Crashed and Not Booting.

[Shade]

Yesterday I was just copy/pasting some images around, and went to File > New in Photoshop... when my monitor went dark (light still on). And then a few moments later, Winamp cut out. And I waited. And nothing came back.

So I restarted.... and still got black screen. There was a sequence of beeps, 1 long 3 short. According to google, this can mean something different depending on what kind of BIOS I have. How do I tell?

I tried booting it with each stick of RAM seperately, and got the same error beep code.

System Specs:
MB: Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+
RAM: Patriot DDR2 2GB sticks x2
Video: GeForce 8600 GTS 512MB PCI-E
Sound: SB Audigy 7.1 SE
Hard Drives: WD (74GB), Seagate (500GB)
OS: Win XP
Monitor: Mac 20" Cinema Display (lol)

Much thanks for any help / advice.

[Mafai]

i believe asus uses AWARD BIOs? also, if you have a big video card, the PSU could be having problems powering the card causing this error.

1long, 3short
No video card
bad video RAM

Recommendations:
Reseat or replace the video card/RAM

1long, 2 short Video adapter error Either video adapter is bad or is not seated properly. Also, check to ensure the monitor cable is connected properly.

Repeating (endless loop) Memory error Check for improperly seated or missing memory.

1long, 3short No video card or bad video RAM Reseat or replace the video card.

High frequency beeps while running Overheated CPU Check the CPU fan for proper operation. Check the case for proper air flow.

Repeating High/Low CPU Either the CPU is not seated properly or the CPU is damaged. May also be due to excess heat. Check the CPU fan or BIOS settings for proper fan speed.

[Shade]

Thanks.

I tried reseating it, and got no different result. I suppose the next step is borrowing an old videocard from someone and seeing if that'll work?

[Mafai]

yea, unless the mb has an onboard card and you can boot using that. also id recommend swapping in a PSU with the current card before you replace yours.

[Shade]

Well, tested it with another vid card, and it booted up just fine. *sigh*

Thanks Mafai!