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Archived This topic has been archived.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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Hello,

 

I just acquired a z800 workstation.  I installed the CPU and attempted to power up the system.  The system powers but there are no beeps and then it turns all the fans on high.

 

Am I having a power issue?

12 REPLIES 12
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I installed an Intel W3680 processor in the first CPU socket.  I did not have a heat sink  with 5 pins so I took one out of my old z400 workstation.  It is too large to fit the small fans back in the z800 case though now. 

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I also have a 1110 watt power supply.  If I have too many peripherals will this cause the system to not power up properly? 

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Take a look at QuickSpecs: I don't think your CPU is supported.

 

Use HP heat sinks. At worst, use a compatible Foxconn (Delta?) part.

 

And yes, take everything out except CPU(s), memory, graphics, boot device. Initial power up tests should be done bare-bones.

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This will be complicated.  Do you have the ability to boot into BIOS with the processor that came with the Z800?

 

If you can pull that off we need to know the boot block date from under the first tab in F10 BIOS.

 

The Z800 should be like the Z400 and Z600.... an earlier version and a later version of the I/O Hub chipset (Intel 5520, with an earlier B3 stepping and a later C2 stepping.  The later one has added capabilities, and can run some processors that the earlier stepping I/O Hub chipset could not.  You'll have to dig a bit here in the forum, but will find similar trials and tribulations for the 400, 600, 800 Z workstations.  A pattern will emerge related to the chipset stepping change.

 

Take a look at the attached PDF related to the differences between the Z800 and the Z820.... the Z800 layout that is shown includes two of the Intel 5520 "Tylersburg" IOH (In/Out Hubs), and those are the chips that changed from the earlier to the later versions.  The later C2 version, for example, can support twice the amount of memory and support a HP-certified subset of the 56xx series Xeon processors.  Here's more from Intel:

 

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/specification-update/5520-and-5500-chipset-ioh-specification-up...

 

Finally, look at the attached build roll document from HP describing change from the earlier to the later version of the Z800 motherboard.  A document like that also exists for the Z400, and for the Z600 too.

 

And, as Alex alludes to, if a processor is not in the "microcode list" in a workstation's BIOS it will not boot even if it could theoretically.  The problem is that as these QuickSpecs mature HP may drop older processors from the QuickSpec listing but not from the microcode listing (a primative part of BIOS that I have never been able to probe for its content)..... those previously listed processors will still work but the total list of processors that HP certified for this workstation will not be easy to find.  This all gives one a headache.  So, you have to dig to see if a processor was ever in the older versions of the QuickSpecs.  I wish HP would just provide us a list of all the processors in the latest microcode listing in the latest BIOS.

 

However, that would encourage exactly what we want to do, which is not supported (getting faster processors working in our workstations than the originals).  Confounding variables such as motherboard updates do complicate updating processors, and such upgrades generally are not what an enterprise buying HP workstations wants to deal with.  The solutions can be found here, but you'll have to dig if you want to experiment.

 

I'll add a link that will give you access to the Z800's QuickSpec changes and you can make up a chart from that to include the old and new processors if you wish.  The newest Z800 QuickSpec I could find is attached.

 

So,

 

1.  What is your Z800's boot block date?

 

2.  Can you find the motherboard part numbers on the little label... up by the memory sticks.  There generally are both assembly and spare part numbers there.... get both if possible.

 

 

 

Scott

 

 

 

Edit.... I had to tune up the HP build roll document a bit.... they incorrectly had the Z600's spares and assembly part numbers listed in the "Roll system board Assembly Number from...."  section.  They did have the correct Z800 numbers under the Component Version section, however.

 

 

 

 

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Here is the HP Z800 QuickSpec history link.... you can look in here and find at least some of the processor changes.

 

Note that you can alter the link address to accomodate any QuickSpec number you wish.... find the latest QuickSpec for a workstation, note the QuickSpec's 5 digit number and copy/paste that into the corresponding two parts of this address to get another workstation's history.

 

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13278_na/13278_na_Changes.HTML

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Now I know why my Z800 do not start....they removed the older Processors. Where can I get older Bios? It seems that Version 1.19 is the latest that works.
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Laggner, the Z800 with BIOS v01.19 supports only the Intel "Nehalem" 55xx processors, not the "Westmere" 56xx processors.  The boot block in the BIOS does not support the Westmere processors.  There is no way for a user to update the boot block.  The BIOS can be update to the lastest version 3.xx, but the boot block will not be upgraded (this is a security issue).  This means the W3680 will not work in your Z800. 

 

FYI, your W3680 is a Westmere that operates only in single CPU configurations.  (The 55xx/56xx processors supoprt dual CPU configurations, the 35xx/36xx are single CPUs only - they are missing an extra QPI bus needed to connect the processors together.).  Z800 systems are sold only with CPUs that are capable of being upgraded to a dual CPU configuration, so cutomers can upgrade later and keep their original CPU.  That is why the W3680 is not listed in the supported configurations. 

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My opinions are my own, and do not express those of HP.

Please click "Accept as Solution" if you problem was solved. This helps other forum readers.
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I try to install the x5660. I tried the E5645 too and also the E5620.

Ok, that´s all 56xx Prozessors.....and there is no way to update the z800?

 

That´s terrible....I have three Z800 here.

 

Please Ebay...give me my beloved Evga SR-2  :smileysad:(

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I have a Z800 with the 01/30/09 Boot Block, and (with the 3.57 BIOS) it does not support the X5650 Xeon -- I tried it.  A Z800 on ebay being sold with an X5650, has a Boot Block date of 11/10/09 (BIOS 3.07). I sent an email to the ebay seller, explaining all this, and he replied that the Z800 had been tested with 2 X5650s, and it worked fine.

 

The Z600, with the same 5520 chipset, etc., requires a Boot Block date of 01/07/10 to support the 5600 series.  I have 2 Z600s with the later C2 rev., and one set of X5650s went there (2 5660s in the other).

 

On the other hand, one Z800 owner, elsewhere in this related subject, said his older B3 based machine works fine with 2 X5690s, and the 3.21 BIOS.  So, I rolled my Z800 BIOS back to 3.21, but haven't tried the hexa-cores again.

 

BTW, my Z800 works perfectly fine with the 3.XX BIOS, and 2 X5570s.

 

So, my ultimate question, does anyone know what the date of the Boot Block which supports the Xeon 5600 family is?  That is documented with the Z600, but I can't find similar data for the Z800.

 

Thanks --  Lou B.

 

 

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