Found a bug in the g30 bios! =o(

[NCspecV81]

Hey guys!

I don't know if you tested this configuration or not when you done the g30 bios, but with a 4870x2 in the top slot and the remaining 2 slots being filled by 4870's there's no boot. I get a continuous slow beep that is slightly longer than the post beep.

Can anyone else test this configuration for me? I can't get it to post in that orientation. I have to put the x2 in the bottom slot and the 4870's in the top slot. =o(

[saaya]

Hey guys!

I don't know if you tested this configuration or not when you done the g30 bios, but with a 4870x2 in the top slot and the remaining 2 slots being filled by 4870's there's no boot. I get a continuous slow beep that is slightly longer than the post beep.

Can anyone else test this configuration for me? I can't get it to post in that orientation. I have to put the x2 in the bottom slot and the 4870's in the top slot. =o(

Yeah thats a known bug with 4870 and 4870x2 cards, its a compatibility issue between the vga bios and the mainboard bios.
Have you tried the latest beta BIOS?

EDIT: oh i see you are using G30 already?
hmmm weird...
Does it work fine with 4870x2 and a single 4870?
What postcode/Debug code are you seeing?

[Broken]

Since we are on the subject of three cards in Crossfire, does it really help having a third card in the last slot since it runs at PCIE 2.0 X4? I would think this would bottleneck a card pretty seriously. I wish someone would have used a chip to let it run X16. That is the only drawback to this board. It would murder if it had 3 PCIE 2.0 X16 slots.
:)

[NCspecV81]

Yeah thats a known bug with 4870 and 4870x2 cards, its a compatibility issue between the vga bios and the mainboard bios.
Have you tried the latest beta BIOS?

EDIT: oh i see you are using G30 already?
hmmm weird...
Does it work fine with 4870x2 and a single 4870?
What postcode/Debug code are you seeing?


Let me try this! I will be back in a jiff!

However, with the 2 4870's in the first 2 slots and the 4870x2 in the bottom slot it works fine. Going to test the 4870x2 and 4870 in the second slot now!


I'm seeing C1 if my eyes aren't playing tricks on me. Between 5 sata cables and 3 gpu's its a tough call. Looks to be C1 though.

[NCspecV81]

Okay I found the issue. The bios does work with 2 4870's in the bottom 2 slots and the 4870x2 in the top slot. However, it will not work with 2 6pins in the 4870x2 regardless of the configuration if the 4870x2 is in the first pcie slot. It'll work as long as the first card is not it, therefor works when in the bottom pcie slot. I'm guessing something in the bios changes slightly when 2 6pins are used instead of the single 8pin. I now have the 4870x2 in the top slot, but I have an 8pin plugged in. Problem solved.

[saaya]

Since we are on the subject of three cards in Crossfire, does it really help having a third card in the last slot since it runs at PCIE 2.0 X4? I would think this would bottleneck a card pretty seriously. I wish someone would have used a chip to let it run X16. That is the only drawback to this board. It would murder if it had 3 PCIE 2.0 X16 slots.
:)

to make it short:
that would be possible, but youd need a lot of pcb space, the price of the board would be 100$ higher, there would have been some issues for sure that would cause the board to be delayed maybe 2 months, and all this to have a third card run faster when you can run tripple and quad crossfire using only 2 pciE 16x slots using a dualcard didnt really make sense...


Let me try this! I will be back in a jiff!
However, with the 2 4870's in the first 2 slots and the 4870x2 in the bottom slot it works fine. Going to test the 4870x2 and 4870 in the second slot now!
I'm seeing C1 if my eyes aren't playing tricks on me. Between 5 sata cables and 3 gpu's its a tough call. Looks to be C1 though.c1 means early chipset initialization, but the cause making it hang there can be pretty much anything... :/


Okay I found the issue. The bios does work with 2 4870's in the bottom 2 slots and the 4870x2 in the top slot. However, it will not work with 2 6pins in the 4870x2 regardless of the configuration if the 4870x2 is in the first pcie slot. It'll work as long as the first card is not it, therefor works when in the bottom pcie slot. I'm guessing something in the bios changes slightly when 2 6pins are used instead of the single 8pin. I now have the 4870x2 in the top slot, but I have an 8pin plugged in. Problem solved.

