POST ON P.O.S.T.(Power-on self test)

i am blogging on power on self test which we did in our 2nd lab session.

The first thing that the BIOS does when it boots the PC is to perform what is called the Power-On Self-Test, or POST for short. The POST is a built-in diagnostic program that checks your harware to ensure that everything is present and functioning properly, before the BIOS begins the actual boot. It later continues with additional tests (such as the memory test that you see printed on the screen) as the boot process is proceeding.
                                                     The POST runs very quickly, and you will normally not even noticed that it is happening--unless it finds a problem (amazing how many things are like that, isn't it?) You may have encountered a PC that, when turned on, made beeping sounds and then stopped without booting up. That is the POST telling you something is wrong with the machine. The speaker is used because this test happens so early on, that the video isn't even activated yet! These beep patterns can be used to diagnose many hardware problems with your PC. The exact patterns depend on the maker of the BIOS; the most common is  AMI BIOSes. This part of the Troubleshooting Expert will help you figure out what the POST beep codes mean and what to do about them, if you are having this problem.
Note: Some POST errors are considered "fatal" while others are not. A fatal error means that it will halt the boot process immediately (an example would be if no system memory at all is found). In fact, most POST boot errors are fatal, since the POST is testing vital system components.

                                                        Many people don't realize that the POST also uses extended troubleshooting codes that you can use to get much more detail on what problem a troublesome PC is having. You can purchase a special debugging card that goes into an ISA slot and accepts the debugging codes that the BIOS sends to a special I/O address, usually 80h. The card displays these codes and this lets you see where the POST stops, if it finds a problem. These cards are obviously only for the serious PC repair-person or someone who does a lot of work on systems.

Below are the AMI BIOS Beep codes that can occur. However, because of the wide variety of different computer manufacturers with this BIOS, the beep codes may vary.

Beep Code	Descriptions	Document
1 short	DRAM refresh failure	CH000996
2 short	Parity circuit failure	CH000607
3 short	Base 64K RAM failure	CH000996
4 short	System timer failure	CH000607
5 short	Process failure	CH000607
6 short	Keyboard controller Gate A20 error	CH000383
7 short	Virtual mode exception error	CH000607
8 short	Display memory Read/Write test failure	CH000607
9 short	ROM BIOS checksum failure	CH000607
10 short	CMOS shutdown Read/Write error	CH000239
11 short	Cache Memory error	CH000607
1 long, 3 short	Conventional/Extended memory failure	CH000996
1 long, 8 short	Display/Retrace test failed	CH000607

  This table is also present in the slides available on amarjeet sir's website but links are given here . the following links show the problem, the cause of the error and how to correct it.
                          for any questions or queries, please do write .