w230ss - random bios warning beeps during normal use

Hi folks,

Has anyone come across a problem with the w230ss randomly beeping/flashing during normal use?

These beeps and warnings occur while I'm using the laptop as normal with no impact on performance or usage (other than it being noisy for a short period, though concerned it may just switch itself off anytime)

Description of beeps: regular beeps of around 2 second intervals each for around 30 seconds while top left leds flash with full fan blast. After around 30 secs, it goes back to normal until it randomly does it again. CPU / GPU and Memory temperatures are normal at under 50c at all times.

This problem just started today which is also the first time I plugged in my headphones to test that out (3rd day of usage). I also ran the windows 8.1 memory diagnostics test which shows nothing is wrong with that.

 

Try resetting the EC by removing the system battery and AC for a minute.

 

That's usually an indication of overheating. If your temps are reportedly okay, it could be a faulty sensor. Try the power cycle Meaker suggested (hold the power button for a few seconds after removing the battery and AC to drain the electrical current from the laptop).

 

So, after another 2 days - things seem fine and I suspect the problem is related in some way to using "sleep" in combination with plugging in my headphones (laptop doesnt properly recognise it being plugged in and thats when the problems started occuring).

Thanks for the advice about resetting the EC folks - it'll be one I'll try if I come across further problems.

I switched off the fast boot off 8.1 and switched sleep to hibernate. The speakers was something that didnt work properly in the first instance when I got the laptop as well (stuck in headphones mode) - though I got that fixed fairly quickly with the latest Clevo drivers on the first day.

 

I have had this same concern. It's only happened a few times, and every time while system is idling it would just start beeping out of the blue, then stopped, and it was perfectly fine. Temps were well within spec (idling at ~ CPU 55C, GPU off). I thought it might be my Intel XTU CPU undervolt, so I set it back to normal and eventually had the same beeping (a week or two later). I had also reset the system by pulling power, battery, and CMOS battery, but still eventually had the beeping again. I haven't had it for several weeks now (knock on wood), but definitely a very peculiar issue, and difficult to diagnose since it's so infrequent. I turned off secure boot last time and not sure if/why that would be the case but haven't had it since.

 

I am having the exact same problem, whilst on non GPU/CPU intensive activities (browsing, etc...) I have the 3 blue lights up to the F2 key lighting up 2-3 times altogether with a beep and the fans stops at the same time.

That's very strange, I would suspect this might be a bios issue or something?

 

It would be an EC rather than bios issue. Sounds like it is not happy with either feedback from fans or a temperature sensor somewhere.

 

I've just had it again twice... whilst browsing.

> One time it beeped whilst the fans where almost non active - it beeped 3x times and fans all of the sudden turned to max for these 3 seconds and went back to normal
> Another time - a few minutes later - it beeped whilst the fans where set manually at max (fn + 1). It beeped 3 times and the fans stopped.

At this point, the best thing to do would be to RMA it I imagine? All of this is happening when CPU/GPU temps are at 40-50degres C... and the machine is not even 2 weeks old.

Thanks for letting me know your thoughts!

 

Yes, RMA it! Based off of the beep sequence, this sounds GPU related. Have your reseller take care of it for you.

 

Let me know how this turns out. So far I haven't had any performance or thermal issues of any kind. Solid as a rock and it gets heavy daily use. Just it sounds like yours is more frequent than mine. I haven't had it for weeks now. Not sure what the culprit was.

 

I think it's a temperature reporting issue and there is something slightly up with his setup.

 

Okay, the issue became annoying and randomly startling enough for me to send it to RMA. I'm just hoping they will be able to replicate the issue and fix it! I will keep you posted about what they say.

 

Just a bump to the topic:
RMA just let me know that the AC adapter was apparently mis voltaging under load.
I'm personally really not sure this was the issue and believe this must come from a wrong thermal sensor or something, considering the issue never quite happened whilst in load-consuming activities.

 

Yes and if the AC drops then the system should just cut it off and use the battery.

 

So... I've just received the machine back today and have used it for the past 3 hours under normal activity - browsing, etc...
Then all the sudden the beeping happened again with 3x long beeps, meaning the RMA didn't do their job even though I've specifically requested to verify and fix this.

EDIT - notes from RMA:
The tech service told me the following was done and reported:
> Thermal paste had been verified and re-applied
> Verified latest BIOS, EC and Drivers
> Stress testing the machine for 2 days with CPU test maxed out at 79C and GPU maxed out at 76C
> No report of thermal issue or issues with the video, everything being reported as smooth
> AC adapter was mis voltaging and that's the only thing discovered.

> My take on this is that the tech service didn't do a prolonged test under the context I've shared, which is the beeping under idle to very little load consuming activites..


