Error Beeps - Need Identification of them

I have an old IBM T43 laptop which dont have a harddrive in it. When I
turn it on, I get error beeps and nothing else.

Of course without a hard drive, I only expected to see the setup screen.
(BIOS)

I am getting this: 1 3 3 1 (These are the beeps)
one beep, three beeps, three beeps, one beep.

What does this mean?
I know these beeps are like morse code and mean something.

---

One other thing, (Not for the same computer)

Is there something built into XP Pro SP3 that shows how much RAM is in a
computer? I went to Control Panel - System - Device Manager. It shows
everything except the RAM. I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

Average Person wrote:
I have an old IBM T43 laptop which dont have a harddrive in it. When I
turn it on, I get error beeps and nothing else.

Of course without a hard drive, I only expected to see the setup screen.
(BIOS)

I am getting this: 1 3 3 1 (These are the beeps)
one beep, three beeps, three beeps, one beep.

What does this mean?
I know these beeps are like morse code and mean something.

---

One other thing, (Not for the same computer)

Is there something built into XP Pro SP3 that shows how much RAM is in a
computer? I went to Control Panel - System - Device Manager. It shows
everything except the RAM. I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.


The beep codes are on bioscentral, on the right hand side.

http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/phoenixbeep.htm

Your 1-3-3-1 aligns best with a Phoenix code. The table
for IBM, the codes aren't that long.

1-3-3-1 Autosize DRAM

However, every thread I've seen in Google so far, seems
to have nothing to do with the DRAM, and the participants
zoom off into the mist on some unrelated path.
So far, none of the Googled examples are all that encouraging.

One guy replaces CMOS battery ... didn't help.

One poster suggested "cracked motherboard track". But... why?
The OP in that one, did not report dropping the machine on
the floor or anything.

On another thread, someone decided it was a "latchup" problem,
and removing battery pack and AC adapter, then pressing the
power button ten times in a row (to drain the main cap), would
fix it. It does fix some "black-screen" Thinkpads. But why would
we assume this is what happened in all cases ? If it was
latchup, the odds are poor that the BIOS code would run at all,
and to make the beep pattern requires successfully running
BIOS code.

One poster got the 1-3-3-1 code right after a Windows Update
and the machine was in the process of doing the necessary reboot.
Did the Windows Update overwrite the CMOS RAM content ?
What could the Update activity have corrupted ? Again,
doesn't make particular sense.

You're going to need the Ouija board on this one.

Paul

Average Person wrote:
I have an old IBM T43 laptop which dont have a harddrive in it. When I
turn it on, I get error beeps and nothing else.

Of course without a hard drive, I only expected to see the setup screen.
(BIOS)

I am getting this: 1 3 3 1 (These are the beeps)
one beep, three beeps, three beeps, one beep.

What does this mean?
I know these beeps are like morse code and mean something.

---

One other thing, (Not for the same computer)

Is there something built into XP Pro SP3 that shows how much RAM is in a
computer? I went to Control Panel - System - Device Manager. It shows
everything except the RAM. I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

Right click on the My Computer icon Google is our friend.

On Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:20:26 -0500, Average Person
wrote:

I have an old IBM T43 laptop which dont have a harddrive in it. When I
turn it on, I get error beeps and nothing else.

Of course without a hard drive, I only expected to see the setup screen.
(BIOS)

I am getting this: 1 3 3 1 (These are the beeps)
one beep, three beeps, three beeps, one beep.

What does this mean?
I know these beeps are like morse code and mean something.

Bad memory stick but I would try reseating it first.

---

One other thing, (Not for the same computer)

Is there something built into XP Pro SP3 that shows how much RAM is in a
computer? I went to Control Panel - System - Device Manager. It shows
everything except the RAM. I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

Go to control panel/system

Bill in Co wrote:
Average Person wrote:
I have an old IBM T43 laptop which dont have a harddrive in it. When I
turn it on, I get error beeps and nothing else.

Of course without a hard drive, I only expected to see the setup screen.
(BIOS)

I am getting this: 1 3 3 1 (These are the beeps)
one beep, three beeps, three beeps, one beep.

What does this mean?
I know these beeps are like morse code and mean something.

---

One other thing, (Not for the same computer)

Is there something built into XP Pro SP3 that shows how much RAM is in a
computer? I went to Control Panel - System - Device Manager. It shows
everything except the RAM. I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

Right click on the My Computer icon Google is our friend.



This one will give the declaration on each stick.
You can compare the total of all declarations, to
the amount the system is actually using. In the last
tab over, there should be an option to save the output
in a text file. For example, I set MAXMEM on Windows 10
recently, to pin off an amount of memory - Windows 10
boots faster if you have "small RAM". So CPUZ would always
show the physical total, whereas Windows can turn some of it
off (MAXMEM), and not use all of it.

https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

SPD tables can be decoded with one of several JEDEC documents,
if you're curious about how that part works.

Paul

In message ,
writes:
On Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:20:26 -0500, Average Person
wrote:

I have an old IBM T43 laptop which dont have a harddrive in it. When I
turn it on, I get error beeps and nothing else.

Of course without a hard drive, I only expected to see the setup screen.
(BIOS)

I am getting this: 1 3 3 1 (These are the beeps)
one beep, three beeps, three beeps, one beep.

What does this mean?
I know these beeps are like morse code and mean something.

Bad memory stick but I would try reseating it first.

