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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
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Maybe somebody here knows what to do:

After I changed the setting of the PCIe-slots to "compute", the z400 no longer starts at all and won't give me a chance to change this setting back to the way it was.  I understand that the "compute" setting is reserved for special video cards like the Nvidia Tesla card and I also know by now that it is completely wrong for my needs. 

 

When I now press the power button, I see the red light flasing along with the 6 beeps indicating a graphics error.  I already tried to reset the cmos by taking the battery out, pushing the cmos button...but no luck.

The way I see it, the z400 no longer expects a regular graphics card in the PCIe slots and therefore signals that no card is installed (same error code without any graphics card installed). 

 

So: does anyone know how I can change this back to normal?  There must be a way!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help because I'm in the middle of a production and this workstation plays a crucial role.

Thanks!

Vinne

 

PS I don't think it matters, but the OS is Windows 7, 12GB RAM

PPS Would the "recovery jumper help" - and if so, how?

21 REPLIES 21
HP Recommended

Hi! To make sure that you reset the CMOS settings correctly, please verify that you followed (exactly) these steps:

-Power off the machine;

-Disconnect the power cable from the PSU; 

-Disconnect the rest of the cables as well (all of them);

-Remove access pannel;

-Locate, press, and hold the CMOS button for (at least) five seconds (do not remove the battery);

-Replace the access panel;

-Reconnect external devices;
-Plug in and power on the workstation;
-Reset the workstation passwords and configuration information, such as the system date and time The workstation powers up for three to five seconds, then powers down;

 

Please try it and let me know of the results.

HP Recommended

Thank you, Kavejohnson,

 

I tried it exactly the way you described, but mysteriously, the Bios still won't start up... beginning to fear that some hardware components might have suffered.  Altough I have trouble believing that some Bios setting can really physically hurt the Mainboard.. especially in a workstation like this?

 

But thanks for the help anyway!

Best

Vinne

HP Recommended
Could you please provide the configuration of your Z400?
(especially the CPU type and graphics card (if any))
HP Recommended

The CPU is a Xeon Quad-core 2.66

Graphics card is Nvidia Quadro FX 1700

12 GB RAM

 

And it all started because a RedRocket-card (used to conform large amounts of high resolution video for film producions) didn't work the way it should.  

But in the meantime I have tried to start the z400 without any of these components.  Always the same error code, except when I started without any RAM inside, then I got the "no RAM" beep code...

HP Recommended
Good idea starting the PC without RAM. The result means that the system board is somewhat "sane".
Can you try the Nvidia card in another compatible computer?
Or vise-versa, do you have another know-good graphics card to try it in Z400?
By the way, is the Nvidia card HP-branded or 3rd party?
HP Recommended

You're right, it does seem at least a little sane.  

I tested the Nvidia FX1700 in an old xw8400 workstation and there it runs just fine.  Vice versa, I put an Nvidia FX580 into the z400 but that didn't help, either.  Both cards are definitely allright.   

I have never encountered such a resistant problem.

 

There might be something seriously broken, but I can't tell which part...

 

HP Recommended
Did you try installing the video card into a different pcie x16 slot (2 or 4)?
HP Recommended

We did, but it didn't change anything... BUT! We just solved it:

We took the z400 to a hardware shop where they told us that the CMOS reset button almost never works in HP workstations (?)   Then we put an old PCI (not express) graphics card in and indeed, the z400 recognized it, we were able to go into the Bios and put the setting of the two PCIe slots back to normal.  

So everybody, be warned: if you mess with the PCIe settings, the only way to change it back is by hooking up an old PCI VGA card.

And thank you, Kavejohnson, for all your ideas and help!

 

Cheers

Vinne

HP Recommended

Vinne2 wrote:  "We took the z400 to a hardware shop where they told us that the CMOS reset button almost never works in HP workstations (?)"

 

That is an interesting comment.  At the risk of going off-topic, here is how the CMOS reset works: 

   - The AC power cord must be removed, and all power drained from the system, before the CMOS reset button works.  This is a design feature, to prevent the CMOS from being cleared if someone accidently pushes the CMOS reset button while working inside the chassis. 

   - All power must be drained from the system before the CMOS reset works.  Newer systems can take up to 2 minutes to lose the on-board standby power after AC power cord is removed, which is much longer than previous generations.  One way to speed up the process is to press the power button several times with the AC power cord removed.  The system will try to power up, then shut down quickly, but this helps to drain the system quicker. 

   - After the AC cord is pulled, it is hard to estimate when all power is drained.  Waiting 2 or more minutes seems like an eternity when one is watching the system.  😉 

   - It is only necessary to push the CMOS clear button once, for a short time.  Holding it down longer does not make a difference (as long as power is drained first). 

 

FYI. 

 

 

P.S.  Thanks for the hint of using a PCI-32 graphics card to recover your system!

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