The computer motherboard connects all the parts(components) of a computer together.

Mainboard, baseboard, mobo (abbreviation), system board, MB (abbreviation), logic board

are the synonyms of computer’s motherboard .
The motherboard is the most important component in the PC. All the component such as RAM
stick, hard disk drive, optical drives, processor, processor fan and external card are plugin
into motherboard.
Computer motherboard is single platform to connect all of the parts (components) of a
computer together,Hence it considered as the backbone of a computer.

Some of popular manufacturers of the motherboard.

Intel
ASUS
AOpen
ABIT
Biostar
Gigabyte
MSI

The motherboard may be characterized by

the
i) form factor
ii) chipset
iii) type of processor socket used

i) Form factor refers to the motherboard’s geometry, dimensions, arrangement and

electrical
requirements. Advanced Technology Extended (ATX) is the most common design of
motherboard for desktop computers.

ii) Chipset is a circuit, which is used to controls the of resources such as the bus interface
with the processor, cache memory and RAM, expansion
cards, etc. It used to coordinate data transfers between the various components of the
computer.

iii) The processor socket is a connector into which the processor is mounted. The Basic
Input Output System (BIOS) and Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) are
present on the motherboard.

Components of Motherboard
The important components of a Motherboard are given below:
1. Mouse & keyboard :
There are two types of keyboard and mouse connectors.First type is called PS/2 and second
one is called USB.

2. USB (Universal serial bus) :

USB is Universal serial bus. It is used for connection for PC. There are different devices
which is used to connect with USB port such as mouse, keyboards, scanners, cameras, and
even printers.USB connector is used to connect computer motherboard and a peripheral
device. You can insert or remove peripheral device connect by USB connector without
restarting your system.
3. Parallel port :
Most of old printers are used to connect by parallel port. Parallel port used more than one
wire for sending or receiving multiple bits of data at once, while serial port uses only one
wire. Parallel ports use a 25-pin female DB connector.

4. CPU Chip :
CPU refers to a processor, the central processing unit, also called the microprocessor
performs all the task that take place inside a computer system.It is also know as brain of
computer.

5. RAM slots :
RAM slots is for attaching RAM on it in general desktop we can see two slot of RAM but in
server motherboard we can see 4+ slot of RAM.RAM comes in different size(memory).

6. Floppy controller :
In old motherboard the floppy drive connects to the computer via a 34-pin ribbon cable, one
end of ribbon cable is connect to floppy drive and other is connected to the motherboard.

7. IDE controller :
IDE that is Integrated Drive Electronics,also called as ATA or Parallel ATA (PATA).IDE
controller is responsible for controlling the hard drive. Today’s computers no longer come
with a IDE controller.

8. PCI slot :
PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interface, PCI slot allows you to insert expansion cards
into your computer. PCI used to connect additional PCI device like network cards, sound
cards,modems,video cards.Some of today’s computers no longer come with a PCI expansion
slot.Its connect audio, video and graphics.

9. ISA slot :
ISA stands for Industry Standard Architecture, It is the standard architecture of the
Expansion bus.Its connect modem and input devices.

10. CMOS Battery :

CMOS is complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor is used to store BIOS setting in computer
motherboard. CMOS Battery also store date and time.

11. AGP slot :

The Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a
video card to a computer system, If you have a modern motherboard, you will almost
certainly notice a single connector that looks like a PCI slot.A fast port for a graphics card
12. CPU slot :
The processor socket (also called a CPU socket) is the connector on the motherboard that
connect a CPU.

13. Power supply plug in :

The Power supply provides the necessary electrical power to make the computer system
operate. The power supply takes standard 110-V AC power and converts into +/-12-Volt, +/-
5-Volt, and 3.3-Volt DC power.
The power supply connector has 20-pins, and the connector can go in only one direction.

