Bricked BIOS

[Jeff Zylstra]

I am working on a "charity case" for a neighbor of ours who doesn't have much money.  Her computer won't boot, and the POST test just gives one long beep.  My guess is that her son or someone else tried to update the BIOS and something happened during that process, or it just died.  I've tried removing the battery and RAM for 30 minutes, pressing and holding power button to drain any residual power, and throwing salt over my left shoulder.  Does anyone know of anything else that might help, or what I could do to resurrect this machine? 

Don't laugh now, but it's a 2008 vintage Dell Inspiron 531S if that helps.  I don't know if that BIOS can be flashed or not, but I thought I'd ask.

[Mark]

Look up the beep codes for that model and it should indicate what one long beep stands for.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Look up the beep codes for that model and it should indicate what one long beep stands for.

Yes, I downloaded the manual already, but there's nothing in there regarding a single, continuous beep that never ends.  My guess is that the BIOS is hosed and I'm either going to find someone who could flash it using some kind of device, get another motherboard, or get her a "recycled" computer that I can resurrect for her. 

I try not to get into these "no win" situations, but she uses her computer for medical transcription, works another job to make ends meet and she's still poor as a church mouse.  She's also past retirement age, so my heart doubly goes out to her.  She's a nice lady that deserves a break.

[Mark]

Disconnect everything and reseat the RAM.  Also try with one RAM at a time to test the RAM.  Make sure each one is placed in the first slot.

If you do not get the beep, connect things one at a time until you do.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Disconnect everything and reseat the RAM.  Also try with one RAM at a time to test the RAM.  Make sure each one is placed in the first slot.

If you do not get the beep, connect things one at a time until you do.

Yea, I tried that too. Unfortunately, no joy.  I even pulled out both sticks and tried that.  It was "smart enough" to realize that there was no RAM and gave a double beep.  But I will try it again just to make sure since I'd like to use this box if possible.  I'll let you know. 

In preparation for my impending defeat, I called a repair shop here in town.  They try to find homes for computers before they recycle them, so I was able to get one for her that I'll fix tonight or tomorrow.  Thanks, Mark.

[Jeff Zylstra]

No joy.  She's toast.  On to a "new" box for her.