K7 Thunder

[grubber]

@dieu

Why do you call the original bios crap? I'm running on it nice and stable vs your numerous attempts to run two different boards with the other bios variants. Not trying to •••• with you, just trying to understand your statement. I understand it has fewer options than your average dell toaster bios, but other than that...

G

[dieu]

@"grubber"

The original BIOS is crap because theres problems between the USB and PS2 ports (conflict). If the original BIOS is so stable, why would Tyan release three others within the first week of the launch? As a matter of fact, prior to upgrading to the latest BIOS, I've received repeated numerous keyboard erros while rebooting. With the latest BIOS, none of these errors are present. We have no idea what your configuration is, therefore nice and stable means nothing.

Originally posted by grubber
@dieu

Why do you call the original bios crap? I'm running on it nice and stable vs your numerous attempts to run two different boards with the other bios variants. Not trying to •••• with you, just trying to understand your statement. I understand it has fewer options than your average dell toaster bios, but other than that...

G

[grubber]

Obviously touched a raw nerve. Posted my setup earlier in the thread and have no ps2/usb conflict to worry about. Not questioning your opinion, but as I said, trying to understand it, gathering info on whether I ought to flash to a later version. Other than an error message about the floppy 'type' which I could care less about, things are fine and I'll let let sleeping dogs lie. If this was a workstation instead of a db/OLAP server, the problems might be more apparent.

[Beeker35]

I also had many problems with errors using the shipping Bios on the K7, I upgraded to the 2.06 Revision and it cleared them all up. I have built 2 Tyan Thunder K7 systems without many problems at all. The only problems that I have encountered is the incompatibilities with some SCSI RAID cards. I have used a Adaptec 2100S & Adaptec 3200S with Success. I was not able to use the Mylex AcceleRAID 352 at all, I was able to use the ATTO UL3D but I had to build the Array in another system and move it into the Tyan board to install Win2K Server on, after that it worked perfectly. I did have 1 Tyan K7 board die on me, it worked for a short time, then completely lost video-both onboard and using a video card, I could get no video what so ever, I RMA'd that board, the replacement works fine. I also had a NMB 460watt Power supply blow up on me, I turned the system on and the power supply 'POPPED' and quit working, luckily it didn't damage the board or the CPU's. I am very surprised that Tyan didn't test more SCSI RAID controllers with this new board, seeing as that it is designed for a Server or high-end workstation which will most likely use a RAID sub-system. I thing that we will be waiting a long time for ATTO to correct this problem, if they ever do, hopefully a new Bios Revision from Tyan will correct this problem in the future.
--For anyone using a ATTO UL3D SCSI RAID card-- Has anyone been able to create a array with the UL3D installed in the Tyan K7? What type of problems have you run into? I have not been able to load the Configuration Utility (Ctrl-Z) at start-up-Error-No setup utilities found. Please update flash contents. I tried to update the flash Rom with the utility floppy and it could not detect the Rom chip. If anyone has gotten any further then this, please post your results. Other than this, I am very happy with the stability and performance with this board.

[Ryan]

Dieu -

This happened initially on my system as well. However, upon booting up with the ATI video, and installing newer Detonator drivers, all worked well.

Originally posted by dieu
The saga continues. Well, I've returned the first defective K7 Thunder, now I'm on my second. I finally got it to boot without all the beeps and errors. Now, it wont recognize my Prophet III; whereas, the first defective board did. If I disable via jumper, the on-baord ATI video, the system boots up to a black screen. If I unjumper the ATI video, it still boots up to a black screen. If I remove the Prophet III, the system boots up normally. This has become a game of roll the dice and see what board your get. I guess I'm ahead of the game now the my system boots up. This is becoming comical...

la Cage aux folles

[dieu]

Grubber:

Lets nip this in the bud right now. If your having success with the K7, then share your information with the rest of us inexperienced types. I created this thread to address some of the problems that many of the current K7 Thunder users are having. Apparently, your system is running normally and that is excellent. It seems as though many of the problems are with the SCSI controller and other storage devices. Because you made a rather obtuse comment about your system running smoothly, and failed to mention how or what your system configuration was, served no purpose.

