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Bad Flash: Foxconn NT-525 Netbox - Paperweight now?

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Hi,

I accidentally screwed up trying to flash a modded bios to my Nt-525 and now it doesn't startup.

Is there any way to reset the flash chip on this board or is it a paperweight?

Thank you
 

eidairaman1

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Find disassembly instructions online, determine if firmware chip is soldered to board or in a plcc socket, if the former, you would need knowledge to resolder a new firmware chip, if foxconn would even consider giving you one.

I hope this teaches you to not do firmware flashing.
 
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It was out dated and obsolete so I took a chance. I doubt I could get my hands on another bios chip from Foxconn as much as I would enjoy the task.
 

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what does the inside look like?
 
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The bios chip is most likely soldered onto the board. You would have to desolder flash in a device and resolder.
 
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Yeah the bios chip looks like it’s 15-20 mm wide in length and width. I do own a reprogrammer but I doubt it would fit. Also own a soldering iron. Just need to get my hands on a chip. Thanks.
 

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Yeah the bios chip looks like it’s 15-20 mm wide in length and width. I do own a reprogrammer but I doubt it would fit. Also own a soldering iron. Just need to get my hands on a chip. Thanks.

I mean what does it look like though? do you have a gator clip? Mine does, I can reach some pretty tight areas. You could also flash directly to the SPI pins if it has points on the board, using no solder connectors.
 

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Yeah the bios chip looks like it’s 15-20 mm wide in length and width. I do own a reprogrammer but I doubt it would fit. Also own a soldering iron. Just need to get my hands on a chip. Thanks.
That's not the BIOS chip. That's Super I/O with a sticker.
Your SPI flash is this little thing:
Foxconn-mini-computer-nt525-motherboard-dual-core-line-1-8g-nt-51-cpu.jpg
You can use SOIC-8 alligator clip to flash it, or solder some transformer wires directly to its SPI pins, if you don't have a rework station to de-solder it completely.

Also, don't forget to switch your programmer to 3.3V
 
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Well this is what my board looks like. I don't see a bios chip in that location. I do see a sticker that says Amibios on a rather large flat chip. I guess thats the bios chip? Looks unusual.

I have a usb ch341a type bios programmer fwiw. Also got a raspberry pi. I read you could flash a chip with the pi device as well.

Thanks

 
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Check ebay for a chip. I've bought generic chips for replacement on boards for like $7
 
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Found the chip on the board. Was under the power on light box assembly. Wonder do I have to remove the whole motherboard to remove the bios chip? Its kind of stuck in there.

Thanks
 

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Well this is what my board looks like. I don't see a bios chip in that location. I do see a sticker that says Amibios on a rather large flat chip. I guess thats the bios chip? Looks unusual.

I have a usb ch341a type bios programmer fwiw. Also got a raspberry pi. I read you could flash a chip with the pi device as well.

Thanks
It's under the speaker (plastic thing with "FOX 1.2W 8Ohm" sticker).
 
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I found it but how to remove it is the question now. Should I just rub the solder gun over the leads till it loosens?

Thanks
 

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I found it but how to remove it is the question now. Should I just rub the solder gun over the leads till it loosens?

Thanks
Use a programmer
 

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I found it but how to remove it is the question now. Should I just rub the solder gun over the leads till it loosens?

Thanks
No, use a rework station.
You can damage the underlying traces, if you try one of those retarded methods for removing SOIC chips w/ iron (like on youtube).


EDIT: ...or, as Solaris17 said, just hook up a programmer directly to the chip. Use a clip (if you have one), or attach some jumper wires to the chip, or SPI testpads on the board.
 
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A rework station? You mean a hot air gun? Not sure what that is exactly.

Also my CH341A usb programming I read may operate at 5v. Its the gold and black version.

Got a order a clip I guess.

Thanks
 

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Guys on other forums are telling me to throw it out and that its defective chinese rip off conterfeit product.
 

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Well, if you are ready to follow their advice, I can give you an address of a very nice electronics dumpster (aka my office).
But on the serious note - it's genuine foxconn, but the DIY repair might be pointless due to lack of skills/tools/knowledge.
Either take it to a local workshop and fix it for $10, or sell it as is for a few bucks on eBay (or give it away).
I'm sure some nerd may need that for experiments, or will fix it and turn into a PFSense appliance.
Anything of the above is better than dumpster.
 