Yes, IME beeps with no display is a memory problem. Possibly just a
seating problem. Try unplugging all but one RAM module, then all but the
second one, assuming more than one, then if each works on its own try
combinations.
---

One other thing, (Not for the same computer)

Is there something built into XP Pro SP3 that shows how much RAM is in a
computer? I went to Control Panel - System - Device Manager. It shows
everything except the RAM. I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

Go to control panel/system

Or task manager, performance tab. (That will show slightly less than
actually present, as it deducts some used for some purposes - this 3G
machine shows as 2864 MB, for example.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Science isn't about being right every time, or even most of the time. It is
about being more right over time and fixing what it got wrong.
- Scott Adams, 2015-2-2

On Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:47:50 -0600, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Average Person wrote:
I have an old IBM T43 laptop which dont have a harddrive in it. When I
turn it on, I get error beeps and nothing else.

Of course without a hard drive, I only expected to see the setup screen.
(BIOS)

I am getting this: 1 3 3 1 (These are the beeps)
one beep, three beeps, three beeps, one beep.

What does this mean?
I know these beeps are like morse code and mean something.

---

One other thing, (Not for the same computer)

Is there something built into XP Pro SP3 that shows how much RAM is in a
computer? I went to Control Panel - System - Device Manager. It shows
everything except the RAM. I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

Right click on the My Computer icon Google is our friend.


Control panel/system/general has the ram size on the next to bottom
line.

On Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 3:20:30 PM UTC-7, Average Person wrote:
... I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

The DOS command is MEM. Try MEM /? to get help for it. Do it in a DOS command window on modern Windows OS's.

In message ,
James Davis writes:
On Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 3:20:30 PM UTC-7, Average Person wrote:
... I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

The DOS command is MEM. Try MEM /? to get help for it. Do it in a DOS
command window on modern Windows OS's.

I just tried it (Windows 7-32, ~3G memory), and got

C:\mem


655360 bytes total conventional memory
655360 bytes available to MS-DOS
598480 largest executable program size

1048576 bytes total contiguous extended memory
0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
941056 bytes available XMS memory
MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

, so I don't think it's that useful for what is wanted here. (I tried
the /p /d /c options too, but I think they still just worked on the
bottom 640K or 1M.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Mary Poppins is a junkie" - bumper sticker on Julie Andrews' car in the '60s

On Thu, 28 Mar 2019 00:48:36 -0700 (PDT), James Davis
wrote:

On Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 3:20:30 PM UTC-7, Average Person wrote:
... I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

The DOS command is MEM. Try MEM /? to get help for it. Do it in a DOS command window on modern Windows OS's.

Access denied.
MEM.EXE Not Windows PE - Sign. : DOS 8 bit
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012

On Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:18:07 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message ,
James Davis writes:
On Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 3:20:30 PM UTC-7, Average Person wrote:
... I recall back in the DOS days, there was a
command that could be typed to determine memory, but I am not sure if
that works with modern OSs, nor can I remember the command.

The DOS command is MEM. Try MEM /? to get help for it. Do it in a DOS
command window on modern Windows OS's.

I just tried it (Windows 7-32, ~3G memory), and got

C:\mem


655360 bytes total conventional memory
655360 bytes available to MS-DOS
598480 largest executable program size

1048576 bytes total contiguous extended memory
0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
941056 bytes available XMS memory
MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

, so I don't think it's that useful for what is wanted here. (I tried
the /p /d /c options too, but I think they still just worked on the
bottom 640K or 1M.)

Same here (XP SP3)
That is what you would expect on any real DOS machine if the memory
was maxed out.
There are DOS drivers that will give programs access to memory above
that within the program but DOS itself only sees 1 meg and a big chunk
of that is reserved so it looks like 640k. As Bill Gates said "who
would even need more than 640k"?

wrote:


I just tried it (Windows 7-32, ~3G memory), and got

C:\mem


655360 bytes total conventional memory
655360 bytes available to MS-DOS
598480 largest executable program size

1048576 bytes total contiguous extended memory
0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
941056 bytes available XMS memory
MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

No doubt a copy of the original 16-bit program. So it's run in a
virtual 8086 machine, and so far as it knows, it's hosted by DOS on
one of those ancient processors. When I run mem on 64-bit WIn10, I
get:

'mem' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

So they didn't even try to update it for the post-DOS world.

--
Tim Slattery
tim at risingdove dot com

In message , Tim Slattery
writes:
wrote:


I just tried it (Windows 7-32, ~3G memory), and got

C:\mem


655360 bytes total conventional memory
655360 bytes available to MS-DOS
598480 largest executable program size

1048576 bytes total contiguous extended memory
0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
941056 bytes available XMS memory
MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

No doubt a copy of the original 16-bit program. So it's run in a
virtual 8086 machine, and so far as it knows, it's hosted by DOS on
one of those ancient processors. When I run mem on 64-bit WIn10, I
get:

'mem' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

So they didn't even try to update it for the post-DOS world.

For interest: the version of mem.exe I have (it was I who did the above
trial run), under Windows 7 (32 bit), is in C:\Windows\System32 (and
somewhere in winsxs as well), is 39,274 bytes, and shows created,
modified, and accessed as 2009-7-13 22:40:56. No name, version number,
or many other such fields.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Lewis: ... d'you think there's a god?
Morse: ... There are times when I wish to god there was one. (Inspector Morse.)

Tim Slattery wrote:
wrote:


I just tried it (Windows 7-32, ~3G memory), and got

C:\mem


655360 bytes total conventional memory
655360 bytes available to MS-DOS
598480 largest executable program size

1048576 bytes total contiguous extended memory
0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
941056 bytes available XMS memory
MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

No doubt a copy of the original 16-bit program. So it's run in a
virtual 8086 machine, and so far as it knows, it's hosted by DOS on
one of those ancient processors. When I run mem on 64-bit WIn10, I
get:

'mem' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

So they didn't even try to update it for the post-DOS world.


Mem is there.

In its 32-bit world...

https://i.postimg.cc/vTQX7ZQk/mem-is-on-32bit.gif

Paul