 Beeps indicates a problem with the memory of some kind.

See the trouble shooting steps in the troubleshooting guide, Appendix A, page 58 for how to troubleshoot the 5-beep code error.

c01516072.pdf (hp.com)

[Prométhée]

hi

in case the document given by @Paul_Tikkanen  here may not correspond to a consumer computer

Troubleshooting Guide
Business PC's

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-pavilion-500-300-desktop-pc-series/6879020/model/7233239/pro...
Hp provided this document

 Computer beeps or a light blinks during startup

that said, only 5 beeps not specified

The red light blinks five times, and then two, short white light blinks (5 long red, 2 short white)

This condition indicates that the embedded controller is missing valid firmware.

The red light blinks five times, and then three, short white light blinks (5 long red, 3 short white)

This condition indicates that the component cannot be not reached by the BIOS within the established time limit.

The red light blinks five times, and then four, short white light blinks (5 long red, 4 short white)

This condition indicates that the system board is not initializing quickly enough for component.

but

The red light blinks three times, and then two, short white light blinks (3 long red, 2 short white)

This condition indicates a potential memory failure.

3+2:  5 ?

[hcvv]

Complete on spot!

Apparently I have been too cautious in re-seating the memory strip (it is of course somewhere under/behind cabels, etc).

Re-seated it now poperly and the beeps are gone.

My original problem (it doing nothing, not even show the HP flash, only ventilators run) is still there. Thus my cleaning did not help. But that is not this problem.

Thank you for your suggestion and the pointing to the document (which I now have saved).

[Paul_Tikkanen]

On the older consumer class PC's the beep code sequence/troubleshooting methods were the same for the business class PC's.

I did not post the link by mistake.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, @hcvv 

[hcvv]

I was searching before I joined this forum and found talking about red and white LEDs, but I do not see any LEDs flashing, only heared the beeps. I appreciate your help answer and will certainly dig through the documents you mention. As you can read above, the beeps are gone.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I couldn't find the corresponding beep code troubleshooting guide for the older HP consumer class PCs like yours which have the same beep code/red flashing light sequence as the older business class PCs had.

I knew where to find the troubleshooting guide you needed to apply for your situation.

It just happened to be for business class PC's but as I wrote before, it works the same for your model.

[Prométhée]

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@hcvv wrote:

I was searching before I joined this forum and found talking about red and white LEDs, but I do not see any LEDs flashing, only heared the beeps. I appreciate your help answer and will certainly dig through the documents you mention. As you can read above, the beeps are gone.

---

over time hp deleted some documents

Computer beeps or

For some models indeed, only a series of beeps, without color code
For other models, there may be both, the series of beeps, and the color code
in the latest documents made available they no longer make the difference, but this remains applicable

old documents deleted

HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - BIOS Beep Codes | HP® Customer Support

Ordinateurs de bureau HP - L'ordinateur ne démarre pas et il émet un signal clignotant ou sonore | A...

https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.hp.com%2Fus-en%2Fdocument%2Fc02222922

https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.hp.com%2Ffr-fr%2Fdocument%2Fbfh07107