I've just emailed them back to let them know the issue is happening again and what is suggested from them for me to do...

 

Have you tried using it in a different location at all?

 

I've used it in several electricity plugs in my apartment in several different areas, but never tried the machine anywhere else than in my apartment.

Would you think that might be an electricity issue from my place or something maybe? Would I need a surge protector for it or something?
Just wondering as I've never had any issues with previous laptops or electrical devices at this place before (I had a w110er and a macbook air and many other electrical devices)

Thanks a lot!!

 

It was just a thought, maybe there is something weird going on with the electrics, you never know.

 

Ok, so to continue on this thrilling story.

I've had the chance to get the RMA guy over the phone and he seemed very competent, he advised me to do the following:

1 > Remove the notebook cooler fan (I have a cooler master notepal), and since with this model the air is being sucked out of the computer from below, that might be an issue as this is not the way the air is meant to be flowing with this laptop.
2 > Try it on different AC plugs and maybe with a surge adaptor (as it is a nice to have), but he is not really convinced that might be this, considering I had the issue on different circuits in my apartment before
3 > Remove the mechanical hard drive
4 > test all of the above with HWmonitor considering there might have been some sensors I didn't see (I only checked GPU and CPU ones previously)

If all of the above is not working, he advised me to send it to RMA for a full replacement but he was very surprised as he didn't experience any issue on his end during all stress tests...

Let's see what happens.

 

hi guys

I have the same issue but worse

Check if ur fan works at idle temps.

Mine only works at maximium speed. I might the issue is some sensor in the fan.

Cuz if i try to move the fan with my hands, and them with clevo center put fan to maximium speed, then the laptop for perfectly but very noise

 

It could be a funky threshold voltage issue within the fan itself, interesting.

 

Hi guys, Just letting you know that i have the same issue. I'm currently in the process of an RMA and just wanted to add some information.
My beeping happened both when it was plugged in and on battery, usually didn't happen in games (league of legends, trackmania and call of duty) but would happend frequently during internet browsing. No temps ever got high enough to be overheating, I think the hottest thing was the cpu in trackmania at 75 C. Also internesting was I could not see the gpu temp in hw monitor, literally the only program that i could see the nvidia gpu temp in was msi afterburner(others i tried were speedfan, nvidia gpu gadget and gpu-z). I tried reinstalling drivers and trying beta video drivers but nothing worked. I think it's the motherboard and I hope that whoever is fixing it is competent enough to replace the mobo and check it.

 

have someone any news from RMA ? can repair it? change mobo?

 

Talk to your reseller if you are having issues.

 

Yea I got it back from sager, the only reason I think they did something was the screws for the msata ports were missing and the ram was very slightly crooked in the top slot. Btw is it normal for them to but a samsung high density ram and a crucial low density ram stick in the same laptop? ( no issues with it just wondering)
On a more relevent note: the problem immediatly appeared when in re-inserted my msata OS drive(my god was it hard to find replacement screws for it) and browsed the internet for a couple minutes. I gave up at that point and re-installed the os for the second time. This worked- no symptoms since i did this about 5 days ago.
But not 30 minutes ago I had a different defect, when tilting back the screen the laptop lost power. like the battery came loose but since it was secure and plugged in that is not the source of the issue. I called my rep and am trying to send in the laptop. I will be puchasing a different brand and I will never ever buy a sager laptop again. I think there is a reason that I haven't heard of sager/clevo before this year.

 

How's this 'solution':
Device Manager > Show hidden devices > Non-Plug and Play Drivers > Beep > Disable.



Actually, it's pretty much the first thing I do on any new Windows install ... not much for beeping noises, have de-soldered onboard speaker-chips from a bread maker and a washing machine ... bloody things can't be disabled any other way and don't care to know when the damn thing's finished . Unbelievably tiny stuff, it's incredible how something so small can make such a racket.

 

I had a similar issue with my P150HM. My 6970m started dying, I baked it in the oven, then it worked for a few months, then died and I baked it again, it worked for a few hours, and then this thing appeared: I start the laptop, and no matter what I do (even if I'm staying in the BIOS menu), after a minute or so it sets the fans to max, LEDs blinking, and then it shuts down.

Could be that I saw a spark when I inserted GPU after second baking; forgot to remove the battery. Apparently, one way or another, some thermal sensor has died.

I gave up got a W230SS as a replacement and was surprised to hear that there is a chance of a similar issue

 

It does not seem like a chip issue.

 

Not likely. The predecessor garnered something of a reputation for being hot and loud, but the SS adopted the Maxwell chip, which runs noticeably cooler. I think you're less likely to run into a bad GPU this time around (we haven't had any in for GPU failure).