z820 e5-2600 v2 ivy bridge upgrade

[MickTurner]

"I want to emphasize that HP supports only to add the same processor in the second CPU slot that was from the system. Upgrading any different speed of processor from origianl processor is not supported offcially. There are mutiple reasons on this."

I can see that one reason would be dealing with the heat from a faster processor but that surely only applies if one goes over the thermal limits of the air cooling?

Are there any implications of this policy such as control over the cpu clock speed?

Thanks

[MSLEEE]

Let me give you an example. I purchased a X workstation system with single processor "A". You can add the same "A" processor and this is supported. Later or  now,  X workstation supports a processor "B" which has faster speed. You puchase dual "B" processors (After Market Options) from HP and add them in this system. This is not supported offcailly even though adding dual B processors may work.

 Certain processor or dual processors may require different hardwares in some cases (e.g. higer voltage of power suplly units, additonal memory fan,  different heat sinks, or other components). We cannot add those components into the processor kits. It's too expensive. Sometimes customer wants to buy from non-HP due to the price reason. Without proper components, it will damage the hardware components.

Anybody can puchase after market options without providing system serial numbers. So it's very hard to keep track of whcih system has which processor if the customer changed the processor. If "B" processor becomes faulty, you cannot get the replacement of "B" processor becaue the system tracking information says you have "A" processor configuration.

I'm not sure if I asnwered your question.

[#3]

Has anyone been able to upgrade their older z820 or Z620 to use e5-2600 v2 processors yet?  Any tips?

I updated the BIOS to J61 v0 3.65 but I do note that the Boot Block Date even after the latest BIOS firmware refresh still sits at 12/28/2011.

The workstation still doesn't POST with a brand retail box Xeon E5 2600 series V2, one of two on hand so i know it's not the CPU.  The system on power up just sits there with the fans running with solid blue light, then the fans kick up to full speed and it does nothing.

Is HP ultimately locking out customers from updating by not updating the Boot Block Date to accept these new V2 processors even though the Intel C602 chipset onboard fully supports these processors?

[SalSimp]

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@Dan_in_WGBU wrote:

Installing a jumper on E14 overrides the system ROM boot block protection circuit.  HOWEVER, the BIOS flash utility that HP posts on the web does NOT flash the boot block, even with E14 installed.  Will HP provide a utility to flash the boot block in the future?  I do not know the answer to that, sorry.   

Dan- it has been a while but I wanted to continue with this project. First, I appreciate the comments you have previously posted. They have in part led me to better understant how the BIOS in this Z820 is structured. While with that information (and that posted by others) I have made a lot of progress towards being able to upgrade the bootblock, I am clearly not there yet. As you pointed out, there are many perils in trying to do this and anyone trying it should accept the consequences (accept the outcome which may be bricking the motherboard).

Now to specifics. Switching the E14 jumper position (earlier post by Pabla) AND installing the E1 jumper does write enable the BIOS flash but only that portion  from 0x000000 to 0x50FFFF. That section is where the Intel ME/ATM code (and other non-BIOS data) resides. The BIOS flash addresses above that range remain write protected. That is where we hit a brick wall since the bootblock resides starting at 0xFF0000. The jumper combination must be 'hardware' write enabling the chip (since the lower portion can be written to) but there must be some other protection (software) locking  the upper parts of the BIOS flash chip. Unlocking this section is the one remaining challenge that needs to be overcomed.

All comments welcomed. I am attaching the Specsheet for the flash chipfor followers of this thread to peruse and perhaps come up with ideas.

[Dan_WGBU]

salsimp, you are correct, there are other software ways to write protect the system BIOS, including registers in the system ROM IC that can be programmed to write protect sections of the ROM.  However, I do not know how or if HP uses this, or how the HP flash utilities protect parts of the ROM.  Sorry, but I do not have the technical knowledge to create any workarounds. 

[SalSimp]

Dan - do you know if the  software (register) 'lockdown' of the bootblock happened when BIOS version 2.xx was released and that is the reason that you cannot go back to Bios versions 1.xx after upgrading?

That being true, then those who have not upgraded to 2.xx and above can get the bootblock upgrade by flashing any version above 3.05? TIA

[Dan_WGBU]

salsimp  -  I do not know the specifics of flash tool operation, or why some versions do not allow the user to go back to older versions.  I am not a BIOS engineer, but know that the structure is more complex than what most would think. 

Unfortuately, the only advice I can give is to warn users that trying simple BIOS hacks can cause all sorts of problems, and probably will not successfully update the boot block. 

[Dougmany]

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@SalSimp wrote:

Dan - do you know if the  software (register) 'lockdown' of the bootblock happened when BIOS version 2.xx was released and that is the reason that you cannot go back to Bios versions 1.xx after upgrading?

That being true, then those who have not upgraded to 2.xx and above can get the bootblock upgrade by flashing any version above 3.05? TIA

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I upgraded one of our workstations to the latest BIOS but we have several others that we want to upgrade. They have version 1.xx bios.  Does anybody have the 3.05 version that I can try?

[SalSimp]

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@Dougmany wrote:

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I upgraded one of our workstations to the latest BIOS but we have several others that we want to upgrade. They have version 1.xx bios.  Does anybody have the 3.05 version that I can try?

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It is Softpac sp60296. It is here at the HP FTP site -->  ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp60501-61000/sp60926.exe

Note the following statement in the included install instructions ...

System requires a BIOS version of 01.07 or greater to update to the new 02.00
code base

WARNING: After installing a 2.xx BIOS onto the system, the system will not be
able to flash back to a 1.xx BIOS.

Let us know if the Boot block changes date to 3/6/2013

[Dougmany]

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salsimp wrote:

Let us know if the Boot block changes date to 3/6/2013

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No Dice.  It took me a while to figure out this thread was for the Z820 and I have a Z620 but the file was only two down on the FTP server (SP60928).  The Bios was updated to J61 V3.05 but the boot Block sayed at 12/28/2011.  After that failed I tried moving the jumpers (E14 and the ME/AMT Flash override) and that did not work either.  This really sucks.  Luckily I only bought one V2 processor that I can't use.