NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps)

On Sep 27, 5:47 am, Patty <pa....TakeThisOut@iainttellin.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:20:13 -0700, Martin wrote:
> > A thunderstorm recently killed my computer, and now I'm trying to
> > figure out what I need to replace.
>
> > When I press the power button, all fans and HDDs start spinning, and
> > the green light on my Abit NF7-S mainboard lights up. However, I get
> > no video output, and no beep codes. I tried taking out one and both of
> > my RAM modules, and also the video card, but the symptoms are still
> > the same. That made me think it was the mainboard that's broken.
>
> > But then I also tried to connect the PSU (an Antec NeoHe 430) to an
> > older (known good) computer. Then I got the same results for that
> > computer too. Fans and HDDs spinning, but no video and no beeps. Does
> > that mean that the PSU is broken? Even if I obviously do get power out
> > of it? Or is it even likely that it is the PSU /and/ mainboard (and
> > CPU?) that's broken?
>
> If the power supply creates the same behavior on a known good computer, I
> would suspect the power supply first. Try putting a known good PSU on the
> NF7-S computer and see what happens. That would be the first thing I would
> try before I declared the board/CPU dead.

The only known good PSU I have only has a 20-pin connector, and not
the extra 4-pin connector that should be connected to the mainboard.
Should the board be able to start and at least show me the BIOS
without the 4-pin connector attached?
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

On Sep 27, 9:30 am, Martin <lovesl... RemoveThis @frustratedhousewives.zzn.com>
wrote:
> The only known good PSU I have only has a 20-pin connector, and not
> the extra 4-pin connector that should be connected to the mainboard.
> Should the board be able to start and at least show me the BIOS
> without the 4-pin connector attached?

I should also say that I tried connecting this 20-pin PSU, but the
computer still didn't start. I'm just not sure whether that means that
the mainboard is broken, or if it didn't start because only 20 pins
were connected.
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:30:58 -0700, Martin wrote:

> On Sep 27, 9:30 am, Martin <lovesl....RemoveThis@frustratedhousewives.zzn.com>
> wrote:
>> The only known good PSU I have only has a 20-pin connector, and not
>> the extra 4-pin connector that should be connected to the mainboard.
>> Should the board be able to start and at least show me the BIOS
>> without the 4-pin connector attached?
>
> I should also say that I tried connecting this 20-pin PSU, but the
> computer still didn't start. I'm just not sure whether that means that
> the mainboard is broken, or if it didn't start because only 20 pins
> were connected.

More than likely you need the power source from the additional 4 pin
connector. If you know somewhere to get the correct power supply, I would
do that first. I still don't think you have enough information to declare
the board or CPU dead. Since your original PSU did not power up a known
good computer, I would still suspect the PSU.

Patty
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

On Sep 27, 3:53 pm, Patty <pa....RemoveThis@iainttellin.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:30:58 -0700, Martin wrote:
> > On Sep 27, 9:30 am, Martin <lovesl....RemoveThis@frustratedhousewives.zzn.com>
> > wrote:
> >> The only known good PSU I have only has a 20-pin connector, and not
> >> the extra 4-pin connector that should be connected to the mainboard.
> >> Should the board be able to start and at least show me the BIOS
> >> without the 4-pin connector attached?
>
> > I should also say that I tried connecting this 20-pin PSU, but the
> > computer still didn't start. I'm just not sure whether that means that
> > the mainboard is broken, or if it didn't start because only 20 pins
> > were connected.
>
> More than likely you need the power source from the additional 4 pin
> connector. If you know somewhere to get the correct power supply, I would
> do that first. I still don't think you have enough information to declare
> the board or CPU dead. Since your original PSU did not power up a known
> good computer, I would still suspect the PSU.
>
> Patty

Thanks a lot for your replies. I'm just posting the latest status. My
graphics card (an Asus N6600) has a molex power connector. When I try
to start the computer without that molex plugged in, it makes a long
continuous beep. Acording to the list at http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=98625
that means that the RAM isn't connected properly. However, if I try to
start the computer with the graphics card taken out, or with the
card's power connected, I get the symptoms I descried above (fans and
disks spinning, but no beeps and no video). The same thing (continuous
beep) happens whether I use the possibly damaged PSU or the other,
known good with only 20 pins, PSU.
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:30:25 -0700, Martin wrote:

> On Sep 27, 5:47 am, Patty <pa....RemoveThis@iainttellin.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:20:13 -0700, Martin wrote:
>>> A thunderstorm recently killed my computer, and now I'm trying to
>>> figure out what I need to replace.
>>
>>> When I press the power button, all fans and HDDs start spinning, and
>>> the green light on my Abit NF7-S mainboard lights up. However, I get
>>> no video output, and no beep codes. I tried taking out one and both of
>>> my RAM modules, and also the video card, but the symptoms are still
>>> the same. That made me think it was the mainboard that's broken.
>>
>>> But then I also tried to connect the PSU (an Antec NeoHe 430) to an
>>> older (known good) computer. Then I got the same results for that
>>> computer too. Fans and HDDs spinning, but no video and no beeps. Does
>>> that mean that the PSU is broken? Even if I obviously do get power out
>>> of it? Or is it even likely that it is the PSU /and/ mainboard (and
>>> CPU?) that's broken?
>>
>> If the power supply creates the same behavior on a known good computer, I
>> would suspect the power supply first. Try putting a known good PSU on the
>> NF7-S computer and see what happens. That would be the first thing I would
>> try before I declared the board/CPU dead.
>
> The only known good PSU I have only has a 20-pin connector, and not
> the extra 4-pin connector that should be connected to the mainboard.
> Should the board be able to start and at least show me the BIOS
> without the 4-pin connector attached?

