Stepping Mismatch on second CPU

[Moses]

Dell Precision Workstation 420. I am attempting to add a second processor to my dell. Everything matches on my two processors except the steppings. I'm getting an error during bootup that says "Alert! Processor stepping mismatch install like processors or one processor and a termination card. Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility." Well I talked to Dell they said I would need to replace one of the processors with another that matched the stepping of the other.
Does anyone know a way around this?

[iisbob]

You can't mix & match two diferrent families of CPU's, even if they are among the same brand.

if you have an Athlon T-bird, you can't add a Duron or XP Athlon-you have to go with a CPU of the same family and speed.

ie; you can't have a 800 t-bird and a 1 GHZ t-bird in a dualie, both have to be the same speed and model.

Download a program called WCPUID, this'l give you all the info you need on your current CPU-then you can shop for it's twin.





------------------
iisbob

Computer-Show me the Enterprise; no bloody A, no bloody B, and no bloody C-just the original...Mr Scott { from a STNG episode }

[Moses]

But thats the thing, both CPU's are of identical type, frequency, bus speed, cache size, family and model. Furthur more on Intels website in the Pentium III processor specification update section the compatibility of the two processors is listed as having no known issues with mixing the two steppings. The only difference that I can see between these two cpu's is that one is a step 1 and the other is a step 6. Even intel says they support these mixed steppings as long as all the above matches. What gives?

[mjc]

Who made the motherboard?

About the only thing I can think of is that your motherboard/BIOS won't support the mixed steppings. Since you are working with a Dell machine it is probably their tech support/info you need to be hunting down. Just because Intel supports the mixed steppings doesn't mean that they will work in all situations (namely on proprietary or other manufacturers motherboards).

------------------
mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[iisbob]

Is your board an actual Dualie?

Are you running 98( or 95/me )? They don't support dual cpu's.

Even NT ( 2000, etc. ) has to have a reg key enabled before it will defualt detect a dualie.

I'm pretty much an AMD man, so i don't fool with Pentiums much anymore ( 'cept on servers ) and i know that on the servers i handle the CPU's are of the same model# and stepping.

Maybe someone else here will have a possible idea to help you out.



------------------
iisbob

Computer-Show me the Enterprise; no bloody A, no bloody B, and no bloody C-just the original...Mr Scott { from a STNG episode }

[Moses]

The mobo is a dca200 made by iwill whom I'm told likes to do things different from industry standards. The board is dual capable and I have enabled the second cpu in the bios. I also changed the driver in win 2k adv server to acpi multiproc. I have dug into Dell tech info and haven't found much regarding this (might not be looking in right spot) like i said i did contact them and they said it wouldn't work. Maybe I'm screwed but I was hope'n to find a way around this. Would upgrading the bios affect this at all? Current bios is A11.

[Moses]

System info is detecting and telling me I have two processors and when I go into perfmon I am able to select two instances of processor. These indicate that my system sees the second cpu and is utilizing it but how can I be sure that it will not cause erroneous data? Anyone, Anyone...?

[iisbob]

but how can I be sure that it will not cause erroneous data?

Simply put-Without running a program,you can't.

Very few applications actually support Dualies, so there's been no real push for any kind of benchmarking or troubleshooting ( this is aside from known server issues ).

I don't recall the site i was on, but recently i saw a link to a dualie forum ( been considering going dualie at home ) and i was researching possible cpu issues { and tips for home dualies }.

Try google, and research dual cpu issues/tips-i recall receiving several hits. possible you may find a forum/thread on exactly the issue you are facing with your particular hardware.



------------------
iisbob

Computer-Show me the Enterprise; no bloody A, no bloody B, and no bloody C-just the original...Mr Scott { from a STNG episode }

[hiredgoonz]

Regardless of what the BIOS says, you're fine if the system boots up and runs...Intel changed their stance on the whole stepping issue. As mentioned by mjc it may be the mobo/BIOS that is having the issue with the mixed steppings. It is entirely possible that a BIOS update may fix the problem...

Originally, Intel said you had to have steppings that were one or two apart (can't remember) but now they say you can even mix speeds and cache sizes as long as you set the chips to the lower speed...

I get the impression that the system boots and runs...if this is true, you're good to go...if the error is really annoying, you might want to try a BIOS update, but doing that carries a risk of completely breaking the system. If it works now, be happy...

------------------
When all else fails, read the instructions.

Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;rid;kbinfo)

Drivers (http://www.driverguide.com)

Google (http://www.google.com)

[Moses]

Thanks for all the great tips guys. You've made this issue much easier to deal with. Everything appears to be running fine. I think what I'll do is run sisoft on the machine and see what kind of information that gives me. If all looks good then I think I'll live with the error.
Thanks again

Mo