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Re: 2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

 
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Jorge Biquez
Occasional Contributor

2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

I have 1 processor PII-300 Mhz running fine on a Proliant 1600 (the old model that only supports PII at 266-300 or 333 Mhz). I bought 2 PII-333 processors. I take care of chaning SW1 to the 33 bus/core ratio. Any of the processors alone work just fine, no problem at all. Any of them together cause the error 212-processor 2 failed. Are there any special jumpers to set so both processors can work together? Or something else I need to configure and that I'm missing ? Thanks in advance.

JB
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Sunil Jerath
Honored Contributor
Solution

Re: 2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

Good Day Jorge,
Please make sure that you have uptodate System BIOS. The only jumper which needs to be changed is SW1 jumper no 2 to the ON position rest everything stays to OFF. Also make sure that you are installing the Processor Power Module as well.

Regards,
Jorge Biquez
Occasional Contributor

Re: 2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

Hello.

Thanks for your time, I can confirm again that people at HP(Compaq) really cares about customer problems.
I set de SW1 swicth, updated the bios to latest E34 (2000 version) and nothing. Still the same problem. Any processor work alone very good no problem at all, together they just do not work. Same error always 212-processor failed. I do not what else to do. I have looked all around the web for a solution and nothing until now. Some guys pointed that the problem is the processor stepping. According to INTEL the processors should work (I sent them the information of the processsors already). I have changed memory, extra cards, almost anything I could figure could be affecting. Only thing I haven't done yet is to clear completely the VRAM (using one of the switchs for that). One guy told me to do that but that the problem that could arise is that I could lost the RAID configuration and the problem is that that server is a production machine and reinstall all the software and programs it runs could be a bad problem (running FreeBSD 4.4. Stable by the way).
If you have any other suggestion of what to do please let me know.
Thanks in advance.
JB
Don Adams_1
New Member

Re: 2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

I have the same problem opn a proliant 3000 300Mhz work fine but do not support over 512 ram and needed the 333 to support it tried the 333512 SL2S5 wich are spose to work in the sam machine. 3000 Mhz work with out a hitch, 333 processor 2 always get the 212 error. I did notice that it never says that processor 2 has any cach which sould have 512, I am on the latest bios for my machine. I have tried to clear the error and have 3 processors and have been trying different combinations with no luck. They run fine by them self but not together.
Shep Johnson
Advisor

Re: 2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

Having spent the better part of the day troubleshooting this problem, I believe I have the answer, but unfortunately not a solution. I presume that we all are trying to upgrade our Proliant 1600's or 3000's to 333mhz to allow for more than 512mb RAM. I happen to have a few of these servers on hand so I had the luxury of having lots of spare parts to confirm my findings.

The short answer is that the Proliant 1600/3000 (and probably other models from that era) do not support dual cpu's at speeds higher than 300mhz. Here are my reasons for drawing this conclusion:


The only way I could generate the 212 error was to install dual 333's and it happened every time on 3 different servers. Run the SCU and it says "A system processor was previously identified as defective by the system ROM. Has this processor been repaired?" Well, thinking it has been, we've all been answering "Yes". Then we start the endless (and very time consuming) loop of cold start...seeing the dreaded 212 error again...wondering "Should I have said NO???"...run the SCU again, answer "No", discover that didn't help, reboot, run SCU, answer "Yes"...shutdown, cold start...seeing that damn 212 error again. At this point, most of us start to question our sanity. We resort to doing lots of things that don't make a bit of difference...swap CPU's, swap boards, swap VRM's, clear NVRAM 2 or 3 times and start from scratch...No effect. I had to walk away for about 4 hours...it was that or take a hammer to it. (very close call)

After a break, I decided to try again from scratch. So I set it up with a single 300mhz CPU. Booted up and as expected, there were no errors at all. Run the SCU and it still reports "A system processor was previously identified as defective by the system ROM. Has this processor been repaired?" Apparently once that ROM gets flagged with a failed CPU, it doesn't let go of it until the problem is remedied. I answered "yes", shutdown and cold started. It booted up fine without errors as expected. I shut it down and inserted a 2nd 300mhz cpu. Booted up and got an "invalid processor configuration" message but NO 212 error (important!). This was the turning point in understanding the behavior of this server.

I ran the SCU - configure hardware - save/exit and rebooted on dual 300's with no errors. Pulled the 300's and inserted one 333. Booted up and got an "invalid processor configuration" message but no 212 error. Again, ran the SCU - configure hardware - save/exit and rebooted on a single 333 with no errors. Shutdown and inserted 2nd 333. Booted up and now got the 212 error.

I think the proof here is that we never get the 212 error until dual 333's are inserted. Where I previously went wrong was leaping straight from single 300's to dual 333's. When I got the 212 error, I assumed it was to be expected since I just added a CPU when in fact, that isn't the case. I now know that we shouldn't receive the 212 error, just the "invalid processor configuration" message. The lure of being able to run more than 512mb of RAM and gain a little CPU speed sucked us all in and it looks like it caused several people to waste a LOT of time.

A few questions come to mind...Why isn't this documented? Why do the HP guys not know about it? I'd guess that it is documented somewhere but if it isn't, perhaps that's because this server came out before the 333mhz Pent II. Maybe there's a bulletin on it that we haven't stumbled upon or maybe newer 66mhz Proliant 1600/3000's would run dual 333's...I don't have those answers.

The big question...are we better off with single Pent II 333's with 1gb of RAM or dual 300's with 512mb? I guess it depends on the purpose of the server.

Disclaimer: I'm only reporting my findings so if this turns out to be wrong and someone out there has made dual 333's work in these servers, please let us all know how it's done.
Don Adams_1
New Member

Re: 2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

I am running bios version 4-19/2000 E39 bios, is anyone running the e09 bios? What would the difference be with the e09? I tried to leave my 333 in and underclock them to 300mhz and it still gets error code 212. I have tried to play with dip switch 6 7 8 with no luck although 7 is a multiply of some sort as my 300mhz showed up as 337 It would be interesting If someone has this working what the difference is.
Chris Schmidt_2
New Member

Re: 2nd Processor PII-333Mhz Proliant 1600

I also have a Proliant 1600 with dual 266 MHz processors, but am unable to swap out the existing processors with matching 266 MHz processors without getting this error (the original chips were different revisions, but did not cause 212 errors, two identical-revision chips do). This system has 448 MB RAM, so memory isn???t the issue. However, I see that the Processor Power Module revisions do not match (rev. A vs. rev 04). Are PPMs built for a specific processor revision?