CPU Unworkable

jester77

I started building last night, just put the minimum in the case to see if it would start and it did

When I booted it up there was an error message about the CPU, not sure of the message but it said that the cpu was "unworkable" and to look at something in the bios.. "Soft cpu setting(?)" Is this serious?

It was late and I had a quick look, couldn't find the menu. Had a look at the temperatures and I think they looked ok, CPU was 47c, is that ok?
The fans were very loud so I decided to run them at 60% but then the machine kept shutting off when I would start... any ideas here? Is this related to the CPU message?
I just reset the CMOS and went to bed, didn't try a restart.

<edit>

I had a look at the Intel site.
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentium4/sb/CS-001485-prd483.htm

It recommends updating the BIOS. Do you think this is all that might be wrong? My chip is a P4 3.2 northwood, it's not that new.

I have an Abit IC7-Max3. I was told to get the 1.5 version of the bios but what version of the Flash tool version should I use?
http://www.abit-usa.com/downloads/utility/
Does the flashmenu work with a bootable floopy? It looks like a windows app to me.

Ciaran500

It sound like the bios has reset everything to default and is using the wrong settings for the CPU. Just boot up, go into bios and set your cpu speeds.


47C is fine temp for a cpu. But I have no idea why its shutting down. Did you use the rubber washers between the case and the motherboard.

Ciaran500

Flash menu is a windows app, but you can get a bootable version for flashing from floppy. I can't remember what its called, its been a long time since I flashed from floppy.

jester77

I used the brass studs that came with it. I don't have much in the case at the moment. 1 sata hd, 1 dvd and x800 pro card.

I'll try updating the BIOS first and see what happens.
Abit have a tool called awdflash but there are 2 versions, not sure which to use. The descriptions are confusing.
- AWDFLASH v8.24F is for ABIT KV7, KD7A, VI7, IS-50, VA-10, VA-11, IS-10 and IS-12 only.
- For other ABIT motherboards launched before July 2003, use AWDFLASH v8.23K to update BIOS

How do I find out when the IC7-Max3 was launched?

Ciaran500

IC7-MAX3 BIOS 16 - Added AWDFLASH v8.32 support for the "ALT+F2" hot key function.


I think it works like this. Start computer, press Alt+F2 just on the bios screen (you should see a promt for it at the bottom). THen put in your floppy and follow on screen instruction.s

jester77

Thanks, will do that this evening. Didn't think it was that easy