Originally posted by grubber
Obviously touched a raw nerve. Posted my setup earlier in the thread and have no ps2/usb conflict to worry about. Not questioning your opinion, but as I said, trying to understand it, gathering info on whether I ought to flash to a later version. Other than an error message about the floppy 'type' which I could care less about, things are fine and I'll let let sleeping dogs lie. If this was a workstation instead of a db/OLAP server, the problems might be more apparent.

[dieu]

Hey buddy:

Yes, you can configure a stripe group between the UL3D and K7 Thunder. What you will have to do is completely disable the on-board SCSI within its BIOS. Press (CTRL+A), during bootup and disable ALL the settings within the BIOS; shut down the system. When you turn on the system, you will be able to (CTRL+Z), enter the UL3D BIOS and configure the stripe group. When your done, reverse the changes you made. I did this and it works. The bottom line is that the UL3D is not compatible with the Adaptec controller. There are specific reasons why, but I'm not going to get into it. I have an updated BIOS for the UL3D that you will be able to download it on Monday. The challange with this is that at any time, your system WILL crash.

Originally posted by Beeker35
I also had many problems with errors using the shipping Bios on the K7, I upgraded to the 2.06 Revision and it cleared them all up. I have built 2 Tyan Thunder K7 systems without many problems at all. The only problems that I have encountered is the incompatibilities with some SCSI RAID cards. I have used a Adaptec 2100S & Adaptec 3200S with Success. I was not able to use the Mylex AcceleRAID 352 at all, I was able to use the ATTO UL3D but I had to build the Array in another system and move it into the Tyan board to install Win2K Server on, after that it worked perfectly. I did have 1 Tyan K7 board die on me, it worked for a short time, then completely lost video-both onboard and using a video card, I could get no video what so ever, I RMA'd that board, the replacement works fine. I also had a NMB 460watt Power supply blow up on me, I turned the system on and the power supply 'POPPED' and quit working, luckily it didn't damage the board or the CPU's. I am very surprised that Tyan didn't test more SCSI RAID controllers with this new board, seeing as that it is designed for a Server or high-end workstation which will most likely use a RAID sub-system. I thing that we will be waiting a long time for ATTO to correct this problem, if they ever do, hopefully a new Bios Revision from Tyan will correct this problem in the future.
--For anyone using a ATTO UL3D SCSI RAID card-- Has anyone been able to create a array with the UL3D installed in the Tyan K7? What type of problems have you run into? I have not been able to load the Configuration Utility (Ctrl-Z) at start-up-Error-No setup utilities found. Please update flash contents. I tried to update the flash Rom with the utility floppy and it could not detect the Rom chip. If anyone has gotten any further then this, please post your results. Other than this, I am very happy with the stability and performance with this board.

[dieu]

Brother:

Are you saying that I should boot up with the ATI video card enabled and then install the Detonator drivers and all will function properly? Why would I install an nVidia driver while running an ATI video card? Again, with the Prophet III installed, the system during bootup has NO display, blacked out baby! I'm runnig some stuff from Ultra-X and there seems to be an IRQ conflict that I'm trying to change. It should work out.

Originally posted by Ryan
Dieu -

This happened initially on my system as well. However, upon booting up with the ATI video, and installing newer Detonator drivers, all worked well.

