Long Beep tone at startup - Unable to select boot partition

Recently I was running a software update on an old G4 which had been working perfectly. When the system restarted it made a long beep tone then the usual bong. The system hung at the "starting login window" stage.
The beep is not a bad RAM beep, that one is short. This is a long beep like one you get when you update firmware.
Tried taking out and reseating the RAM but that did nothing.
After booting into OF a couple of times, doing "Reset All", Zapping PRAM etc. we still the get tone at startup only now we just get the white OF screen. It no longer tries to boot into OSX unless we type "Mac Boot", in which case it hangs at the login window again.
I attached an external drive with two partions, one with 10.3.9 and another with 10.4. Both will boot successfully on my old Pismo and my PB G4. When the OF screen came up I typed Mac Boot and held down the Option key. The blue screen came up and first boot partition was displayed, but the machine sat there and spun forwever searching for the others. I figured it was stuck on the internal drive so I disconnected the ribbon cable and tried again. This time both partions on the external drive are available, Yae! However when I go to select either one and click on the right arrow nothing happens. The selection seems to bounce back to the first partition. And through all of this the long beep tone is there at startup.
So thats the stage we are at. If anyone can shed some light on this situation we would be most appreciative. What is causing the tone? How can I fix it?
Why doesnt the system accept the boot drive selection?
Mike

Hi Petra,
It was one of the recent security updates for 10.3.9 along with Quicktime, iTunes etc. I couldn't tell you exactly which ones as its been a few weeks since the original event. However I can say that I had already done the recommended firmware update for that machine several months before the crash.

Similar Messages

MBP one long beep. Have to reset PRAM each boot.

Ok, so I had partitioned my drive for Ubuntu (just 5 GB), installed it, and installed rEFIt (boot menu for mutliple boots). At some time around when I installed Ubuntu and updated (I don't recall exactly when), I started to get the long single tone after I had just been in an OS, but not after I had force restarted. Screen doesn't show anything, I can hear the fan, and it doesn't make that sound like some hardware is starting up (rather loud noise, I assume it's the optical drive). Now, it takes me a few tries each time after I had been in an OS, but I can get it running if I reset to PRAM. I also reset the SMC. I removed rEFIt from the startup items and the "efi" folder. I even removed the Ubuntu partition and it still happens. When I installed Ubuntu, I installed the GRUB on the same partition as Ubuntu itself, and didn't touch the other partitions. After I had initially partitioned my HDD via DiskUtility via the Insall DVD, and restarted my computer, it was normal. I believe it might have been normal too after I restarted after initally installing Ubuntu (though I don't think it actually turned all the hardware off, but rather restarted the OS itself). No data loss (asides from my later removal of the Ubuntu partition). I also tried reseating the RAM, didn't do anything though.
(Also, I had previously successfully installed Ubuntu on a partition before, but my drive failed and Apple replaced it for me.)
Solutions?
Know the source of the issue?
Thanks.
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:          MacBookPro5,4
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          3 MB
Memory:          4 GB
Bus Speed:          1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version:          MBP53.00AC.B03
SMC Version (system):          1.49f2
Serial Number (system):          W8***XJ
Hardware UUID:          F60690AB-416D-5F8C-81E9-4E0CE0A201AC
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State:          Enabled
Power On Self-Test:
Last Run:          6/9/11 10:37 AM
Result:          Passed
(Any other system info needed?)
EDIT: I had also repaired the permissions multiple times via the Install DVD and the disk too (though the disk appeared to have to issues).
EDIT 2: Just found this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPoU8838KDo

Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2

Unable to select MDS Partition

Hi Everyone,
I'm unable to view the SOA_INFRA Partition while trying to create SOA-MDS Connection in JDev 11.1.1.4.
SOA 11.1.1.4 and AIA FP is installed
Any idea why this partition is not showing up ?
Regards
Sabir

Was using wrong user name instead DEV_MDS

Captivate 5 - Audio Editing - Unable to Select a Portion of the Audio

I need to edit the audio on each slide - specifically cut out long pauses - but I'm unable to select a portion of the audio. I can right click and Select All but that's not what I need.
Any ideas what's wrong?

Double click the audio waveform in the slide to open the Slide Audio dialog. You should be on the Edit tab. Select a section of dead space in the waveform and hit Delete.

