RJARRRPCGP Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 I think this is a Microcode Update problem. A CPU doesn't have a "driver" in its proper sense; the K6.sys and K7.sys are pseudo-drivers that provide microcode updates for the CPU. I know that on Intel boards, the BIOS loads microcode updates on startup and the updates are integrated into the BIOS. Maybe true for AMDs as well. Try updating your BIOS.Updating the BIOS probably won't fix that, because Asus isn't focused on that, they don't have anything saying that it adds a microcode update. It's only required if you have a Sempron, according to Asus. Also, the A7N8X motherboard family has a reputation of BIOS corruption when flashing the BIOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petr Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Juat an idea - what about disk drivers?SuperPi extensively uses the hard disk, so maybe there could be the difference? Do you have DMA switched on?Is the raw disk speed measured by HD Tach 2.70 the same in Windows 98 SE and in Windows XP?Is the filesystem the same?Is the caching the same?What about to try it to run on RAMdisk?Second idea - I don't know K7 processors, but K6 processors had some optimizations that was necessary to switch on in BIOS, and if BIOS did not supported these features, there was a separate utility called SetK6.Some internal settings of both Intel and AMD processors can be found in Everest, just right-click on the bottom frame of the Everest windows, there are things like CPUID and MSR dump. The latest beta version has also additional item in Tools menu - cache and memory benchmark.You can play with these tools and maybe you will be able to find the weak point.Petr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East17 Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 I using a WD 80GB ATA100 Drive w/ 8MB CacheDMA is ON . HDD-Tach is showing a Transfer Rate Graph between 60MB/sec and 30MB/sec . The graph is clean ,no spikes , so the drive runs normaly . The Average Read Rate is 50MB/sec with 9% CPU utilisation.So it's not the HDD .Also ... I thought that "CPU Microcode" section in BIOS is only related to the functional specification of a new revision of the CPU like : the new name of the CPU , the multiplier and FSB setting and the voltage . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJARRRPCGP Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 (edited) Second idea - I don't know K7 processors, but K6 processors had some optimizations that was necessary to switch on in BIOS, and if BIOS did not supported these features, there was a separate utility called SetK6.The FTP server appears to be down. Edited February 6, 2006 by RJARRRPCGP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petr Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 SetK6.The FTP server appears to be down. It works fine now.Petr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJARRRPCGP Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 SetK6.The FTP server appears to be down. It works fine now.PetrStill failing to respond. Timed out again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petr Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 SetK6.The FTP server appears to be down. It works fine now.PetrStill failing to respond. Timed out again! Etither they have some intermittent problems or you have some incompatible setup. I just successfully downloaded this file by Mozilla 1.7.12, by IE6.0 on WXPSP2, and by bare ftp command on Linux:ftp ftp.heise.deConnected to ftp.heise.de.220 Hallo auf ftp.heise.de.Name (ftp.heise.de:petr): anonymous331 Please specify the password.Password:230 Login successful.Remote system type is UNIX.Using binary mode to transfer files.ftp> cd pub/ct/ctsi250 Directory successfully changed.ftp> get setk6v3.ziplocal: setk6v3.zip remote: setk6v3.zip200 PORT command successful. Consider using PASV.150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for setk6v3.zip (155463 bytes).226 File send OK.155463 bytes received in 0.353 secs (4.3e+02 Kbytes/sec)ftp> quit221 Goodbye.No other idea what could be wrong.Petr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East17 Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 Hello again ,I've continued experimenting with this issue on my laptop that uses an ATi 320M chipset and an AThlonXP Mobile1800Mhz .Again , in Win98SE clean install with the newest drivers I get around 15 minutes for SuperPI 8M and in WinXP around 13 minutes . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssmokee Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 I think this is a Microcode Update problem. A CPU doesn't have a "driver" in its proper sense; the K6.sys and K7.sys are pseudo-drivers that provide microcode updates for the CPU.Are you sure K6 and K7 are even capable of being updated through microcode? AFAIK AMD did not start doing that until K8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssmokee Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Still failing to respond. Timed out again! Try enabling and/or disabling the PASV option in whatever FTP client you are using. Or try using another FTP client altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLXX Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 I think this is a Microcode Update problem. A CPU doesn't have a "driver" in its proper sense; the K6.sys and K7.sys are pseudo-drivers that provide microcode updates for the CPU.Are you sure K6 and K7 are even capable of being updated through microcode? AFAIK AMD did not start doing that until K8.K6.SYS is probably equivalent to the SetK6 function, K7.SYS would be real uC update.http://www.sandpile.org/post/msgs/20002555.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssmokee Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 K6.SYS is probably equivalent to the SetK6 function, K7.SYS would be real uC update.http://www.sandpile.org/post/msgs/20002555.htmVery interesting. I wonder I never heard anything about it until now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninho Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 No microcode updating is possible on the K6-x, but several important optimisations which should be done by the BIOS and are not always - including write allocation & extended write merge buffering... there are several utilities which help setting the K6 up, running either under DOS or in Windows. Unfortunately I don't have my K6-2+ running any more, but googling for K6+"write allocation"+"EWB" should give you plenty of ideas.Optimisation of the chipset is another area which often needs some tweaking and can bring important overall improvements.HTH-- Ninho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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