Need help! 4 beeps at startup w/ 5 flashes of LED

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Level 1

4 points

Need help! 4 beeps at startup w/ 5 flashes of LED

I need help please.
When I start up my eMac, which is around 3-4 years old, running 10.2.8, I get 4 beeps and 5 flashes of the LED...I've looked up all the topics on here that relate to that but I cannot find anything that helps yet....I've read the file about what the beeps indicate, but I don't really understand what they mean.

I called Apple tech support and they weren't much help (I was at work and don't have my serial number handy)...They said to try and boot from the OSX disc, but I can't even get the eMac to do anything other than beep at me...can't get the disc tray open, etc, etc...nothing but the beeps and flashes....I tried reseating the RAM, I tried zapping the PRAM, I reset the PMU, I tried everything that I could find, but still no luck...
From what I gather, it sounds like my ROM chip on the motherboard is bad or fried or something...can anyone point me in the right direction on getting this resolved??...do I need to take my Mac into an Apple store or is there some way I can fix the problem myself?
Thanks in advance for any help...

eMac Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Posted on Nov 22, 2006 5:29 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 9, 2007 7:31 AM in response to Nekrowe

I need help please.
When I start up my eMac, which is around 3-4 years
old, running 10.2.8, I get 4 beeps and 5 flashes of
the LED...I've looked up all the topics on here that
relate to that but I cannot find anything that helps
yet....I've read the file about what the beeps
indicate, but I don't really understand what they
mean.

I called Apple tech support and they weren't much
help (I was at work and don't have my serial number
handy)...They said to try and boot from the OSX disc,
but I can't even get the eMac to do anything other
than beep at me...can't get the disc tray open, etc,
etc...nothing but the beeps and flashes....I tried
reseating the RAM, I tried zapping the PRAM, I reset
the PMU, I tried everything that I could find, but
still no luck...
From what I gather, it sounds like my ROM chip on the
motherboard is bad or fried or something...can anyone
point me in the right direction on getting this
resolved??...do I need to take my Mac into an Apple
store or is there some way I can fix the problem
myself?
Thanks in advance for any help...

eMac Mac OS X (10.2.x)

I have had that exact problem and I think I have solved it.

I rebuilt PRAM (restart with command + option + P + R keys)

I booted into open firmware (command + option + O + F) and entered these commands:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all <computer then reboots>

I have removed and reseated the RAM chips

I have removed the battery and pressed the logic board reset button ONLY ONCE - more than once can kill your logic board.

I think my problem is gone. I am running 10.3.9 on a 3 yr old eMac.

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Answer 2

arnie

Level 5

4,065 points

Nov 22, 2006 8:25 PM in response to Nekrowe

4 beeps could mean logic board problem

if eMac is out of warranty, it may be not worthwhile fixing

some eMacs qualify for extended repair program:

http://www.apple.com/support/emac/repairextensionprogram/

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Answer 3

Nov 23, 2006 2:33 PM in response to Nekrowe

Usually beeping means you have a hardware problem, most likely bad RAM.
If you hear four beeps or the sound of breaking glass, it's probably RAM. Shut down your Mac, carefully ground yourself (touch your Mac's power supply), open up your machine, and remove any third-party RAM.
Then start up again. If the same thing happens, keep removing RAM (after shutting down) or try moving the last RAM chip left standing from one slot to another to isolate the problem.
If that fails, or if you heard more than four beeps, try starting up your Mac from your Mac OS CD (or DVD) and running First Aid. If your Mac still refuses to cooperate, head to the Apple store or call AppleCare.

Cheers!
DALE

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