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61
General discussion / Re: I think I bricked my HP Z8...
Last post by nitto999 - September 24, 2018, 03:01:13 pm
I figured as much. So I ended up purchasing a working HP Z800 Dual x5675 model off of eBay US for $325. This way I know it has the proper motherboard rev for the dual x56XX Xeons. I had no luck finding the right motherboard on eBay. This "new" Z800 is a little beat up externally, but pristine on the inside. I'm going to use it as a motherboard donor and at the very least I'll have some spare parts laying around in case of emergency. Thanks again for your support.
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General discussion / Re: I think I bricked my HP Z8...
Last post by Andy Brown - September 24, 2018, 02:35:34 pm
I can't find anything wrong with what you've done so far. You've done exactly what I would have done in your situation. Based on HP's own documentation 8 beeps means:

Quote
The Diagnostic LED blinks red 8 times and the system beeps 8 times (once per second), then a 2-second pause follows:
This indicates an invalid system ROM based on bad checksum and entering Failsafe (Boot Block) recovery mode.


It does sound like the BIOS chip was damaged or the bootblock, the part you can't flash, was corrupted and therefore not restored when you did each of your flash attempts.
63
General discussion / Re: I think I bricked my HP Z8...
Last post by nitto999 - September 20, 2018, 04:46:12 pm
Hi Andy, thanks for your reply. Here's some more info: I rescued the workstation from the E recycling pile at my place of work. It had been pulled off of the server rack alongside of 9 other Z800 machines as it was no longer being used. The workstation I selected was configured with 1 x5675 and 3 2GB DDR3 sticks. I took another x5675 and cleaned out a total of 9 additionals sticks of RAM to fully populate the board. I cleaned thick dust out of it with careful application WD40 Specialty Electrical Contact Cleaner and isopropyl wipes. The IT department had removed the GPU and any HDDs from the machine before sending it out for recycling so I was unable to test the machine. I did test the PSU which was fine. When I got a GPU and was able to power up the machine, I was met with 8 beeps and a red flashing LED on the front panel of the workstation. The display would then power on to reveal a blue screen which basically stated that the System bios was corrupted and I would have to flash a working BIOS from a USB port or the optical drive. I followed the instructions and "successfully" flashed 3 different bios for the Z800 workstation (I have the 003 rev motherboard) but I was always looped back to the "SYSTEM BIOS IS CORRUPT" no matter which BIOS I tried; even after the system reported a successful flash.

After some more Googling, that's when I tried using the "crisis jumper". I removed everything from the rear I/O, placed the jumper on the "G15" pins, removed the CMOS battery and held down the CLEAR CMOS button. I then reinserted the rear I/O connections and my USB stick with the latest BIOS image from the HP webpage. Finally I placed the power cable into the rear PSU connector. The machine powered on immediately without me depressing the power switch on the front panel. The fans turned on but never spun down as they had before when I was met with the blue screen. I was no longer getting the beeps, RED LED flashing or any display output.  My thumb drive was no longer lighting up, indicating it was not powered.

I tried booting with one Xeon x5675, different amounts of RAM (I have 12 sticks of ECC unbuffered RAM), different sticks of RAM and a different GPU as well. I really think I either fried the BIOS chip with that jumper, or erased it completely as the board never full loads up the I/O or reduces fan speeds.

Side note: Later on I realized the sole purpose of that jumper is to get into the BIOS recovery "state" that my workstation was ALREADY in.

So, any idea's Andy? I was so excited about the thought of getting this beautiful workstation upgraded and running and now I'm crushed with it's current state.
64
General discussion / Re: I think I bricked my HP Z8...
Last post by Andy Brown - September 19, 2018, 01:25:39 am
Hi, when you say "cleaned it up" what do you mean? Was it working before you cleaned it up? One basic thing you can do is, one-by-one, remove and re-seat each cable that connects to the motherboard - particularly the power cables. Then do the same for the DRAM sticks, then the same for the cards. For the cards, visually check the 'golden' fingers for any crud that might be lodged in there.

Removing and re-seating the CPUs, as well as testing with just one, is also a possibility but it's more drastic and should be left until you're sure it's not something simple.
65
General discussion / I think I bricked my HP Z800 W...
Last post by nitto999 - September 18, 2018, 05:04:54 pm
I recently picked up a Z800 003 rev workstation with dual 5675 Xeons. I cleaned it up and powered it on. Soon after I heard 8 beeps, followed by a long beep and then the Boot Lock Emergency screen. I flashed the 3.60 rev A bios, however it would just loop again into the Boot Lock screen. So I did some more reading and I put a jumper on the E15 Crisis Jumper.. now it won't read my USB stick and the fans never turn down from full bore like they did previously. I'm afraid I wiped the bios chip completely. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
66
Hardware projects / Re: Hacking an HP Z800 motherb...
Last post by fisk - September 11, 2018, 06:33:55 am
New user on the forum and new owner of a bargain HP Z800 002 in HP case(850w psu), boot block date 01-30-09.

did the HP bios update through HP's Windows tool (v3.61) and now running 2x X5650 without further mods. so far boots up every time.