mhhhhh sooooo
4870x2 with 2 6pin power plugs works in slot1,2 and 3?
4870x2 with 2 6pin power plugs PLUS one or 2 more videocards works in slot 2 and 3 but NOT in slot1?
4870x2 with 8 pin power plug works in any combination alone or with other cards?

good to hear you figured it out :)
and yes, the vga bios detects what plugs you use on the card, and it affects overclocking even if the card is getting enough power... thats why some people short all the ground pins on the card to make the vga bios stop worrying about what connectors are plugged in iirc :D

[NCspecV81]

to make it short:
that would be possible, but youd need a lot of pcb space, the price of the board would be 100$ higher, there would have been some issues for sure that would cause the board to be delayed maybe 2 months, and all this to have a third card run faster when you can run tripple and quad crossfire using only 2 pciE 16x slots using a dualcard didnt really make sense...

c1 means early chipset initialization, but the cause making it hang there can be pretty much anything... :/



mhhhhh sooooo
4870x2 with 2 6pin power plugs works in slot1,2 and 3?
4870x2 with 2 6pin power plugs PLUS one or 2 more videocards works in slot 2 and 3 but NOT in slot1?
4870x2 with 8 pin power plug works in any combination alone or with other cards?

good to hear you figured it out :)
and yes, the vga bios detects what plugs you use on the card, and it affects overclocking even if the card is getting enough power... thats why some people short all the ground pins on the card to make the vga bios stop worrying about what connectors are plugged in iirc :D


4870x2 with 2 6pins plugged in and being orientated in the first pcie16 slot will cause the no boot. Regardless of what's in the 2nd or 3rd slot. You have to move the 4870x2 out of the first pcie16 slot if you plan to use 2 6pins.

[tripgood]

You will find that none of the ATI dual gpu cards will work properly without the 8 pin and 6 pin power connections. I have a 4870x2 and a 4870 1gb card on Bops and it works great with g30 bios as well as 2x 4870x2.

[NCspecV81]

You will find that none of the ATI dual gpu cards will work properly without the 8 pin and 6 pin power connections. I have a 4870x2 and a 4870 1gb card on Bops and it works great with g30 bios as well as 2x 4870x2.


regardless of how well it works, it still should work. =o)

[NCspecV81]

Found another issue. Apparently with the X2 flashed to an ASUS Top Bios I can't make it into the DMI verifier after the initial post screen. I just sit there for an infinite amount of time. BLAH! =o( WTH! I had to remove the card so I could make it past the raid setup screen...I can't even ctrl-i into the setup with the x2 in the slots.

[NCspecV81]

*update* apparently it doesn't like the raid setup. I was able to switch cards and disable raid. I then switched the x2 back into the original 1st pcie16 slot and proceeded to install windows on a single drive. Oh well, raid 0 is more than likely to fail anyways losing my ever so important por...err data!

[NCspecV81]

The addition of the x2 has made my system run like utter poo. So disappointed right now.

[Catz]

regardless of how well it works, it still should work. =o)


Found another issue. Apparently with the X2 flashed to an ASUS Top Bios I can't make it into the DMI verifier after the initial post screen. I just sit there for an infinite amount of time. BLAH! =o( WTH! I had to remove the card so I could make it past the raid setup screen...I can't even ctrl-i into the setup with the x2 in the slots.


*update* apparently it doesn't like the raid setup. I was able to switch cards and disable raid. I then switched the x2 back into the original 1st pcie16 slot and proceeded to install windows on a single drive. Oh well, raid 0 is more than likely to fail anyways losing my ever so important por...err data!


The addition of the x2 has made my system run like utter poo. So disappointed right now.

Ok that's enough spam for 1 day ;)

Just be patient, there will be a new bios just like all the other times. :up:

[saaya]

4870x2 with 2 6pins plugged in and being orientated in the first pcie16 slot will cause the no boot. Regardless of what's in the 2nd or 3rd slot. You have to move the 4870x2 out of the first pcie16 slot if you plan to use 2 6pins.
hmmm weird... thanks for the headsup! :toast:


You will find that none of the ATI dual gpu cards will work properly without the 8 pin and 6 pin power connections. I have a 4870x2 and a 4870 1gb card on Bops and it works great with g30 bios as well as 2x 4870x2.
hmmm thanks! i thought they just dont oc that well without the 8 pin plug...


