Athlon 64 4000+ mobile on MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R

[Peregrine]

I know it's an older board, but I would really appreciate your help on this.

Board: MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R

BIOS downloads

I wanted to use this CPU with it:
AMN4000BKX5BU (AMD Athlon 64 Mobile 4000+)

Summary:
After a lot of research and tests (all details can be followed HERE) I know that this CPU works well with BIOS version 2.1 or 7.1, but only with 1 stick of 1GB RAM. With more than 1 stick, the system doesn't POST or it freezes on NVRam Check. Ideally, it would be best to modify the latest BIOS 7.1.
Would you be able to help me with this?

Also (I may be pushing my lock) if it's not much more work, is it possible to either enable the PowerNow function for this board, or make the existing Cool'n'Quiet compatible with this CPU?
I know the difference between the 2 technologies are that with the Cool'n'Quiet the default speed is at full multiplier, and if the system doesn't need resources, it then makes the multiplier smaller. And with PowerNow, it's in reverse. The system limits the multiplier by default, and only raises it when it needs it. As it is now, the CPU is working at full multiplier, no matter what. It would be nice to take advantage of one of these technologies, but it's not as crucial as making it work with more than 1GB of RAM.
Thank you in advance!

[TheWiz]

As for Cool n Quiet in the BIOS, that's a no go. As far as why the CPU doesn't post, my only guess is a lack of Microcodes. the only thing we can try at this point in the game is adding the latest microcodes to see if that reoslves the issues. The last microcode was from 2004, can you give a timeline for the release of this CPU? Also, Im basing this on v. 710

[Peregrine]

As for Cool n Quiet in the BIOS, that's a no go. As far as why the CPU doesn't post, my only guess is a lack of Microcodes. the only thing we can try at this point in the game is adding the latest microcodes to see if that reoslves the issues. The last microcode was from 2004, can you give a timeline for the release of this CPU? Also, Im basing this on v. 710

Thank you for the speedy response. As I said, the CnQ is not that important. The microcode is the most important thing. I made some research prior to finding this great place and I gathered some tools for modifying BIOS, but I still don't understand much about it. I noticed that the latest microcode (CPU patch) added in BIOS 7.1 was from 02/25/2004, but I'm not sure where to begin on finding the correct later microcode or how to correctly add it in.
I would very much appreciate your help and your expertise on adding it in. According to the below sources, this CPU AMN4000BKX5BU was released in August 16, 2005

Wikipedia - List of AMD Athlon CPUs
CPU World - CPU Specs

Thank you !

[TheWiz]

Oh joy! It probably means its ot posting correctly because of the microcode. Sos our first bios test will be to update that microcode table and see wheere we get along.

TheWiz

[Peregrine]

Thank you!

[TheWiz]

Well, here it is. FLASH AT OWN RISK

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1525839/Bios/A6702VMS.ROM

TheWiz

[Peregrine]

Well, here it is. FLASH AT OWN RISK

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1525839/Bios/A6702VMS.ROM

TheWiz

Thank you!!! I'll try it tonight and will let you know how it went.
I see you added a lot more patches from 2006 - 2008. Those old ones from 2004 that you removed are I guess part of one of the new ones, right?
Would having too many newer patches create some problems with older CPUs? As an example of what I'm asking, I noticed that with BIOS 7.1 the compatibility with my older Athlon 64 3000+ from 2003 was diminished in certain ways, although it worked perfectly with earlier BIOS versions.

[TheWiz]

Well, microcode is for the most part a build on top of them, so you sldnt have issues there. Normally never patches address some issues, but really they are only for proccessor detection, the actual performance and operation of the CPU is located in the ACPITBL and GV3 AGESA

[Peregrine]

Thanks.
So I tested it, and this version is a no-go. I cleared CMOS several times, and there's absolutely no difference in this version functionality from the original 7.1. It still works perfectly fine with 1 stick of RAM, but as soon as you add another stick of RAM, it doesn't POST. I don't know if there's some limitation on DIMM slot use with this CPU, or if it just doesn't recognize 2048MB of memory...
Initially, I thought it was a bad memory controller, since these CPUs have those inside, but it's a second CPU with identical issue, and all these CPUs were tested by the seller, so it can't be a problem with the CPU. Something in the BIOS still doesn't allow this CPU to correctly handle given RAM.

I'm not familiar at all with ACPITBL and GV3 AGESA, but do you think modifying those would relate to this memory controlling issue?

[1234s282]

Strange about the memory issue because according to http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.a...o-FIS2R%29 you can have upt o a gig per slot!