Connector Side of Motherboard

Keyboard & Mouse : This Port is used to connect keyboard and mouse , now a day we use
USB connector for keyboard and mouse

Serial or COM : It used to connect some types of modem, scanner, or digital camera
 Parallel or Printer : You plug your printer into the parallel, or printer, port. But now printers
may use a USB port

USB : Designed to replace older Serial and Parallel ports, the USB (Universal Serial Bus) can
connect computers with a number of devices, such as printers, keyboards, mice, scanners,
digital cameras, PDAs, and more

Video or Monitor : It used to connect your monitor into the video port

Line Out : It used to connect speakers or headphone into the Line Out jack

Line In : The Line In jack allows you to listen to your computer using a stereo system

Microphone : It used to connect a microphone into this jack to record sounds on your
computer

Joystick or Game : If you have a joystick, musical (MIDI) keyboard, or other gaming
device, this is where you plug it in

Phone or Modem : The phone or modem jack is where you plug your computer into a phone
line

Network or Ethernet : You can connect your computer to a network by plugging in an

Ethernet cable in this port

SCSI : It used to connect a hard drive, CD-ROM drive, or other device to a computer

Below Diagram show component of

motherboard
Here we are using Asus H110M-cs motherboard
(1) TPM connector (14-1 pin TPM)

(2 ) ATX power connector (3) CPU socket (4) CPU and chassis fan
connector (5) DDR4 DIMM slots (6) Serial ATA connector

(7) System Front panel connector

(8) Chassis instrusion head (9) Speaker Connector (10) PCI Express (11) Clear
RTC RAM (12) Front panel audio connector (13) Serial port connector (14) PCI
Express slots (15) LPT connector (16) USB 3.0 connector (17) USB 2.0 connector

Installing components of motherboard

Step 1 ) Install CPU
Step 2 ) Installing CPU Fan

Step 3 ) Install RAM

Step 4 ) Install SATA devices
Step 5 ) Install Expansion cards
Step 6 ) Install system panel connector
Step 7 ) Install ATX power connector

Step 8 ) Connecting input/output devices

Step 9 ) Power On the system and install Operating System

BUS ,IDE Cables SATA and PATA

What is Computer bus ?
Computer bus, is a communication system that transfers data between components inside compute System.

Computer buses are group of lines that carries data,address or control signals.It is a subsystem that transfers
data between computer components inside a computer or between computers.The CPU Bus has multiplexed
lines, i.e., same line is used to carry different signals.The CPU interface is provided to demultiplex the lines, to
generate chip select signals and additional control signals.

In computer architecture There are three types of buses,

Address bus :
It carries the address of a unique memory or input/output (I/O) device.The address bus is ‘unidirectional’.The
size (width) of the address bus is specified by the number of bits it can handle.A 16 bit address bus is capable of
addressing 65,536 (64K) addresses.

Data bus :
It carries data stored in memory (or an I/O device) to the CPU or from the CPU to the memory (or
I/O device).The data bus is ‘bi-directional’.Depending on the particular microprocessor, the data bus can handle
8 bit or 16 bit data.

Control bus :
It is a collection of control signals that coordinate and synchronize the whole system.The control bus is used by
the microprocessor to send out or receive timing and control signals in order to coordinate and regulate its
operation and to communicate with other devices, i.e. memory or input/output.

Types of computer buses

Internal bus or local bus
External bus or expansion bus
An internal bus also known as internal data bus enables communication between internal components of a
computer, such as CPU and memory, to the motherboard .

An external bus is composed of electrical circuits which enable connection with external components such as
a USB or SCSI device.

IDE Cables
IDE is Integrated Drive Electronics, is a standard type of connector in a computer.IDE is a types of cables
which connect some hard drives and optical drives to motherboard, one end of cable is connected to
motherboard and other end is connected to hard drive or optical drive

IDE cable have three connection in it , one is connect in motherboard and other two is for connecting drive.

SATA and PATA

PATA stands for parallel ATA.
SATA stands for Serial ATA.
There are two types of hard drive connections that a computer could have: Parallel ATA (PATA), and Serial
ATA (SATA). Now a day we used SATA.
what is pata
PATA is capable of data transfers speeds of 66/100/133 MBs/second, whereas SATA is capable of 150/300/600
MBs/second. The max length of a PATA cable is 18-inches, whereas a SATA cable can be up to 3.3 feet (1
meter) in length.SATA cables are also smaller in size than a PATA cable.

what is sata
SATA is much faster than PATA.SATA drives are hot pluggable while PATA drives are not.SATA uses
smaller cables than PATA.

SATA is the next generation storage interface for PCs and low-end Servers. The current Parallel ATA bus is not
able to meet the increased bandwidth and performance demands of current and future PC designs.
This standard replaces the 26 position ribbon connector with a small flexible signal cable.
SATA can be directly connected (hot plugged) to motherboards and back planes similar to current SCSI
applications eliminating the need for cable completely.

pata vs sata
• Parallel ATA uses a 40 pin ribbon cable
• Serial ATA uses a 7 pin connector and cable

Benefits of Serial ATA

The Serial ATA specification is designed to replace parallel ATA with a software transparent
interface for “inside the box” storage. It reduces voltage and pin count.

