Shane Carter

Q: 3 beeps on start up

I'm getting 3 beeps on start up. I have replaced the RAM with RAM I know is good and it still beeps 3 times and doesn't boot. The laptop is less than a year old. It is a Macbook Pro 13".  Please help!

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7), We also support apple xserves.

Posted on Mar 22, 2012 7:34 AM

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Q: 3 beeps on start up

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  • by TECH-4,

    TECH-4 TECH-4 Jan 7, 2014 6:34 AM in response to Shane Carter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2014 6:34 AM in response to Shane Carter

    Hello, I also had the 3-beeps but it turned out not to be the ram. I had installed a Sandisk Extreme S.S.D. When I started the MacBook it gave me the 3 beeps but I discovered I was able to boot into my bootcamp partition and the machine ran fine. Reformatted my drive and I re-installed the OS. Running fine running 10.9.1. I am not sure why the Apple partion caused a ram error but it did. I whish I figured this out a month ago.

  • by demoman,

    demoman demoman May 31, 2014 2:08 PM in response to Shane Carter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2014 2:08 PM in response to Shane Carter

    "3 Beep On Startup problem"

     

    I had an OWC 6 gig replacement set for awhile that works in place of the 4 gig original set. Bought them a while back but made my beefed up early 2008 MBP run a little too hot. I use it for music production. So I cleaned the sockets with Radio Shack Cleaner (not Cleaner/lubricant), popped them in and wala!! Back In Business! Ha! The other set may still work, too. They may have just come unseated. I got a new 750 gig Seagate I'm getting ready to replace the 320 gig in it. I'll test this for a day or two, clean it all out real good then try the original set just to see, then keep them for spares. Thanks everybody. You have been a great help in tracking down and solving this problem fast. I had no idea what 3 Beep On Startup was until I googled. This internet stuff is sumpin' else, huh?

  • by ~Bee,

    ~Bee ~Bee May 31, 2014 2:13 PM in response to demoman
    Level 7 (31,792 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 31, 2014 2:13 PM in response to demoman

    Great post, demo!

    Thanks so much.  It may help tons of future readers here.

     

  • by wpreston62,

    wpreston62 wpreston62 Jul 19, 2014 12:23 PM in response to ~Bee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2014 12:23 PM in response to ~Bee

    Just back from the Genius bar. The problem was simply the incompatibility of Google Drive with this iteration of Apple software (10.6.8) on the MacBook Pro. Not letting Google Drive start up fixed the problem. (It also should fix the frequent CPU whirring that occurs when that software suddenly takes off--which I had to forcequit out of in the Activity Monitor.)

  • by ~Bee,

    ~Bee ~Bee Jul 19, 2014 6:25 PM in response to wpreston62
    Level 7 (31,792 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 19, 2014 6:25 PM in response to wpreston62

    Wow, wp --

     

    And the Google being there made three beeps on startup?

    Amazing.

    Thanks for leaving that here for future readers!

     

  • by wpreston62,

    wpreston62 wpreston62 Jul 19, 2014 7:21 PM in response to ~Bee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2014 7:21 PM in response to ~Bee

    Three beeps . . . and the computer would seize up.

     

    Problem solved for free. (I thought for sure I had a RAM problem.)

  • by ~Bee,

    ~Bee ~Bee Jul 19, 2014 8:38 PM in response to wpreston62
    Level 7 (31,792 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 19, 2014 8:38 PM in response to wpreston62

    Three thumbs up!

     

  • by massimilianofrom,

    massimilianofrom massimilianofrom Oct 14, 2015 5:01 AM in response to Conner C. Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 5:01 AM in response to Conner C. Davis

    THanks a lot. Solved my problem too

  • by deanjr123,

    deanjr123 deanjr123 Dec 1, 2015 4:13 PM in response to Shane Carter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 1, 2015 4:13 PM in response to Shane Carter

    For future troubleshooting reference: I tried to wake my mac, but got the infamous three beeps. I suspected that the ram had come unseated as the laptop had been in a backpack that had been thrown around all day. When I opened the rear shell, sure enough, the top RAM stick was sticking halfway out of its slot. Unplugged the battery (only then did the beeping stop), reseated the stick, plugged the battery back in, closed the shell, and the computer started fine. Problem solved in under twenty minutes.

  • by shaunfromsubiaco,

    shaunfromsubiaco shaunfromsubiaco Aug 30, 2016 12:26 AM in response to boggslabayen
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 30, 2016 12:26 AM in response to boggslabayen

    All you need to do is conrol option and shift, hold them at the same time and then turn your laptop on, it should work temporarily until you shutdown your mac.

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