Fan speed errors and startup hang time

  • Thread starter Thread starter CrazyDrummer
  • Start date Start date
C

CrazyDrummer

Hey guys, I have a P4B266LM and had a P4 1.8 installed. I recently
upgraded to a P4 northwood 2.8, and it ran normally for 2 boots, but
after that my PSU fan wouldn't slow down to idle RPM like it usually
did. It's weird because the northwood core requires less voltage than
my old willamette core, and runs cooler because I installed a copper
heatsink with artic silver.
Another problem, after trying to remove my heatsink (which I couldn't
do because it was on too tightly) to reinstall my old processor to see
if I could possibly fix the fan speed issue my system hangs much longer
than normal at the boot screen past where you get into BIOS, but before
windows starts loading up. It sits there for a while (about 10x longer
than it used to before I tried to remove the heatsink). It also gives
me a message something like bad BIOS information. I'm considering
removing some expansion cards to see if they're the problem, but i
doubt it, because it booted normally after I installed the new
processor.

Any help is really appreciated.
 
Hey guys, I have a P4B266LM and had a P4 1.8 installed. I recently
upgraded to a P4 northwood 2.8, and it ran normally for 2 boots, but
after that my PSU fan wouldn't slow down to idle RPM like it usually
did. It's weird because the northwood core requires less voltage than
my old willamette core, and runs cooler because I installed a copper
heatsink with artic silver.
Another problem, after trying to remove my heatsink (which I couldn't
do because it was on too tightly) to reinstall my old processor to see
if I could possibly fix the fan speed issue my system hangs much longer
than normal at the boot screen past where you get into BIOS, but before
windows starts loading up. It sits there for a while (about 10x longer
than it used to before I tried to remove the heatsink). It also gives
me a message something like bad BIOS information. I'm considering
removing some expansion cards to see if they're the problem, but i
doubt it, because it booted normally after I installed the new
processor.

Any help is really appreciated.
Click to expand...

If your PSU fan won't slow down, it could mean two things. It
could be the PSU is defective, and has just decided now to
misbehave. Or, it could be an indication that the motherboard
is drawing a lot of current from one of the rails - that could
be a short somewhere. (You could try the cardboard test. That
entails removing the motherboard from the case, and assembling
it on top of a non-conductor, like a thick telephone book. You
can remove the four screws from the PSU and put it next to the
motherboard etc. See if the symptoms are still there or not. It
could even be something innocuous, like if the +5V feeding the
speaker that beeps at POST, is getting pinched and shorted to
ground.) If you had a non-contact ammeter, testing for this would
only take seconds (I've got one and it is a great toy), but
without equipment, debugging is much more difficult.

In terms of power, in fact the two processors are pretty close
to one another. Here are examples of which processors I think
you are using:

2.8GHz/FSB400/512KB cache CPUID 0F29 ~1.5V 68.4W
http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/details.asp?sSpec=SL7EY

1.8GHz/FSB400/256KB cache CPUID 0F12 1.75V 66.1W
http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/details.asp?sSpec=SL5VJ

The new processor uses a lower voltage, but more current.

If could be that the message you saw, was talking about "microcode".
Your BIOS probably doesn't have microcode for a 0F29 processor.
If you flash upgrade to the latest BIOS, like 1008.002, it has
microcode for 0F0A, 0F12, 0F13, 0F21, 0F23, 0F24, 0F27, 0F29. The
1006 has 0F0A, 0F12, 0F13, 0F21, 0F23, 0F24, 0F27 and is missing
0F29 (your new processor).

Microcode is a 2KB file, that is loaded into a special RAM inside
the processor. The code in the file is used to correct bugs in
the processor, and by having the BIOS install the code, that
prevents processor bugs from stopping your system from booting.
I think WinXP has a microcode loader, and it can take over once
the desktop appears. (IOW missing microcode is not the end of the
world.)

The Microcode, once a new processor is recognized, is written into
a segment of the flash chip, during POST. (This is like a cache, only
using the flash chip as a non-volatile store.) It could be this
operation, or some DMI/ESCD activity, that is slowing down the POST.