• Low voltage requirement. Serial ATA requires only 500 millivolts (mV) peak-peak to support new
silicon processes and higher integration.

• Lower pin count. Reducing the pin count helps reduce board real estate requirements and enables
more reliable connections on the board and the storage device.

• Higher integration. Unlike parallel ATA, Serial ATA does not require 5-volt tolerant transceivers that
can pose a hindrance to higher integration which utilize today’s and future silicon processes.

PATA History
Generation Standard Year Speed Key Features
 1986 Prestandard
IDE
ATA 1994 PIO modes 0-2, multiword DMA 0

PIO modes 3-4,

ATA-2 1996 16 Mb/Sec multiword DMA modes
1-2, LBAs

ATA-3 1997 16 MB/sec SMART

Ultra DMA modes 0-2, CRC, overlap,queuing, 80-

ATA/ATAPI-4 1998 33 MB/sec
wire

Ultra DMA 66 ATA/ATAPI-5 2000 66 MB/sec Ultra DMA mode 3-4

Ultra DMA
ATA/ATAPI-6 2002 100 MB/sec Ultra DMA mode 5, 48-bit LBA
100

Ultra DMA
ATA/ATAPI-7 2003 133 MB/sec Ultra DMA mode 6
133

SATA History
Generation Standard Year Speed Key features

Serial ATA ATA/ATAPI-7 2002 150 MB/sec

Serial ATA II ATA/ATAPI-8 2004 300 MB/sec Enhanced queuing

Serial ATA ? ATA/ATAPI-9? 2007 600 MB/sec

Units of storage in computer
Understanding bits, bytes, and other units used in computer system

what is a bit ?
A bit has only one of two values that is 0 or 1, where electrical values of 0 stand for off and
1 stand for on. It is a smallest unit of data on a system.It is binary digit.

what is a byte ?
A byte is collection of 8 bits . A byte store a single ASCII character.
An alphanumeric character lets says “A” is stored as 1 byte.
Example : To store the letter ‘R’ then it will store as ‘01010010’ which is 8 bits and 1 byte.

A kilobyte (KB) is equal to 1,024 bytes.

bit vs byte
How many bits in a byte?

1 byte 8 bits
There is 8 bits in one byte

computer storage units smallest to largest

Computer memory and storage used megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB).

1MB = 1,024 kilobytes, or 1,048,576 (1024×1024) bytes.

1GB = 1,024 MB, or 1,073,741,824 (1024x1024x1024) bytes.
1 Terabyte (TB) = 1,024 GB.
1 Petabyte (PB) = 1,024 TB.
1 Exabyte (EB) = 1,024 PB.
1 Zettabyte (ZB) = 1,024 EB.
1 Yottabyte (YB) = 1,024 ZB.

Also there are Hellabyte or Brontobyte.

some unit which is used in computer system

1 kilobyte (KB) is equal to 1,024 bytes

1 megabyte (MB) is equal to 1,048,576 bytes

1 gigabyte (GB) is equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes

1 terabyte (TB) is equal to 1,099,511,627,776 bytes

1 petabyte (PB) is equal to 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes

Understanding difference between Mbps and MBps?

Now understanding uppercase B (B) and lowercase b (b).

Uppercase B is stands for bytes and lowercase b stands for bits.

1MBps = 8Mbps
so 1Mbps=1/8*MBps

Example : 100 KB (kilobytes) = 800 Kb (kilobits).

Data SPEEDS are usually described in terms of BITS:

1,024 bits = 1 Kilobit

1,024Kb = 1 Megabit
1,024Mb = 1 Gigabit
1,024Gb = 1 Terabit

Mbps means megabits per second, here Mb means upload and download speeds.

MBps = Mega Bytes per second

Mbps = Mega bits per second

Example 100Mbps is only 12.5MBPS

Impotant Point to Remember :

Generally, Internet service providers show in Mbps.

Example : Speed upto 16 Mbps

But,

While you download from internet, it is in MB/s or KB/s (Bytes).

In short, 16 Mbps plan, your maximum download speed will be 2 MB/s.

Boot Process
PC boot process is process of starting a computer , while it starting its take lots of process to
completed before it get started.

Step by steps of boot process.

