Abit Nf7-S 2.0 - Trying to Revive \ VOGONS

Abit Nf7-S 2.0 - Trying to Revive

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First post, by junk

Posted on 2024-08-15, 03:07

junk Offline

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Hi all, this is my first post. I've been reading the forum for some time, enjoying the many builds, discussions and information.

I'm not an expert in computers, but i did enjoy building PCs in the late 90s and 2000s for friends and family. My last deskptop was a socket A from that time that i still have it. It was powered off some time in 2015 and never power on again. Put it in a box and stored.

It is (or was) an abit nf7-s 2.0 with a barton cpu, radeon 9800 pro, some good ram (can't remember the exact brand), a sb live and a voodoo 2 that i'm not sure if it was used in that build (but it was used in a p233 mmx that make me drooling pretty bad with the glide games of that time).

Last year i try to fire up but nothing happens, no post, no fans moving, not even beeps from the mobo. Having absolutely nothing to exchange parts and start to make some tests I was a bit lost (no pun intended).

I managed somehow to make the psu work, now the fans work but no post. I remember the nf7-s have a beep sequence depending on the error, strangely there is no beeps (still have the original manual with the beep legend). The jumper to reset the cmos was done many times and also replace the old cmos battery, but no luck.

A few months ago some random dude gift me a desktop with a socket A Sempron that looks like a good donnor to start to exchange and test parts. After exchanging parts the mobo still doesn't emmit any beep. I'm afraid some capacitors could be bad, bios corrupted or the mobo is just gone.

I did use the search tool, found this thread and gime me hope: Re: NF 7s doesnt boot.. corrupted bios? but at least he had beeps, in my case nothing happens even removing ram, cpu, etc.

So, any help or guide to troubleshoot the mobo is very welcome.

Reply 1 of 6, by butjer1010

Posted on 2024-08-15, 07:43

butjer1010 Offline

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Leave only CPU on motherboard, and speaker of course, and see if there are beep codes. If not, try with another CPU

Reply 2 of 6, by kotel

Posted on 2024-08-15, 07:45

kotel Offline

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Power on with a good known PSU. Are there any caps that puffed up/leaked?

"Sent on a mission, to protect the last treasures. Through struggle and strife we can see the light. Even if our mission is partially complete, Our efforts are not in vain.
Let that be our legacy."
-Stronghold 5-5

Reply 3 of 6, by RetroAddict

Posted on 2024-08-15, 11:55

RetroAddict Offline

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I have an nf7-s that appeared to be dead. I removed the bios chip and a colleague flashed the bios to it again. Board worked perfectly after that. May be worth you trying?

Reply 4 of 6, by nd22

Posted on 2024-08-15, 13:51

nd22 Offline

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First thing would be: get a good PSU, a modern one will work just fine, put the CPU, 1 memory module and GPU in the NF7-S and see if the system starts.
If not check the CPU, GPU and RAM in the donnor system and see if they work.
Also buy a speaker, it should be very cheap, to make sure you are going to hear any beeps.

Reply 5 of 6, by butjer1010

Posted on 2024-08-15, 13:57

butjer1010 Offline

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nd22 wrote on 2024-08-15, 13:51:

First thing would be: get a good PSU, a modern one will work just fine, put the CPU, 1 memory module and GPU in the NF7-S and see if the system starts.
If not check the CPU, GPU and RAM in the donnor system and see if they work.
Also buy a speaker, it should be very cheap, to make sure you are going to hear any beeps.

Why he needs memory and graphics? CPU itself on mbo is enough, and if he gets constant beeps, probably the board is alive! If there is no beeps, best thing to do is to try flashing the BIOS chip with programmer. I can do this for free, but the shipping costs are probably to much 🙁 Better to find someone who is closer....

Reply 6 of 6, by junk

Posted on 2024-08-15, 19:59

junk Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 7
Joined: 2024-08-15, 02:04

thanks for the answers!

ok will take a better look of the caps, last year i didn't see anything wrong but will take a better look.

now i have two psu in good condition, tried both with the sempron platform and both give post and boot windows on that machine, so i think psu's are fine atm (in the future for sure i will look for a more reliable/better psu).

also will check if the speaker is connected, i didn't remove the abit from the case so all should be still connected (speaker is in the front panel of the case right?)

and last, will try to flash the bios with the bootblock utility, if there is any advise or precaution let me know; i think the sempron unit has a floppy unit, not sure where i can get a floppy disk though 🤣.

will come back in a few days with some update, thanks again.

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