Member Avatar for Nanci252

Gateway EL500C desktop. Runs XP. No idea what else is "on" it, have not been able to gain access, other than opening and looking.

Started with a whisking noise inside at start, and she inquired around, ended up buying and sticking in a new hard drive.
Novice mistakes were made, still it never came back to boot up.
Spent time with tele-tech at Gateway, and touched a lot of parts. Still no boot, and no video. They told her new video card. Part acquired, and now I received the machine to put in the part - and after reseating it twice, chk'g all board components, and doing the piece by piece barebones boot - still nothing, and getting 2 beeps, no video - checked and replaced memory, all worked in another unit.
Help ? Mobo has 3 indicator lights that must be green (as told by gateway_) and all are green. Attempted to contact gateway support, and got tired of extremely long "hold".

Nan

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

Generated

Short, practical troubleshooting for and others hitting the same 2‑beep / no‑video symptom.

Start with a clean minimal POST: unplug AC, ground yourself, remove all drives, cards and USB devices so only the case speaker, CPU + cooler, one known‑good RAM stick (use the slot the manual calls DIMM1), and either the discrete GPU or onboard video remain. Make sure the 24‑pin ATX and the 4‑pin/8‑pin CPU 12V connectors are firmly seated. Listen to the beep pattern (note short vs long, repeats) and watch the motherboard LEDs while attempting this barebones boot.

If that still gives two beeps and no display, try these next checks in order:

  • Swap the RAM into another slot and test each stick one at a time.
  • Try a different, known‑good video card or move the current card to a different PCI/PCI‑E slot. Verify any auxiliary PCI‑E power plug is connected.
  • Reset CMOS (remove CMOS battery for 5–10 minutes or use the clear jumper) and retry.
  • Inspect the board for bulging/leaking capacitors, burn marks, or a misseated CPU cooler.
  • If available, test with a known‑good PSU (symptoms can look like video failure if 12V rail is weak).
  • Confirm the case speaker is actually connected so you’re reading beep codes correctly.

A note on beep codes: meanings vary by BIOS vendor. Record exact patterns (e.g., two short, two long, repeating) and check the motherboard/Gateway documentation for that pattern before concluding “video” vs “memory” vs “motherboard.” ’s suggestions about BIOS or VGA chip are possible, but those are lower‑probability until simpler swaps (RAM, PSU, GPU) are ruled out.

If the board still refuses POST after the above, the likely culprits are the motherboard or CPU. Given the age of EL500C machines, weigh repair cost vs replacement.

Member Avatar for dianedebra

I am having the same problem. I have also gone through the same troubleshooting processes you have and still no solution. Have you been able to figure it out yet?

Member Avatar for Tomk138

im having same prob; i have done some research and im positive that its either the wirelless or the bios or the vga chip for the lcd screen...im sure of it and if u fix it can u let me know thanx

Member Avatar for caperjack

im having same prob; i have done some research and im positive that its either the wirelless or the bios or the vga chip for the lcd screen...im sure of it and if u fix it can u let me know thanx

hi this thread is over 2 yrs old ,dont hold you breath waiting for a answer .


"its either the wirelless or the bios or the vga chip for the lcd screen"

really, maybe it just the power jack

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
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