[Beeker35]

Dieu,
Thanks for the info on the ATTO UL3D, can you email me the new Bios? I would greatly appreciate it, my email address is:
Email If you have a chance, I would like to know more about the incompatibilities of the Adaptec Bios and the ATTO Bios. I have had Adaptec 29160, Adaptec 2100S, and Adaptec 3200S SCSI cards working in the same system as the ATTO UL3D without any problems.
I just tried to disable all of the Adaptec Bios on the K7, I even disabled the onboard Adaptec SCSI (JP80) and I still CANNOT get into the ATTO UL3D Configuration utility. Is the new ATTO bios needed? If so, PLEASE email it to me.
These are the steps I took to disable the onboard Adaptec Bios:
Ctrl-A, Disabled ALL options on both channels, rebooted. Tried to Ctrl-Z to get into the ULD Config Utility, still recieve the same error: No setup utilities found. Please update flash Rom.
Enable Booting from ATTO Express PCI? Y/N?
Is there anything that I am missing? I would really like to be able to configure this Array on the tyan K7 ionstead of having to move it to another systam and then back again.

[grubber]

As posted the other day "Nothing disbled on the board and the only add-ons are the floppy and 6 ide drives on a 3ware 7800" and I'm running mandrake 8. No need to make sarcastic remarks about experience. This is the first server and first dual board I've ever dealt with and I guess I got lucky. Obviously you have a ton more experience in these things. Whatever Tyan tech told you your problems were user error or inexperience has his head up his ass. I specifically wanted to know your reasoning because I respect your knowledge and experience and wanted to pick your brain before making a decision as to whether I should flash the bios. I don't post much, but I've been reading these forums pretty much daily for several months, and you have generally had very good insight into these things. Peace my friend and may the tyan gods smile upon you the next time you boot up...

[kolya]

hehehe : )

Alrighty, I've been cleaning my room and after a break from messin with my mobo, I'm about to start up again. Actually, the RAMTEK SCSI adaptor that I was using before, I hadn't even had that installed when I was having the win2k Stalling problems. But, I think it's a good idea and I'll give it a try. (thanx for the tip, Dieu)

As for my temperatures regarding my CPU's, they are run without the case side at about a 54c. They are pretty constant with that temperature. I don't know if that is good or not, to tell the truth, this is not my first computer (as I've had a Packard Bell (shudder) and about 2 dells after that) but this IS the first computer I have built from scratch (I'm building it for College!)

As for booting from the CD Rom first, oh yes, I've used the +/- keys to move it up the line, but doing that never seems to work. Hmm.. hehe
Thanks for the help

[dieu]

Well said grubber. I do appreciate your involvement with this issue and look forward to your input.

Take care

Originally posted by grubber
As posted the other day "Nothing disbled on the board and the only add-ons are the floppy and 6 ide drives on a 3ware 7800" and I'm running mandrake 8. No need to make sarcastic remarks about experience. This is the first server and first dual board I've ever dealt with and I guess I got lucky. Obviously you have a ton more experience in these things. Whatever Tyan tech told you your problems were user error or inexperience has his head up his ass. I specifically wanted to know your reasoning because I respect your knowledge and experience and wanted to pick your brain before making a decision as to whether I should flash the bios. I don't post much, but I've been reading these forums pretty much daily for several months, and you have generally had very good insight into these things. Peace my friend and may the tyan gods smile upon you the next time you boot up...

[dieu]

It does work. Tyan likes to recommend the clear CMOS method for everything. Try it again and shut down the system and clear the CMOS. Then boot up the system and try CTRL+Z. Again, I know it will work because I did it. Did you change all the enabled features within the Adaptec BIOS to disabled?

Also, the video card problems I was experiencing earlier were from a dead Prophet III. So, today I purchased another Prophet III ($425.00). Strangely, the first Prophet III was new and worked just a few days ago. I'm starting to think that there is someting going on with the NMB power supply. Maybe its spiking and causing problems for the motherboard, and other components.

Also, ATTOTech states that the new BIOS upgrade will most likely address the problems that you and I are having. I'll post more information on this shortly.

