dtanderton

Hi Everyone!

I've a Pavilion dv6000 which I'm trying to fix for a friend (why do I offer to do these things?) and which emits rapid beeps on startup as though a key is stuck on the keyboard. Trouble is I've just fitted a new keyboard and it's still happening! After I installed the keyboard the thing worked perfectly... once! And then started beeping again. I got mad with it this morning, and removed the cmos battery for an hour and also took out the RAM modules and cleaned the edge connectors with a rubber. The thing worked perfectly for two startups and is now merrily sitting on my counter at home beeping at me!

Has anyone experienced this with this type of machine before and if so has anyone a solution? ... Please?

Dave

TriggerFinger

If you remove the keyboard does it still beep?

dtanderton

Hi Triggerfinger,

I don't know - I'll try that tonight and see if that's the case - but as I said I bought a brand new keyboard for it so I wouldn't have thought that was the problem. But then again in the wonderful world of computing who knows? I did try a USB keyboard in it (it doesn't seem to have a PS/2 connector) and it still beeped like crazy. Strange thing is that after I posted, I got mad with it again, and once more removed the RAM and battery. Put them back and it didn't beep. I was able to install a different antivirus and run it through to completion (it had an out of date one on it) which found nothing but a few tracking cookies. However, towards the end of the run, the desktop icons (which had been stable) began to flicker as though something was stuck again. I shut down the machine, and on turning it on again it started its usual trick - beeping like crazy! I'm currently running a memory test on it - 50 passes and it's at pass 16 at the moment - it hasn't found anything so far, but I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for replying

Dave

TriggerFinger

Hi Dave,

I understand from this thread that beeps start as soon as you power ON (beeping the whole time during POST and not in Windows alone).

I am assuming there is something lodged in the keyboard cable connector causing the 'key is pressed' thus the 'remove keyboard suggestion'. What you can do is remove the keyboard, and use air compressor to clean the cable socket/connector. If symptoms persist without the keyboard attached, then it could be something else.

dtanderton

Hi Triggerfinger,

Sorry I didn't get back to you - my life's hectic at the moment. I let the memory test run until it reached 20 passes and Windows said that it hadn't found a problem. I decided to remove the laptop keyboard as you suggested and turned the machine on one last time... to my wary surprise, no beeps. So I tried again, a couple of times on Sunday night and at various times throughout yesterday and today. Still no beeps and it seems to be okay. However (!), to be absolutely sure it's not a temperature problem or anything else I can think of, I've now turned it on and I'm going to leave it on for a couple of hours to see if the problem occurs where the icons flicker. I'm then going to run a test on it which involves using/opening several applications and see if it behaves - I'll let you know later tonight.

I have to admit that I wouldn't have thought about the keyboard connector - that's one I'll archive for future reference all right.

It is possible that my friend spilt something on the keyboard, but he's not admitting to it so I can't say for sure, but it if beeps again I'll try cleaning the keyboard connector out as suggested. I think at that stage I'll admit defeat over the thing, 'cos I'm beginning to have nightmares about it.

Regards and thanks,

Dave

dtanderton

Hi: a postscript to the above. Yes, the beeps occurred as soon as the machine reached the stage of showing up "Press F2 for xyz or F10 for xyz" and not when Windows started.

Regards

Dave

TriggerFinger

Hi Dave,

Two things come to my mind after reviewing this case again.

A. You have a defective keyboard socket/connector (motherboard side)... defective in a way that 1. something may have been lodged that can be removed or 2. something is really broken inside that may require a motherboard replacement.

B. Either of your keyboards are defective. Is the new keyboard really 'new'? If only you can test in another unit or have it tested.

I am hoping it is the #1 of A.

dtanderton

Hi Triggerfinger,

I'm becoming cautiously optimistic about this thing! I left the machine on all day and the icons remained stable. I turned it off and on again and no beeps! I repeated this a couple of times tonight and again no beeps! So I'm beginning to think it's cured.

I'm going to run a few more tests tomorrow (typing up a document and so on - 'cos in the past I've managed a few lines and then random things started happening such as it inserting a date repeatedly) and if it doesn't cause any hassle I'll return it to my friend as fixed but with a codicil that it could happen again.

I've really no idea why it should just decide to cure itself, but there you go. I can only assume that there must have been something like dust in the keyboard connector - as you suggested - and that running the memory test fixed this (although it did do the beeping thing once after I shut down the memory test).

Hey ho! Life's full of mysteries. I'll post one more time tomorrow to let you know how I went on, but for now thanks for your help and suggestions - I think you put me on the right track at least. If all goes well with it tomorrow I think this thread can be closed off.

Regards, and thanks once again,

Dave

TriggerFinger

Since you will have it running tonight, why not try some online virus/malware scanners (i.e. Kaspersky). They DO NOT REMOVE the infection but for sure they will tell you if something is messing around with your system.

dtanderton

Hi Triggerfinger,

Just a final update, then I'm marking this thread off as solved. The laptop is working happily with no beeps at the moment and I've returned it to my friend. I told my friend that I'm not 100% sure that it had been fixed as it seemed to have been something lodged in the keyboard connector, but that it was behaving itself. I was then informed that the laptop had periods where it "didn't make any beeps at all" and that it started doing it at random times, sometimes going on for days and stopping for weeks... Oh joy! It might have helped if I'd had the info before now, and I'm beginning to think that this laptop is closely linked to the Omen...

Anyway, it's working at the moment and Kapersky found nothing, so I'm going to assume that it will be fine: thanks for all your help - your site's wonderful and I'm sure I'll be returning in the not-so-distant future.

Regards

Dave