Beep on Startup - What Does It Mean?

[John Doe 57]

I started up my MacBook Pro this morning and heard a quick "beep" noise come right before the Apple Tone startup noise. Is this just a small glitch or is it a code for something more serious?

Thanks

 

[BlueRevolution]

Well, a single beep supposedly means that your computer has no memory (or isn't recognizing its presence). Why the computer should then proceed to start up at all I don't know. If it works, I don't think you need to be worried about it. I doubt that it'll deteriorate down the road.

 

[John Doe 57]

Well, a single beep supposedly means that your computer has no memory (or isn't recognizing its presence). Why the computer should then proceed to start up at all I don't know. If it works, I don't think you need to be worried about it. I doubt that it'll deteriorate down the road.

Alright, thank you. I've been using it since 9am and have had no problems.

 

[IJ Reilly]

The beep you hear when RAM is not installed or is installed improperly is long, loud, and hard to miss. If you hear this beep only once and for a short duration I suppose you don't need to worry right now -- but if it were me I'd be concerned if I ever heard it again. Possibly your RAM has some sort of intermittent fault. Have you upgraded it?

 

[John Doe 57]

The beep you hear when RAM is not installed or is installed improperly is long, loud, and hard to miss. If you hear this beep only once and for a short duration I suppose you don't need to worry right now -- but if it were me I'd be concerned if I ever heard it again. Possibly your RAM has some sort of intermittent fault. Have you upgraded it?

I have not upgraded it. I got my MacBook Pro on Christmas Day 2007. I have 4GB of RAM installed in it. I'll be on the lookout for another beep. Thanks.

 

[howardc64]

I know this is old thread but chiming in same issue here to see if anyone else have encountered this.

Early 2008 MBP 4,1. Faint short beep (not the long loud beep on no memory, memory is known good) just before bong and system boots fine. Had recent problems with this MBP where it sleeps and doesn't boot again (had to use this trick to get it to boot https://discussions.apple.com/message/28046678#message28046678) Wondering if the faint short beep indicates some problems