Setting up Multiprocessor support after NT is installed

[Ayman Altounji]

Adding additional processors to a server after NT is installed. None of this will be necessary if the system already had two processors working correctly and you are only adding more after that.

Install the new processor(s) as noted in the manual for the system itself or that comes with the chips.

Then configure the server hardware to the correct the "APIC Mode" settings. You must start System Configuration and press 'CTRL a' at the first menu after selecting F10 during boot. This activates "Advanced Mode". Then enter System Configuration itself and follow the prompts to complete a basic configuration load. Select to "Review" the settings and then pick "View/Edit Details" from the menu. Look down the list to find "APIC Mode". Press enter on this selection and select "Full Table, Mapped" (or "Full Table" if only choice, depends on specific system). Once this has been done, exit and save changes.

The next step is to load the Multiprocessor HAL on NT. This is best accomplished with the latest Compaq NT SSD (for 3.51 or 4.0 specifically) as this utility will do a more reliable job of identifying the correct HAL for the system. Simply run SETUP.EXE from the SSD disk 1 and select the HAL upgrade (you may also install other drivers if desired, do NOT force all drivers to load as some may not work on your system).

Regards,
Compaq Support Forum

[Ayman Altounji]

I had problems with this installation cause after the reboot the server didn't start anymore. Message: NTFS.SYS not found.
My solution: Do not restart the server after the NTSSD. First install the NT-Service-Pack. After it worked.

[Ayman Altounji]

Beware! Theer have been numerous MS bug related to modifying a single-CPU NT install to multiCPU. Most of them relate to the fact that there are various undocumented locations where MS products store away the fact that the initial install was uniproc. As a result, down the road when you install SvcPks and other "updates" some wrong files may get copied or files unique to multi-proc might get skipped. Read MS_TechNet carefully to find these. The best thing, of course, is to keep an extra CPU around and plug it in when you do your initial install. You can then remove it, since MultiCPU NT runs on a single-CPU box just fine.