BIOS beeps. Why do you need a speaker in a computer: what is it

An attentive user may notice that the computer makes sounds when turned on. Usually this is one short squeak from the speaker (device on the motherboard). But during operation, other signals may be emitted. Read about what they mean and how to find out what to do with them in this article.

The first thing you need to do is find out which one you have. You can find out about this when you turn on the computer, when letters appear on a black background. Look at the top or bottom of the abbreviations AMI or AWARD BIOS.

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BIOS BEEP: AMI BIOS

A speaker in a computer is a fairly simple element, but at the same time it can be useful in some cases. The speaker is a small speaker located on the motherboard that produces sound signals when the computer is turned on.

Not all motherboards have a speaker, but this does not mean that your computer will perform worse. But any electronics has a tendency to fail and computer elements are no exception, for example, if the computer does not turn on or, then in this case the speaker will be able to help you determine what malfunction is in the computer.

Thanks to the speaker, or rather the sequential BIOS sound signal that it will emit, you can easily find which element has failed.

The most common speaker signal sequences are:

• 1 short- The motherboard has been initialized and all device pretests have passed. 1 short signal when turned on indicates that everything is fine with the computer at the stage of device initialization.

Most motherboards come with a speaker, but if you don’t have one, you can install it yourself. It might seem like a small device, but in the event of a malfunction it can be very helpful.

Where is the speaker located on the motherboard?

If you want to find out if there is a speaker on your computer, then it is very easy to do. If when you turn on the computer you hear 1 short signal from the system unit, then you have a speaker. 1 short signal indicates that everything is in order in the system and the download continues.

If the computer no longer turns on, then to find out if there is a speaker, you need to remove the cover from the system unit and inspect the motherboard for the presence of a speaker, usually it is located in the lower right part of the motherboard.

In the photo below you can see what the speaker looks like on the motherboard:

And this is what the speaker looks like when you installed it yourself:

Where to connect the speaker to the motherboard

To connect the speaker to the motherboard, first you need to find the contacts to which it needs to be connected, usually these contacts are located next to the contacts of the computer's power button, usually located in the lower right corner of the motherboard.

Before opening the system unit case, turn off the power to the computer by unplugging the cable from the outlet.

The contacts for connecting the speaker are labeled as “Speak” or “SPK”

At first glance, the malfunction is not that serious. For example, the video card came out of the slot a little, which made the video system impossible to work, and the system speaker cannot report this because it is not connected. This can be corrected using a special pin on the motherboard, which is located among other important pins: RESET, HDD-LED, POWER, etc. They can be placed anywhere on the board, but the main thing is that these pins are located together, so find they are not difficult.

As a last resort, if you cannot find the described set of contacts, you can download the documentation that should be supplied with the board. If it does not contain the necessary information, then try to find a description of this board on the manufacturer’s website or using one of the search engines, for example Google.

As a rule, in most cases these contacts are not difficult to detect - they are a block consisting of two rows of 8-10 contacts each (on some models of motherboards there may be one row, correspondingly twice as long). Often these contacts are enclosed in one plastic box, sometimes with a color scheme.

In any case, all contacts are labeled, that is, the purpose is indicated on the side or opposite them, for example SPEAKER or SPK, RESET, HDD-LED, etc. In addition, there are inscriptions on a group of connectors, usually running in a bunch from the controls on the front panel of the case. Naturally, the connection order must be followed, otherwise the corresponding function or control on the computer case will not work. In our case - the speaker.

Typically, the width of the plastic connector for speaker connection is equal to four contacts, although only the two on the sides are actually used. In principle, the polarity of the speaker connection does not matter much, but for other contacts it is better to do everything correctly. The contact must be connected in such a way that it completely covers the contact group of four terminals and does not capture “strangers”.

Also check that all connectors are connected and make sure they are securely fastened. After all, if the corresponding contact is not connected to the connector intended to turn on the computer, then you will not be able to determine the malfunction.

Each connector has two wires, one of which is red - the “+” wire. Similarly, on the motherboard, next to the contact group, you can find a similar marking, and this, in turn, means that the connected connectors should be turned with the red wire to the left. Of course, this does not matter for the SPEAKER and RESET connectors, but, for example, for HDD-LED it is important. If you connect it incorrectly, the disk access indicator will work in the opposite way: it will light up when there is no disk access. In this situation, turn the corresponding connector the other way.

After system speaker connected, turn on the computer and listen to the sound sequence it produces. Often, to connect a speaker, two separate contacts are used with corresponding inscriptions on the plastic contact housing.

If, as a result of the actions taken, you still did not hear anything, and the computer still shows no signs of “life,” there is another small chance that the system speaker is to blame, and not the motherboard. Therefore, you should check the functionality of the speaker itself.

This is done very simply. To do this, you will need a battery, for example, 1.5 V AA format and the system speaker itself, disconnected from the motherboard. To avoid breaking the plastic connector when releasing the metal contacts soldered to the wires going to the magnetic coil of the speaker, use a regular paper clip: break it into two parts and insert each part into the plastic connector opposite the metal contacts. Next, straighten each part of the paperclip and bring their ends to the contacts on the battery: the first to “+”, the second to “-”.

As a result, when connecting the paper clips to the battery poles, you should hear a fairly loud click in the speaker. If this does not happen with a working battery, it means that the system speaker is faulty, that is, the integrity of the magnetic coil winding is damaged.

If you have a multimeter, you can use another method system speaker checks. To do this, it is enough to check the resistance of the coil - in operating condition this value should be from 4 to 16 Ohms. To do this, switch the multimeter to resistance measurement mode by setting the switch to the lowest existing resistance range (usually within 100-200 Ohms). If touching two different contacts on the system speaker with the probes causes the indicator value to change from zero to any other, it means that the coil winding is intact and the system speaker is working.

This will mean that the motherboard is faulty and requires repair or replacement, with the latter being more preferable.