iMac 266, startup issue, unknown "beeping"

[sebastiant]

I had some problems with my iMac 266 today. Something like this has never happend before. So here goes:
I just had enough of Mac OS X and where going to reboot into OS 9. After pressing restart in Startup disk in System Preferences the computer shut down as it always does, but when the time came to starting up again i heard a "beeping" sound 4 times before the fan started and then nothing, with power button glowing red, as in sleepmode.
I tried again but it was the same thing so I pulled out the powercable and left it alone for about an hour before i tried it again... with the same result. The next time i held down P and R on the keyboard and i heard the startup chime. I held them down for a second chime. But the next "broke"; i never heard the the whole chime, just one second of it. But the computer booted like normal and now 30 min after, im writing this.

When this happend the iMac had been running only for a couple of hours and didnt feel very hot or anything. And there are no modifications exept that one of the 32mb DIMM:s have been replaced with a 128mb.

The only issues i really had with my iMac before, is a sound issue. I often connect the iMac to my stereo with a "3.5mm -> RCA"-cable (hope you know what i mean, think it is called a "Computer Cable" too) to play music. But now i am getting some static in the background and the volume is not very stable. (Much worse in OS 9 then OS X)

I havent tried to reboot i again... not yet. So i dont know if it will happen again.

Anyone know what caused this? How to prevent it.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks.
/Sebastian

 

[sebastiant]

Thanks for the info. Maybe i should be looking around like that first.

Since it happend i have restarted several times, without any real problems. The startup chime broke the first try, when i was holding down cmd+s to do a fcsk. But it could be related to the sound issue i mentioned before. Other then that, nothing.

I wouldnt call it musical. The same tone all four times. Maybe it was because of the built-in speakers of the iMac, it sounded really bad, it was an alarming sound. Scared me. I didnt exactly feel like dancing.

If it happens again i will probably try talking to some service technician. But there is a new iMac on is way in here. About a week or so.
I still want the old one to work though.