Disaster?? (CPU upgrade cont'd)

[beaky]

Well, following congo's very useful tips, I bumped up the CPU clock freq in BIOS to 166 (w/12x multiplier), set DRAM timing to match(by SPD), and on startup, finally saw 266 DRAM, at just shy of 2GHz! Cool!!
Trouble is, FS9 hangs when it opens, and I had to do a hard reset. Hmmm...
Tried reducing the freq to 150, and rebooted. Now, the PC seems to boot, but I get no power-up indication on the USB buss (joystick lights) and the monitor remains dormant. I'm currently typing this post on a laptop...  I have recovery floppies, but I'd like to know if there's another solution... unless I've trashed that mobo. Anybody have any ideas? Don't worry, I take full responsibility  ;D

[beaky]

Revived the system by clearing CMOS, then tried flashing BIOS with mfr's recommended utility... keep getting "this BIOS cannot be updated!" error message... oh well. Opened a ticket with mfr., maybe  it was not the correct file. I give up for now.
I guess I should've known better than to upgrade CPU without also getting a new mobo and upgrading RAM- goes to show that with computers, saving some money now could cost more later...

[GunnerMan]

Ok what did you have in it before and after. The hanging sounds like stability issues because of an overclocked CPU. I would have never just bumped it up, unless it was a small bump? Can you try a different USB slot.

[beaky]

Ok what did you have in it before and after. The hanging sounds like stability issues because of an overclocked CPU. I would have never just bumped it up, unless it was a small bump? Can you try a different USB slot.

Cleared CMOS, restored freqs to settings for old Athlon CPU, and now all's well, except I'm not enjoying the benefits of the faster CPU, as the system still "thinks" it's the old 1.2GHz Athlon.
My research shows that without flashing BIOS, what probably happened is that when I raised the CMOS values to accomodate the new CPU, it only half-worked, creating instability. I considered trying again in much smaller increments, but I think as long as the POST page is still showing the old CPU, I need to flash BIOS.
Trouble is, the file I DLd from Epox doesn't do the trick (and sadly, no flash program came with mobo). Got a "this BIOS image cannot be updated!" error message... waiting to hear from mfr. as to whether or not this was the right one...

[Rifleman]

Maybe a "real" upgrade to a physically newer and faster processor would have been more prudent than to just overclock your existing one ?....many can be overclocked, but the risk of damage by overheating with higher voltage and faster clock cycles isn't worth it in my mind..........unless its an experiment only and you are fully expecting to replace the processor anyway.

I am still weighing out the "benefits vs price", of upgrading my Athlon 1800 XP to a Sempron 3000+  .........will cost me about $150, here on Vancouver Island....

[beaky]

That's the point... this IS a new CPU. Newer, faster. Trouble is, the mobo won't recognize it.

[congo]

Cleared CMOS, restored freqs to settings for old Athlon CPU, and now all's well, except I'm not enjoying the benefits of the faster CPU, as the system still "thinks" it's the old 1.2GHz Athlon.
My research shows that without flashing BIOS, what probably happened is that when I raised the CMOS values to accomodate the new CPU, it only half-worked, creating instability. I considered trying again in much smaller increments, but I think as long as the POST page is still showing the old CPU, I need to flash BIOS.
Trouble is, the file I DLd from Epox doesn't do the trick (and sadly, no flash program came with mobo). Got a "this BIOS image cannot be updated!" error message... waiting to hear from mfr. as to whether or not this was the right one...

Sry M8,

I've been out on a boat for nearly a week, (life's a beach!)

But you had it working at the correct frequency !

The motherboard DID recognise the CPU didn't it? I mean, you got the correct speeds running as you stated. Trying to update the bios was not needed yet, and dangerous as well, thankfully you didn't flash the board into oblivion.

The post shows the old cpu because you set the settings back to the old speed! No bios upgrade is gonna change that! If you set the CPU up to run at 2.0ghz again, see if the post ID's it as a SEMPRON 2400+, if it does, then you have BIOS support. (as long as all the other cpu parameters are correct usually).

You can usually tell if the BIOS supports your new cpu by the CPU ID at post, if it says Something like SEMPRON 2400+, it has BIOS CPU support for that cpu. This is known as string information and sometimes all that a BIOS upgrade actually does is provide new string information for newer CPU's, without ANY real upgrade support!

If the CPU is ID'd by a speed rating in ghz instead of the CPU string name, either the mainboard has no BIOS "string" info for that CPU, (no support), or the BIOS settings are not configured correctly (by the cpu defaults).

If the BIOS actually does support the CPU, it will only ID the correct string name if the BIOS is configured correctly for that CPU. If some setting does not match the CPU, even if BIOS support exists, it may not show the string name, or CPU ID correctly. Make sure you exhaust all possibilities before flashing the bios, or go to the mobo's website for info on bios upgrades and what they are for...... (makes a lot of sense! )

FS9 hanging may have been a software configuration problem or possibly another setting you altered in your bios by mistake, causing FS9 to hang through a video configuration problem.

