HERE'S A STRANGE "SIREN" NOISE!

[Brangwen]

Celly 333MHz, M6TBA Biostar mobo with 440BX chipset, 128 MB SDRAM, 13 GB WDC HD, Win98se. Playing game on Net when internal or system speaker began "siren" type beeping: on - off - on - off - on - off (Alternating high then low then high then low tones!) Just like one of those European ambulance or police car sirens! Never heard any thing like this! My HD occasionally grinds, but I've always thought the only system beep phenomenon was notification that chip or mobo failing... This is not at boot up, or post: this beeping begins after the computer has booted and Win98 has loaded. ANY ideas?

Thx a lot. This has me baffled!

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

Note: I was getting a flicker on my monitor because the cable terminal at the vid card end was loose and needed tightening, and flicker still occurs when I wiggle monitor cable. Could this be vid card related? Or memory? Hmm...

[Dave_H]

That board can be set up with temp sensors and it will set off an "alarm" if the CPU gets too hot. The settings in the BIOS under the page "Chipset Features". Look there on the right hand side for the settings on current temp, warning temp, etc.
I never heard mine go off yet, so I'm not sure if that is the sound it makes, but you may want to check it out.
best of luck. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Dave

[NDC]

Yep, my guess also is that the siren is from the CPU temperature reaching the BIOS setting for the "CPU Temp Warning" My Abit board does that when playing 3-D games too long. What I did was just set the Warning Temp in the BIOS to a higher setting.....

[Brangwen]

It appears you guys were RIGHT! I've never had that happen (nor heard such an alarm) though I'm well aware of such alarms. Ever since I changed to a different size box on the above referenced system the temp has run higher. But as my "second" computer, I don't often tweak with it as much as my primary system. Thx! Sysopt members come through again. Great to be able to post a problem at night and expect to have ideas waiting in the morning.

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[Keegan]

I had that happen. I had never messed around with my ABIT mobo's temp warning, and then one day the largeat of my 3 fans went out and the temperatures rose above 158 degrees in my computer. By the time I finally caught it, the heat had already damaged my $90.00 Voodoo3 2000. Never underestimate the importance of good cooling!

[Brangwen]

Dave_H, NDC, Keegan:

Turns out grinding noise was my CPU cooling fan! Not the hard drive grinding! So, temperature and rpm fluctuation were rather incredible on that good ole Celly 333MHz! I'm off to search for a slot one celly heatsink fan. Thank goodness for alarms!

Thx for all the responses!

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[Dave_H]

I agree, could have been a much bigger problem if your system overheated. Sorry about the fan, but it's cheeper than a HD or CPU! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Dave

[Keegan]

GlobalWin coolers sound like jets on takeoff.

[Brangwen]

Happy ending, all things considered. Eight Dollars bought me a great heatsink QUIET fan. End of story.

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif