TH7II Help

I have a TH7II non-raid board 1.9 P4 with 512RD800
ram. When I try to set up to OC at 113 FSB it works at default voltarge 1.75, fix, and memory speed at default 400. But when I shut down the system and then full start again it comes up with "processor changed or incorrect speed .... enter BIOS and reset" or similar verbage. I must be missing setting something correctly, speed error hold is disabled in BIOS. Any help/suggestions appreciated. TIA

Mine started doing that one time after I cleared the CMOS with the jumper. Turned out I didn't replace the jumper back correctly so it was returning to the default settings everytime I turned the power completely off. Another possibility is that the CMOS battery come loose or went bad. The last potential solution I can think of off hand is to upgrade the BIOS, especially if you're still using the original BIOS.

What is your CPU multiplier set to? Usually this has to be set manually (I believe it's called "user defined" in the BIOS) as the default multiplier is usually set wrong after a BIOS flash. I just set up a TH7II-RAID system with an 1.8a cpu for a friend of mine and the default multiplier setting in the BIOS was 8x when it should have been 18x. I assume your correct multiplier is 19x. Check in your BIOS and see what your multiplier is set to. If it's not set to 19x, manually set it.

Hope this helps.

Peace,
Eggroll

for your 1.7 CPU make sure you have CPU Speed set to 1700(100). Just a guess.
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oops, sorry. I read your original post again and the above should have been 1900(100) for your 1.9 CPU. But it looks like you had that set anyway and your still having the problem.

Thanks for the responses guys. I set the multiplier at 1.9 Ghz which is what the Intel
chip is. Just can't understand why it's coming up from a complete shutdown with that message ..... it's like it isn't seeing the speed error hold disable in bios setting.

I'm a little reluctant to flash bios ..... just
real concerned about it can't afford to have the damn system go out with a failure ...

I had a BH6 Celeron 300@450 for years without problems ... it's just nuts ........

Sorry, I don't mean to beat a dead horse here and this is doubly hard because I don't have a system with the same BIOS to look at, but I just want to make sure your settings are correct. I believe you have to set THREE things in the BIOS with respect to your CPU. But in order to set all of them manually, you have to enter the USE DEFINE mode.

Under CPU OPERATING SPEED, instead of selecting 1900 for your 1.9a cpu, select USE DEFINE. This should enable you to set not only the CPU SPEED, but also the FSB and the MULTIPLIER FACTOR. Your CPU SPEED should be set to 1900, your FSB to 100 or whatever you're bumping it to, and your MULTIPLIER FACTOR to 19x. The Multiplier Factor is usually shown as unchangeable in the BIOS until you enter USE DEFINE mode.

It feels like I'm telling you stuff you already know because AFAIK you would have to be in USE DEFINE mode in order to change the speed of your FSB, which you said you have already started to do. But I was confused by your last post because you said you set your multiplier to 1.9GHz when the multiplier should be an "x" number, such as "19x." So I wasn't sure if you were confusing the multiplier factor with the cpu operating speed.

Hope this helps. If I'm giving you info that isn't really related to the problem, please feel free to ignore me.

Peace,
Eggroll

Eggroll said:

Sorry, I don't mean to beat a dead horse here and this is doubly hard because I don't have a system with the same BIOS to look at, but I just want to make sure your settings are correct. I believe you have to set THREE things in the BIOS with respect to your CPU. But in order to set all of them manually, you have to enter the USE DEFINE mode.

Under CPU OPERATING SPEED, instead of selecting 1900 for your 1.9a cpu, select USE DEFINE. This should enable you to set not only the CPU SPEED, but also the FSB and the MULTIPLIER FACTOR. Your CPU SPEED should be set to 1900, your FSB to 100 or whatever you're bumping it to, and your MULTIPLIER FACTOR to 19x. The Multiplier Factor is usually shown as unchangeable in the BIOS until you enter USE DEFINE mode.
It feels like I'm telling you stuff you already know because AFAIK you would have to be in USE DEFINE mode in order to change the speed of your FSB, which you said you have already started to do. But I was confused by your last post becaus
e you said you set your multiplier to 1.9GHz when the multiplier should be an "x" number, such as "19x." So I wasn't sure if you were confusing the multiplier factor with the cpu operating speed.

Hope this helps. If I'm giving you info that isn't really related to the problem, please feel free to ignore me.

Peace,
Eggroll

Click to expand...

Unfortunately it's not an "a" northwood but yes I have all the settings you are referring to ... multiplier is set to 19x, processor to 1900. That's why this is so frustrating to get sorted out. Thanks for the response. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be some stupid simple oversight on my part ... well actually I do hope it is rather than a problem with the board.

If you have a Willy and not a Northwood and you're running FSB at 113 that means your OC'd at 2147 which means, according to this thread "TH711 overclocking w/willamette" (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86107) you're probably at or exceeding the capabilities of this chip. Any chance your problem lies here? Do you still have the problem when you reset your FSB to 100 or something in between 100 and 113 like 105?

Also, can you provide a little more information about your system, like what BIOS version you're using and what else you have installed in your system (AGP, PCI cards, etc.)?

He has a point, most Willies poop out at about 2.1 gig. Try backing off just a tad and see if that helps with stability. I'm impressed that you were able to do that much on default voltage too. Maybe bump the vcore up one notch too.

Eggroll said:

If you have a Willy and not a Northwood and you're running FSB at 113 that means your OC'd at 2147 which means, according to this thread "TH711 overclocking w/willamette" (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86107) you're probably at or exceeding the capabilities of this chip. Any chance your problem lies here? Do you still have the problem when you reset your FSB to 100 or something in between 100 and 113 like 105?

Also, can you provide a little more information about your system, like what BIOS version you're using and what else you have installed in your system (AGP, PCI cards, etc.)?

Click to expand...

Running original BIOS 77 I think it is. Yes I can return to original settings and everything is fine. Peripherals I don't have anything exotic ...using onboard sound ...not great but so far it's OK for me, GF3Ti200 not overclocked, 1 7200WD Caviar HD, 1 AcerCDRW, 512 (2X256) 800Rambus , el cheapo 3com NIC .....pretty vanilla setup.

The thing that's really wierd is it doesn't matter
what speed on the bus I use when 113 or less if it's over 100 I have been getting the boot up message on wrong processor speed. I did notice in the manual it says the default toggle on the onboard switches is on for use default processor speed. But I assume that setting speed error hold to disable in bios disables that manual on toggle switch setting on the motherboard??

I continue to try tracking it down but so far
it's no joy. Thanks for taking the time to help.

Okay, I just have to make one more suggestion and then I'll shut up. As batboy suggested earlier, try flashing your BIOS with a newer version and see if you still have the same problem. If you do it properly you'll be able to save your existing BIOS and reflash to it if need be.

As far as versions, you can try one of the Abit beta versions located here:

http://fae.abit.com.tw/download/beta/th7-ii/

I used the "th7h7c01.zip" BIOS for my friend's system and had no problems. You could also try whatever the latest BIOS is from Mr. Natural located here:

http://www.n3dt.com/drivers/bios/abit/th7ii/

You'll have to sift through the last few pages of the sticky thread "Updated Abit BD7-Raid and TH7II-Raid Bios. Get them here!", located here:

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78800

to determine what is his latest version because I'm not sure the "last modified" dates on his download page necessarily tell you the true story. Personally, I have a little trouble following that sticky thread so maybe somebody can just tell you what the latest version is. People seem to be using his BIOSes with success, though.

I know you said you were reluctant to flash your BIOS so that you didn't end up with a system failure, but as you scan these forums you'll find people flashing their BIOSes all the time without incident. If you follow the steps below, you shouldn't have any problems either.

To flash your BIOS, make yourself a boot floppy using drdos, found here:

http://www.polarhome.com/service/bootdisk/DOS/Dr-DOS/drdflash.exe

Once you've made that boot floppy, transfer awdflash.exe flashing utility to it, found here:

http://fae.abit.com.tw/download/utilities/awdflash.exe

as well as the file for whatever newer BIOS you plan to try. For our example, lets say it's "th7h_7c.b01" from the th7h7c01.zip file found at the Abit beta BIOS url listed above. Then, boot to that floppy and execute awdflash as follows:

awdflash th7h_7c.b01 /py/sy oldbios.bin /Wb/cd/cp/cc/LD

This will flash your BIOS with the new version as well as saving your old BIOS to "oldbios.bin" on the floppy. The only thing I can't answer is, if you wanted to flash back to your existing BIOS, which switches you should use in the command line. That is, whether you use these:

awdflash oldbios.bin /py/sy

or use the long list of switches shown in the Abit manual as follows:

awdflash oldbios.bin /cc /cd /cp /py /sn /cks /r

Perhaps someone else can fill in this last blank for you.

Hopefully this will solve your problem.

Good luck,
Eggroll

I have flashed the BIOS of my TH7-II 5 times now in 5 months. The first time you do it is a bit scary, but it's not really that hard. Here is the easiest way I've found. Download the most recent official BIOS and flash utility from Abit. Then extract it and make a bootable floppy disk (follow all the instructions). There should be 5 files not counting the system files on the floppy. Next download Mr. Natural's 7D BIOS (it's the best of all I've tested). Delete the .bin file (ignore or delete the .txt file) from the floppy that you made and replace it with the Th7_7d.bin file. Next, edit the runme.bat file (using a text editor program) and change the reference to the old.bin file to the new .bin file. Boot off the floppy and type runme at the prompt. Sit back and let it do it's thing.

Is there a Sticky on BIOS flashing and DOS commands?

Also, if using Windows XP why not just format the floppy and select the "Create MS DOS Startup Disk" option? And then copy the awdflash.exe and the xxxxxx.bin file? Why use Dr.DOS?

Also, I have a few questions about DOS commands. If I remember correctly is there not supposed to be correct spacing between commands? How important is that? Meaning:

if: * = a space

awdflash*TH7H_7D.BIN*/py*/sn*/Wb*/cd*/cp*/cc*/LD

( above is just an example on how I thought spacing should be placed in the command line. Of course you would replace the * with a space)


This is the command line I used just yesterday. And I put the spaces in thinking back to what I knew about DOS commands, which is not much. Can anyone clarify this for me? Thanks, Grant

Grantman said:

Is there a Sticky on BIOS flashing and DOS commands?

Also, if using Windows XP why not just format the floppy and select the "Create MS DOS Startup Disk" option? And then copy the awdflash.exe and the xxxxxx.bin file? Why use Dr.DOS?

Click to expand...

Dr. DOS is not necessary if you are running WIN 98. XP creates additional problems and it is better to used Dr.DOS or a WIN98 boot disk in that application.

Your boot disk should be very basic and not include any extras that may cause problems. When you create a startup disk, I believe you get an autoexec and a config sys file also.

It would be better to format and add only the system files.

Grantman said:

Also, I have a few questions about DOS commands. If I remember correctly is there not supposed to be correct spacing between commands? How important is that? Meaning:

if: * = a space

awdflash*TH7H_7D.BIN*/py*/sn*/Wb*/cd*/cp*/cc*/LD

( above is just an example on how I thought spacing should be placed in the command line. Of course you would replace the * with a space)


This is the command line I used just yesterday. And I put the spaces in thinking back to what I knew about DOS commands, which is not much. Can anyone clarify this for me? Thanks, Grant

Click to expand...

The spaces are OK because you ARE doing a DOS command. That is the way I do it. I also use the command line that MR Natural recommends. You can find it and an explanation in his bios sticky.

You do not want to use a startup disk. Format the floppy and check the option for system files.

I was curious as to why Abit does not recommend the built-in "Create MS DOS Startup Disk" option. The extra files sound like it might be it.

Mr. Natural recommended that I do it this way in a personal email, and I figured he knew what he was doing. The following is that email:

"If you are running XP then all you need do is get a floppy disk and put in in the drive then right click on it, choose format, then choose to Create an MSDOS Disk. Once you've done that then simply copy the awdflash.exe file and the bios file to the floppy disk. Rebbot the system with the floppy in the drive. Once the system has booted from the floppy disk then type in the following.

awdflash xxxxxx.bin (xxxxxx=name of bios file) /py/sn/Wb/cd/cp/cc/LD."

The only thing that happened using this proceedure was that at the end where you had the two options to either go back to DOS or exit, my mouse did not work on either, it was like frozen. I had to manual shutdown and reboot.
Grant
================
Batboy, I cannot find that option in XP Pro.

I have never used WinXP, so my method might not work for you. Mr. Natural's method looks good.

It worked fine. Except I was thinkin that the only reason it froze at the end where I could not select return or exit with the mouse is maybe because I have a cordless mouse and keyboard, I don't know.

Sorry to the original poster that we got sidetracked here!
Grant