Siren sound from the unplugged computer

OK, this happened for the second time in 2 weeks:

The desktop lost power, but everything else (modem,monitor) is OK. Then a 2 pitched siren sounds comes out from the back of the computer. I unplug it and the sound still continues for 4-5 seconds.

Then I plug it back and everything is fine.

I am guessing that maybe the fan stopped working and the computer was overheating and shut itself down? And the sound is made, so it would give a warning that something is seriously wrong and needs attention???

 

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it would be wise to either have it fixed in a shop or to buy another computer and sell this one on ebay.

 

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Question 1: You on an HP machine?

Question 2: Is the siren sound a series of beeps, or something else?


Yes, motherboards are set up to report warning alarms whenever stuff goes wrong. Some motherboards will monitor the fan speed, and will play an alarm if the RPM is too low. Some have temperature alarms which sound when the CPU temp reaches a certain threshold. I built a computer once, and forgot to put any compound between the heat sink and the CPU...... the computer ran for about 5 minutes before it started going "beep! beep! beep! beep!"

There are also series of beeps whenever things fail during POST (IE-- video card failure may signal a morse code-ish sounding "beeeeeep beep beeeeeeeep beep beep". If there are problems with ram (--for example-- you forgot to install the ram), the motherboard sometimes signals an alarm.


You can try going into BIOS to see how yours is set up. Mine at home has a series of settings under the category "Hardware monitor".

 

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1. It is an Emachine.
2. The sound is an alternating 2 pitched siren, like an emergency car's.

It just happened again, this time I didn't unplug it immediatelly, and the sound kept going on, until I unplugged it. I am going to the Emachine website to see what they say...

 

erm, sorry, a little info for the clueless one here: wtf is an emachine?

 

It's a brand of computer you want to avoid at all costs.

Syzygys, check your BIOS manual and look up the beep codes. Or else find the manual for your motherboard online.

 

I just talked to the costumer service, I don't think the guy had any idea, he gave me instructions how to reset the RAM...

This is my 3rd Emachine and I never had any problems with them, also my friend has like 4, again no problem.

 

maybe it's stolen.

 

reset your ram, good one i will note it down in my book of crazy reasons why

 

emachines is a fine brand. mine hasn't given me any problems

sounds like a fan bearing is beginning to fail, possibly a power supply fan.
as it gets worse it will start to squeal when you turn it on too.
eventually it won't shut up, it will soun off untill you replace it or power down.

i advise to replace both the supply fan and the CPU fan, unless of course you can narrow it down.

 

if you think its the fans just put a finger on/in it to stop it, if the sound stops you found your problem.

 

oh, real good advice, and who's gona donate the spare finger?

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Don't listen to the sirens! They will lure you into their realm and enslave you!

 

Maybe I'm just unlucky. Everyone I know who has had an emachine ended up having huge problems with it. I think I've had to fix more emachines than anything else.

 

buy a new computer

 

It is not a squiking sound, it is a BIOS sound like 1-2-1-2

The reason I am surprized is because :

1. I never heard this kind before.
2. It continues AFTER unpluging it for a few seconds. If machine stays pluged, it goes on forever?

I am pretty sure it is a fan problem, I am just not sure which one...

I took the cover off and vacuumed the machine, it was pretty dusty. Turned it on, both fans came on nicely...

Edit: I just found this online:

"Your cpu is overheating and the siren is the bios overheat warning. If you didn't shut down immediately you may have fried your cpu. The cpu cooling fan may have failed or become unplugged. If you built this pc yourself you may have misinstalled the heatsink. On amd cpus it is easy to put the heatsink on backward leaving the die unconnected to the heatsink."

 

Sounds a little odd that it still happens even though you've cleaned it all out. Usually when my computer complains, I hack out the fluff from the fans and everything's hunky-dory.

I wouldn't be too worried about having damaged your CPU. It's not that easy to destroy them. I've left the CPU unplugged by accident and wondered why the PC was screaming at me for a minute, then I sussed it and pulled the power cable out.

Could be your cpu fan bearings, in which case you'll need to replace it. If you do replace it, make sure you get a decent fan online - make sure it's compatible with your cpu/socket. Get some thermal paste - decent stuff like Arctic Silver.

 

you can just take the craooy fan off the heatsink and find someplace to screw a 120mm fan, let it blow cool air over cpu + chipst +RAM simultaneouslyy.

 

you need to edit post 14 of this thread.
i never said ANYWHERE that i owned 3 emachines.

 

I cleaned it after the sound and so far everything is OK. But thanks for the advice.

I will report back if it happens again...