Help... new NF7-S locks up in bios menu/beeps.

I just installed a new NF7-S. I spent some time in the bios menu making sure all the settings were to my liking, then I saved and exited. The system went through the initial bios screen ok, then couldn't find the ide like I expected(no nforce2 drivers installed yet). After it stopped at a screen with safe mode options I reset the system again. I went into the bios menu just to let it sit while I attempted to find out how to install the nforce2 drivers. After a minute or so had gone by I attempted to browse the bios menu again, but the system had locked up. I reset the system and went into the bios menu again, but within 20 seconds the screen went black and the motherboard started beeping... long beep, pause, long beep, pause, etc. I looked in the manual and on Abit's site but I can't find anything about what the beeps mean. The bios had the cpu temp at a steady 40C.

My last motherboard died a few weeks ago. I was playing a game when the screen went black and the motherboard beeped just like the new one does. The manual for my dead Soyo board said the long beeps means there could be a problem with the power supply, but I don't know if that is universal for all mobos. When I opened up the system and turned it on again, the Soyo mobo started smoking and a diode exploded. I assumed that was just a defective motherboard and there wasn't anything wrong with the psu, but now I'm got the problem with the new NF7-S so I'm not so sure.

I would greatly appreciate some help with my problem. I've had a problem with almost every motherboard I've bought, sometimes complicated, time-consuming problems, and I'm very much fed up with computers... (kneels down and begs for help)

btw, does anyone think whatever caused the smoking, exploding diode on my soyo board might have screwed up other components?

My system:

Antec SmartPower 350W
Abit NF7-S v2.0
Athlon XP 1600+, no overclock
Alpha 8045 heatsink w/ 40cfm fan
2 x 256MB Crucial DDR2100
GF3 Ti200, slight overclock
Seagate Barracuda IV 40GB
Plextor CDRW
2 40cfm case fans

your temps arent too high rgiht? if not i would just switch out components 1 by one (with a second yocu mputer you have) and then put em back until you find somthing that fixes it...

When I first went into the bios menu, I watched the pc health status for 10-15 minutes. The cpu temp slowly climbed to 40C and then stayed there. I assume if the heatsink was improperly seated the temp would have risen much higher.

During all those problems, have you checked or replaced your power supply?

I haven't swapped in a different power supply yet. I will try that. I have an older Powerman 300W psu I can throw in.

i'm having the smae problem

does it do this when you change the vcore (thats when it happens to me)

timmyqwest: I didn't make any changes to voltage. I am leaving the cpu/fsb at default speeds as well as the voltage.

A series of repeated long beeps is supposed to indicate a problem with your memory...You should try to swap out the ram with known good ram from another computer to see if the problem clears up...


Beep Codes:
No beep at all - this means your motherboard is dead, either due to a defective or underpowered power supply, poorly seated CPU or RAM, or a dead-on-arrival board
One beep - board is working fine
One long beep then machine shuts down - faulty, improperly installed or missing CPU
1 short(Beep) System booting is normally
2 short(Beep) CMOS setting error
1 long - 1 short(Beep) DRAM ERROR
1 long - 2 short(Beep) Display card or monitor connected error
1 long - 3 short(Beep) Keyboard Error
1 long - 9 short(Beep) ROM Error
Long(Beep) continuous DRAM isn't inserted correctly.
Short(Beep) continuous POWER supply has a problem
A two-tone siren, generally caused by overheating or out of specification voltages.
Four beeps then machine shuts down. This is because this version of the BIOS will shut down your machine if no fan tachometer signal is detected on the fan header. Make sure you attach a fan to the FAN1 or FAN4 header or clear CMOS to reset to default (no checking).

Hope this helps...

"A two-tone siren, generally caused by overheating or out of specification voltages.
Four beeps then machine shuts down. This is because this version of the BIOS will shut down your machine if no fan tachometer signal is detected on the fan header. Make sure you attach a fan to the FAN1 or FAN4 header or clear CMOS to reset to default (no checking)."

Sisoft says that my CPU fan is running at 1500 RPM which is actually the speed that my PSU is running my case fans.

Could this be the problem?

lets find out, i sure hope it is!

Well i got the CPU fan to be recognized however it still shuts down with p95 running for just a few seconds even with a .05 vcore increase...what is going on?

obviously they are out of spec voltages, why is that a problem

*note* i dont just get a siren i get a two tone siren and the PC shuts down and it's a different two tone siren then hardware doctor gives

This morning I removed the 2nd dimm from my system and reseated the 1st dimm. I turned the system on and went into the bios menu. So far it has not locked up or crashed for 2 hours. One question I have... what is the vcc voltage? When I had two pc2100 dimms in the system on Saturday when it locked up/crashed, the vcc voltage was 2.96. This morning with only one dimm the voltage read 2.73. I think it says normal is 2.5. Can someone explain this?

If your comuter hangs in bios, or you cant get inn.. try to disconnect any fans etc. that runs of the MOBO. I just hooked my 80x80 cpu fan to the PSU instead, and the problem is gone.

I am having the same problem but only when I go to overclock. I just bought an athalon 2500 and two sticks of pc3200 mushkin black. Let me know if you have any pointers my ram is in manks 2 and 3 I have an nf7-s v1.1 bios 16

bigemike, I took my bank 2 memory stick out and my system ran fine. I have been lazy and have yet to try switching my memory sticks around to see if that one stick is just bad or something. When both of my memory sticks were installed the bios said the memory voltage was 2.96 and that is too high. With just the one stick installed the voltage reads as 2.73. One of these days I'll test the 2nd stick again.

I just installed my 2nd ddr stick, alone, in the 3rd slot of my nforce2 mobo. I tried booting up 3 times and got... long continuous beeps, lockup after quick ram test in bios screen, beeps again. I took out that ddr stick and put the other one back in and my system works fine again. It seems clear the 2nd ddr stick is messed up, so I'll have to get Crucial to send me a replacement stick.