K7V Dragon + can't set correct CPU speed after flashing BIOS

[Brad]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

Soyo K7V Dragon Plus mobo
Athlon XP 1.6 Khz
Crucial PC2100 266 Mhz DDR 256MBx2

Am the original owner of this gear above. Had the original BIOS
version (2BA-1) and this original CPU but finally decided to upgrade
BIOS because I wanted to put in a hard drive larger than 137GB, and as
I understand, only BIOSes 2BA-5 and up will support this.

Flashed BIOS 2BA-7 and cleared CMOS with jumper and with power
disconnected. Everything seemed to go fine and I *think* it displayed
the CPU correctly as Athlon 1.6 Ghz as it started to boot that first
time after flashing. But I could be wrong about that—it was only
visible for a split second before (following the instructions Soyo
provided) I went into BIOS/CMOS, and on the Soyo COMBO screen, Loaded
Optimized Defaults (F7). After saving and exiting to reboot, it
froze. I had to clear CMOS again to get it to reboot. Now when it
rebooted, it showed the CPU as only an "AMD Athlon 1050", not 1600.
It also reports a CMOS checksum error, which it fixes, but it doesn't
correct the CPU speed. If I go back to BIOS/CMOS, CPU Frequency
Select is set to 100 Mhz and CPU Ratio Select is set to Auto. If I
set CPUFS correctly to 133 Mhz for the correct CPU speed, save and
exit BIOS, it locks. (It does the same if I also set CPU Ratio Select
to the correct multiplier of 12x for a 1600 CPU. Entering Fail Safe
Configuration also doesn't help.) I clear CMOS, reboot, and it's
still at 1050 and back to the 100 Mhz/Auto settings and the wrong CPU
speed and sometimes a CMOS checksum error. I can't change the
settings without having to clear CMOS to reboot, which also resets the
settings. Flashing back to an earlier version of BIOS, even the
original, doesn't change this infinite loop of futility. The CPU
speed is stuck at 1050, and yes, programs are running a bit slower.

Is there any fix for this?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

mailorderspam@yahoo.com (Brad) wrote in message news:<91104a53.0409231034.10da051b@posting.google.com>...
> Soyo K7V Dragon Plus mobo
> Athlon XP 1.6 Khz
> Crucial PC2100 266 Mhz DDR 256MBx2
>
> Am the original owner of this gear above. Had the original BIOS
> version (2BA-1) and this original CPU but finally decided to upgrade
> BIOS because I wanted to put in a hard drive larger than 137GB, and as
> I understand, only BIOSes 2BA-5 and up will support this.
>
> Flashed BIOS 2BA-7 and cleared CMOS with jumper and with power
> disconnected. Everything seemed to go fine and I *think* it displayed
> the CPU correctly as Athlon 1.6 Ghz as it started to boot that first
> time after flashing. But I could be wrong about that?it was only
> visible for a split second before (following the instructions Soyo
> provided) I went into BIOS/CMOS, and on the Soyo COMBO screen, Loaded
> Optimized Defaults (F7). After saving and exiting to reboot, it
> froze. I had to clear CMOS again to get it to reboot. Now when it
> rebooted, it showed the CPU as only an "AMD Athlon 1050", not 1600.
> It also reports a CMOS checksum error, which it fixes, but it doesn't
> correct the CPU speed. If I go back to BIOS/CMOS, CPU Frequency
> Select is set to 100 Mhz and CPU Ratio Select is set to Auto. If I
> set CPUFS correctly to 133 Mhz for the correct CPU speed, save and
> exit BIOS, it locks. (It does the same if I also set CPU Ratio Select
> to the correct multiplier of 12x for a 1600 CPU. Entering Fail Safe
> Configuration also doesn't help.) I clear CMOS, reboot, and it's
> still at 1050 and back to the 100 Mhz/Auto settings and the wrong CPU
> speed and sometimes a CMOS checksum error. I can't change the
> settings without having to clear CMOS to reboot, which also resets the
> settings. Flashing back to an earlier version of BIOS, even the
> original, doesn't change this infinite loop of futility. The CPU
> speed is stuck at 1050, and yes, programs are running a bit slower.
>
> Is there any fix for this?