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Guys on other forums are telling me to throw it out and that its defective chinese rip off conterfeit product.


The shame o_O

Get those lose screw out of there it's triggering my OCD.
 

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Use a programmer

No, use a rework station.
You can damage the underlying traces, if you try one of those retarded methods for removing SOIC chips w/ iron (like on youtube).


EDIT: ...or, as Solaris17 said, just hook up a programmer directly to the chip. Use a clip (if you have one), or attach some jumper wires to the chip, or SPI testpads on the board.

Yes

It does 3.3V on the output side, so it should be fine.

Well, if you are ready to follow their advice, I can give you an address of a very nice electronics dumpster (aka my office).
But on the serious note - it's genuine foxconn, but the DIY repair might be pointless due to lack of skills/tools/knowledge.
Either take it to a local workshop and fix it for $10, or sell it as is for a few bucks on eBay (or give it away).
I'm sure some nerd may need that for experiments, or will fix it and turn into a PFSense appliance.
Anything of the above is better than dumpster.

The shame o_O

Get those lose screw out of there it's triggering my OCD.

He needs to take it to someone who knows what they are doing as it is obvious he is not confident in his ability. He needs to stop screwing with stuff like this and let the parts work with what was installed by the maker of the parts...
 
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So I never pulled a bios chip from a motherboard before that was soldered. I know enough and am motivated to complete the task at hand. FYI today I used my ch341a to flash two chips successfully. Granted they weren’t the soldered kind. Not only that I don’t appreciate the condescending attitudes. Not going to take it to any shop.

The real issue is my ch341a progammer is a knock off and doesn’t supply 3.3 v if use a soic clip and can feed 5v to the motherboard. Otherwise if I use a heat gun to loosen the solder it should be no problem with the current hardware I have though have to buy a heat gun. Not only that spent part of the day studying Youtube videos on the process, and read up all 7 pages on the ch341a guide over at Win-Raid.

Please have a little faith. Thank you.

Also apologize for the loose screws. They are all now accounted for and secure.
 

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The real issue is my ch341a progammer is a knock off and doesn’t supply 3.3 v if use a soic clip and can feed 5v to the motherboard.

I would like to know who you heard this from and why you think this. because its not true. Also for the most part the SPI is an isolated circuit. the only thing you are going to break would be the bios chip itself in which case you would need to remove it anyway. (Also you wouldnt need to replace it with the same one FYI any EEPROM will work as long as its large enough) I seriously doubt your device only provides 5v volt feed however. Any eeprom programmer I know of can step down to 3.3 with only the new 1.8/.5 being "new" tech. Perhaps you were reading about the USB voltage supplied to the programmer itself and got confused.

He needs to take it to someone who knows what they are doing as it is obvious he is not confident in his ability. He needs to stop screwing with stuff like this and let the parts work with what was installed by the maker of the parts...

I would generally agree with this however he thinks the unit is already a paper weight and seems genuinly curious on how to repair it, programmers are not made by bringing it to a pro when there code cant compile, I say this is a perfect opportunity for him to learn given the circumstances.
 

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Ok, since the OP is really determined to do it himself, here are my last few tips before I tap out:
1) CH341A is a 3.3V programmer. It has two supply pins: 5V and 3.3V.
Here's the schematic for your "black and gold" device. Leftmost pins are on the left of the ZIF socket, bottom ones are physically located on the right.
2) Since soldering is not your forte - forget about it. Just get that damned $3 clip. It already comes with all the necessary adapters, so you don't even need to do anything besides attaching the clip to SPI flash.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SOIC8-SOP8...Adpter-BIOS-24-25-93-Programmer-/201590662973
 
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I would like to know who you heard this from and why you think this?

I first learned about this defect here: https://www.win-raid.com/t796f16-Gu...rogrammer-to-flash-SPI-EEPROM-6.html#msg43472

and then here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/ch341a-serial-memory-programmer-power-supply-fix/

In any case I always learn by the mistakes I have made in the past. I feel this a good skill to have just in case anything like this happens on a more valuable piece of hardware and I've always been a do-it-yourself kind of guy anyhow. Got to order the clips from Amazon because I'll have the parts in two days. Excited to get this going.

Thank you all for your tips and suggestions.
 
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