Not seing second CPU

somecallmeTim

somecallmeTim

[H]F Junkie
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May 28, 2001
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Okay, this has me stumped...
I have a Celestia A2210 dual s940 1U server. The motherboard is an AMD Serenade, rev 3.02 is the best I could do for a model. The manual is very light on this system - tells more how to take it apart than put it together.
I got the server as a barebones, just needed CPUs, RAM, and HD. My CPUs arrived last night, a pair of Opteron 250s (800 Mhz HT), installed them both and it fires up and then hangs with no video signal and only the H0 LED is lit. Power LEDs on the motherboard are okay, and so are all the other indicators, except the "fault" light on the front panel.
I swapped HDs (two Fujitsu 73 GB 10K SCSI320), same thing, pulled ram, swapped ram, same thing.
Got tired of it last night and dinked with it this morning. I pulled the CPU from the H1 socket and it fired right up. I tested all the ram - currently have four 512 sticks of PC2100 ECC, and both drives test out fine. I also swapped CPUs and both test out fine in H0.
There are two set of switches on the motherboard - SW3 and SW4. According to the diagram, I have them set correctly.

The server is at home, I'm at work (sorry) - so the question is, anyone know of anything obvious that I am missing? OR what to look for?

 
What are the steppings or revisions on the processors? If they aren't matched, they may be incompatible.
 
mavalpha said:
What are the steppings or revisions on the processors? If they aren't matched, they may be incompatible.
Click to expand...

I checked that - the are the same stepping, S/N is about 100 apart. Thanks for having me double check that.

I read on the AMD forums that there are issues with this mobo / server in seeing the second CPU. I'm going to check the BIOS rev and see if flashing to the latest solves the issue - it sounds like it's really a "hit or miss" on this system for supporting that second CPU. It was free, so I'm not going to complain too much, and all the parts are actually bought are usable.
 
Did some more research and the system has an older BIOS - old enough that it can only see one CPU... gee... wonder if THATS my problem :) - Now to track down my floppy drive and get the BIOS updated and go from there.

 
odd how they release a BIOS for a multiprocessor board that doesn't support multiprocessors....... I can see how that wouldn't be the first thing that would come to mind.........
 
LOL, yeah does seem strange.

If you put each CPU (individually) into the second socket does it work?

It does sounds like its been flashed to a single CPU bios or some such.
 
If you're running a MS OS, check in the Device Manager and if it states 'uniprocessor PC' that could confirm a BIOS issue because the multi-processing kernel wasn't loaded.
 
Got the BIOS (and NIC firmware) updated, and the system will still not POST with a CPU in H1 regardless of which CPU I have in either socket. More research reveals that I may have a mainboard rev that will ONLY run one CPU. They say that the board can support dual core Opty's, but you have to have a certain Rev. I've seen boot screen of this server running 2 CPU's so it's possible, just maybe not with this particular hardware.
Bummer... :(

 
Got it figured out... I need to obtain a VRM for it (voltage reg. module) for the second set of RAM. Took me a while and some tangents on researching to find what it is that this system needs for the second CPU.
Now just waiting to hear back on half a dozen companies regarding how much they want. Found a VRM and heatsink on ebay for $40 (don't need the heatsink) and $40 isn't a bad price either for getting this up and running.
I love not having ANY documentation....:rolleyes:

 
I have used a few motherboards in the past that required VRMs. You're lucky, those things don't always come cheap, especially Radeon VRMs. BTW, weren't you curious when you saw the unusual slot that was empty on the board?
 
APOLLO said:
I have used a few motherboards in the past that required VRMs. You're lucky, those things don't always come cheap, especially Radeon VRMs. BTW, weren't you curious when you saw the unusual slot that was empty on the board?
Click to expand...

I was a bit curious... but all the servers I've worked with in the past were already set up for dual cpu's and didn't think much about it. Plus, the "documentation" (or what there is of it) did not even reference that slot and the pictures with two CPUs did not have anything in that slot... so I figured it was for some connection to something that I didn't have. I do feel a bit silly.. I appreciate everyone's help too. Been around computers for over 20 years and felt like total n00b with this one.

 
Okay... I got the VRM and installed it. Held my breath and fired it up... It shows that there is a CPU in H1 on the mobo, but the SWHT doesn't...
It boots with the second CPU, but the BIOS shows only 1 CPU. As a double check, I swapped CPUs, same thing. Swapped around RAM, same thing. I contacted where I got the VRM from and they tested it before they shipped it, but could not tell me how.

Still wondering if I'm missing anything. Doc for this server is hard to find, and limited at best. <sigh>

 
Found more docs...

http://portal.atcelestica.com/public/global/suppchman/alpha/alphadw.nsf/downloads/000005/

you can also change the last digit and find docs for other stuff but not sure what it all is...

or this seems to be a full list

http://portal.atcelestica.com/public/global/suppchman/alpha/alphadw.nsf/downloads/

Even better list.... with a few different bios versions...

http://portal.atcelestica.com/public/global/suppchman/alpha/alphadw.nsf/

What is "SWHT" ? You say "It shows that there is a CPU in H1 on the mobo" but then you say "the BIOS shows only 1 CPU"??? Where does it show a CPU installed? Did it lose the first CPU when you installed the second?

The last link above gives a place to download the drivers for the system as well.
 
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