Proliant 1600 P08 -> E34
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 3:39 pm
Hi all,
A little while ago my uncle gave me a Compaq Proliant 1600 server.
I have read that its possible to use it with CPU's that are not certified by Compaq.
The current config is:
Dual Pentium-II 350Mhz
256MB ECC SDRAM
3x 4.3GB SCSI harddisks
4speed CD Writer
and some other uninteresting parts.
I want to replace the CPU's with PIII 700Mhz models.
As soon as i put one of those in, the server gives me a "Unsupported CPU detected, system halted" message.
My system has a P08 firmware, and officialy has a max of PII 450Mhz as CPU.
The E34 firmware model supports up to PIII 600Mhz.
As far as I can see, the E34 system is the same as the P08, but there is a different firmware inside.
I have checked out the chipset thats inside, and it should support all Coppermine P3's, up to 1Ghz.
The fact that the system boots and gives me a POST message, shows that the hardware supports the CPU's (else it wouldn't do anything at all), but the firmware somehow prevents booting with CPU's that it is not allowed to accept.
So I guess that the people who have got it working, are using a E34 system.
Right now, I have 2 diskettes with firmware files and flashsoftware.
The flash software seems to be the same on both disks.
Only difference being that one has the ROM file for the E34 and the other one has the ROM file for P08.
Could I just rename the E34 file? Or would I need to do something to the ROM file?
I have found out that the flashprogram has an option to decompress and re-compress a ROM file. Maybe I can do something with that? (decompress the E34 file, take some files to the P08 file and then re-compress?)
Has anyone done anything like this before with a Compaq server?
What is the risk of things going wrong?
And if I really screw it up, what can I do to fix it? (and go back to the P08 firmware)
I don't have a spare bios chip, so hotswap method isn't possible.
Thanks in advance
A little while ago my uncle gave me a Compaq Proliant 1600 server.
I have read that its possible to use it with CPU's that are not certified by Compaq.
The current config is:
Dual Pentium-II 350Mhz
256MB ECC SDRAM
3x 4.3GB SCSI harddisks
4speed CD Writer
and some other uninteresting parts.
I want to replace the CPU's with PIII 700Mhz models.
As soon as i put one of those in, the server gives me a "Unsupported CPU detected, system halted" message.
My system has a P08 firmware, and officialy has a max of PII 450Mhz as CPU.
The E34 firmware model supports up to PIII 600Mhz.
As far as I can see, the E34 system is the same as the P08, but there is a different firmware inside.
I have checked out the chipset thats inside, and it should support all Coppermine P3's, up to 1Ghz.
The fact that the system boots and gives me a POST message, shows that the hardware supports the CPU's (else it wouldn't do anything at all), but the firmware somehow prevents booting with CPU's that it is not allowed to accept.
So I guess that the people who have got it working, are using a E34 system.
Right now, I have 2 diskettes with firmware files and flashsoftware.
The flash software seems to be the same on both disks.
Only difference being that one has the ROM file for the E34 and the other one has the ROM file for P08.
Could I just rename the E34 file? Or would I need to do something to the ROM file?
I have found out that the flashprogram has an option to decompress and re-compress a ROM file. Maybe I can do something with that? (decompress the E34 file, take some files to the P08 file and then re-compress?)
Has anyone done anything like this before with a Compaq server?
What is the risk of things going wrong?
And if I really screw it up, what can I do to fix it? (and go back to the P08 firmware)
I don't have a spare bios chip, so hotswap method isn't possible.
Thanks in advance