I just had a thought. I have an NF7-S. The board basically runs on the
20-pin connector with an additional 4-pin connector which is not the same
as the additional 4-pin connector found on the main power connector on
24-pin power supplies. That said, you can purchase an adaptor to connect a
4-pin plug to a regular molex connector on your 20-pin power supply. If it
makes you feel better to test it with your older, power supply, that will
fix you up. The adaptor looks like this (I have one in my toolbox):

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/SearchDetail.asp?productID=2890

You might be able to pick one up at your local computer parts store.

HTH.

Patty
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

SumGuy wrote:

> I have an NF7-s but mine is a dud, (sort of).
> ...
> It however had problems with the SIL SATA controller on it.
> ...
> discovered if I try to run with both SATA channels in use I get data corruption.
>
> I'm still using it as a basic workhorse, only using the IDE channels.

Change bios setting "EXT P2P DISCARD TIME" from the default 30us to 1ms.
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

"Beryl" <terrapin.DeleteThis@coolbits.net> wrote in message
news:13g02vrmj4c621b@corp.supernews.com...
> SumGuy wrote:
>
>> I have an NF7-s but mine is a dud, (sort of).
>> ...
>> It however had problems with the SIL SATA controller on it.
>> ...
>> discovered if I try to run with both SATA channels in use I get data
>> corruption.
>>
>> I'm still using it as a basic workhorse, only using the IDE channels.
>
> Change bios setting "EXT P2P DISCARD TIME" from the default 30us to 1ms.

LOL, too late for that now.

I shouldn't have to tweak anything for it to run normally in the first
place.
I also don't want to run it only to find the tweak doesn't work after a
couple of weeks.

Thanks anyway.
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:09:37 -0700, Beryl wrote:

> But tweaking's why ABIT gave the NF7's bios all those options, and why
> they steadily put out bios updates. Does yours still have the same bios
> it had when you bought it?

Mine came with the last BIOS that was put out for it (Version 27, NF7-S
v2). And that's three years old now. They don't do BIOS upgrades for old
boards, I'm sorry to say. (Mine was a replacement for a KT7 that died due
to the capacitor issue and I got it from Abit about a year ago.)

Patty
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

SumGuy wrote:

....

> In all honesty I'm not willing to spend the money of time fiddling about
> with overclocking anyway. I usually ended up in a situation where 9 out of
> 10 programs would run fine overclocked, and having to reboot to change
> settings for one program is too much of a hassle. Every time a program
> crashes, or something doesn't work right you wonder if it's the overclock
> and spend hours trying to sort it out.

I don't even know what EXT P2P DISCARD TIME is, but I wasn't talking
about overclocking anything.

The weak red LED is suspicious. Maybe both your power supplies were
cheapos? I had a new ASUS A7V133 that worked great for a week, then it
would never start up any more unless I unplugged the cord, waited a
couple minutes, then plugged it back in and *quickly* pushed the power
button. Replacing the "PowerMan" that came with the case with an Antec
cured it.
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps) 

"Beryl" <terrapin.DeleteThis@coolbits.net> wrote in message
news:13g4482i97jc9e4@corp.supernews.com...
> SumGuy wrote:
>
> ...
>
>> In all honesty I'm not willing to spend the money of time fiddling about
>> with overclocking anyway. I usually ended up in a situation where 9 out
>> of 10 programs would run fine overclocked, and having to reboot to change
>> settings for one program is too much of a hassle. Every time a program
>> crashes, or something doesn't work right you wonder if it's the overclock
>> and spend hours trying to sort it out.
>
> I don't even know what EXT P2P DISCARD TIME is, but I wasn't talking about
> overclocking anything.
>

Well ocing is what all the tweaking option are for

EXT P2P DISCARD TIME is a Nvidia only option, it's like a timeout between
the SATA controller and the IDE controller. If the disk doesn't respond in
time it just drops the request and moves to the next one, (or something like
that - didn't read that closely since it's not relevant to me anymore). Too
bad it wasn't either given a more descriptive name, or the motherboad manual
actually described its function.

One of my pet annoyances is motherboard manuals that describe a function
like,
Function X "This option allows you to enable or disable Function X".
and your like "I can see that! WTF does Function X do!" lol. I'm not going
to change something if I don't know what it does.

> The weak red LED is suspicious. Maybe both your power supplies were
> cheapos? I had a new ASUS A7V133 that worked great for a week, then it
> would never start up any more unless I unplugged the cord, waited a couple
> minutes, then plugged it back in and *quickly* pushed the power button.
> Replacing the "PowerMan" that came with the case with an Antec cured it.

Possibly, but IIRC I would have tried 3 different PSUs in total with the
board, and as I said everything worked in the Asus board without problem,
same CPU same VGA card, same RAM, same original PSU.
Ironically the PSU I paid extra for as a replacement did die some time
later.
 >> Stay informed about: NF7-S troubleshooting (no beeps)