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Understanding Beep Codes on a Dell Laptops

Summary: This article is a guide to the various diagnostic beep codes for Dell laptops.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Instructions

Table of Contents:

Introduction to Beep Codes or LED Codes on Dell Laptops

Diagnostic indicators such as beep codes or LED codes are helpful to diagnose and resolve issues that your laptop might experience during start up.

If the display cannot show any errors, your computer might emit a series of beeps during start-up.

  1. Three means 3-3-3-3…That is three beeps and three beeps and…: Endless looping until the user presses the power button to shut down the computer.

  2. The delay between each beep is 300 milliseconds. The delay between each set of beeps is three seconds, and the beep sound lasts 300 milliseconds.

  3. After each beep and each set of beeps, the BIOS should detect if the user presses the power button. If so, the BIOS jumps out from looping and performs the normal shutdown process and powers off the laptop.

NOTE: See the documentation of your Dell laptop for device-specific information about diagnostic indicators such as beep codes or LED codes.
 
NOTE: If your computer is giving a code that is not listed on this guide, see the documentation of your Dell laptop or contact Dell Technical Support to investigate this unknown code further.

If your computer is giving a listed code, then use the fault descriptions below to narrow your possible No Post troubleshooting. For additional troubleshooting, learn How to Troubleshoot a No POST Issue on a Dell Laptop.

Alternatively, for beep code or error codes related to the system memory or RAM, learn How to diagnose and resolve common memory issues on a Dell Laptop.

If the computer passes the power-on self-test or POST, the computer may give a single beep (some computers may not beep or beep twice) as it starts and continues to boot. However, if the computer fails the POST, the computer may generate a beep code or LED code indicating the potential source of the problem.

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Inspiron Laptops

The following table provides information about beep codes and possible solutions for Dell Inspiron laptops.

Table 1: Power LED Blinking or Beep Code on Inspiron laptops
Beep Code Fault Description Fault(s) Suggested Action
1 Motherboard: BIOS ROM Failure Motherboard; covers BIOS corruption or ROM error
2 Memory No Memory (RAM) detected
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
3 Motherboard: Chipset
  • Chipset Error (North and South bridge error
  • Time-Of-Day Clock test failure
  • Gate A20 failure
  • Super I/O chip failure
  • Keyboard controller failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
4 Memory Memory (RAM) Failure
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
5 Real-Time Clock Power Failure CMOS battery failure
  1. Learn How to Perform a BIOS or CMOS Reset and Clear the NVRAM on Dell Computers.
  2. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
6 Video BIOS Video card/chip failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
7 Central Processing Unit (CPU) Central Processing Unit (CPU) Failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
8 (On older computers that are no longer sold) LCD LCD Failure Contact Technical Support

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XPS Laptops

The following table provides information about beep codes and possible solutions for Dell XPS laptops.

Table 2: Power LED Blinking or Beep Code on XPS laptops
Beep Code Error Description Suggested Next Step
1 Motherboard; covers BIOS corruption or ROM error
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
2 No Memory (RAM) detected
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
3
  • Chipset Error (North and South bridge error
  • Time-Of-Day Clock test failure
  • Gate A20 failure
  • Super I/O chip failure
  • Keyboard controller failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
4 Memory (RAM) Failure
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
5 CMOS battery failure
  1. Learn How to Perform a BIOS or CMOS Reset and Clear the NVRAM on Dell Computers.
  2. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
6 Video card/chip failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
7 Central Processing Unit (CPU) Failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
8 LCD Failure Contact Technical Support

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Vostro Laptops

The following table provides information about beep codes and possible solutions for Dell Vostro laptops.

Table 3: Power LED Blinking or Beep Code on Vostro laptops
Beep Code Description Failure Coverage Suggested Action
1 BIOS ROM checksum in progress or failure. BIOS Chip System board failure; covers BIOS corruption or ROM error
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
2 No RAM Detected No memory detected
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
3
  • Chipset Error (North and South Bridge Chipset, DMA/IMR/Timer Error for Intel platform); Chipset Error
  • Time-Of-Day Clock test failure.
  • Gate A20 failure
  • Super I/O chip failure.
  • Keyboard controller test failure.
 System board Failure
(Power LED Blinking Amber)
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
4 RAM Read/Write failure Memory failure
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
5 RTC Power Fail COMS battery failure
  1. Learn How to Perform a BIOS or CMOS Reset and Clear the NVRAM on Dell Computers.
  2. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
6 Video BIOS Test Failure Video card failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
7 CPU Failure CPU
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
8 LCD LCD Failure Contact Technical Support

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Latitude Laptops

The following table provides information about beep codes and possible solutions for Dell Latitude laptops.

Table 4: Power LED Blinking or Beep Code on Latitude laptops
Beep Code Description Failure Coverage Suggested Action
1 BIOS ROM checksum in progress or failure. BIOS Chip System board failure; covers BIOS corruption or ROM error
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
2 No RAM Detected No memory detected
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
3
  • Chipset Error (North and South Bridge Chipset, DMA/IMR/Timer Error for Intel platform); Chipset Error
  • Time-Of-Day Clock test failure.
  • Gate A20 failure
  • Super I/O chip failure.
  • Keyboard controller test failure.
 System board Failure
(Power LED Blinking Amber)
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
4 RAM Read/Write failure Memory failure
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
5 RTC Power Fail COMS battery failure
  1. Learn How to Perform a BIOS or CMOS Reset and Clear the NVRAM on Dell Computers.
  2. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
6 Video BIOS Test Failure Video card failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
7 CPU Failure CPU
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
8 LCD LCD Failure Contact Technical Support

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Precision Mobile Workstations

The following table provides information about beep codes and possible solutions for Dell Precision mobile workstation laptops.

Table 5: Power LED Blinking or Beep Code on Precision mobile workstation laptops
Beep Code Description Failure Coverage Suggested Action
1 System board; covers BIOS corruption or ROM error System board BIOS ROM failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
2 No Memory/RAM Detected No memory detected
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
3 System board, Chipset Error, Clock failure, Gate A20 failure, Super I/O Failure, Keyboard controller failure System board; Chipset
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
4 Memory/RAM failure Memory failure
  1. Learn How to Diagnose and Resolve Common Memory Issues on a Dell Desktop Computer
5 Real-Time Clock power fail COMS battery failure
  1. Learn How to Perform a BIOS or CMOS Reset and Clear the NVRAM on Dell Computers.
  2. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
6 Video card/chip Failure Video BIOS
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
7 CPU CPU Failure
  1. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer to identify potential hardware failure.
8 LCD LCD Failure Contact Technical Support
Note: Depending on the hardware configuration of your computer, you may need speakers that are connected to the output connecter in order to hear the beeps. If your computer does not emit any beeps in a repeated pattern. Check out the guides below for what the diagnostic LEDs mean on your computer instead.

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Additional Information

Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

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Affected Products

Inspiron, Latitude, Vostro, XPS, Mobile Workstations
Article Properties
Article Number: 000132041
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 20 Dec 2023
Version:  10
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