1 when we start the system ( power on) the BIOS ( basic input-output system) on system
memory ROM (read only memory) takes charges.

2 The very first job of BIOS ( basic input-output system) is to check all the component of
computer system is working fine or not.

3 First it will check for drive and looks for the system files on your hard disk.

4 It will then copied the boot file from the first sector of hard disk to specific location in RAM
this is called as boot record or Master Boot Record.

5 Then It load the initial system file into RAM from disk drive or hard disk.

6 After loading initial system file it will load the rest of the operating system into RAM.

7 Once the operating system load then it will load the drive file for specific device

8 After all operating files loaded in system memory, the operating system is ready to perform
the task which is given by user interaction.

There may be happen that we used dual OS to be boot in our system then the booting
process will be change
Lets first check Single OS Boot Process then Multiple OS Boot Process

Single OS Boot Process

When we turn on the system BIOS takes the control, and it performs a some of operations. It
checks the hardware, ports etc and finally it loads the MBR program into memory (RAM).
Now, MBR(Master Boot Records) takes control of the booting process.

Functions of MBR:

It start executing the code in first sector of the disk MBR.

Then MBR looks for the Active Partition.
Now control is passed to that partition‘s boot record (PBR) to continue booting.
Then PBR find the system-specific boot files and then continue the loading and initializing the
rest of the OS.

Multiple OS Boot Process

For multiple OS may be windows – windows or window Linux then boot process is slighly
different.

In windows multi-boot when BIOS handover the control to Microsoft MBR then it looks for
active partition (Active partition is where windows is install ) but it contain ntldr.peculiarity is
that one OS‘s boot program is in another OS‘s Partition.
ntldr looks into boot.ini file and finds out the Microsoft OSs installed in the System and
displays the option menu.
When user slects windows, the file bootsect.dos (which is in same partition) is executed, and
if user select differnt windows then ntoskrnl is executed (which is in another partition).
File Extension and Beep Codes
A file extension is suffix of a file name, after the dot. Basically file extensions are three
characters long, but they can be shorter or longer as well.

FileName.extention

File extensions list

Audio file formats by file extensions

.aif – AIF audio file

.cda – CD audio track file
.mid or .midi – MIDI audio file.
.mp3 – MP3 audio file
.mpa – MPEG-2 audio file
.ogg – Ogg Vorbis audio file
.wav – WAV file
.wma – WMA audio file
.wpl – Windows Media Player playlist

Compressed file extensions

.7z – 7-Zip compressed file

.arj – ARJ compressed file
.deb – Debian software package file
.pkg – Package file
.rar – RAR file
.rpm – Red Hat Package Manager
.tar.gz – Tarball compressed file
.z – Z compressed file
.zip – Zip compressed file

Disc and media file extensions

.bin – Binary disc image

.dmg – macOS X disk image
.iso – ISO disc image
.toast – Toast disc image
.vcd – Virtual CD

Data and database file extensions

.csv – Comma separated value file
.dat – Data file
.db or .dbf – Database fileBeep codes
.log – Log file
.mdb – Microsoft Access database file
.sav – Save file (e.g., game save file)
.sql – SQL database file
.tar – Linux / Unix tarball file archive
.xml – XML file

Executable file extensions

.apk – Android package file

.bat – Batch file
.bin – Binary file
.cgi or .pl – Perl script file
.com – MS-DOS command file
.exe – Executable file
.gadget – Windows gadget
.jar – Java Archive file
.py – Python file
.wsf – Windows Script File

Font file extensions

.fnt – Windows font file

.fon – Generic font file
.otf – Open type font file
.ttf – TrueType font file

JPEG example.Image file formats by file extension

.ai – Adobe Illustrator file

.bmp – Bitmap image
.gif – GIF image
.ico – Icon file
.jpeg or .jpg – JPEG image
.png – PNG image
.ps – PostScript file
.psd – PSD image
.svg – Scalable Vector Graphics file
.tif or .tiff – TIFF image

Internet related file extensions

.asp and .aspx – Active Server Page file
.cer – Internet security certificate
.cfm – ColdFusion Markup file
.cgi or .pl – Perl script file
.css – Cascading Style Sheet file
.htm and .html – HTML file
.js – JavaScript file
.jsp – Java Server Page file
.part – Partially downloaded file
.php – PHP file
.py – Python file
.rss – RSS file
.xhtml – XHTML file