If you can get back to where you were when you had the PC running at it's correct upgraded speed, try using other software to test the video capabilities before changing your system configuration.

Trashing the system config because FS9 hung was a bit premature in my opinion. Also, you set a NON-STANDARD bus speed when you altered it (150mhz) and this might have been causing your booting probs.

FS9 hung and caused the reset. So, did you try it again before you re-configured? FS9 prolly spat the dummy because it wasn't expecting a new CPU, backing up and removing the fd9.cfg file may have solved the prob, forcing fs9 to write a new cfg file with the "new" hardware.

Some of the software you have installed, like fs9, might glitch out for some reason as it was configured with the old hardware settings. I find this a little surprising, but not unlikely. Re-installing FS9 or doing the fs9.cfg removal should have worked. Instead, you went straight to the most dangerous procedure as far as mainboard's are concerned - BIOS flashing!

There are more dead mainboards due to incorrect bios flashing than you could imagine. People who advise bios flashing without warning of the dangers are a bit irresponsible or just ignorant of the facts. Be careful who you listen to, there's a mountain of dead hardware out there! Bios Flashing should be a last resort in most cases, and it should only be done after you have read the manufacturers readme on the bios upgrade and it's benefits, (such as whether or not it will offer new CPU support).

BIOS flashing requires the correct flash utility and bios file...... or IT WILL FAIL!
A power outage or spike during the flash may kill your mainboard as will a procedural error.

BIOS flashing is risky.

[congo]

Ok, enough hogwash, here's the link to the correct bios that will show the Sempron upgrade:

Bios file is ....

[beaky]

Thanks a bunch, congo, but I'm way ahead of you...
Sure the system worked somewhat (idling)  at 2GHz, but ID still showed the old Athlon, and just opening FS9 crashed the system (not just to desktop, either- ouch!).
Went to Epox, got all the utils., but trying the BIOS update gave me a "This BIOS image cannot be updated!" message, and Magic Flash (which they recommended when that first fix failed)won't connect with their server. Tried many, many times; they said they'd check their server.... still no go.
Can I asume this other flash utility you mention is not connection-dependent? If you know the name of the file, that might be worth trying, but your link won't work...

[congo]

I'm offering the following as a guide only and you use this info at your own risk RottyDaddy.

Yeah, the auto update site doesn't connect. Anyone else here like EPOX boards?

I click the bios file link and it works. You need to get to the bios update page somehow. I even googled the bios filename and got a link that connects.

eg. ------->

[beaky]

Thanx again; I may have a go at that later.
Understood about the FS9 issue... but first things first: I'd like to at least get the new CPU on proper speaking terms with the board, then take it from there.

[beaky]

And of course, now that I'd like to make a bootable disc, the floppy drive is FUBAR. Awesome. What perfect timing. Use the damn thing maybe twice a year, but now I can't format or even open a disc. Great. Can't find "write enable" settings or anything that might fix it; driver update doesn't help, etc. I'll have to get back to my earlier problam after I replace the floppy...  :-/
Golly, what a fun hobby this is!!!

[4_Series_Scania]

And of course, now that I'd like to make a bootable disc, the floppy drive is FUBAR. Awesome. What perfect timing. Use the damn thing maybe twice a year, but now I can't format or even open a disc. Great. Can't find "write enable" settings or anything that might fix it; driver update doesn't help, etc. I'll have to get back to my earlier problam after I replace the floppy...  :-/
Golly, what a fun hobby this is!!!

Bootable floppy?

Heck, I hav'nt built a PC with a floppy drive for about 2 years !

Bootable CD my boy, this is the year 2005.  ;)

[beaky]

That's good news, I guess...
Can't think of any reason why it wouldn't work with a CD, but I've always heard of boot-to-DOS stuff being done with a floppy. Starting in 2004, BTW...
I'll look into that; thanks.

[beaky]

Well, after putting it off for a while, I'm obsessing again over the fact that I have this new 2.0 CPU going to waste running at 1.2 and holding down the FSB speed, so I've been looking around for a tutorial on creating a DOS CD to run AWDFLASH.exe and flash the BIOS...
There is a wealth of information out there and utilities galore, but I am overwhelmed. Does anyone know of a simple way to do this without a floppy(!!); on an NTFS partition...? Seems the utilities I've found are either made for creating a souped-up  diagnostic disc, or require a DOS partition, or Step 1 is: "first, make a DOS floppy..."
This procedure is something I'm sure I can handle, and I can't help thinking that there's got to be a way to do this without spending an entire day on it... I wish I could find a tute that's specific to this one task I'm trying to do...
Or I guess I can just stop monkeying around and get a new floppy drive.  ;D