MPS Enable Or Disable?

[Vampyr 0]

I have an ASUS CUV4X-D motherboard with the latest bios 1014. The problem I am experiencing is that when every I try to run REdhat/Mandrake/SuSE Linux in SMP mode the OS will hang during the initial boot. The only way I can get SMP to work in linux is to disable MPS1.4 support. The question I have is there any benefit to having MPS enabled or disabled? Will there be any performance or compatiblity issues in WindowsXP Pro if I change this setting? Also, what the hell does MPS do?

[sicomputers 0]

The MPS setting in your BIOS is Multi Processor Setting (also shown as SMP in the bios). Enabling MPS tells your OS to look for Multiple Processors and which setting to use to support your processors. The default setting is usually 1.1 due to the fact that some OS's don't support 1.4. Disable MPS 1.4 support if your OS is giving you problems.

 

MPS version control is usually only valid for multiprocessor motherboards. It specifies the version of the Multiprocessor Specification (MPS) that the motherboard will use. The MPS is a specification by which PC manufacturers design and build x86 architecture systems with two or more processors.

 

MPS version 1.4 defines a standard for SMP hardware in which all processors are functionally identical, have equal status, and can communicate with one another. All of the processors in SMP hardware (hardware that complies with version MPS 1.4) share the same I/O subsystem and also the same memory space, which they access using the same memory addresses. A result of this is that all of the processors can execute one copy of an MP-enabled operating system.

 

MPS version 1.4 has added extended configuration tables, which improve support for multiple PCI bus configurations and improve future expandability. The 1.4 specifications is also required for a secondary PCI bus to work without the need for a bridge.

 

Most new versions of server operating systems will generally support MPS 1.4. If you are running a newer operating system that supports MPS, you should change the BIOS Setup to MPS 1.4 if your operating system supports version it. One should leave it as MPS 1.1 only if you are running older server operating systems.

[Brian Frank 0]

I ran an Abit VP6 (same chipset as your Asus board and a dual P3 board as well) and use MPS 1.4 without issue under Windows 2000 and XP Pro.

Also, I ran an MSI 694D (same chipset as the Abit VP6) with dual P3's under 2000 with MPS 1.4 without hassle.

You should be able to use MPS 1.4 on that system with 2000 or XP without a problem.

 

A really good site to check out is 2CPU and hit the forums.

 

I don't know what version of those Linux distros you've used, but you might try playing with the latest versions if you haven't already...they might not have the issue with MPS1.4.