POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

[Groonx2]

I'm placing this question in its own thread, because it has persisted for months now, while I gradually have succeeded in speeding up the POST time in a tricky system to set up (see signature).

Very important, first of all: this is a SINGLE beep at POST. We are not talking here about multiple beeps or beep-codes.b-BEEP! or an unpronounceable pbBEEP! or p-B.BEEP! If for any reason the system recycles (i.e. if the Trfc is set too low) the second or subsequent beeps are exactly-right BEEP!BEEP! as well. (Interesting, because then the POST is reduced.)

I've been told not to worry; the large amount of RAM is being processed and the POST beep is being interrupted at the moment it occurs. I've Googled far and wide, but the only posts I've found have been my own.

I'm hoping someone who designs these things may see this.

Thanks.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Sorry to say, but I agree with others you mention.

I think you should not worry about it really. I mean you are stable, are not getting failed overclock warnings and all is well right?

It could just be due to the ram amount as you said? Did you ever test with 4GB to see if the same occurs?

I only plug in case speakers myself if there is issues, so if this really bothers you but you know all is well then you can just remove your speaker like I do until you have some issues. Just a thought :)

[Groonx2]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Well, if it is OK, I am actually happy. :)

The catch is that I have one remaining glitch in my BIOS settings. I have set HALT ON NO ERRORS, which means that my BIOS will not show a CMOS Error popup, even if it comes across a CMOS error during POST.

That means that I am already hiding one problem, because actually in my system a CMOS error WILL be reported every single time that I set the DRAM to any tRFC except the AUTO default (which = 127.5ns).

This is even though the only two tRFC settings which run things well are 195 and 327.5. So I would like to get things "perfect" because I actually have 2 sniggly little quirks. On the other hand, I am indeed very happy with the way things already are. It has taken me since last November to get this far!

Thank you for the reassurance.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

That just means it wont stop/halt on error as you said, but if you are not seeing a red warning box in the MIT Section when you enter it means your settings are fine.

That is odd about your tRFC though, have you asked tech support why it gives an error if you raise that? I could see maybe if it error'd on you by lowering it, but raising it should not cause any errors.

[Groonx2]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

No red warning box, so that sounds good.

Well, I can go back to the person who was advising me about the RMA. He would have given me an RMA number, but I wanted to do further testing. That was just 2 weeks ago. But he was not communicative; I guess he's seen a lot of mistakes by customers. Other people have told me the mobo just can't handle what I have. It is my 2nd ver 1.1, and I am over a year since original purchase.

EDIT: I should add that I am quite sure the error occurs as soon as I move away from AUTO to MANUAL on the DRAM tRFC. If I recall from a month ago, even if I changed it away from AUTO and made no changes to the settings, this error would occur.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Well it very well could be the board? And a RMA could solve it, but you could also do that for nothing and get a used board back and have the same issues.

It all sounds fine to me is why I said the things I did, I mean I would just ignore it really as it is not causing you issues or instability

tRFC, so when you go to manual, does all three settings give you the error and just auto does not? That could just be a BIOS bug if so

[Groonx2]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Yes, my thinking is exactly the same as yours about the board. I'm not too keen about RMAing it, but I may do so after further enquiries. Trouble is, would Gigabyte see the same problems? They certainly would not be testing the mobo with the same hardware config.

I'm glad you think my system is basically OK. It is my first build, so I wanted to take it to a point where I could be proud of it. Maybe I am there!

Yes, just AUTO escapes the CMOS Error popup. I even tried going the other way, to a lower ns. If it is a BIOS error, I might find it ceases to exist when I flash it with the new F10 BIOS today. I can set it to HALT ON ALL, BUT DISK/KEY (which is its way of saying, "Halt on all errors, except ignore diskette or keyboard errors") to check that.

Thanks again.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Well I doubt they would actually, because they would not have the same hardware you do nor would the likely test it with 8GB. Even if they did it may only happen with your hardware so it could be a waste and risk of getting a used board back that acts the same

Ya, I think you are good to go really. You dont mention any major issues, only minor things that are really cosmetic in a way. Now if you were unstable due to this or something like that I would be concerned

Yeap a new BIOS or older could fix the issue, it does sound like a BIOS bug to me. Not many use the Halt features so even in new or old BIOS this bug could always be there is no one had reported it.

You can leave that setting disabled and you will be fine

[Groonx2]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Well, that sounds like a good Green Light to me.