There is another recipe for installing microcode, that uses CTMC,
and requires extraction of a 2KB microcode file from another
BIOS. I've done this on a Tualatin, and it works no problem. CTMC
uses a hook in the Award BIOS, and there is no similar hook in
an AMI BIOS. So, while CTMC makes the installation of microcode
less risky (as a failure won't stop the system from POSTing), the
program does rely on a certain feature being available in the BIOS
code.

Once you've improved the BIOS microcode situation, you might
notice the delay goes away. I cannot promise anything, as I
didn't see a delay on my system, when the microcode was
missing.

Paul
 
Yeah, you're right about the microcode, I get the error that says BIOS
data incorrect CPU ID=000000F29 (not sure about the exact amount of
zeros). Right now my BIOS is 1004. I've searched everywhere for a BIOS
flash and found one on a website, but they want to charge me 30 dollars
for it, which is ridiculous. Sony has a useless update, and I was
thinking about possibly making a backup of my BIOS and trying to flash
it with the P4B266 update from Asus, but I'm skeptical to do that.
Other than flashing the BIOS I don't know how to do anything else to
update the microcode. Thanks for your help.
 
Paragon said:
Yeah, you're right about the microcode, I get the error that says BIOS
data incorrect CPU ID=000000F29 (not sure about the exact amount of
zeros). Right now my BIOS is 1004. I've searched everywhere for a BIOS
flash and found one on a website, but they want to charge me 30 dollars
for it, which is ridiculous. Sony has a useless update, and I was
thinking about possibly making a backup of my BIOS and trying to flash
it with the P4B266 update from Asus, but I'm skeptical to do that.
Other than flashing the BIOS I don't know how to do anything else to
update the microcode. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Try the following:

Download a donor BIOS. This is 1008.002 for the P4B266-M. Your
motherboard part number suggests it is OEM, so I would not
recommend flashing an Asus retail BIOS into an OEM board.
(Unless you know for a fact they are exactly the same in
hardware - some BIOS do transplant, but not very many).

ftp://ftp.heise.de/pub/ct/ctsi/ctmc10.zip (tool kit)
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock478/p4b266-m/1008ddrm02.zip

1) unzip ctmc10.zip
unzip 1008ddrm02.zip to get 1008DDRM.002 BIOS file
2) create a work directory
place _only_ splitawd.exe and 1008DDRM.002 in it.
3) In DOS, cd to the work directory.
splitawd 1008DDRM.002
The tool will tell you that 00000001.BIN is cpucode.exe
Look for the 00000001.BIN file in the $MCTEMP directory.
4) Make another work directory.
Place lha255e.exe in it. When you execute this self extracting
file, you'll get a copy of lha.exe . Drop the 00000001.BIN
file into your work directory.
lha x 00000001.BIN
That should give you "cpucode.bin"
5) Make another work directory.
Place "ctmc.exe", "cpucode.bin" in the work directory.
ctmc cpucode.bin /store
That will make a series of 2KB microcode files.
0F290411.BIN is the 2KB file you want.
6) Prepare a DOS boot floppy.
Place ctmc.exe and 0F290411.BIN on the disk.
Boot to the DOS prompt using the floppy.
ctmc 0F290411.BIN /write
Note - this only works when your new processor is in place.
(I.e. The microcode must match the current processor, and you
current processor is a 0F29.)

Now, the next time you start up the BIOS, there should be no
complaint about microcode. This state of affairs will last, until
you swap out processors, in which case, you'll have to repeat
step 6 again, if the microcode error messages reappear. So
keep the floppy in a safe place.

The above procedure temporarily adds microcode support, without
placing the BIOS flash chip in any danger. It is much safer
than flashing the entire chip. And, this procedure is free :-)
(It only works for Award BIOS, and only for Award BIOS with
the necessary BIOS hook code. CTMC will tell you if it is
unhappy with the environment it is working in.)

HTH,
Paul
 
Back
Top