Presentation file formats by file extension

.key – Keynote presentation

.odp – OpenOffice Impress presentation file
.pps – PowerPoint slide show
.ppt – PowerPoint presentation
.pptx – PowerPoint Open XML presentation

Programming files by file extensions

.c – C and C++ source code file

.class – Java class file
.cpp – C++ source code file
.cs – Visual C# source code file
.h – C, C++, and Objective-C header file
.java – Java Source code file
.sh – Bash shell script
.swift – Swift source code file
.vb – Visual Basic file

Spreadsheet file formats by file extension

.ods – OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet file

.xlr – Microsoft Works spreadsheet file
.xls – Microsoft Excel file
.xlsx – Microsoft Excel Open XML spreadsheet file

System related file formats and file extensions

.bak – Backup file
.cab – Windows Cabinet file
.cfg – Configuration file
.cpl – Windows Control panel file
.cur – Windows cursor file
.dll – DLL file
.dmp – Dump file
.drv – Device driver file
.icns – macOS X icon resource file
.ico – Icon file
.ini – Initialization file
.lnk – Windows shortcut file
.msi – Windows installer package
.sys – Windows system file
.tmp – Temporary file

Video file formats by file extension

.3g2 – 3GPP2 multimedia file

.3gp – 3GPP multimedia file
.avi – AVI file
.flv – Adobe Flash file
.h264 – H.264 video file
.m4v – Apple MP4 video file
.mkv – Matroska Multimedia Container
.mov – Apple QuickTime movie file
.mp4 – MPEG4 video file
.mpg or .mpeg – MPEG video file
.rm – RealMedia file
.swf – Shockwave flash file
.vob – DVD Video Object
.wmv – Windows Media Video file

Word processor and text file formats by file extension

.doc and .docx – Microsoft Word file

.odt – OpenOffice Writer document file
.pdf – PDF file
.rtf – Rich Text Format
.tex – A LaTeX document file
.txt – Plain text file
.wks and .wps- Microsoft Works file
.wpd – WordPerfect document
Beep codes
A beep code is a signal generated by computer during the boot process. Most beep codes
are related to a power on self test (POST).

Beep codes vary depending on the manufacturer of the BIOS.

Below are some of the common beep codes for an Award BIOS.

Beep Code Meaning

1 long, 2 short
Video adapter error: Bad or improperly seated video card

Repeating beeps
Memory error: Bad or improperly seated RAM

1 long, 3 short
Bad video RAM or video card not present

High-frequency beeps
Overheated CPU: Check fans

Repeating high/low beeps

CPU: Improperly seated or defective CPU

IBM error code

Error Code Family == Error Type

1xx == System board errors

2xx == Memory (RAM) errors
3xx == Keyboard errors
4xx == Monochrome monitor errors
5xx == Color monitor errors
6xx == Game control adapter errors
7xx == 8087 or 80287 math coprocessor errors
9xx == Parallel printer adapter errors
10xx == Reserved for parallel printer adapter
11xx == Asynchronous communications adapter errors
12xx == Alternate asynchronous communications adapter errors
13xx == Parallel printer adapter errors
Dell beep codes
If the display cannot show any errors your computer might emit a series of beeps during
start-up.

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

The delay between each beep is 300ms. The delay between each set of beeps is 3 sec, and
the beep sound lasts 300ms.

After each beep and each set of beeps, the BIOS should detect if the user presses the power
button, if so, BIOS will jump out from looping and execute the normal shutdown process and
power system.
What is CMOS and BIOS?
What is CMOS?
CMOS stands for Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor.It is a low-power, low-heat
semiconductor technology, It is battery powered semiconductor chip inside computers that
stores information.
CMOS is a small amount of memory on a system motherboard that stores the BIOS settings,
BIOS settings stores the date, the time, and system configuration details.

What is BIOS?
BIOS stands for basic input/output system (BIOS).
The BIOS software is built into the PC, and is the first code run by a PC when powered on
(‘boot firmware’).The BIOS firmware is non-volatile, meaning that its settings are saved and
recoverable even after power has been removed from the device.BIOS instructs the computer
on how to perform a number of basic functions such as booting and keyboard control.BIOS is
also used to identify and configure the hardware in a computer such as the hard drive, floppy
drive, optical drive, CPU, memory, etc.

