ASUS mobo beep codes?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ian R
  • Start date Start date
I

Ian R

Hi

I'd be very grateful if someone has any info on the meaning of POST beep
codes for an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium.

The manual says "see POST beep code table below" and I thumb through all the
pages until I reach the last page looking for it - its not there!

My ASUS mobo has a very neat feature called "ASUS POST REPORTER" which
features pre recorded wav files to give vocal messages of POST errors.

The only problem with this is that it doesn't seem to work - I hear the beep
code from my case squeaker but there's no audio output from either the line
out or spdif output! So much for that!

I checked the ASUS website and after searching all over it seems they
haven't bothered to make the code table available there either. Thanks ASUS.

I had a faint hope it may have been a printing error that the table was
missing from the printed manual so I downloaded the PDF manual. Its a
duplicate of the printed copy - no surprises there.

So I'd really appreciate any help.

My system isn't booting up properly - I hear the beeps but have no display
so I cant tell yet what's going on.

Thanks for your time and any info.

Ian
 
Ian R said:
Hi

I'd be very grateful if someone has any info on the meaning of POST beep
codes for an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium.
Click to expand...
SNIPPED (read the OP)

Beep codes are a product of the BIOS.
When your machine first boots, check the black screen,
(bottom right, for the BIOS manufacturer).
That tells you what BIOS you`ve got.
You need the beep code set for that BIOS.

The BIOS delivers beeps to your on board speaker,
Not your Audio card.
The Audio card is controlled by your Operating system.
HTH.
 
"Ian R" said:
Hi

I'd be very grateful if someone has any info on the meaning of POST beep
codes for an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium.

The manual says "see POST beep code table below" and I thumb through all the
pages until I reach the last page looking for it - its not there!

My ASUS mobo has a very neat feature called "ASUS POST REPORTER" which
features pre recorded wav files to give vocal messages of POST errors.

The only problem with this is that it doesn't seem to work - I hear the beep
code from my case squeaker but there's no audio output from either the line
out or spdif output! So much for that!

I checked the ASUS website and after searching all over it seems they
haven't bothered to make the code table available there either. Thanks ASUS.

I had a faint hope it may have been a printing error that the table was
missing from the printed manual so I downloaded the PDF manual. Its a
duplicate of the printed copy - no surprises there.

So I'd really appreciate any help.

My system isn't booting up properly - I hear the beeps but have no display
so I cant tell yet what's going on.

Thanks for your time and any info.

Ian
Click to expand...

There is a BIOS setting called "Speech IC Reporter" and it is
enabled by default in the BIOS. If it was disabled, I don't know if
it is possible to guarantee it would be reenabled after the
CMOS is reset. That would likely require a working processor,
able to complete at least part of the POST sequence, to enable
it again. And in any case, I'm not sure that the disable setting,
could disable an error message indicating the CPU had failed,
as at least a couple of error messages are generated based on
a timer expiring, and there is no (easy) way to disable those
messages from coming out.

The speech chip is hard wired to the Line Out (green) connector
on the back of the computer. If it is going to work, hooking
amplified speakers to the green connector should do it.

The manual is full of the word "Award", so the BIOS appears
to be an Award BIOS.

I have one doc from Award with the following description of
beep codes:

"POST Beep

Currently there are two kinds of beep codes in BIOS. This code
indicates that a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot
initialize the video screen to display any additional information.
This beep code consists of a single long beep followed by
two short beeps. The other code indicates that your DRAM
error has occurred. This beep code consists of a single long
beep repeatedly."

If you get a single short beep, a lot of boards give a short beep
during POST, to show that the system speaker works. In cases where
Asus had to hack the BIOS, to avoid the "beep per USB device
connected" feature, they rendered some BIOS files mute, and simply
disabled beeping as a workaround. For that vintage of motherboards,
you might get no beep during a normal POST, but one would hope
that system error beeps would still be enabled.

Paul
 
Ian R said:
Hi

I'd be very grateful if someone has any info on the meaning of POST beep
codes for an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium.

The manual says "see POST beep code table below" and I thumb through all the
pages until I reach the last page looking for it - its not there!

My ASUS mobo has a very neat feature called "ASUS POST REPORTER" which
features pre recorded wav files to give vocal messages of POST errors.
Click to expand...

You have to have the On Board sound enabled AND the speech reporter turned
on.

The only problem with this is that it doesn't seem to work - I hear the beep
code from my case squeaker but there's no audio output from either the line
out or spdif output! So much for that!
Click to expand...


What beeps!? sounds like a video problem- reseat the card
I checked the ASUS website and after searching all over it seems they
haven't bothered to make the code table available there either. Thanks
Click to expand...
ASUS.

you need to check the BIOS website for your board.
I had a faint hope it may have been a printing error that the table was
missing from the printed manual so I downloaded the PDF manual. Its a
duplicate of the printed copy - no surprises there.

So I'd really appreciate any help.

My system isn't booting up properly - I hear the beeps but have no display
so I cant tell yet what's going on.

Thanks for your time and any info.

Ian
Click to expand...
After reseating video(and checking compatability) and removing any extra
memory modules (leaving just one if applicable) disconnect all drives and
try to post.
 