Originally posted by Beeker35
Dieu,
Thanks for the info on the ATTO UL3D, can you email me the new Bios? I would greatly appreciate it, my email address is:
Email If you have a chance, I would like to know more about the incompatibilities of the Adaptec Bios and the ATTO Bios. I have had Adaptec 29160, Adaptec 2100S, and Adaptec 3200S SCSI cards working in the same system as the ATTO UL3D without any problems.
I just tried to disable all of the Adaptec Bios on the K7, I even disabled the onboard Adaptec SCSI (JP80) and I still CANNOT get into the ATTO UL3D Configuration utility. Is the new ATTO bios needed? If so, PLEASE email it to me.
These are the steps I took to disable the onboard Adaptec Bios:
Ctrl-A, Disabled ALL options on both channels, rebooted. Tried to Ctrl-Z to get into the ULD Config Utility, still recieve the same error: No setup utilities found. Please update flash Rom.
Enable Booting from ATTO Express PCI? Y/N?
Is there anything that I am missing? I would really like to be able to configure this Array on the tyan K7 ionstead of having to move it to another systam and then back again.

[dieu]

Kolya:

I want you to run a couple of benchmarks to get an idea of the performance of your 1.4GHz processors. I want to see what the Delta is between an *official* MP and your two 1.4's. For starters, try running the Sandra processor benchmark and then post your results. Please contact Oreo. He has a specific SETI benchmark that will give us a good idea where your rig stands compared to the mp systems.

Originally posted by kolya
hehehe : )

Alrighty, I've been cleaning my room and after a break from messin with my mobo, I'm about to start up again. Actually, the RAMTEK SCSI adaptor that I was using before, I hadn't even had that installed when I was having the win2k Stalling problems. But, I think it's a good idea and I'll give it a try. (thanx for the tip, Dieu)

As for my temperatures regarding my CPU's, they are run without the case side at about a 54c. They are pretty constant with that temperature. I don't know if that is good or not, to tell the truth, this is not my first computer (as I've had a Packard Bell (shudder) and about 2 dells after that) but this IS the first computer I have built from scratch (I'm building it for College!)

As for booting from the CD Rom first, oh yes, I've used the +/- keys to move it up the line, but doing that never seems to work. Hmm.. hehe
Thanks for the help

[dieu]

If you can, try running a striped (RAID 0), group with 32KB block size on an NTFS partition with your three X15's using the 3200S. Try WB99, Iometer, and AttoMark.

Originally posted by Beeker35
I also had many problems with errors using the shipping Bios on the K7, I upgraded to the 2.06 Revision and it cleared them all up. I have built 2 Tyan Thunder K7 systems without many problems at all. The only problems that I have encountered is the incompatibilities with some SCSI RAID cards. I have used a Adaptec 2100S & Adaptec 3200S with Success. I was not able to use the Mylex AcceleRAID 352 at all, I was able to use the ATTO UL3D but I had to build the Array in another system and move it into the Tyan board to install Win2K Server on, after that it worked perfectly. I did have 1 Tyan K7 board die on me, it worked for a short time, then completely lost video-both onboard and using a video card, I could get no video what so ever, I RMA'd that board, the replacement works fine. I also had a NMB 460watt Power supply blow up on me, I turned the system on and the power supply 'POPPED' and quit working, luckily it didn't damage the board or the CPU's. I am very surprised that Tyan didn't test more SCSI RAID controllers with this new board, seeing as that it is designed for a Server or high-end workstation which will most likely use a RAID sub-system. I thing that we will be waiting a long time for ATTO to correct this problem, if they ever do, hopefully a new Bios Revision from Tyan will correct this problem in the future.
--For anyone using a ATTO UL3D SCSI RAID card-- Has anyone been able to create a array with the UL3D installed in the Tyan K7? What type of problems have you run into? I have not been able to load the Configuration Utility (Ctrl-Z) at start-up-Error-No setup utilities found. Please update flash contents. I tried to update the flash Rom with the utility floppy and it could not detect the Rom chip. If anyone has gotten any further then this, please post your results. Other than this, I am very happy with the stability and performance with this board.