HP DC7900 Motherboard Doesn't Support CPU but boots up anyway

[dagunn007]

Hi all,

So I have this HP DC7900 that I have as a backup computer, and I took out the E8400 CPU and put it in a better machine and put back into the DC7900 a E6300 (Pretty sure that's the right one; 1.86GHz). Only thing is that the DC7900 doesn't support the E6300 because HP is terrible with their support in BIOS' (like seriously, I can downgrade the CPU to a celeron or pentium dual, or upgrade to a better core 2 duo or core 2 quad but I can't put this specific core 2 duo in).
Anyway, when I turn on the computer, it gets to POST, loads the BIOS and then comes up with an error saying that the BIOS doesn't support the CPU. The options are to shut down, go to setup, or to continue. Continue simply just boots up the computer into Windows and everything works absolutly fine with no problems, temperatures are fine, I even stress tested the thing and it was perfectly normal.

So basically my questions are;
1. Is it bad to simply press continue at each boot up and to continue using the computer?
2. Is there a way to update the BIOS without an official microcode/BIOS update?
3. Is there a way to bypass the error message and to continue booting without complaining?

Thanks all,



Gunny

 

[GhislainG]

1. If it's stable, using the E6300 CPU won't hurt the system.
2. No. HP won't release a BIOS for such an old CPU.
3. What happens if you go to setup and save the configuration? Do you still get the warning message at POST?

 

[bucknutty]

I would try this BIOS update.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=3785404&swItem=vc-97110-1&prodNameId=3785167&swEnvOID=4060&swLang=13&taskId=135&mode=5

I ran a HPd530 slim with a pentium M as a HTPC for like 4 years. I go the same error because the desktop firmware did not support the M chip. I even found a way to edit the bios to dissable the warning. That was like 5 or 6 years ago already.

 

[dagunn007]

1. If it's stable, using the E6300 CPU won't hurt the system.
2. No. HP won't release a BIOS for such an old CPU.
3. What happens if you go to setup and save the configuration? Do you still get the warning message at POST?

If I go to setup and save the configuration the same thing just keeps happening at boot.
I also looked around the BIOS and couldn't find an option to ignore errors and such... unless I missed it?

I would try this BIOS update.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=3785404&swItem=vc-97110-1&prodNameId=3785167&swEnvOID=4060&swLang=13&taskId=135&mode=5

I ran a HPd530 slim with a pentium M as a HTPC for like 4 years. I go the same error because the desktop firmware did not support the M chip. I even found a way to edit the bios to dissable the warning. That was like 5 or 6 years ago already.

Already have that BIOS update installed, along with the separate Microcode update HP released... was one of the first things I tried.
You think you could point me in the right direction to try and find a way to disable the warning?

Cheers,


Gunny

 

[dagunn007]

So anyone got any idea how I could bypass the error message, perhaps a manual BIOS change?

 

[dagunn007]

Still wondering if there's a solution to the problem, anyone?

 

[GhislainG]

Probably not. HP support processors that were available with that system, but it doesn't make much sense for them to support the previous generation processors since people usually upgrade to a better CPU. Your solutions are to install a supported processor or find a customized BIOS that supports the first generation E6300.

 

[dagunn007]

Best answer selected by dagunn007.