Asrock Z97 Pro4 bios beeps/posting issues

Since a couple of weeks my PC sometimes gives 6 short beeps before giving 1 bios beep and continuing to boot. 6 Beeps meaning "The keyboard controller IC has failed, which is not allowing Gate A20 to switch the processor to protected mode. Replace the keyboard controller"

I ignored the problem as my pc was booting.

Last weekend I got 3 sequences of 6 beeps without posting. On resetting the pc I managed to get it booting again.

I decided to investigate the problem a bit closer and now I got continuous sequences of 6 short beeps without booting.

I removed all usb devices and I get 2 short beeps: Memory parity error  A memory parity error has occurred in the first 64K of RAM.  The RAM IC is probably bad

I tried following steps to get more info:
- removed all the RAM modules: continuous beeps indicating no memory
- tried various combinations of RAM and RAM banks: 2 bios beeps

as I don't have spare memory modules I have not been able to swap memory and test again.

-  removed graphics card: beeps that no graphics card is present
- reinstalled everything: 2 beeps but no post

The rest of the hardware is:
- Asrock Z97 pro 4
- Kingston 16GB (2x 8GB) 1600MHz DDR3 HyperX Fury White
- Intel Core i5-4690K
- Corsair 520W power supply
- ASUS nVidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB GDDR5 graphics card

Is the motherboard or RAM at fault?
All input is appreciated

Hi,

- This build has been running fine since May 2015
- The keyboard is some cheap/standard logitech keyboard
- The mouse is a logitech Performance MX (1ste generation)
- All latest firmware and drivers were installed (as my pc doesn't boot I can't tell what the exact versions are)
- The motherboard has been updated with the latest bios (again I can't recall or check the latest version)
- I cleared the CMOS in my debugging session
- I would love to get into the CMOS, but I don't get that far...
- The PSU is a Corsair HX520 Modular power supply. It's 8 years old, from my previous build.




Edited by Dinobe - 21 Dec 2015 at 5:20pm

wardog wrote: Seeings your eight year old psu is now long in the tooth, do you or a friend have a newer or larger wattage psu to test with?

And again, seeings you will be changing out a major device(PSU) due to possible problems relating to it, a BIOS clearing, not a simple reset, would be in order.


EDITED FOR CLARITY


Edited by wardog - 21 Dec 2015 at 5:49pm

What I'm getting at by hinting about your current eight year old PSU is ........

Is it Dual railled? Does the PCIe graphics power have its own rail, or shared on one rail? etc etc

As I'm sure you're well aware, eight years ago things were very very different in terms of what and where a PSU's power output was designed. I'd still like to know what model number of PSU you have, but I'm of the opinion you first need/should upgrade your current one, regardless.

Not that it will necessarily solve this problem you have, yet it surely is not helping either.

Consider. The PSU is the foundation upon which everything else is built atop. Anything built on a weak foundation is bound to give you problems sooner or later.

I will look up the exact model number when I get home.
But from memory, I think it's this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001




Edited by Dinobe - 21 Dec 2015 at 6:33pm