[SOLVED] Dell R810 & R910 with ES CPU's

[MOSIE]

Hi there.

I appeal to you 'cause i'm so desperate.

it's been had to me to come up with all components i needed and i get a stupid compatibility issue.


Hardware Stuff:

dell r810
4 xeon 8870 ES
32x 8GB ...



1 checking ram ...


2 post screen: CPU's initialization ( CPu seems to be well detected and managed)



3 PXE boot



4 Stepping ID identification (A1 instead of A2 for official ones) unregistered 'cause US cpu's




freeze just before BIOS access or boot , not able to go beyond.

Both CPU's steppings: http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Xeon/Intel...-8870.html

My CPU's:
[img] http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Intel-Xeon-E7-887...wWDY2Mg==/$%28KGrHqZHJEEE94gg%29r+EBPmhcVJL%29g~~60_12.JPG[/img]


Used Bios : 2.7.4
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/e...erId=1WR4T&fileId=2887740535

CPU's are well managed and functionnal with this motherboards.
Only CPU's stepping check and halted bios forbid to go beyond.
One soluttion would be to simply, if possible, to add CPU's stepping or disable stepping check funtion.


given the need to get a specific bios editor, i don't know is sombody is a able to handle it.
If can help: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads...tware-Here

If help:

Any help would be wellcome.

[ericsgagnon]

Hi All,

I am putting together an old dell R810 and have 4 E7-8870 ES cpu's, which are not supported by the bios. I'm looking to put the bios on a bootable usb and flash it by booting that way. But I am not a sysadmin and maybe there's an easier way I'm unfamilar with. Does anyone have a working bios for this configuration or can point me in the right direction? 

Server: Dell R810
CPU: (4) Intel E7-8870 ES
Error: Unsupported CPU Stepping Detected: Stepping 6F1
BIOS Version: 2.9.0 - link
printed on cpu:
  Q4ZK ES COSTA RICA
  AT80615005757AB
  3030A608

   

I saw a similar post from four years ago but no resolution:
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-D...P-bios-Mod

Thank you for any help you can offer!
Eric

[DeathBringer]

Can you downgrade BIOS version to 2.4.4 - http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/0...erId=K8WJ9 ?

[ericsgagnon]

@DeathBringer ,
I will try tomorrow - I'm in 2.9.0 and release notes for ~2.7 said you can't downgrade below it once upgraded, but it looks like the bios you reference is an oem, so maybe?

Do you think that will fix the issue? If so, would it be because it has additional steppings or because it disables the requirement?

Thank you,
Eric

[DeathBringer]

All version of BIOS has microcode for this CPU's stepping, but it's blocked by BIOS code.
I can fix it but in only 2.4.4 version.

[Tricep]

All version of BIOS has microcode for this CPU's stepping, but it's blocked by BIOS code.
I can fix it but in only 2.4.4 version.

I would also like to run E7-8870 CPU Q4ZK stepping 6f1 on a Dell r810.  What is involved in doing this, is there a bios editor available, do you modify the bios before flashing it to the server, is it something I could do?  Why only 2.4.4 version can be edited, is that the version that had support for this CPU and then it was taken out?  Thanks.

[DeathBringer]

Why only 2.4.4 version can be edited.

The tool (that I have) can edit only this version.

is that the version that had support for this CPU ...?

This version has the block too, but it can be removed.
Update:
I can edit 2.7.0 version. Can you downgrade BIOS version to 2.7.0 - http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/0...erId=H9K1G ?

[DeathBringer]

Can you flash BIOS with HDR-file?

[ericsgagnon]

Can you flash BIOS with HDR-file?

Deathbringer,

Sorry for disappearing there. I had to abandon trying to use it on the R810 - I was never able to flash anything on the machine. I got it working by getting non-ES cpu's. However, I now have an R910 as well that I can flash.  I'd like to use these chips in the R910. Can you help with unblocking the stepping for the R910 bios? 

Thank you,
Eric

[DeathBringer]

However, I now have an R910 as well that I can flash.  I'd like to use these chips in the R910. Can you help with unblocking the stepping for the R910 bios? 

The last version of BIOS for PowerEdge R910 (that I can edit) is 2.7.7 - https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/...erId=NTW3R
Update: By truncating 256 bytes I can edit any versions, but I'm not sure is it correct.