adding second CPU

[ZEHN 0]

hello everyone

 

curantly running 1 cpu in an abit vp6 (cyrix c3) and will be upgrading to 2-1Ghz intel's in mouth or so.

 

will xp see and use the other cpu when the upgrade happens or will i have to reinstall the os again? the activation code is the hassle not the install. I just hate calling MS everytime i want to make a huge change on that system. yes it is XP Pro also.

 

thanks for any help you can offer.

 

ZEHN

[Hellafax 0]

You'll have to reinstall...sorry.

 

Theres a different executable and processor driver for Dual-Processor installs...

 

Have fun

[Cynan 0]

Actually you can change the HAL in Device Manager but its not recommended.

[Brian Frank 0]

Hellafax, you shouldn't need to reinstall. XP should detect the CPU's as new devices w/o you having to do anything (other than phsyically install them). New CPU's don't require a reinstall under XP. XP isn't like it was in NT.

[clutch 1]

Not to mention that in NT4 you could always update the OS to accept the additional CPU(s), it was just a bit more complicated...

 

[ZEHN 0]

thanks for the help but the d#$n thing locks up at the widows setup screen (where it says "setup is starting windows") i've unpluged everything from the pci's turned off the usb and other stuff in the bios and been to both VIA's site and MS's hcl site. used a window 98se boot disk and 2000 boot disk, installed 98se to see if it would upgrade without the lock up (convert to NTFS later) the 98se install went as expected. no matter which work around i go it still locks up in the same place. Via said that thay were compatible with XP and all the hardware for that matter. could i have a bad install cd, it came from MS themselves, and everything is on the level with the OS no CD copy's or cracking. if any body knows what i am forgeting plz let me know.

 

thank you all again for your help

Frustratedly (is this a word? it should be)

 

ZEHN

[Cynan 0]

Faulty MB? PSU? Memory?

[ZEHN 0]

everything is new but the CPU and it only months older and good stuff to(i hate haveing problems, that extra money saves me alot of grief)and plus this was my linux box (hope that is not a dirty word in this forum) and it run fine for months on the same hardware and 98se went on smooth as silk. I think i'm just forgeting something simple and will feel like an dork when it hits me.

 

ZEHN

[thewizard75 0]

Keep in mind that for two CPUs to be used in SMP mode, both should be the same stepping (you MIGHT be able to run with different steppings, but it's not recommended).

 

Other than that, I know of one machine here based on the same VIA chipset that also had problems... replacing the motherboard fixed that. But that could have just been a faulty mb (and no fault of VIA's).

 

How long do you wait to say it's locking up?

 

Did you change from MPC to ACPI or vice versa?

[ZEHN 0]

i should be more specific i'm sorry.

i don't understand MPC or ACPI

the mobo is an Abit VP6 running 1 Cyrix C3 733GhZ...there has never been 2 CPU's in the mobo at any one time

 

linux was running on the mobo last week

i let it run for an hour or so before hitting the reset OUCH!!

no keyboard comands would work (ctrl+alt+delt)

 

i'm thinking that it's the combination of the 3 that is the problem

OS, CPU, MOBO

 

ZEHN

[Brian Frank 0]

There are Uniprocessor ACPI and Multiprocessor ACPI under Windows. If you have it set as a standard PC or Multiprocessor PC (non-ACPI) going over to ACPI will cause problems. Same deal vise versa.

 

I've been runnind different steppings on that same board and the only problem I've had was a driver issue with my video card. If you can do it, try a reinstall. It might not like switching from the cyrix to 2 P3's--although I'm kinda skeptical of this myself. Before that, try clearing CMOS and running your system then. You may have set something incorrectly in BIOS that's giving your system fits.

 

It could be a faulty mobo, but let's not jump their just yet. If you could post the entire system specs for your dual rig, it'd give us some more info to work with.

[ZEHN 0]

hello Frank

 

system specs

nvidia gforce 256

abit vp6 runing 1-733 cyrix c3

1 gig crucale in 2 512meg sticks

tdk 8-4-24

sony floppy

maxtor 45 gig hd

 

98se is installed right now and runs fine.

when i try and install xp pro it allways locks up in the same spot through any install i try, see above post.

it goes thruogh the code key, the copying system files, reboots, and goes to the windows setup screen(blue with gray text) loads drivers, gets to the place where the text at the bottom of the screen says setup is starting windows and locks up. control+alt+del doesn't even work i have to push the reset button.

i have built many systems in the past but this is my first duel chip and/or xp. i have a 2000 machine i'm using as a main system now.

 

OK...just tryed a claen install and lock up in the same spot again, at the blue windows setup screen and it says at the bottom setup is starting windows. went the default settings in the bios and went through each page just to see the changes it made and everything looked good there. if the mobo is bad then why did linux run on it, i just can imagine the board being bad after three months of up time well over the burn (72 hrs) in i give to see if doa from the saler.

but anything is possible.

 

thanks Frank

ZEHN

[Sparkhard 0]

When it is installing windows and it asks to install a RAID driver. Hit F5 and install the ACPI Multiprocessor HAL. If that doesnt work then post the specs of your CPUs and make sure you arent running mixed FSB CPUs or something wierd like that.

 

 

I also noticed that you originally said all of this happens at the setup screen. so does that mean that you reinstalled windows ?

 

 

Good Luck, Sparkhard

[Brian Frank 0]

Try Sparkhard's suggestion, Zehn.

[ZEHN 0]

i tryed it and the same thing. I'm at pricewatch right now looking at Tyan boards.

 

anybody want to by a VP6?

 

thank you everyone for your time and help

 

ZEHN

[Sparkhard 0]

If you are looking for dual CPU mobos then i woould suggest going to www.2cpu.com and checking out some of the hardware there to see what would best fit your needs.

 

Good Luck, Sparkhard