When the PC starts up, the first job for the BIOS is to initialize and identify system devices
that is Keyboard, mouse, display card, sound card, hard disk etc. The BIOS then locates
software held on a peripheral device (designated as a ‘boot device’), such as a hard disk or a
CD, and loads and executes that software, giving it control of the PC.This process is known as
booting, or booting up, which is short for bootstrapping.

In modern computer systems, the BIOS chip’s contents can be rewritten allowing BIOS
software to be upgraded.

Some of point to be remember regarding BIOS

-> Basic input/output system

-> Built into the PC
-> BIOS software stored permanently(Now a day computers BIOS chip can be rewritten,
allowing -> BIOS software to be upgraded) on a ROM chip on the motherboard
-> The first code run when a PC is powered on
-> Identify system devices

A BIOS will also have a user interface (or UI for short). Typically this is a menu system
accessed by pressing a certain key on the keyboard when the PC starts.

In the BIOS UI, a user can :

-> Configure hardware
-> Set the system clock
-> Enable or disable system components
-> Select which devices are eligible to be a potential boot device
-> Set various password prompts, such as a password for securing access to the BIOS UI
functions.

NOTE : Both BIOS and CMOS available in System board ( Motherboard ). Bios is stored in
ROM and its function is to interface between operating system and motherboard.CMOS
memory chip is used to store system date and time setting.when system is powe off then
CMOS chip remains alive.
POST
A power-on self-test (POST) is a process performed by firmware or software routines immediately after a computer
or other digital electronic device is powered on.
This article mainly deals with POSTs on personal computers, but many other embedded systems such as those in
major appliances, avionics, communications, or medical equipment also have self-test routines which are
automatically invoked at power-on.
In IBM PC compatible computers, the main duties of POST are handled by the BIOS, which may hand some of
these duties to other programs designed to initialize very specific peripheral devices, notably for video
and SCSI initialization. These other duty-specific programs are generally known collectively as option ROMs or
individually as the video BIOS, SCSI BIOS, etc.
The principal duties of the main BIOS during POST are as follows:

 verify CPU registers

 verify the integrity of the BIOS code itself
 verify some basic components like DMA, timer, interrupt controller
 find, size, and verify system main memory
 initialize BIOS
 pass control to other specialized extension BIOSes (if installed)
 identify, organize, and select which devices are available for booting
The functions above are served by the POST in all BIOS versions back to the very first. In later BIOS versions,
POST will also:

 discover, initialize, and catalog all system buses and devices

 provide a user interface for system's configuration
 construct whatever system environment is required by the target operating system

Original IBM POST beep codes[edit]

Beeps Meaning

1 short beep Normal POST – system is OK

2 short beeps POST error – error code shown on screen

No beep Power supply, system board problem, disconnected CPU, or disconnected speaker

Continuous beep Power supply, system board, or may be RAM problem, keyboard problem

Repeating short beeps Power supply or system board problem or keyboard

1 long, 1 short beep System board problem

 1 long, 2 short beeps Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA)

1 long, 3 short beeps Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA)

3 long beeps 3270 keyboard card

POST AMI BIOS beep codes[edit]

Beeps Meaning

1 Memory refresh timer error

2 Parity error in base memory (first 64 KiB block)

3 Base memory read/write test error

4 Motherboard timer not operational (check all PSU to MB connectors seated)

5 Processor failure

6 8042 Gate A20 test error (cannot switch to protected mode)

7 General exception error (processor exception interrupt error)

8 Display memory error (system video adapter)

9 AMI BIOS ROM checksum fix

10 CMOS shutdown register read/write fix

11 Cache memory test failed

continuous beeping Motherboard does not detect a RAM module (continuous beeping)

Reference: AMIBIOS8 Check Point and Beep Code List, version 2.0, last updated 10 June 2008
POST beep codes on CompTIA A+ certification exam[edit]
These POST beep codes are covered specifically on the CompTIA A+ Exam:

Beeps Meaning

Steady, short beeps Power supply may be bad

Long continuous
Memory failure
beep tone

Steady, long beeps Power supply bad

No beep Power supply bad, system not plugged in, or power not turned on

If everything seems to be functioning correctly there may be a problem with the 'beeper'
No beep
itself. The system will normally beep one short beep.

