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Gateway 2000 4SX-25 error codes on start-up

dafivehole

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I just got this and the memory tests fine... then I get these numbers that change in this order: 330, 290, 210, 135 and 130. Keyboard lights up on POST but isn't functional after that. Any suggestions?

I should mention that there are no drives connected yet... pretty much a bare bones set-up as of now.

The computer beeps twice too and I'm pretty sure that the battery is new...

Thank you
 
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I dug around a bit but couldn't find anything showing what those POST codes mean. I'd assume that at least one of them is going to be related to the date/time being wrong, who knows what state the CMOS battery is in. If you say it has no drives in it either, that's most likely going to be what one of those other codes are as well. As for the keyboard not working, are you sure the keyboard is good? You might want to try it on another system, or another keyboard on that system.
 
The CMOS battery is fine... keyboard works fine now. I got into setup and played around with some changes, reset to defaults, etc with no change on start-up. I attached a hard drive and it recognizes it but the 3.5" floppy isn't recognized... one of the error codes mentions incorrect ISA setup... what the hell does that mean?
 
Does the CMOS setup allow address/IRQ assignments for ISA slots? Or perhaps your cards have conflicting address/IRQ settings.
 
It appears the board requires parity RAM. Are your RAM chips parity? You also stated the CMOS battery is fine. Did you or someone else recently replace it? A failing CMOS battery can sometimes cause erratic results.
 
How do you tell if the memory is "parity?" I have another battery that I can swap out... I assumed that this one was good since it held the date/time...
 
The ninth chip is used to store parity.

This only partially applies to 30 pin SIMMs. There are 5 and 3 chip parity modules as well. The better thing to look for is an odd number of memory chips on 30 pin SIMMs to determine if it's a parity module.

72 pin SIMMs are entirely different. Parity modules usually have 2-4 chips on the back of the module to make up the 36 bit width of a 72 pin parity module. Larger capacity SIMMs can have more memory chips used for parity.
 
Well that's one problem... here's what was in there:


I can't read the stickers on the left side of the chips. What's printed there?

Yes, the eight chips are a pretty sure indicator that these are non-parity (x32) versus parity (x36) sticks of RAM. The link you provided for the motherboard clearly shows each memory configuration using parity x36 combinations of chips. There *might* be a setting in CMOS to enable non parity use.
 
I can't read the stickers on the left side of the chips. What's printed there?

Yes, the eight chips are a pretty sure indicator that these are non-parity (x32) versus parity (x36) sticks of RAM. The link you provided for the motherboard clearly shows each memory configuration using parity x36 combinations of chips. There *might* be a setting in CMOS to enable non parity use.

Definitely not parity modules. You can see where it has the option to be a parity module with the four pads at the top of the module for memory chips, and can probably be converted into a parity module if those chips were installed.
 
I installed the correct memory, confirmed all jumper settings, confirmed CMOS battery is good, etc. and no changes whatsoever :?
 
Doing some digging through Gateway's website via archive.org I found this:

Beep Codes
Below is the beep code sequence for the Intel I4 Integrated 486 systemboard. During the boot sequence you will receive a series of numbers. They don't indicate a problem, but rather verify certain functions during boot.
440Size memory above 64 KB
370Keyboard controller initialization
330Initialize auxiliary controller
290Test memory above 64 KB
210Read Keyboard ID
190Real time clock test
135(The number gets brighter. This is normal) Access to Setup Program
130Initialize diskette subsystem
10Enable cache
000Boot
 
It looks like your computer didn't make it to the "10" post code for enable cache. Does your system have cache installed? If so, verify they are seated (press on each one, chip creep may have occurred). Also, verify the cache jumpers are correct:
CACHE JUMPER CONFIGURATION
Size J11 pins 1 & 2 J11 pins 3 & 4 J11 pins 5 & 6 J11 pins 7 & 8
64KB Open Open Open Open
128KB Closed Open Closed Open
256KB Closed Closed Open Closed
 
This is awesome info... I looked on archive.org but only found the Gateway CD's which I DL'd years ago. Great info about the codes... I guess human nature is to think that they are error codes and not function verifications. I will definitely check the cache settings this evening... I know that some of the jumper settings were incorrect and needed to be changed but I didn't check the cache :(

Did it have any info on the beeps? Once it shows 135, it beeps twice. Then once it shows 130, it beeps once.

Thank you!
 
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I found nothing about beep codes. I used archive.org's feature of viewing web pages from long ago (the wayback machine). That's how I found them. I believe I found these on Gateway's website from either 1996 or 1997. I tried to download a manual but all of the links I cam across were no good.

I'm not sure how the beeps are ordered (do they mean the upcoming code has an issue, the current code displayed, or the previous code displayed?) If it's for the 190 code then your CMOS battery needs replaced, if for 135 then again perhaps CMOS battery, if 130 then maybe it's indicating it couldn't find a diskette drive attached.
 
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