36 Quick Reference Guide
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Before You Start Testing

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the
Product Information Guide.
Turn on your printer if one is attached.
Enter system setup, review your computer’s configuration information, and enable all of your
computer’s components and devices, such as connectors.
Beep Codes
Your computer might emit a series of beeps during start-up if the monitor cannot display errors or
problems. This series of beeps, called a beep code, identifies a problem. One possible beep code
(code 1-3-1) consists of one beep, a burst of three beeps, and then one beep. This beep code tells
you that the computer encountered a memory problem.
If a beep code is emitted, write it down and look it up in the following table.
Code Cause
1-1-2 Microprocessor register failure
1-1-3 NVRAM read/write failure
1-1-4 ROM BIOS checksum failure
1-2-1 Programmable interval timer failure
1-2-2 DMA initialization failure
1-2-3 DMA page register read/write failure
1-3 Video Memory Test failure
1-3-1 through 2-4-4 Memory not being properly identified or used
1-3-2 Memory problem
3-1-1 Slave DMA register failure
3-1-2 Master DMA register failure
3-1-3 Master interrupt mask register failure
3-1-4 Slave interrupt mask register failure
3-2-2 Interrupt vector loading failure
3-2-4 Keyboard Controller Test failure
3-3-1 NVRAM power loss
3-3-2 Invalid NVRAM configuration
3-3-4 Video Memory Test failure
3-4-1 Screen initialization failure