caps lock blinking 3 times at BIOS startup

[Julien-Garrigue]

Hi,

Sometimes, when I startup my laptop, it remains stuck at startup and I can see the CAPS LOCK blinking 3 times then stop blinking, then blinking 3 times and so on....

I did a memory test with the bios : seems to be OK

So what I do afterwards, I just stop the laptop and start again, usually it's fine but today it was harder than usual so I start to worry. Any idea what means these 3 blinkings?

Thank you

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Julien-Garrigue 

This is not good news.  The CapsLock blinking three times indicates a memory failure -- usually a bad memory stick.

But if you've tested that and found it to be OK, then it could also be the memory controller chip on the system board -- and if that has failed, then you are out of luck, as it will cost more to replace the system board than simply replacing the laptop.

You could also TRY replacing the memory stick, just in the off chance that will work -- but buy it from a place that has a good refund policy.