PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Error Beep Codes

 

As the power-on self test progresses, numeric values representing the status of the test are sent to port 80h. There are many diagnostic boards (also called POST boards or cards) on the market today which plug in to the PC expansion bus and have a dual LED display which decodes and displays the value at port 80h. With a POST board installed, you can monitor the progress of the self-test as it progresses. Not all tests listed in the table below will be executed on all systems, nor will they always be executed in order.

If a fatal error occurs, the PhoenixBIOS 4.0 will attempt to issue a beep code representing the error, and it will also attempt to display the error code on a monochrome or CGA display. In the event of a fatal system error during initialization, the code representing the portion of the POST causing the failure will be the last value sent to port 80h. As any experienced technician knows, a failure at any given location does not necessarily mean that the particular part or section under test has actually failed.

If you require further details or assistance in dealing with a fatal system board error, please do not contact Micro Firmware. You need to seek the assistance of a qualified computer service technician in your area.

This POST/BEEP code list is applicable only to PhoenixBIOS 4.x. For Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS or PhoenixBIOS 1.xx, see BEEP3.TXT.

 

Beep code	POST code	Description/test point
1-1-1-3	02	Verify Real Mode
1-1-2-1	04	Get CPU type
1-1-2-3	06	Initialize system hardware
1-1-3-1	08	Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values
1-1-3-2	09	Set in POST flag
1-1-3-3	0A	Initialize CPU registers
1-1-4-1	0C	Initialize cache to initial POST values
1-1-4-3	0E	Initialize I/O
1-2-1-1	10	Initialize Power Management
1-2-1-2	11	Load alternate registers with initial POST values
1-2-1-3	12	Jump to UserPatch0
1-2-2-1	14	Initialize keyboard controller
1-2-2-3	16	BIOS ROM checksum
1-2-3-1	18	8254 timer initialization
1-2-3-3	1A	8237 DMA controller initialization
1-2-4-1	1C	Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller
1-3-1-1	20	Test DRAM refresh
1-3-1-3	22	Test 8742 Keyboard Controller
1-3-2-1	24	Set ES segment to register to 4 GB
1-3-3-1	28	Autosize DRAM
1-3-3-3	2A	Clear 512K base RAM
1-3-4-1	2C	Test 512 base address lines
1-3-4-3	2E	Test 512K base memory
1-4-1-3	32	Test CPU bus-clock frequency
1-4-2-1	34	CMOS RAM read/write failure (this commonly indicates a problem on the ISA bus such as a card not seated correctly)
1-4-2-4	37	Reinitialize the chipset
1-4-3-1	38	Shadow system BIOS ROM
1-4-3-2	39	Reinitialize the cache
1-4-3-3	3A	Autosize cache
1-4-4-1	3C	Configure advanced chipset registers
1-4-4-2	3D	Load alternate registers with CMOS values
2-1-1-1	40	Set Initial CPU speed
2-1-1-3	42	Initialize interrupt vectors
2-1-2-1	44	Initialize BIOS interrupts
2-1-2-3	46	Check ROM copyright notice
2-1-2-4	47	Initialize manager for PCI Options ROMs
2-1-3-1	48	Check video configuration against CMOS
2-1-3-2	49	Initialize PCI bus and devices
2-1-3-3	4A	Initialize all video adapters in system
2-1-4-1	4C	Shadow video BIOS ROM
2-1-4-3	4E	Display copyright notice
2-2-1-1	50	Display CPU type and speed
2-2-1-3	52	Test keyboard
2-2-2-1	54	Set key click if enabled
2-2-2-3	56	Enable keyboard
2-2-3-1	58	Test for unexpected interrupts
2-2-3-3	5A	Display prompt "Press F2 to enter SETUP"
2-2-4-1	5C	Test RAM between 512 and 640k
2-3-1-1	60	Test expanded memory
2-3-1-3	62	Test extended memory address lines
2-3-2-1	64	Jump to UserPatch1
2-3-2-3	66	Configure advanced cache registers
2-3-3-1	68	Enable external and CPU caches
2-3-3-2	69	Initialize SMI handler
2-3-3-3	6A	Display external cache size
2-3-4-1	6C	Display shadow message
2-3-4-3	6E	Display non-disposable segments
2-4-1-1	70	Display error messages
2-4-1-3	72	Check for configuration errors
2-4-2-1	74	Test real-time clock
2-4-2-3	76	Check for keyboard errors
2-4-4-1	7C	Set up hardware interrupts vectors
2-4-4-3	7E	Test coprocessor if present
3-1-1-1	80	Disable onboard I/O ports
3-1-1-3	82	Detect and install external RS232 ports
3-1-2-1	84	Detect and install external parallel ports
3-1-2-3	86	Re-initialize onboard I/O ports
3-1-3-1	88	Initialize BIOS Data Area
3-1-3-3	8A	Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area
3-1-4-1	8C	Initialize floppy controller
3-2-1-1	90	Initialize hard-disk controller
3-2-1-2	91	Initialize local-bus hard-disk controller
3-2-1-3	92	Jump to UserPatch2
3-2-2-1	94	Disable A20 address line
3-2-2-3	96	Clear huge ES segment register
3-2-3-1	98	Search for option ROMs
3-2-3-3	9A	Shadow option ROMs
3-2-4-1	9C	Set up Power Management
3-2-4-3	9E	Enable hardware interrupts
3-3-1-1	A0	Set time of day
3-3-1-3	A2	Check key lock
3-3-3-1	A8	Erase F2 prompt
3-3-3-3	AA	Scan for F2 key stroke
3-3-4-1	AC	Enter SETUP
3-3-4-3	AE	Clear in-POST flag
3-4-1-1	B0	Check for errors
3-4-1-3	B2	POST done--prepare to boot operating system
3-4-2-1	B4	One beep
3-4-2-3	B6	Check password (optional)
3-4-3-1	B8	Clear global descriptor table
3-4-4-1	BC	Clear parity checkers
3-4-4-3	BE	Clear screen (optional)
3-4-4-4	BF	Check virus and backup reminders
4-1-1-1	C0	Try to boot with INT 19
4-2-1-1	D0	Interrupt handler error
4-2-1-3	D2	Unknown interrupt error
4-2-2-1	D4	Pending interrupt error
4-2-2-3	D6	Initialize option ROM error
4-2-3-1	D8	Shutdown error
4-2-3-3	DA	Extended Block Move
4-2-4-1	DC	Shutdown 10 error
4-2-4-3	DE	Keyboard Controller Failure (most likely problem is with RAM or cache unless no video is present)
4-3-1-3	E2	Initialize the chipset
4-3-1-4	E3	Initialize refresh counter
4-3-2-1	E4	Check for Forced Flash
4-3-2-2	E5	Check HW status of ROM
4-3-2-3	E6	BIOS ROM is OK
4-3-2-4	E7	Do a complete RAM test
4-3-3-1	E8	Do OEM initialization
4-3-3-2	E9	Initialize interrupt controller
4-3-3-3	EA	Read in bootstrap code
4-3-3-4	EB	Initialize all vectors
4-3-4-1	EC	Boot the Flash program
4-3-4-2	ED	Initialize the boot device
4-3-4-3	EE	Boot code was read OK

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While every attempt is made to ensure the accuracy of our support documents, Micro Firmware provides these documents on an AS-IS basis for information purposes only.