ENABLING dual-core????

fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
edited March 2006 in Hardware
So, according to CPU-z, my Pentium D only has one core. The processor selection drop down menu is greyed out. Also, task manager is not showing me 2 graphs for processor performance.
Do I need to enable Dual core in bios? I looked around but didnt see anything.

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Perhaps you need a bios update? Are you sure your board supports dual core?
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130516
    Thats it. Def says it supports dual core. I guess I will try using the bios update.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2006
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    I should be able to update using the live update software, but it cant seem to connect to the servers.
    Ive never updated a bios before, so I will take this up tomorrow some time.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    OK, here's the response I gave you in reply to PM before I found out you had posted a thread (mild ARRRGGGH:rant: )

    "re you running the MSI "945P Neo-F"? Just asking, because MSI has a whole bunch of "Neo" this and thats.

    Yes, CPUz should have a field at the bottom with dropdown slection to show either CPU1 or 2. Task Manager show have two window panes under Performance, graphing both cores.

    During POST the BIOS screen should display something like "CPU Count 2". Does it?

    It's sounding to me like you've got a BIOS setting askew, or maybe a corrupte BIOS. Have you updated the BIOS? Some early edition 775 boards, even those designed for dual core have problems recognizing the D820s (but not the 830s and 840s). I'm hoping you don't have one of those boards. It may just be that the ACPI settings are wrong.

    If you haven't already done so, you should:

    1. reset the BIOS to default settings and let it post that way, and if still the fix ain't there...
    2. update the BIOS. The MSI software to update the BIOS through Windows works beautifully. You may though, have to download the BIOS and put it in a folder, as sometimes the ftp/site won't transfer the BIOS to the updater.
    3. Ensure you have all WinXP updates. If your BIOS gives you a CPU Count of 2, then the problem might be with Windows. Perhaps you've got motherboard drivers from a previous installation/configuration interfering?

    Good luck, and please keep me informed. I'll do whatever I can to help you.
    "
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    I checked Device manager, and it lists 2 processors, so hopefully this can lead to whats going on here.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    I'm thinking you may just need a repair installation of XP with ALL updates, especially SP2. Did you ever get the "CPU Count 2" at the beginning of POST, right before it registers the memory?
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    I just got live update to go through with the bios update. So an outdated bios is out of the question now.
    Perhaps old motherboard drivers from my NF7-S are conflicting. I did not do a reinstall of windows, I just swapped out my motherboard, cpu, 6800 and ram. I attempted to uninstall anything Nvidia display and anything Nvidia Mainboard, but there may be some stuff lingering which is causing this problem.
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    Yes, the post screen says "14 X 200, 2 cpu's".
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited March 2006
    In taskmanager do you see both cores ?.
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    Task manager shows only one core. There is only one graph.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    you definitely need to do a repair install. you can't just swap motherboards without all kinds of weird issues showing up.
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    Ahh, alright. Gotta find my windows xp cd then.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited March 2006
    Is your xp xp pro ?
    If its home you dont have smp support and thats why this is happening.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Not necessarily true - XP Home does indeed support 2 processors. I'm posting from a computer with XP Home and a dual core opteron right this moment :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    you definitely need to do a repair install. you can't just swap motherboards without all kinds of weird issues showing up.
    Even swapping from P4HT to P D is needs it.
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    I have XP Pro. Just gotta find that disk....
    Ill have a fresh install by tomorrow at the latest.
  • edited March 2006
    I'm not sure about XP, but I've done plenty of mobo swaps with Win2K Pro without having to do a repair install.

    fudgam, open up device manager and then click on computer and see what it is showing. If XP is recognizing the proc right, it should be saying "ACPI Multiprocessor PC". If it is showing "ACPI Uniprocessor PC" or something like that, then a simple fix is to just update the driver to Multiprocessor PC.
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    Under computer in the device mangager, it says "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC"
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited March 2006
    Not necessarily true - XP Home does indeed support 2 processors. I'm posting from a computer with XP Home and a dual core opteron right this moment :)

    Eh ?

    I tryed it on my duel xeon when I was going to run some benchmarks and I only saw one core in task manager... so I put 2k on it ran sandra then put debian back on it with a smp kernel :).
  • edited March 2006
    fudgam wrote:
    Under computer in the device mangager, it says "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC"


    Yep, looks like you are running in uniprocessor mode I believe. Try updating the driver and select the multiprocessor HAL manually and then reboot. I remember having to do this with Win2K Pro twice when upgrading from single processor to dual processor once and then single proc to dual core processor the other time. I guess XP wasn't smart enough to figure out the processor change to a DC proc either, just like Win2K Pro.
    GrayFox wrote:
    Eh ?

    I tryed it on my duel xeon when I was going to run some benchmarks and I only saw one core in task manager... so I put 2k on it ran sandra then put debian back on it with a smp kernel .

    That's because you tried to run XP Home on a board with 2 physical processors, which it isn't licensed to run with. However, a dual core processor is a different story since it only has 1 physical processor socket. Old Billy-Boy Gates was nice enough to license XP on a per socket basis, not per core basis. XP Pro will actually load and run a dual processor, Dual core Opteron (2 sockets, 4 cores)or even a dual proc, dual core Xeon with HT enabled (dual socket, 4 cores, plus 4 virtual HT processors).
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    I tried updating the driver, but nothign shows up. It prompts me to select a location to select the driver from, but I have no clue where the driver would be. Should I put the Windows XP cd in and select that as the source of the driver?
    When I slelect the option for Winodws to conect to the the internet, nothign come up, and the window just closes and nothing is changed.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Have you performed a fresh Windows installation or repair installation yet? You should be able to pop in the CD and fully up and running quickly that way.
  • edited March 2006
    fudgam, when you are updating the driver and have the hardware wizard open, choose the "Don't search, I will choose the driver to install" button, then click next. That should bring up a box showing various compatible hardware; on this P4 I am on is shows 4 choices, one of which is "ACPI Multiprocessor PC" and is the one you want to choose. Highlight it and then click next and finish up following through the driver update. I don't remember if it asks you for your XP disk, but if it does then put your disk in.

    Or you can do as the rest are saying and do a repair install, but IMO it would be a waste of time. The driver update has done the trick for me before without wasting time with a repair install.:rolleyes: You evidently missed a key word in my last post, the word manually. That means to choose it yourself and not let it look on the internet. Your problem right now is that windows doesn't know that there is another core just sitting there, waiting to be recognized and it doesn't know what to look for on the web. You have to manually change your HAL.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Perhaps it will work, Mudd, but maybe not. When I converted what is now System 1 from an HT rig to dual core, it just would not function well until I performed a Windows repair installation. Then voila, everything was golden except for a few USB bugs. Without the repair install, both cores did fire and worked fine, but half of everything else was FUBAR no matter what drivers I installed or uninstalled.

    I'm converting System 3 this weekend (if my RMA MSI board arrived today) to dual core. I won't even try to boot into Windows this time without a repair installation.
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    The only other option listed is "Standard PC".
    Nothing that mentions multiple processors. I will be doing a repair install.
    Should I back up al lmy saved games and pictures and music, or will they not be removed?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2006
    A Repair Install should not remove anything, though a backup is always a good idea.

    When you tried to update the driver, did you remember to uncheck the box that says "Show Compatible Devices"?
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited March 2006
    I did a repair install of Windows XP and now Task Manager shows 2 processors!
    Thanks Alot guys!
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