# Solved: Inspiron 530 four beeps on startup



## DanStanley (Jul 27, 2003)

I am using my wife's laptop to send this because my Dell desktop Inspiron 530 PC went to gray horizontal strips on the screen and when I tried to reboot it gave me 4 beeps. After leaving it off a while I turned it on again and it worked for about 5 minutes before doing the same thing. Do I need a new hard drive? -Dan


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Is it doing 4 beeps that repeat three times?

If so, the good news is that it's probably not the hard drive. The bad news is that it may be the microprocessor.
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/788099-dell-inspiron-530-cache-test.html


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## DanStanley (Jul 27, 2003)

Thanks. I am using the computer now, but I anticipate it will crash any time and when I reboot it will beep. I will tell you how many beeps when it does.I have replaced hard drives. Can I similarly replace the other? Dan


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

OK, I found the Inspiron 530 troubleshooting guides on the Dell web site. A repeating pattern of 4 beeps indicates a RAM Read/Write failure. This is different than a repeating 2 beep pattern for no memory module being detected.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/inspd530/en/OM/HTML/trouble.htm#wp1085300

If you have not recently installed any new memory modules or attempted any possible memory timing tweaks in the BIOS, it might not hurt to remove any installed memory modules, gently clean the contacts and re-install them. If you still get the beeps, one of the memory modules may be going bad or the memory controller on the motherboard may be going bad. You could try contacting Dell tech support or maybe someone else here could help you isolate the cause of the problem.


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## DanStanley (Jul 27, 2003)

Thanks. It makes sets of four beeps repeated indefinitely. I stopped counting at 30 before I shut it off with the off button.

I haven't installed anything recently or done anything to the computer except answer my email and download a couple of pictures from my camera.

It may be worth noting that, few weeks ago, the computer stopped downloading anything from iTunes - I can't get onto the iStore, and my iPod subscriptions stopped downloading. I get an error message that says the applesyncnotifier is no longer working.

Do you think these problems are related? -Dan


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

I can't think of how a possible hardware problem would be related to any kind of software issue.


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## DanStanley (Jul 27, 2003)

Thanks. I will try reseating the memory modules this weekend. -Dan


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## DanStanley (Jul 27, 2003)

Hi,
I reseated the memory modules and it works fine now. Thanks!!!

For some reason, the sound is not working now. I checked the controls and they are not muted. The speakers are on and make humming and popping sounds when I plug them in. I am sure the green speaker plug goes into the green 1/8 inch plug hole in the back of the computer. 

I am using two Altec Lansing Gateway 2000 speakers. My control panel says "no audio device plugged in" I also got an error message somewhere that said Windows Common DLL not working. Any ideas? -Dan


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Glad to hear you solved the beeps on boot-up problem.

Does the Windows Hardware Device Manager show a sound controller? If so, are there any yellow or red warning symbols for the icon? If so, you may need to reinstall the drivers for it.

You might want to consider marking this topic as solved and starting a new one for the sound problem. while mentioning the previous boot-up memory problem.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

Be sure and check all connections and make sure everything is seated securely as removing and reinstalling the ram could be the culprit of sound not working. Also, while your in there, be sure to blow out the dust if you have not done so


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