VOGONS

Search

Common searches

Non working Abit BE6-II

Topic actions

First post, by Nemo1985

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Hello, I received recently this motherboard, with cpu and ram. The first thing I did was to put the socketed bios on my eeprom burner to update to the latest bios, the original eeprom gave me an error at 87%. Well I used another one (the original eeprom is an AT49F002NT, the one I used is the winbond W29EE011-90).
I went to fire the motherboard and... nothing, the cpu fan spins but nothing else, no beeps, no video signal.
The debug card shows the infamous ---- code, which usually means something is very wrong.
I changed the battery to a new one, I tried different cpus and ram memory modules, I cleaned the contact with IPA, still nothing.
The seller on the auction showed some screens of the bios, but weird enough the cpu was recognized as P2 350 mhz, while the label on it says it is a 400 mhz. That lead me think they were faked but also the bios version of the bios is the same of the one was burned on the eeprom.
Despite of having black screen I noticed the cpu gets warm.
I have 2 main candidates as culprits: slot 1 even if watching the pins everything seems in order, eeprom socket.

Any advice about how can I troubleshoot the problem?

Thanks

Reply 4 of 7, by Nemo1985

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

That's explain why the mb doesn't work, thank you!
I don't understand why I didn't get the error while trying to flash it but anyway, do you have any 2mbit model I could use? I checked on my stash but they are all smaller size.

Reply 5 of 7, by frudi

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I don't remember if I've ever tried programming a chip with an image bigger than the chip, so I don't know if the programmer normally throws an error or just programs until it runs out of space and goes "ok, job done, nothing out of the ordinary to see here!" 😀

I'm not at home right now, so I can't check my parts. But if you do a web search for "2 mbit 256k x 8 cmos 5v" you should find a bunch of models that will be suitable. Double check the datasheet that they are really pin-compatible with AT49F002NT, just in case. Most of these will be obsolete and out of stock now, so you'll likely have to resort to ebay or similar.

If you have more motherboards available, you could try 'borrowing' the bios chip from one of those you don't need at the moment, just back it up first. It's what I normally do in situations like this, then I order some spare chips off ebay and when they eventually arrive use one of those to restore the donor board.

Reply 6 of 7, by Nemo1985

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Thank you for the tip, I just has you adviced, borrowed the chip from another motherboard (Winbond W49F002U), I hotswapped it and burned, the card now boots fine!
I also find the Winbond W29C020-90 which seems pin to pin compatible.

Go to top of page Go to top of page
Back to General Old Hardware
Close window
Close window