Found another issue. Apparently with the X2 flashed to an ASUS Top Bios I can't make it into the DMI verifier after the initial post screen. I just sit there for an infinite amount of time. BLAH! =o( WTH! I had to remove the card so I could make it past the raid setup screen...I can't even ctrl-i into the setup with the x2 in the slots.


*update* apparently it doesn't like the raid setup. I was able to switch cards and disable raid. I then switched the x2 back into the original 1st pcie16 slot and proceeded to install windows on a single drive. Oh well, raid 0 is more than likely to fail anyways losing my ever so important por...err data!mhhh are you running raid?
im a bit confused what exactly is going on there...
could you explain in detail what configuration your using and what the problem is?


The addition of the x2 has made my system run like utter poo. So disappointed right now.
sorry to hear that... what was your goal?
quad crossfire using your existing 2 4870s with a 4870x2?
id recommend you to get rid of at least one of the 4870s, theres barely any scaling above 3 gpus.

are you running vista 32 or 64 btw?

[NCspecV81]

hmmm weird... thanks for the headsup! :toast:


hmmm thanks! i thought they just dont oc that well without the 8 pin plug...



mhhh are you running raid?
im a bit confused what exactly is going on there...
could you explain in detail what configuration your using and what the problem is?


sorry to hear that... what was your goal?
quad crossfire using your existing 2 4870s with a 4870x2?
id recommend you to get rid of at least one of the 4870s, theres barely any scaling above 3 gpus.

are you running vista 32 or 64 btw?


I may rid myself of both 4870's and go for 2 4870x2's. Yes I was running raid, but with the x2 in pcie16 slot 1 I am unable to boot with raid enabled with the other 2 4870's in slot 2 and 3. When I say I'm unable to boot, I can't make it into the bios or past the raid detection.

I'm using 32bit.

[saaya]

I may rid myself of both 4870's and go for 2 4870x2's. Yes I was running raid, but with the x2 in pcie16 slot 1 I am unable to boot with raid enabled with the other 2 4870's in slot 2 and 3. When I say I'm unable to boot, I can't make it into the bios or past the raid detection.

I'm using 32bit.

so it hangs with the "hit control+s" thing?

i havent tried it myself, but i heard 4870x2 plus 4870 is the best price/perf solution for a crossfire setup.
2 4870x2 cards will barely get you any benefit over 4870x2 plus a 4870 :)

[saaya]

i checked with the bios engineers...
its the same problem as with the 4870x2 crossfire not working... its a vga bios rom issue...
when they patched the issue the last time they only tested dual 4870x2 and 4870x2 plus 4870 and fixed those problems by working around/patching the vga bios through the mainboad bios :D

if you really want i can ask them to fix the 4870x2 plus 4870 plus 4870 bug, but... like i said, first of all its not really our issue but ati, and they should get it fixed with an updated vga bios, second of all, our guys are busy with x48/p45 and x58, and i really think running a third card in the last pciE slot which only runs pciE 1.1 4x doesnt make sense and wont really improve performance.

[NCspecV81]

so it hangs with the "hit control+s" thing?

i havent tried it myself, but i heard 4870x2 plus 4870 is the best price/perf solution for a crossfire setup.
2 4870x2 cards will barely get you any benefit over 4870x2 plus a 4870 :)

Yep, hangs right there! =o)

and yes I know running the last card is very disadvantageous versus the cost, but it's there. I just wanted to try it out, but if you guys can patch this it would be awesome! Thanks!

[saaya]

hmmm we cant do it right now, but ill add it to the list, ok?
should take a week, maybe two, is that ok? :D

[NCspecV81]

hmmm we cant do it right now, but ill add it to the list, ok?
should take a week, maybe two, is that ok? :D

Thats cool! Thanks for the effort! how does one disable an xmp profile though? I have some really good super talent sticks but they are xmp enabled @ 2.0ghz. Does it require a flash? Right now I'm using some cheap wintec 1333's that overclock to nearly 2.1ghz (2082), but I would like to test these out!