ETC Ion Beeping Three Times

[carsonld]

I have a very EARLY version of the ION (it doesn't have the shift button on the board). When I turn the board on it makes three beeping noises and wont boot up. I am currently stuck with turn the board on and if it beeps, shutting it down multiple times until it finally boots up. I called ETC and they sent me to a maintenance video on their youtube channel. This was in November though. I have taken the board apart twice since then to clean it, following the instructions from the video. I figured I would take it up here and see if anyone has any suggestions on what it could be/what could I do.

I currently dont have a show until Monday. I am not really considering this and emergency since I can at least get the board to boot up after a minute or two. However, the problem is becoming more consistent and taking longer to get rid of the noise and boot up.

Thanks!

 

[JohnD]

I am just going to throw this out there, has the battery inside been changed lately? Many consoles (both sound and light) sometimes behave strangely when the battery is getting weak.

 

[sk8rsdad]

3 long beeps on most intel motherboards usually means a memory issue. Remove and reseat the memory modules is the first aid for it. You might also have a failing hard drive although that has a different beep sequence, as does a USB error.

If 'twere my console, I would seriously consider ETC's Ion refurbishment program where they'll take your old Ion, upgrade the motherboard and disk drive to the latest, generally clean it up and send it back. It's been a lo-o-o-o-o-ng time since the software upgrade that trigggered the keycap replacement and ETC will send you the new ones for free.

 

[Van]

Sk8rs beat me to it. I watched the vid but don't know which Motherboard and BIOS you have. 3 beep can mean a Video Card fault in some, Keyboard input Error in others and 'Base 64' error in others. The same procedures you use for cleaning the contacts on a memory module apply for the Video card or other expansion cards coming off various risers; a pencil eraser, rubbed lightly over the contacts, blow away crumbs with compressed air <not your mouth> then firmly re-seat the card or memory module. Same thing goes for connections from the 'Keyboard'. undo connections, one at a time, then reseat the. Sometimes it's as simple as a microscopic bit of corrosion or a bad spot on the gold plating that's causing a capacitance issue.
All of these procedures need to be performed in an anti-static environment or with a grounding strap attached to you and the case and, of course any work like this will void the heck out of your warranty, if you still have one.

 

[TimMc]

I have a very EARLY version of the ION (it doesn't have the shift button on the board). When I turn the board on it makes three beeping noises and wont boot up. I am currently stuck with turn the board on and if it beeps, shutting it down multiple times until it finally boots up. I called ETC and they sent me to a maintenance video on their youtube channel. This was in November though. I have taken the board apart twice since then to clean it, following the instructions from the video. I figured I would take it up here and see if anyone has any suggestions on what it could be/what could I do.

I currently dont have a show until Monday. I am not really considering this and emergency since I can at least get the board to boot up after a minute or two. However, the problem is becoming more consistent and taking longer to get rid of the noise and boot up.

Thanks!

What did the helpful and lovely folks at ETC say when you called them?

 

[JD]

Here are the POST beep codes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-on_self-test
Almost sounds like whatever they are using the keyboard port for has become troublesome. (Three long beeps on the old IBM protocol. ) The other protocols don't use 3 long.