From tjb at unh.edu Thu Jan 18 16:34:00 2007 From: tjb at unh.edu (Thomas J. Baker) Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:34:00 -0500 Subject: "powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure" or Opteron Friendly BIOS? Message-ID: <1169138040.28386.16.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> I just upgraded my MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum from a single core Athlon 64 3500+ to an Opteron 185. Everything works well except CPU scaling due to the "...PSB BIOS structure" error from the powernow-k8 module.. I'm guessing I'm at the mercy of MSI for a BIOS update but I'm doubtful I'll get one anytime soon (the last official release was December of 2005.) So, that leaves me with trying to get another motherboard. Does anyone know of a board that has a dual-core friendly BIOS (so that cpu frequency scaling works under Fedora) that is similar to the MSI? I could move to PCI-e video but the Opteron 185 and my 3GB of memory would be going in for sure. This is really just a home desktop/game playing machine that runs linux 95% of the time so a server type board is overkill. Specific known working motherboard models appreciated. Thanks, tjb -- ======================================================================= | Thomas Baker email: tjb at unh.edu | | Systems Programmer | | Research Computing Center voice: (603) 862-4490 | | University of New Hampshire fax: (603) 862-1761 | | 332 Morse Hall | | Durham, NH 03824 USA http://wintermute.sr.unh.edu/~tjb | ======================================================================= From cochranb at speakeasy.net Thu Jan 18 22:00:28 2007 From: cochranb at speakeasy.net (Robert L Cochran) Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:00:28 -0500 Subject: "powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure" or Opteron Friendly BIOS? In-Reply-To: <1169138040.28386.16.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> References: <1169138040.28386.16.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> Message-ID: <45AFEDFC.4050500@speakeasy.net> Thomas J. Baker wrote: > > Specific known working motherboard models appreciated. > > I don't know a thing about frequency scaling or why it is used. This is the output I see from my motherboard, the Asrock 939SLI32-eSATA2. I'm not sure if this board is Opteron-ready. I think the BIOS version I'm using is 2.40, however I could be wrong. I'll check that and correct myself if needed. But is this output in /var/log/messages a sign that frequency scaling is working for me? Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+ processors (version 2.00.00) Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 0 : fid 0x10 (2400 MHz), vid 0x8 Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 1 : fid 0xe (2200 MHz), vid 0xa Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 2 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), vid 0xc Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 3 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), vid 0xe Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 4 : fid 0x2 (1000 MHz), vid 0x12 Bob Cochran From tjb at unh.edu Thu Jan 18 22:47:52 2007 From: tjb at unh.edu (Thomas J. Baker) Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:47:52 -0500 Subject: "powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure" or Opteron Friendly BIOS? In-Reply-To: <45AFEDFC.4050500@speakeasy.net> References: <1169138040.28386.16.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> <45AFEDFC.4050500@speakeasy.net> Message-ID: <1169160472.4691.4.camel@neuromancer> On Thu, 2007-01-18 at 17:00 -0500, Robert L Cochran wrote: > Thomas J. Baker wrote: > > > > Specific known working motherboard models appreciated. > > > > > I don't know a thing about frequency scaling or why it is used. This is > the output I see from my motherboard, the Asrock 939SLI32-eSATA2. I'm > not sure if this board is Opteron-ready. I think the BIOS version I'm > using is 2.40, however I could be wrong. I'll check that and correct > myself if needed. > > But is this output in /var/log/messages a sign that frequency scaling is > working for me? > > Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 > Dual Core Processor 4800+ processors (version 2.00.00) > Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 0 : fid 0x10 (2400 MHz), > vid 0x8 > Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 1 : fid 0xe (2200 MHz), > vid 0xa > Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 2 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), > vid 0xc > Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 3 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), > vid 0xe > Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 4 : fid 0x2 (1000 MHz), > vid 0x12 > > > > Bob Cochran > > Yes, this indicates CPU scaling is working. (CPU scaling allows the CPU to run at a slower speed when it's not in use.) I'm reading a review of the board now. Thanks, tjb -- ======================================================================= | Thomas Baker email: tjb at unh.edu | | Systems Programmer | | Research Computing Center voice: (603) 862-4490 | | University of New Hampshire fax: (603) 862-1761 | | 332 Morse Hall | | Durham, NH 03824 USA http://wintermute.sr.unh.edu/~tjb | ======================================================================= From cochranb at speakeasy.net Fri Jan 19 01:04:02 2007 From: cochranb at speakeasy.net (Robert L Cochran) Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:04:02 -0500 Subject: "powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure" or Opteron Friendly BIOS? In-Reply-To: <1169160472.4691.4.camel@neuromancer> References: <1169138040.28386.16.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> <45AFEDFC.4050500@speakeasy.net> <1169160472.4691.4.camel@neuromancer> Message-ID: <45B01902.6040509@speakeasy.net> BIOS version 1.40. I tried checking for a newer BIOS update, but the Asrock website is a mess, and claims it is synchronizing its database with the server. The motherboard has been rock solid for me. Bob Thomas J. Baker wrote: > On Thu, 2007-01-18 at 17:00 -0500, Robert L Cochran wrote: > >> Thomas J. Baker wrote: >> >>> Specific known working motherboard models appreciated. >>> >>> >>> >> I don't know a thing about frequency scaling or why it is used. This is >> the output I see from my motherboard, the Asrock 939SLI32-eSATA2. I'm >> not sure if this board is Opteron-ready. I think the BIOS version I'm >> using is 2.40, however I could be wrong. I'll check that and correct >> myself if needed. >> >> But is this output in /var/log/messages a sign that frequency scaling is >> working for me? >> >> Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: Found 2 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 >> Dual Core Processor 4800+ processors (version 2.00.00) >> Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 0 : fid 0x10 (2400 MHz), >> vid 0x8 >> Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 1 : fid 0xe (2200 MHz), >> vid 0xa >> Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 2 : fid 0xc (2000 MHz), >> vid 0xc >> Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 3 : fid 0xa (1800 MHz), >> vid 0xe >> Jan 18 16:43:48 bobcp4 kernel: powernow-k8: 4 : fid 0x2 (1000 MHz), >> vid 0x12 >> >> >> >> Bob Cochran >> >> >> > > Yes, this indicates CPU scaling is working. (CPU scaling allows the CPU > to run at a slower speed when it's not in use.) I'm reading a review of > the board now. > > Thanks, > > tjb > From tjb at unh.edu Fri Jan 19 13:49:13 2007 From: tjb at unh.edu (Thomas J. Baker) Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:49:13 -0500 Subject: "powernow-k8: MP systems not supported by PSB BIOS structure" or Opteron Friendly BIOS? In-Reply-To: <1169138040.28386.16.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> References: <1169138040.28386.16.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> Message-ID: <1169214553.1933.9.camel@raptor.sr.unh.edu> On Thu, 2007-01-18 at 11:34 -0500, Thomas J. Baker wrote: > I just upgraded my MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum from a single core Athlon 64 > 3500+ to an Opteron 185. Everything works well except CPU scaling due to > the "...PSB BIOS structure" error from the powernow-k8 module.. I'm > guessing I'm at the mercy of MSI for a BIOS update but I'm doubtful I'll > get one anytime soon (the last official release was December of 2005.) > In desperation, I googled more and found a beta bios from March 2006 that added support for the FX-60. Since the FX-60 and the Opteron 185 are essentially the same CPU, I flashed it and the powernow-k8 module is happy again. CPU scaling works. Apparently, as long as you can find a board that supports the FX-60, it should work. tjb -- ======================================================================= | Thomas Baker email: tjb at unh.edu | | Systems Programmer | | Research Computing Center voice: (603) 862-4490 | | University of New Hampshire fax: (603) 862-1761 | | 332 Morse Hall | | Durham, NH 03824 USA http://wintermute.sr.unh.edu/~tjb | =======================================================================