build breakdown
HP Z800 with 2x X5550 and 40gb picked up @~£110
16gb extra ram (was cheaper than just buying 8 ) £30
2x x5570 (for safety) and 2x x5650 shipped @~£55
6x 1tb sata drives @£35
GPU nvidia 740 (free, from the stash)


now all i need is recommendation on a better cheapish GPU as it wont boot with HD6970, HD 6950, HD4890x2, GTX 280, GTX 280.
im thinking something like 1050 maybe a rx560, what would be the max tpd i can use with the 850w psu

kind regards
67
Hardware projects / HP Z600 (dual Xeon 5670), 32 G...
Last post by Antitrack - August 26, 2018, 05:40:53 am
Hello,
I have an old but gold HP Z600 with 32GB Ram, dual X5670 CPU and a rather old Nvidia Geforce 670 graphics card.
I plan to replace the graphics card with a monster triple slot card that requires 375W and 42A on the 12V line, namely, a Geforce GTX Titan Z.
Yeah, probably not the wisest choice of graphics card but hey, it was a bargain!  :D

Now, I am very well aware that the standard 650 Watt power supply unit won't do.

Has anyone been able to upgrade the power supply so it works with such a monster of a graphic card?
If so, how'd you fit the new power supply unit into the case?   :P

What would you do to upgrade the power supply properly -- how many Watts etc. do I need?

Any recommendations appreciated.
68
Hardware projects / Re: Z800 version 003 extracted...
Last post by Animajosser - August 09, 2018, 02:15:40 am
Hi fabs,

I don't recognize the error message, but it looks like a connection error: drivers, broken chip, broken bios programmer or bad connection. Can you read the contents of the bios chip?
69
Hardware projects / Re: Z800 version 003 extracted...
Last post by fabs - July 04, 2018, 12:27:18 pm
Hi Animajosser, Impressive, i am trying the same thing on my z800 bord with a corrupt bios after i changed by mistake NUMA settings, basically unsolder the onboard bios chip , and replace with an after market SST25VF016B-50-4C-S2AF chip, reprogramed with the CH341A of aliexpress and Andy's Bios Image , then re-solder onboard. but for some reason impossible to rewirte the chip, i tried the trick of connecting differently to the CH341A (180 degree rotation for pins) to read and write but i always comme accross "operation timed out" error messages and i m stuck. any idea ?
70
Hardware projects / Re: Hacking an HP Z800 motherb...
Last post by b1Ack - July 03, 2018, 09:42:52 am
In case somebody try to repeat process stated in main article and will go this far to read.
This info can save you a good PSU or MOBO, just your luck decides what will burn if do things wrong.
And this can be related to lot of other brand PCs, Z600 definitely too, lot of HPs and some DELLs maybe.

!!! NEVER CONNECT 5V (pins 1 and 10, direct on one side of 18 pin connector) FROM 18 PIN MAIN POWER TO YOUR PSU OUTPUT !!!
Just because that's not a power input, but output from DC-DC converter on board. To power HDDs, I guess.
If your PSU is modern and have separate DC-DC converters for 5 and 3.3V and you connect it to that 5V - sooner or later something will die. Your PSU or board. And it will happen anyway. If it's something older with ferrites-based stabilization - ok, PSU most likely can withstand this, but I will not sure about board. Just because it's very bad idea to connect different switching power supplies in parallel, without synchronization, without balancing load (just thick wires in this case - not enough), especially two push-pull DC-DC based on MOSFETS (just like one already present on board).
What to do right? Just not connect that 5V to ATX PSU in any way. You don't need it. Your drives will get power from another place.

About memory 5V power - I'll think it's better to feed it from 5Vsb (if you have it power enough) or at least via schottky diodes to not get current back to your PSU in any way (and potentially get not working some sleep modes).

How update bootblock ?
I'm surprised that lot of people was looking for right rev.003 full image, not looking what we have - a /B option for DOS flasher. Just used it and my bootblock became a new one with 2018 BIOS version in some time. And - process look really long and looks like it hang. For more than minute. No progress, no numlock reaction - nothing. Don't panic, read what you have on screen, all fine, obey and go make some tea and not look on this f***ing thing - and it will end and be ok.

About other stuff (F1 warnings, right type speaker, ambient temperature sensor) - here is some pictures how to make it think all is fine.
Just needed two fans of any type (3-4pins) for front and rear.
https://imgur.com/a/Yhf95RC
Yep, that's chieftec LBX/LCX chassis, board fit there good enough, but will need few extra holes for HPTX standoffs and some metal cut out for fit power connector and maybe one side of COM port.

In text brief:
USB 8+10        |    Front Audio 2+4    |    1394 11+12 (and pull out pin 11 to use default case header)
Rear fans 3+5   |   Mem fans - thke both TACH and solder it to pin 3 of front fan 2 (2nd show itself in BIOS monitor, 1st - not, so I choose 2nd).

Front panel 2+4 Power LED - put there 2pin opposite dual color LED matching your case size. Just for errors indication. Simple way to see how it works - pull out video card and turn on without it. And wait few dozens of seconds.

Ambient sensor - just take TO-92 2N2222A (or any modern low-power single NPN transistor in TO-2 case without resistors inside) and connect its emitter to pin 12 and soldered together base and collector to pin 11. What profit? You will may use simple PWM case fans and it will rule them. Only PWM, here is no voltage control at all. Picture is for DELL, HP looks like have already onboard all other little stuff except transistor.

Why big speaker? This thing have audio amplifier onboard. You don't need anything additional to watch youtube now xD
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