The XP 1600+ chip does not run at 1.6gig; the 1600 is a PR rating vs
Intel chips. The correct multiplier for a 1600 chip is 10.5 not 12.
The default
speed is 1.4gig (133 x 10.5).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

I have the same problem with my KT333 Dragon Ultra Plat. My XP2000
(266mhz)registers as 1250mhz, 100fsb. If I set it to 133, it will go to post
and shows xp2000+ and freezes even before it starts to load Win XP (SP1) and
I have to clear cmos to get the machine to reboot.
It's been like this since I built the system 1-1/2 years ago. New install of
XP, updated Bios and drivers didn't fix the problem. Ram (Crucial) and power
supply (Antek 440) test out fine. CPU temp stays under 50C and case temp
under 40C.
I gave up on it a long time ago and just leave it at 100fsb.
Good luck!
-Smitty



"Brad" <mailorderspam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:91104a53.0409231034.10da051b@posting.google.com...
> Soyo K7V Dragon Plus mobo
> Athlon XP 1.6 Khz
> Crucial PC2100 266 Mhz DDR 256MBx2
>
> Am the original owner of this gear above. Had the original BIOS
> version (2BA-1) and this original CPU but finally decided to upgrade
> BIOS because I wanted to put in a hard drive larger than 137GB, and as
> I understand, only BIOSes 2BA-5 and up will support this.
>
> Flashed BIOS 2BA-7 and cleared CMOS with jumper and with power
> disconnected. Everything seemed to go fine and I *think* it displayed
> the CPU correctly as Athlon 1.6 Ghz as it started to boot that first
> time after flashing. But I could be wrong about that-it was only
> visible for a split second before (following the instructions Soyo
> provided) I went into BIOS/CMOS, and on the Soyo COMBO screen, Loaded
> Optimized Defaults (F7). After saving and exiting to reboot, it
> froze. I had to clear CMOS again to get it to reboot. Now when it
> rebooted, it showed the CPU as only an "AMD Athlon 1050", not 1600.
> It also reports a CMOS checksum error, which it fixes, but it doesn't
> correct the CPU speed. If I go back to BIOS/CMOS, CPU Frequency
> Select is set to 100 Mhz and CPU Ratio Select is set to Auto. If I
> set CPUFS correctly to 133 Mhz for the correct CPU speed, save and
> exit BIOS, it locks. (It does the same if I also set CPU Ratio Select
> to the correct multiplier of 12x for a 1600 CPU. Entering Fail Safe
> Configuration also doesn't help.) I clear CMOS, reboot, and it's
> still at 1050 and back to the 100 Mhz/Auto settings and the wrong CPU
> speed and sometimes a CMOS checksum error. I can't change the
> settings without having to clear CMOS to reboot, which also resets the
> settings. Flashing back to an earlier version of BIOS, even the
> original, doesn't change this infinite loop of futility. The CPU
> speed is stuck at 1050, and yes, programs are running a bit slower.
>
> Is there any fix for this?

 

[Brad]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

acajka@suscom.net (acajka) wrote in message news:<94f3db7e.0409231453.7aa3f99f@posting.google.com>...

> The XP 1600+ chip does not run at 1.6gig; the 1600 is a PR rating vs
> Intel chips. The correct multiplier for a 1600 chip is 10.5 not 12.
> The default
> speed is 1.4gig (133 x 10.5).

You're right, of course, about the multiplier, acajka; my bad (math).
But setting it at 10.5 doesn't resolve my problem. Since I flashed
BIOS, it doesn't matter where the multiplier is set... on AUTO, on
10.5 (I just tried it), or on 12. The result is the same. After
saving BIOS settings and exiting, the machine freezes with blank video
and no beep, it requires a CMOS clear to reboot, it reboots at the
default settings of a CPU speed of 1050, and it reports a CMOS
checksum error.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

>
> > The XP 1600+ chip does not run at 1.6gig; the 1600 is a PR rating vs
> > Intel chips. The correct multiplier for a 1600 chip is 10.5 not 12.
> > The default
> > speed is 1.4gig (133 x 10.5).
>
> You're right, of course, about the multiplier, acajka; my bad (math).
> But setting it at 10.5 doesn't resolve my problem. Since I flashed
> BIOS, it doesn't matter where the multiplier is set... on AUTO, on
> 10.5 (I just tried it), or on 12. The result is the same. After
> saving BIOS settings and exiting, the machine freezes with blank video
> and no beep, it requires a CMOS clear to reboot, it reboots at the
> default settings of a CPU speed of 1050, and it reports a CMOS
> checksum error.