One long, two short

Video card failure
beeps

IBM POST diagnostic code descriptions[edit]

Code Meaning

100–199 System boards

200–299 Memory

300–399 Keyboard

400–499 Monochrome display

500–599 Color/graphics display

600–699 Floppy-disk drive or adapter

700–799 Math coprocessor

900–999 Parallel printer port

1000–1099 Alternate printer adapter

1100–1299 Asynchronous communication device, adapter, or port

1300–1399 Game port

1400–1499 Color/graphics printer

1500–1599 Synchronous communication device, adapter, or port

1700–1799 Hard drive or adapter (or both)

1800–1899 Expansion unit (XT)

2000–2199 Bisynchronous communication adapter

2400–2599 EGA system-board video (MCA)

3000–3199 LAN adapter

4800–4999 Internal modem

7000–7099 Phoenix BIOS chips

7300–7399 3.5-inch disk drive

8900–8999 MIDI adapter

 11200–11299 SCSI adapter

21000–21099 SCSI fixed disk and controller

21500–21599 SCSI CD-ROM system

Macintosh POST[edit]
Main article: Macintosh startup

Apple's Macintosh computers also perform a POST after a cold boot. In the event of a fatal error, the Mac will not
make its startup chime.

Old World Macs (until 1998)[edit]

Macs made after 1987 but prior to 1998, upon failing the POST, will immediately halt with a "death chime", which is
a sound that varies by model; it can be a beep, a car crash sound, the sound of shattering glass, a short musical
tone, or more. On the screen, if working, will be the Sad Mac icon, along with two hexadecimal strings, which can be
used to identify the problem. Macs made prior to 1987 crashed silently with the hexadecimal string and a Sad Mac
icon.

New World Macs (1998–1999)[edit]

When Apple introduced the iMac in 1998, it was a radical departure from other Macs of the time. The iMac began
the production of New World Macs, as they are called; New World Macs, such as the iMac, Power Macintosh G3
(Blue & White), Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics), PowerBook G3 (bronze keyboard), and PowerBook G3 (FireWire),
load the Mac OS ROM from the hard drive. In the event of an error, but not a fatal hardware error, they display the
same screen as seen when holding ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + O + F at startup but with the error message instead of the
"0 >" prompt. In the event of a fatal hardware error, they give these beeps:[3]

Beeps Meaning

1 No RAM installed/detected

2 Incompatible RAM type installed (for example, EDO)

3 No RAM banks passed memory testing

4 Bad checksum for the remainder of the boot ROM

5 Bad checksum for the ROM boot block

New World Macs (1999 onward) and Intel-based Macs[edit]

The beep codes were revised in October 1999,[4] and have been the same since. In addition, on some models, the
power LED would flash in cadence.
Beeps Meaning

1 No RAM installed/detected

2 Incompatible RAM types

3 No good banks

4 No good boot images in the boot ROM, or bad sys config block, or both

5 Processor is not usable

The Five Steps of the Boot Sequence
Computers large and small must have some type of start-up process, which is typically called the "boot"
process. During this set of steps the computer checks itself to be sure all is well, loads some minimal
operational software and loads the operating system. The term "boot" is a shortened version of the word
"bootstrap," which was used in the early days of computing to describe the process whereby the computer
pulled itself up by its "bootstraps."
Every computer, regardless of size, must have a boot process.
Power Up
The first step of any boot process is applying power to the machine. When the user turns a computer on, a series
of events begins that ends when the operating system gets control from the boot process and the user is free to
work. When the computer is turned on, the central processor executes some startup code in ROM that is located
on the motherboard.

Power-On Self Test

The next step in the boot process is called the POST, or power on self test. This test checks all connected
hardware, including RAM and secondary storage devices to be sure it is all functioning properly. After POST
has completed its job, the boot process searches the boot device list for a device with a BIOS on it.
00:37
Find a Boot Device
The I/O system is essential to the operation of the computer because it defines the rules for communications
between the CPU and the other devices attached to the computer via the motherboard. The I/O system,
sometimes found in the "io.sys" file on the boot device, provides extensions to the BIOS located in ROM on the
motherboard.

Load the Operating System

Once the hardware functionality is confirmed and the input/output system is loaded, the boot process begins
loading the operating system from the boot device. The OS is loaded into RAM, and any instructions specific to
the particular operating system are executed. The actual operating system is somewhat irrelevant, as the
computer will follow the same boot pattern in any case.

Transfer Control
Once the previous steps are complete and the operating system is safely loaded into RAM, the boot process
relinquishes control to the OS. The OS then proceeds to execute any pre-configured startup routines to define
user configuration or application execution. At the end of the handoff, the computer is ready for use.