Two short beeps 1 long beep 5 times then sequence of 8

Two short beeps 1 long beep 5 times then sequence of 8 short beeps at end of turning on desktop computer.
2 short beeps and 1 long beep (repeats 5 times) Unable to initialize video or video card required but not installed
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c02222922&lc=en&jumpid=reg_r1002_us...
I unplugged everything thing externally from computer even monitor all usb ports etc... now what do I do any suggestions.
My computer will not display but does stay powered up.?

You might start with mentioning the computer model, and if you have added a Graphic card?
I am a volunteer. I am not an HP employee.
To say THANK YOU, press the "thumbs up symbol" to render a KUDO. Please click Accept as Solution, if your problem is solved. You can render both Solution and KUDO.
The Law of Effect states that positive reinforcement increases the probability of a behavior being repeated. (B.F.Skinner). You toss me KUDO and/or Solution, and I perform better.
(2) HP DV7t i7 3160QM 2.3Ghz 8GB
HP m9200t E8400,Win7 Pro 32 bit. 4GB RAM, ASUS 550Ti 2GB, Rosewill 630W. 1T HD SATA 3Gb/s
Custom Asus P8P67, I7-2600k, 16GB RAM, WIN7 Pro 64bit, EVGA GTX660 2GB, 750W OCZ, 1T HD SATA 6Gb/s
Custom Asus P8Z77, I7-3770k, 16GB RAM, WIN7 Pro 64bit, EVGA GTX670 2GB, 750W OCZ, 1T HD SATA 6Gb/s
Both Customs use Rosewill Blackhawk case.
Printer -- HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Plus

Long single beep noise on startup.

When I started up my MacBook Pro after a software update (EFI and Thunderbolt software), it made a long single beep noise, then showed the Apple logo with a progress bar below it, then flashed the screen, and went to the regular startup with the Apple logo.
I have a MacBook Pro 17", that was purchased 2 months ago, and running Mac OS X 10.7.1 (Lion).
Is this long beep a problem? If yes, what could be the problem?
Thanks,
Satyarth.

No problem, your firmware was updated.
A long tone will be heard, then a gray screen with an Apple logo appears. There is a progress bar under the logo. As the progress bar moves, your firmware is being updated.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1557
If it occurs again, call the free Apple support number, you have 3 months from date of purchase for support, one year warranty and up to three years for both if you purchased AppleCare.
If you have a question about anything, please feel free to stop by again.
Thank you for visiting the user to user Apple Support Community.

On startup, what does 3 short beeps, 3 long beeps, 3 short beeps, and a black screen mean?

On startup, I hear 3 short beeps followed by 3 long beeps followed by 3 short beeps, then nothing. Screen remains black the whole time. Tried to boot holding down option key - nothing. 2010 MacBookPro running Snow Leopard. Any suggestions?

Intel-based Mac Power On Self Test RAM error beeps
Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2
3 long tones, 3 short tones, 3 long tones: Indicates EFI ROM corruption is detected and the computer is in EFI ROM recovery mode.

Boot camp no longer on startup disk bless tool unable to set boot disk

iOS 10.6.8 boot camp no longer on startup disk msg says 'bless tool unable to set boot disk'

solved my own problem. a simple restart did the trick.

Mac Pro early 2008 power off suddenly alone and gives a long beep on startup

Hello everyone! Can you resolve the problem reported? I have 6 equipaments identical to those with the same problem, some worse than others, and only two barely functioning, others are stopped. They power normally and suddenly alone they power off , and after that I only can power on again , after hours waiting or only the next day , and when it's power on , on startup , they give me a long beep , before the chime , then I can work for a time (minutes or long time , it's not secure)
I talked with Apple Computer (from USA) and they do not assume that the problem exists and that many users have the same problem, worldwide.
If you're not satisfied with the result of Apple, we will have to press them to assume the defect and promote a recall on these equipments. We have many users with the same issue (MacPro off alone)

All places where I have my equipments (they are in 4 different places, but I have tested them in all four locations), are electrically grounded, the electrical networkstabilized, reviewed annually and I use UPS minimum of 1.5 KVA (I have two UPS of 3.75 KVA) . I tested with the original HDD , with all the applications that I use installed , only with the system installed and the same procedure on a new HDD and got the same result . So , it is not eletrical problem . I have iMacs , MacBooks , G5 and MacPro early 2009 working in the same places with no problems . I tested all the sites with three different electricians and all
approved my Electric networks . As I know, all Apple equipment have
surge protection, precisely to prevent thecomponents from being damaged
by electrical problems. Again , it is not eletrical problem .