I'm happy. The computer doesn't crash or show blue screens, and all is well. This week I am comparing tFRC 195ns and 327.5, just because I had one single crash awhile ago when I initiated CPU-Z while @ 195. That was the only time, and I had run CPU-Z fine on other occasions. But if 327.5ns seems about as fast, and it is a trifle more stable, I'll stay with 327.5.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Sounds good to me.

So you don't do stability tests with programs like Memtest86+ and Orthos? Just wondered as you never mention them. If you don't then it very well could be these errors are caused by instability that you are just not testing to find

[Groonx2]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Maybe I'll try them. Is one better than the other?

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Ahh wow...

Well you are about to step into a whole new world then since you never do stability testing.

Your settings may need many adjustments, and this could very well be the cause of your issues. I thought you did already do stability tests and such, sorry for the asumptions.

Memtest86+ is to test your memory, I suggest 5-10 full passes or overnight while you sleep
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Orthos or Prime95 is to test both your CPU and ram together. Here is how that works, thanks profjim

Prime95 Orthos
Small FFT
This test uses data that fits completely into your CPU's level 2 cache, it stresses the processor intensely but does not stress the RAM or the link between the RAM and the processor. It will error out because of:
Not enough vCore
Possibly low CPU Termination (VTT)
Possibly low/high CPU ref
Possibly low PLL (clock generator) voltage

Large FFT
This test uses large "pieces" of data that require information to be moved in and out of RAM quite intensely to constantly feed the processor. The data in these calculations doesn't fit completely in CPU onboard cache, so the work load on the MCH and RAM is huge. It will error out because of:
Not enough vDIMM (RAM voltage)
Not enough (and rarely too much) MCH core voltage
Incorrect MCH ref voltage
Unstable memory timings (includes both main timings ie 5-5-5-15, and also tRead and tRFC.
Only fails because of processor when vCore is waaaaaay too low!

Blend
This alternates between small and large data sets, and although it is a useful "last test" when run for say 24 hours after you believe you have everything dialed in and it passes Large and Small seperately, it's confusing for fault finding.
If Blend fails it could be for any reason mentioned for small FFT and large FFT leaving you with no indication what to do to stablise the system.

You can get those tools here along with many others

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/latest-overclocking-programs-system-info-benchmarking-stability-tools-30530/

[Groonx2]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Many thanks.

Looks like I'm going to be busy!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Good luck, and sorry to likely introduce a whole new world of issues for ya...

[Groonx2]

Re: POST BEEP Sound Distorted, Stumbles ?

Because I set up this thread under the Distorted POST Beep title, I want to answer my own question here in case someone else arrives in this thread after Googling with the same problem.

No one was ever able to help me with this one, and I asked in various places and forums: the distorted beep, which was a single (not a double) beep, with a hiccup or stumble in it, so: BE-BEEP! or bpd-BEEP!

Finally I solved the mystery myself.

In the Award BIOS (F8-F10, maybe others), there are 4 options for your FAN settings. Case Fan and CPU Fan, Fail Warning and Smart Control. You can have any assortment enabled or disabled.

Of the 16 (4 x 4) possible combinations you can select, only 5 will give you a pure, clean POST beep! sound. Distorted beeps are caused by the other 11 fan selection combinations.

• All 4 possibilities with both FAN Fail Warnings DISABLED will give proper beeps, plus if you set both CPU (FAN + Smart) = DIS, and ENABLE both System (FAN + Smart) settings, that one is okay too.
  
• Of the remaining possibilities, 6 will produce the distorted beep, 2 will produce alarms and 3 will produce alarms AND distorted beeps. I didn't leave the alarms on for any length of time, so your milage may vary a bit there.

The selections which incur distorted beeps include some perfectly useful choices, so it seems to be a BIOS programming error that allows the sound to distort. For example, if you have the 2 FAN Fail Warnings ENABLED but the 2 Smart FAN Controls DISABLED, the beep is distorted. That would be a good choice, though, because when Smart = Enabled, then the fans may spin too slowly during a cool startup and sound the alarm.

After 11 months of trying to figure out the cause of the beep distortions, I was very happy (and VERY surprised) when my experimenting was suddenly successful.

• 48 minutes and 17 seconds.
• In every instance, the computer did finally get up into Windows, and Windows then worked perfectly normally. Plus always Windows RESTARTS work normally. And I have no bluescreens. I believe the G.Skill tech who told me the RAM has to be okay, because my problem is ONLY with the slow time to POST. He said a problem with RAM would surely show up as well in my Windows operations.