You shouldn't be getting a checksum error once the cmos has been set. If you
let the unit boot at 1050 and then power off and back on, do you still get
the checksum error? If so, you may have had a bad flash, or the eeprom
chip itself may be bad.

Andy

 

[Brad]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

acajka@suscom.net (acajka) wrote in message news:<94f3db7e.0409241633.73de2d06@posting.google.com>...
>
> You shouldn't be getting a checksum error once the cmos has been set. If you
> let the unit boot at 1050 and then power off and back on, do you still get
> the checksum error? If so, you may have had a bad flash, or the eeprom
> chip itself may be bad.


No, I only get the checksum error after changing CPU Frequency Select
from 100 to 133 (whether or not I also reset the multiplier from the
AUTO setting, which according to other threads on this mobo, doesn't
normally need to be set, anyway), and clearing CMOS. I have to clear
CMOS in order to be able to reboot when I reset CPU-FS. Then after
CMOS is cleared, it reboots at 1050 and usually shows a CMOS checksum
error, which it resolves when I hit F1 to Continue. But after that,
it will reboot as many times as wanted at 1050 without further
problems (other than reduced CPU speed) until I change CPU-FS in BIOS
again.

It may have been a bad flash, even though I did nothing wrong, because
the error now seems hard-wired no matter what version of BIOS is used.
But rather than put even $15 into a new BIOS chip (which might not
solve it anyway if EEPROM could also be the problem), I think I'd
rather put that money towards an Asus K7 motherboard that could allow
the same CPU and RAM to be used for now as well as allow the larger
hard-drive and an upgrade path for a faster Barton CPU and 3200 RAM in
the future. A new Asus K7 mobo would only cost about $50 more than a
BIOS for the Soyo and seems the smarter buy now to me.

Thanks, Andy, for staying with this.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

mailorderspam@yahoo.com (Brad) wrote in message news:<91104a53.0409250520.ff6b7da@posting.google.com>...
> acajka@suscom.net (acajka) wrote in message news:<94f3db7e.0409241633.73de2d06@posting.google.com>...
> >
> > You shouldn't be getting a checksum error once the cmos has been set. If you
> > let the unit boot at 1050 and then power off and back on, do you still get
> > the checksum error? If so, you may have had a bad flash, or the eeprom
> > chip itself may be bad.
>
>
> No, I only get the checksum error after changing CPU Frequency Select
> from 100 to 133 (whether or not I also reset the multiplier from the
> AUTO setting, which according to other threads on this mobo, doesn't
> normally need to be set, anyway), and clearing CMOS. I have to clear
> CMOS in order to be able to reboot when I reset CPU-FS. Then after
> CMOS is cleared, it reboots at 1050 and usually shows a CMOS checksum
> error, which it resolves when I hit F1 to Continue. But after that,
> it will reboot as many times as wanted at 1050 without further
> problems (other than reduced CPU speed) until I change CPU-FS in BIOS
> again.
>
> It may have been a bad flash, even though I did nothing wrong, because
> the error now seems hard-wired no matter what version of BIOS is used.
> But rather than put even $15 into a new BIOS chip (which might not
> solve it anyway if EEPROM could also be the problem), I think I'd
> rather put that money towards an Asus K7 motherboard that could allow
> the same CPU and RAM to be used for now as well as allow the larger
> hard-drive and an upgrade path for a faster Barton CPU and 3200 RAM in
> the future. A new Asus K7 mobo would only cost about $50 more than a
> BIOS for the Soyo and seems the smarter buy now to me.
>
> Thanks, Andy, for staying with this.

If you have some different ram sticks, you might want to give then a try.
With later bios versions, Soyo set the default ram timings on the "tight"
side and as a result, ram that ran fine with older bios versions, now had
problems with stability. You can also go into bios and slow down the ram
timings a bit and see if that helps. I've worked with dozens of these boards
over the years and some motherboard/ram combos just don't work with later
bios versions. Also, take a look at the caps on your board. After a year or
so, many will start to bulge at the top and cause problems at higher FSB
speeds. BTW, if the Tbred mods are performed on these boards, they will run
the higher speed Barton chips. Email me if you want more info.

Andy