Centris 610 chimes of death :(

[Apostrophe]

Mike Richardson recently posted in this forum about a problem with a Centris 610. Well, now I'm going to add to that '610 trend, as my Centris 610 has just now given me the chimes of death.

I booted it up, and it started up just fine. My desktop appeared, everything's great. So I opened Microsoft Word and went downstairs for something. When I got back up, everything was still fine...until I tried to move the mouse or tap the keys. It was completely frozen. So I turned it off via the power button, waited a few seconds, and then turned it back on. A regular startup chime, but then...the chimes of death immediately followed. The screen was completely black, too.

So I opened the case and reseated the RAM and VRAM (that's what's next to the RAM, isn't it?) as well as reseating various cables and such. The battery looks fine, and there's no sign of corrosion or leakage anywhere. I turned it on...chimes of death again, blank screen again. I also tried booting it from my OS 7.6 CD, but still...nothing.

The hard drive's making its regular sounds, and since the Centris won't boot from the hard drive or the CD drive, my guess is that I just need to replace the RAMs and VRAMs. I replaced the RAM on one of my SEs that was displaying a sad mac, and it works beautifully to this day.

And following that thought, are the Chimes of Death on a Centris the equivalent of a sad mac on an SE?

Luckily my birthday's coming up soon. Looks like I have a few more chips to add to my shopping list...

-Apostrophe

 

[coius]

I am guessing your ram is dead. Usually, when a system locks up, and then gives the death chime, almost most of the time, it's either the ram is loose, or it died. How many SIMMs are there in it? Should be 2 of them, from when I remember having my Centris 610.

Anyways, get new RAM first. it's cheap enough that you can at least try without breaking the bank.

If that's not the case, I am pretty sure the ROM is OK. especially since the ROM was in good enough condition to at least do a POST and a ROM Check in the first place.

I wish you good luck! Get that RAM first and let us know what the findings are. Many times when I have had this happen, 9/10 times it was that the RAM had died or was slowly dying until it finally stopped chiming.

Good Luck!!!

Coius

 

[Apostrophe]

Yeah, I'm almost positive it's the RAM. Yes, there are two of them, but also two other SIMMs next to the RAM (possibly VRAM?).

One of my SEs displayed a Sad Mac until I replaced its RAM, after which it worked fine, so I'll just do the same with the Centris and see what happens.

I actually think I have a few leftover SIMMs from when I bought the Centris some RAM, so I'll just use those.

I'll post back tomorrow with results!

-Apostrophe

 

[Apostrophe]

Turns out I did have a few leftover RAM SIMMs, and so I switched out the RAM...but the Chimes of Death still persist. My guess is it's the other two SIMMs that have malfunctioned...and I don't have spares for those, so I'll have to buy them.

Here's a short video of the situation...this was filmed after I switched out the RAM. A picture's worth a thousand words, and I guess a video's worth a thousand pictures, so here we go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB-1BmyFdWY

I'm a bit awkward in this video; I know exactly what I want to say, but it's weird just speaking to a camera without any other person in the room, and it throws things off a bit...

-Apostrophe