Dual processors, only one will boot

[jet042]

I have a Tiger MP mother board with 2 1.4GHz Athlon CPU's. They are not rated as MP, but the guy I bought them from had them running as a dual set on this board b4 I bought it. My OS is WinXP Pro.

Here's the problem: when I boot up my computer, It lists that it only finds one of my processors. WinXP also only lists one of the processors in the Task Manager menu. However, my BIOS says that I have two perfectly functional processors when I go into the advanced setup menu. I've tried swapping the possitions of the processors already. Does anyone have another suggestion about what I can do?

 

[CitrixEngineer]

Install the Multi-processor drivers from the WinXP CD.

Do this by right-clicking My Computer, drilling down to Device Manager and clicking Computer (at the top). The drop-down will probably say something like ACPI Uniprocessor PC.

Right-click that, and choose update driver. You should get the choice of something like SMP PC from the CD.

I can provide a more detailed explanation if required!

Hope this helps CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[attila64ro]

For Windows NT4 exists a way to upgrade single processor to multi-processor, using uptomp.exe contained in Resource Kit. Try to find something similar for XP. If you don't find anything, you could mail to Microsoft Tehnical Support.
Try

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_20438287.html.

Hope it helps You. There is always an explanation!
But maybe we don't know it.
The truth is out there!

 

[CitrixEngineer]

You don't need the hassle of uptomp with Windows 2000 or XP - simply install the correct drivers and it works! CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[jet042]

Ok, I've installed the ACPI Multiprocessor PC driver (it seemed to be the closest to what you had suggested), but the computer is still just booting single processor. In post, the BIOS prints out on the screeen "1 Processor(s) found" and then lists the make and speed correctly. I'm guessing that this is where the problem is now, since updating the driver didn't fix it. Any more suggestions?

 

[CitrixEngineer]

Do you have a VRM? CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[jet042]

I believe I do. What would it look like on the board?

 

[CitrixEngineer]

It's a separate component that you put into a slot that looks a bit like an IDE slot, next to the processor. Typically a VRM is about 1" high, 2" wide, and has several capacitors on it. They look almost exactly like this

http://www.vrmsales.com/

You would have installed it with the processor, so there's not really any room for "I believe I do", you had to actively insert the VRM with the processor!

If there's no VRM for the 2nd processor, the BIOS will not recognise it.

Hope this helps CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[jet042]

Ok, yes I do have one for each processor. The reason I was fuzzy about it's existence was that I did not build the board personally, I purchased it from a co-worker who had used it previously.

Let me be a little bit more specific with what I'm experiencing. During post, my BIOS reports that it found one processor and lists the speed. If I enter the BIOS setup itself, it has data in there for the second cpu's operating temperature, vcore, and fan speed, etc. So as far as I can tell, the BIOS sees the second cpu, it just refuses to boot it. Could this be related to the VRM? It sounds like the BIOS wouldn't have a vcore for the cpu if it's VRM wasn't working...

Thanks for all your suggestions so far, though!