BIOS beep code error – boot failure is BIOS bug not hardware failure

Gigabyte B365M DS3H motherboard
Gigabyte B365M DS3H motherboard

BIOS beep code error after upgrade of motherboard, RAM and processor

After installing the upgrade of a Gigabyte B365M DS3H motherboard, Kingston DDR4 RAM memory and Intel processor, on startup there is no video output, an irregular BIOS beep code of 4.5 and 5 short beeps is issuing. Moreover, there is a diagnostic light flashing on the motherboard. The system is obviously looping as it attempts to initialise its first startup.

The Gigabyte website says that those particular BIOS beep code error signals indicate either an issue with the graphics card or a POST (Power-On-Self-Test) failure that indicates a faulty or failing component.

Note that BIOS beep code error messages vary between motherboard manufactures and depend on which make of UEFI BIOS  (AMI, Insyde, Intel, Phoenix) is in use.

Why the problem is not a BIOS beep code error

The system has two 8GB modules of Kingston RAM. The system boots with one stick of RAM in any of the four memory slots, but fails to boot when both modules are in the slots that make dual-channel mode work. Dual-channel mode makes two modules of memory operate as if they are a single module. The user manuals that the major motherboard manufacturers provide with their boards, or as PDF downloads from their websites,provide information on the RAM memory and where best to install it for features such as maximum capacities, how to run in dual-channel mode, etc.

In other words, the beep code error message must itself be an error due to the fact that the system boots with a single module of RAM. Which in turn suggests that a bug in the BIOS is responsible for the problem. It stands to reason that if the motherboard is faulty,, the beep codes that it issues could also be false. Which was the case with this boot problem.

Investigation shows that the existing BIOS file name is F5 and that an update is available

Investigation shows that the existing BIOS file name is F5. A visit to the relevant support page on the Gigabyte website, shown below, says that F6E is the name of the latest BIOS file.. The reason for the BIOS update says:

1. – Improve DDR compatibility.

2. – Workaround beta BIOS to improve Kingstone DDR4-2666 stability concern on some specific memory-chip suppliers

3. – Add NTFS format support for Q Flash. Meaning that you can format a flash drive to use the NTFS file format instead of the FAT32 file format in order to flash the BIOS 2with an update using the Gigabyte Q Flash utility.

Beep code error - Gigabyte B365M DS3H motherboard BIOS support page
Beep code error – Gigabyte B365M DS3H motherboard BIOS support page

The simple solution

The simple fix for this BIOS problem is to update the motherboard’s latest BIOS file (F6e) by downloading it from the relevant support page on Gigabyte’s website. To see it, visit the following link.

B365M DS3H (rev. 1.0) –

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B365M-DS3H-rev-10/support#support-dl-bios

How to flash the BIOS with an update

The following page on this website explains how to flash a BIOS with an update.

Use a USB flash drive to update/flash BIOS on MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock motherboards –

Update/flash BIOS – MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock

About Eric 275 Articles
I am an experienced PC technician who has been the owner and sole writer of the PC Buyer Beware! website since 2004. I am learning all the time in this very dynamic, ever-changing field.