Starup disk was unable to select install cd as the startup disk

I was in 10.3, crashed. Had to restore (saving my things). I updated up to 9.2.2. Put in my 10.2 cd to install and I get a message...
"start up disk was unable to select install cd as the startup disk."
As far as I know I did all the updates, but could be wrong.
Anyone have an idea how I fix the problem?
dn

Tammie, please excuse my confusion, but you say you were in 10.3 (Panther) and it crashed. You say you updated to 9.2.2, then you say you put in 10.2 (Jaguar) cd to Install. At the bottom in your profile you show you are running 10.4 Tiger.
So I am confused which Operating System do you want. Your machine will not run all 4 Operating Systems at once.
To Install from a CD or DVD you Insert the Media and restart your computer holding down the C key for it to boot.
Also bear in mind that If you are not using a Full retail version of the Operating System, or the Operating System that came with your computer it will not work, if it came from another computer. Operating Systems that come with specifc computers will not mix and match with other computers.
Please tell us exactly what operating system you want to use.
Cheers Don

2 short 1 long beep on startup, posting

Hi, i'm using the H61M-E33 motherboard with the i5 2500 processor, 2 x 2GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3 1333mhz sticks of RAM.
i've tried reseating the RAM and each of the RAM sticks by themselves and also tried a friends RAM which also didn't work every time i get the same beep codes on startup.
it is giving us a warning saying the monitor signal is out of range when we startup though, we're connecting VGA-VGA as we don't currently have a functional adapter.
Any Ideas?
Edit: we've put the graphics card in and now we've got windows installing, still not sure what the beeps mean though.
Edit: we had a dodgy DVI adapter with a bent pin which was preventing the signal to the monitor, the beeps we still don't know what they are but the system seems to be running fine, perhaps MSI just decided to put this sound on there to confuse people.

Quote from: Stu on 12-June-11, 19:33:17
I really don't know why so many people make such a big issue over the USB beeps. Unless you're shutting down and restarting your PC every two minutes, they're hardly noticeable.
No big problem at all so long as you know what going on and if like myself and others new to MSI boards as well as putting a pc together I think you tend to be a little over sensitive to all the bleeps.
As for disconnecting the speaker, same answer as above. But it''s there for a reason and I think most people push the button and wait for the post beep almost crack a little smile and get on with what your doing. Sad? possibly but hey!

Macbook Aluminium. Single, long beep upon startup and update to Snow Leopard wont work.

Hi, I recently formatted my late-2008 Macbook and installed Ubuntu. It didn't work so I formatted again and installed Leopard. When I boot I get a single long beep. When I try to update to Snow Leopard and reboot the OS still shows up as 10.5 (Leopard).
It seems to function normally besides all this. I have not touched the memory in this time and the OS recognises the full 4GB I have inside. I also did not touch the hardware, this whole problem seems to have been caused by my attempt to install Ubuntu.
Any help out there?
Thanks guys.

I have exactly the same problem for some days because I installed Ubuntu 11.04. Thanks God I found a way to fix it:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15375400#15375400
Go to the video on youtube and see how you got your EFI firmware flashed Reboot and the long beep should go away

