Need help - NF7-S v2 won’t boot

Current specs:
Lite-on FS-020 with 2 x 120mm fans sucking air out the back.
NF7-S v2 (Not positive BIOS version - last flash would have been in mid-2005 I think)
XP2100+ (OC was 164 x 13)
(Volts were CPU=1.70, DDR=2.70, chipset and AGP both=1.70)
ATI 9500 Pro 128 (stock speeds and cooling)
2 x 512MB GSkill PC3200, (CL 2-3-3-6)
Antec Truepower 550
CDRW
1 HDD 40GB (OS – Win XP Pro)
1 HDD 40 GB (file storage)
1 HDD 160GB (file storage)

Cooling
2 x 120mm case fans
Tt Extrme Volcano 12 on CPU (Hangs out at around 32-35C)
Zalman ZM-NB47J passive sink on NB

Background
It ran stable. Only recent change was adding the 160GB drive a few days ago. Moved some data back and forth, and reformatted both of the file storage drives. PC ran stable after that. I shut it down and went to bed. I restarted the following morning. It would boot to the logon screen and then, after a couple minutes, black screen on me and restart. I logged in successfully but after only a minute or two it rebooted again. I went into the BIOS and tried to load fail safe defaults. It rebooted while I was in the BIOS. The mean time between restarts got shorter and shorter. Eventually it stopped booting at all. Now it will turn on but it just sits there. No POST beep, no monitor signal, nothing. There was no BSOD or any other indication of a problem prior to this happening.

Fixes I tried
First, I pulled all power to the system and let it sit for a while and cool. That did nothing. I tried removing hard drives without success. I took note of the temps and voltages when I was in the BIOS. Nothing odd. So I’m pretty sure my cooling and PSU are good. Removed and reseated video card and RAM. I cleared the CMOS and tried again. Still nothing. I don’t have a test rig to swap individual parts so I have to troubleshoot with this setup.

What am I missing? My spidey sense says the board died but there is no visible indication of a problem. If it were anything else I would get a POST beep or alarms, right?

I had an Epox board that died a while back due to bulging, leaking caps. I don’t see anything like that here.

All help and suggestions appreciated! Time for a new rig?

Reading in the POST beep stick about possibility that no beep can mean mean BIOS chip corruption. Could that be a cause here? Any way to check? Guess that would mean needing a new chip, right? Or is there a way to save it?

(Assuming that is the problem)

Done the <INSERT> + power button, no joy. Also pulled the CMOS battery for about 2 hours. Still nothing.

How do I hot flash the BIOS chip if I can't get the thing to POST?

Ordered a new BIOS chip from Abit. Guess $10 is worth it to find out if the board is totally KIA or if I can salvage it.

What's the consensus with BIOS Savior?

Does no beep at POST only mean a dead board? Is it possible I just have a corrupt BIOS and a chip swap/flash will fix it?

bensonjv said:

Does no beep at POST only mean a dead board? Is it possible I just have a corrupt BIOS and a chip swap/flash will fix it?

Click to expand...

It doesn't really mean dead board, it means more like the board isn't starting. Dead to me means non-recoverable and it sounds like your board is still recoverable.

Yes, it is possible that you have a corrupt BIOS and a chip swap will work. Since you stated that it rebooted while in the BIOS that is what I suspect is wrong with it.

It's official. Got the new BIOS chip installed. No joy. Flat lined. Called it at 6:29 local time today.

Oh well. Guess I'll have to build an AM2 rig now. Dang it.

Bummer

I feel for you. The NF7-s was one of the best boards ever. I still have one and so does my bro. On the up side the new Abit KN9-SLI looks really nice, at @$129. CPU magazine had a review in the Aug.06 issue.