SNIPPED (read the OP)

Beep codes are a product of the BIOS.
When your machine first boots, check the black screen,
(bottom right, for the BIOS manufacturer).
That tells you what BIOS you`ve got.
You need the beep code set for that BIOS.
Click to expand...


How do you suppose he'll see that BIOS identification on the
screen while his system only beeps instead of posting?

Generally, there is either a sticker on the EEPROM or you
can download the bios update from manufacturer's website to
see what it is.

Asus has often used slightly modified Award Bios, but that
particular board I don't know for certain.
The BIOS delivers beeps to your on board speaker,
Not your Audio card.
Click to expand...

Not always, some boards dont' even have a speaker, and some
Asus boards have/had a jumper where you select to have the
voice routed to an onboard speaker OR to the audio output
jack (though if it goes to the tiny buzzer speaker, you can
barely hear what the voice is saying.

It brings up a funny story, one time I was overclocking and
it wouldn't post, and I hear the voice over the buzzer
speaker. I could've sworn the voice said "It's impossible",
kinda like my motherboard was suggesting to me that there
was no way in hell I'd be able to run the CPU that far
overclocked.

I finally jumpered it to the rear audio output and then I
can make out that it said "CPU failure" or something like
that, so it was telling me what I already knew (that it just
wasn't going to overclock to that speed without more
voltage), but not so sarcastically as it seemed.

The Audio card is controlled by your Operating system.
HTH.
Click to expand...

Many semi-modern boards (including some from the P3 era) did
output to the integrated sound, audio out jack. I happen to
have one here still, an MSI 6368, that also produces that
final beep at the end of POST right before booting the OS.
 
There is a BIOS setting called "Speech IC Reporter" and it is
enabled by default in the BIOS. If it was disabled, I don't know if
it is possible to guarantee it would be reenabled after the
CMOS is reset. That would likely require a working processor,
able to complete at least part of the POST sequence, to enable
it again.
Click to expand...

No, the Speech IC Reporter doesn't necessarily require a
working processor, it is controlled independantly by another
monitoring chip... or at least, it can be, because I had an
Asus board that did (A7V333, IIRC), although it had a
different chip, the OP's board appears to have an ITE
something-or-other Super I/O.


And in any case, I'm not sure that the disable setting,
could disable an error message indicating the CPU had failed,
as at least a couple of error messages are generated based on
a timer expiring, and there is no (easy) way to disable those
messages from coming out.
Click to expand...

On same board I was referring to above, the speech reporter
could be disabled entirely, nothing would trigger it AFAIK-
I know the CPU failure wouldn't if it was jumpered to
disabled, but this was with a jumper, not a matter of
loading up stored BIOS settings so it might depend on which
method the board supports.
 
No, the Speech IC Reporter doesn't necessarily require a
working processor, it is controlled independantly by another
monitoring chip... or at least, it can be, because I had an
Asus board that did (A7V333, IIRC), although it had a
different chip, the OP's board appears to have an ITE
something-or-other Super I/O.




On same board I was referring to above, the speech reporter
could be disabled entirely, nothing would trigger it AFAIK-
I know the CPU failure wouldn't if it was jumpered to
disabled, but this was with a jumper, not a matter of
loading up stored BIOS settings so it might depend on which
method the board supports.
Click to expand...

The source code for the Winbond speech chip is available.

"No CPU installed" message is from a hard wired signal.

"System failed CPU test" and "System failed memory test"
use the timer inside the Winbond chip. The rest of the
messages in the table, can only be triggered by the
system processor writing the appropriate event code
into the Winbond chip.

If the BIOS setting is disabled, it is easy to see that
everything except the three cases above will be disabled.
What I don't see, is how the "No CPU installed" message
can be stopped, as the signal just comes from the CPU
socket and goes to the Winbond chip.

The "System failed CPU test" runs off the timer, and if
the CPU is failing, I don't see a hardware mechanism to
stop the message from coming out from the Winbond chip.
(A jumper that interrupts the audio signal itself would
certainly do the job, but a number of boards no longer
use jumpers for the Winbond speech chip. And the
Winbond chip pinout doesn't have a "CS" or a disable
pin on it.)

The "System failed memory test" requires the timer to be
reloaded, so the CPU has to be running and the CPU plays
a part in that message being emitted. The reason a timer
is used, is in case the CPU crashes while the memory test
is running. If the CPU finishes the memory test, the CPU
clears the timer in the Winbond chip, before it can be
triggered. If the CPU doesn't finish the memory test,
and the timer trips, the timer sends the "System failed
memory test" voice sample.

For all other error messages, the error conditions arise
as part of the POST testing. The CPU sends the appropriate
command to the Winbond chip, when it runs into an error
condition later in the POST. For example, on a motherboard
here, it takes 30 seconds before I hear "No keyboard
connected", when the keyboard is not connected to the
computer.

The source code for the Winbond speech chip, is in the
Winbond_Voice_Editor package, available for download
from Asus (about 17MB). I think there are a couple of text
files in there, with snippets of code. One file contains the
sequencer code executed by the Winbond chip. The 8 pin
DIP serial EEPROM, contains both the sequencer code and
the voice samples, and the Winbond chip relies on the
serial EEPROM for all of its needs.

Paul
 
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