Xserve G5 turns on but no os startup and loud long beep over and over

I just got my hands on a xserve that was decommissioned from a datacenter. This morning I had the thing running and I could see it from my mac mini or mbp. I just couldn't screen share b/c i guess it wasn't enabled...not sure. couldn't ssh either, but at that time I didn't have the server tools. B/c the server wasn't really doing much I thought I would turn it off while I read some manuals, etc,etc. But the moment I turned it back on to use the server tools I downloaded I get a loud long beep that keeps on repeating. I tried resent nvram pram and every other option on the bootpanel that seemed logical.
Description:
I turn Xserve G5 on -> goes through what seems to be a POST (ie. check cd, fans, other peripherals, then HDD) -> Once green HDD lights are on, momentarily the blue ones flicker and go off -> then what seems to be a moment of nothing and after that the loud beeping noise.
The OSX server CDs have yet to arrive so I am waiting on them and also counting on them that a re-install will fix my problems but in the meanwhile I have searched everywhere and i see that people have similar issues but NONE of the solutions work for me. There was one case that was exactly the same as mine on the apple discussion but did not get answered (maybe I should have revived that thread). I've called apple and I have the numbers they gave me to get my xserve checked out but I am not a company, nor an institution with a lot of money. I am merely a 3rd year college student who finally earned enough money to purchase a second hand xserve g5 for a very very nice price. I would really love to be able to diagnosis and fix it without having to spend more money.
Any help is very much appreciated but I understand if it is not possible due to the nature of the problem.
Best,
Ken
EDIT: Would a HDD failure or data corruption cause theses symptoms if the operating system cannot be located?
I just can't get this off my head...An xserve that worked in the morning and "dead" in the afternoon.
Message was edited by: PandaProgrammers

Sorry for my late reply. Thanks for the tip. I've searched online to figure out a way to rebuild the raid array remotely, since it is headless and the only way it seems like is through the installation disk via VNC. Is this correct? So far I have been unsuccessful with that too. I did read an article recommending using diskutils through terminal but is there way to do that instead in my case?
Thanks so much for y'alls help!
Ken
Ps. it's not locked and I've checked the voltage on the PRAM battery and it seems fine. I had the raid card replaced too (expensive )
Message was edited by: PandaProgrammers

Forced restart with long beep; magnified images

A few days ago, my MacBook Air prompted a forced restart - since I was unable to navigate the screen with the cursor, I needed to hold down the power button to force the restart. I held it down once to power off and again to power on. When I powered on, I heard a long beep followed by the startup screen. The screen images are magnified and all desktop items have disappeared. The magnification has made navigation extremely difficult and the computer almost impossible to use. Also, a few weeks ago I found that normal computer use was occasionally interrupted by a flash of blue screen followed by this same magnification phenomenon. At that time, I was able to reboot the computer and resume normal operation but am unable to do so now. Has anyone else experienced this problem and if so, what's causing it and what can be done? Thanks.

try rebooting from the installer DVD -- are you really running Jaguar 10.2.x like your profile says?
It will look like it is getting ready to run the installer; let it continue until you see a menubar across the top of your screen. Under Utilities, open Disk Utility and choose Repair Disk. Once it completes, if it indicates that the "file system was modified," choose Repair Disk again. Do this repetitively until you get no more "file system was modified" messages, then reboot normally (we hope).
If you don't have the installer DVD, reboot holding down the ⌘s keys. With any luck, that will allow you to come up in what is known as single user mode -- a black screen with a bunch of cryptic looking system boot messages. Once (or should I say, if) you get to a user prompt, type /sbin/fsck -fy It should do the same thing as Disk Utility Repair Disk from the Installer DVD. Same provisions about "file system was modified" messages apply, then type /sbin/reboot
I don't think Jaguar's Disk Utility had a "Repair File Permissions" but if it did, do that, too.
With any luck one or the other approaches will solve your issue.
If none of the above works, I think I would be looking for another Mac and a firewire cable, then hook your PBG4 to it, and boot it (the PBG4) up while holding down the "T" key. Once you get the blue screen with yellow firewire symbol on the PBG4, the PBG4 should appear on the other computer's desktop as an external firewire drive. Then I would start salvaging all the Users folder data of importance that I could off of that PBG4 because I think an erase (including write zeros to disk) and reinstall the OS and user accounts and applications might be in your future. Or a visit to the Apple Store's Genius Bar...

Continuous beeping sound on startup no display,fan is running,power light is off ?????

continuous beeping sound on startup no display,fan is running,power light is off ?????

Hello,
The following table lists the new tones and their meaning:
Tone(s)    Description
1 tone, a 5-second pause, repeat    No RAM installed
3 successive tones, a 5-second pause, 3 successive tones    RAM does not pass data integrity check
1 long tone when holding down the power button    Firmware upgrade in process. See About firmware updates for Intel-based Macs for more details.
3 long tones, 3 short tones, 3 long tones    Firmware restoration from CD in process. See About the Firmware Restoration CD (Intel-based Macs) for more details.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2538

Long Beep tone at startup - Unable to select boot partition

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for