Few (newbie) questions...

[AngryMelody]

I just got the system all setup, but am encountering a few problems. For one, when I look in my system profile, I see a "!" on the PCI Communication Device, do you have any ideas how I can fix this? I am certain I do not have the software for this. And lastly, often times when I boot up my computer, I will get a set of beeps, and then the monitor will power down until I hit a key on the keyboard, or some kind of action, and it usually continues this until the computer boots up Windows98. I hope this all makes sense, and the questions havent already been asked.

[Weavervegas]

The ! next to the PCI communication device could be because it doesn't have drivers installed. If you know what the device is, and who made it, you can go to the website of whoever made it and download drivers for it.

The series of beeps could mean a lot of things. Some motherboards beep when the CMOS battery gets low, but most give a warning. A lot of times if it's between 2 and 4 beeps, it means there's a bad memory chip, but not always. The beeps do have a code to them, and the code should be listed in your motherboard manual. There are also several places on the web that will tell you what they are...although I can't remember any of the sites. Since you said that the monitor was acting oddly, it could be a video card problem. If you can get ahold of a different video card, one that you know works, try switching them out, and if the beeps stop, then you know that it was the video card causing it. If it continues, try changing the RAM. If you have two RAM chips in the computer, take one out, and leave the other in (make sure which ever one is left in, is in the #1 slot).

[morriswindgate]

PCI Communications Device = Modem or NIC Card.
For the series of beeps we need to know how many and if long or short to give you any informations about this. Also if you know the Motherboard Brand, Video Card, Sound Card, NIC/MODEM, Amount of RAM Installed, ect.

[pchardwaretech]

Further information required.
How many beep sounds do you get? Are they short or long or short and long?
What BIOS are you using, AWARD, AMI, PHOENIX?
Help can be provided when you provide this information

[AngryMelody]

If I remember correctly the beeps would start out in a series of 3, and then when I would hit the "enter" key on the keyboard, it would beep once more and then the monitor would turn back on. As for the motherboard it is a M7MKE with 750MHZ AMD Processor with twin fans & Heatsink. I have a 16MB TNT2 AGP Video Card, my Modem is a ESS 56K V.90, and my hardrive is a pathetic 10.2GB UDMA-66. I hope that this gives you the information you need. And you mentioned a place to get drivers, where can I find drivers to download on the internet? I found the site to download the drivers for my video card, but that was all. Thanks again for the fast reply's and help. I really appreciate this community.

[Cricket]

Hi AngryMelody,

For current hardware, you should be able to find drivers at the manufacturer's website. Look for support or downloads.

For older devices, you can try here: Driver Guide (http://www.driverguide.com/) You'll have to enroll as a member to access the website, but it's free.

:) Cricket

[melloman]

OK.
Here's where you can find the manual, in .PDF format.

It's an Award BIOS, so we'd find their beep codes via awards website:

AwardBIOS -- The only AwardBIOS beep code indicates that a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information. This beep code consists of a single long beep followed by two short beeps. Any other beeps are probably a RAM (Random Access memory) issue.

Link:
Award site (http://www.phoenix.com/pcuser/phoenixbios/biosfaq.html#Q11)

so the beeps are probably a card and not the mobo.