Gigabyte H81M-HD3 gives 1 beep

[madsniper84]

so i just finished building a computer (Gigabyte H81M-HD3 motherboard) and when i start it up it beeps once and thats it, nothing else happens. i searched on some forums and it says that if it beeps once then all systems are a go, but still nothing happens. if anyone could shed some light on the matter that would be much appreciated.

 

[tachi1247]

no idea what that would be, but I would try re-seating the gpu, power cables to mobo, etc.

 

[EarthDog]

Can you please list your complete system specs? Are you sure all cables are plugged in? 24 pin and 8 pin on the motherboard, plus your videocard if it needs one/two?

Are you just not getting a signal on the monitor? Have you tried a different output from the GPU?

 

[NZKshatriya]

From personal experience, the way I tend to handle this kind of situation, is to remove all cable connections, remove all cards from the mainboard, inspect for damage on connections. If all is well proceed to reconnect everything, making sure that all cards are seated properly and firmly, memory is seated fully and locked into place, and make sure all cable connections are seated and locked as well.

This, of course, is after I make sure my monitor/sound system/etc is actually turned on........I cannot tell you how many times I have disassembled/reassembled a system, only to kick myself in the head for then noticing I had somehow gotten a cable unplugged from a monitor, or amplifier.

 

[madsniper84]

the monitor and cable are working, i hooked it up to my laptop and it works. I have disconnected all wires and reconnected and it still doesn't work, but i have not taken the cards out.
parts list:
Motherboard: Gigabyte H81M-HD3
Ram: Kingston hyperx 8gb
Powersupply: EVGA 430 watt
CPU: intel core i3-4170
Graphics card: EVGA Gforce GT 740 4gb
Hardrive: WD blue 1TB
O/S: windows 10
case: Roswell black ATX gaming half tower.

 

[EarthDog]

You can test if it is the gpu by using the onboard igpu.. plug the monitor into the ports on the motherboard...

 

[madsniper84]

i just did that and it is something with the graphics card. i took it out inspected it and put it back in a i got the same black screen. any advice?

 

[EarthDog]

1. Try a different PCIe slot if there is one on the board.
2. Try updating the bios on the board to the latest version and try the GPU again in both slots.
3. Try another videocard if you have one handy.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

so i just finished building a computer (Gigabyte H81M-HD3 motherboard) and when i start it up it beeps once and thats it, nothing else happens.

Reseat the RAM. It was a strange symptom I saw on a system before.

 

[NZKshatriya]

Wait.......you said the onboard video works?

Have you tried booting into the OS, and seeing if the Nvidia card is detected?
I am just thinking that this could be a BIOS setup issue, where its somehow preferring the onboard video over the video card.

Anyone have any thoughts on my caffeine-addled idea?

@madsniper, don't act on this idea until others chime in........I don't wanna be responsible for anything burnt lol

*off to bed....couple of exams tomorrow*

 

[EarthDog]

A motherboard should go to discrete if it's detected, yes.

Get in the bios and see if the card is recognized, and see if peg or igpu or auto.

Good one!

 

[cozumel]

The BIOS options that require checking are within the "Peripherals" page

• The first option on that page is for 'Initial Graphics Output':
• The choices are IGFX (onboard), PCIe 1 slot, PCI
• PCIe 1 slot needs to be selected for Nvidia card

• Further down the Peripherals page there is another option for 'Intel Processor Graphics':
• The choices here are enabled or disabled
• This can be disabled if you are using NVidia card

 

[cozumel]

Incidentally, with regard to the single beep from the AMI bios on the motherboard (I think it is AMI)

AMI (long+short beeps)
1x short DRAM refresh failure
2x short Parity circuit failure
3x short Base 64K RAM failure
4x short System timer failure
5x short Process failure
6x short Keyboard controller Gate A20 error
7x short Virtual mode exception error
8x short Display memory Read/Write test failure
9x short ROM BIOS checksum failure
10x short CMOS shutdown Read/Write error
11x short Cache Memory error
1x long, 3x short Conventional/Extended memory failure
1x long, 8x short Display/Retrace test failed

Source : biosflash.com
I've never used this site before and the info quoted above may not be correct

 

[NZKshatriya]

Got the same info from Gigabytes site.
They seem to be in love with short beeps over at AMI

 

[cozumel]

Got the same info from Gigabytes site.

@madsniper84
If after confirming bios gpu settings are correct the device still won't boot, and if the beep codes are listed identically with Gigabyte, then you may want to test your RAM to confirm they are working correctly. Obviously seat and reseat first

 

[EarthDog]

Incidentally, with regard to the single beep from the AMI bios on the motherboard (I think it is AMI)



Source : biosflash.com
I've never used this site before and the info quoted above may not be correct

Good info, but, if the onboard is working, the ram has nothing to do with it. In fact, the iGPU uses system ram in the first place while a discrete GPU does not.

 

[NZKshatriya]

Agreed.

If the card is good (or if the motherboard slots are good) the BIOS should switch output to the card.

Which is the more likely culprit? an evga video card, or possibly bad slots on a ~$60 gigabyte board?

 

[EarthDog]

I have seen cards just not work with boards before. Its weird. Flashing to the latest bios sometimes helps.

But to answer, the latter is more likely.

 

[madsniper84]

i just ran into another problem the spare part optical drive that i used is not sata compatible, but i did order a new one and it will arrive Tuesday or Wednesday. so i will post if it works or not once i get it.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

A single short bleep is a normal code and should go right to Windows.

(Both Award and AMI)