Wierd Core 0 problem on my Opteron 165.

[TigerClaw27]

I'm having a networking problem that occurs a few minutes to an hour after I boot up into windows. Usually I get dropped from the BF2 server I was playing on. Then if I try to ping a reliable server I get bogus results if ping.exe is running on core 0, if its running on core 1 it works. This is what i mean by bogus results:

Reply from 24.71.223.43: bytes=32 time=-59ms TTL=123
Reply from 24.71.223.43: bytes=32 time=-51ms TTL=123
Reply from 24.71.223.43: bytes=32 time=-54ms TTL=123
Reply from 24.71.223.43: bytes=32 time=-56ms TTL=123

Notice the negative time, but its not always negative, sometimes its +100 or +300 ms more then it should be (about 40ms is normal for me to this server). Now this happens wether i'm overclocking or not. Also I tried using another NIC, and the results are the same.

Anyone else run into a similar problem? Also are there any programs that test more then just the FPU (like prime95)?

I'm running an Opteron 165 on an Asus A8N-E, with 2GB of Kingston ValueRAM, and an FSP 400W supply (rails are very stable).

Thanks for reading this far,
TC

 

[RichUK]

Do you use a router, hub, switch?

Have you tried using the command ?ping ?t [enter web address]? (without the quotes and square brackets), to see if you can find a trend over say 20 packets. Also try running the command ?tracert?, to see if the packets breakdown at a certain point.

Still the fact it works on one core and not another is still very strange ( and a minus value aswell ).

 

[Markbnj]

What's OS and chipset driver patch status? What motherboard and BIOS revision? Does it consistently fail on the same core and work on the same core? In other words, when the error occurs, and assuming it is cpu0 that fails, can you run ping multiple times and get cpu0 fail, cpu1 works, cpu0 fail, cpu1 works, etc.?

 

[TigerClaw27]

tracert returns similar bogus results. I'm using Windows XP SP2, it an Asus A8N-E nForce4 chipset driver 6.65, and BIOS is at 1010. Yup consistently works on core 1, and fails on core 0, ie i can stop and start ping, change affinity during the ping process and it will give bogus reports when i set affinity to CPU0, and correct results when affinity is set to CPU1. I'm thinking this has to be some sort of driver issue, or OS issue, since it only happens after a certain amount of time uptime. I'll relax my memory timings a bit, see if it helps (even though prime95 runs ok) and then if that doesnt work I'll try re-installing XP and all the newest drivers I can find.

TC

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

The most recent chipset drivers are 6.70

Try em

 

[TigerClaw27]

Ok, I tried 6.70, reset all BIOS settings to default, so not OCd, and problem still persists. I'm not sure if this is a result of BF2, cause I havent had it happen at other times, however I only used the system for BF2 so far ;-) I have another workstation. Not sure what to try, a full reinstall? Has anyone seen this problem before?

 

[cokecan25]

Any luck with your prob?

I have a AMD 4800+ with pretty the same problem. If I mess with the affinity I can get ping back from doing the negative thing, however it never drops back down to <1ms or even 1ms.

The problem happens even with my local router (have 2 I've tried, other workstations with no problems, etc).

I found this: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=896256 and I'm testing, but I doubt it will work. Got it from this thread: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=4978&st=60

-Brian

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: TigerClaw27
tracert returns similar bogus results. I'm using Windows XP SP2, it an Asus A8N-E nForce4 chipset driver 6.65, and BIOS is at 1010. Yup consistently works on core 1, and fails on core 0, ie i can stop and start ping, change affinity during the ping process and it will give bogus reports when i set affinity to CPU0, and correct results when affinity is set to CPU1. I'm thinking this has to be some sort of driver issue, or OS issue, since it only happens after a certain amount of time uptime. I'll relax my memory timings a bit, see if it helps (even though prime95 runs ok) and then if that doesnt work I'll try re-installing XP and all the newest drivers I can find.

TC

I am running that board at work with a 3800+ X2 and it has given me tons of driver problems and especially issues with the network card. I had to play around a lot with drivers to keep it from BSOD'ing randomly. Make sure to mix and match Nvidia drivers to find a combination that gives you less issues.

 

[cokecan25]

I hear you, I've been playing with drivers for weeks now.. However, I haven't had a single system crash and no BSODs.

I do a lot of internet work that requires me to monitor network traffic and this dumb thing is not making it easy to do my job. My gut feeling is that most people don't sit and stare at ping, so there probably aren't a lot of dual core types that even realize the problem.

The network "seems" to work ok, just getting bogus ping times. My gut feeling is XP is having a threading problem and tweaking ping, hence why it snaps into line when you set affinity.

Though I do get dropped from BF2 more then I like is normal which is motivating me almost more then my job!

-Brian

 

[cokecan25]

Also, I just played more with the affinity thing, and same deal.. When the negative stuff starts happening, I can move ping to CPU 1 and it is happy, and negatives when on CPU 0 or in mixed mode.

The way I got it to start acting up fast (or seemingly) was by running super-pi twice and assining each one to a processor.

The NICS on these boards really choke when the CPU is at max!

Hopefully it is just a ping threading problem, but it really worries me that it could be effecting other system operation.

super-pi is happy though!

-Brian

 

[swaq]

I have the same issue with my X2 3800+. Core 0 gets negative values and core 1 is fine... I didn't think anything of it before reading this topic though, I just thought it was a software glitch with Window's ping or something.

 

[biostud]

have you installed the AMD X2 driver?

 

[cokecan25]

Trying that now, thanks..

-b

 

[cokecan25]

Seems to have done the trick..

Lots of BF2 and pings since yesterday at 1 and no negatives.

Thanks for making me aware of that driver!

-Brian

 

[aka1nas]

I did try it on my Opty 165 rig at home and it seemed fine, but then I already had the AMD X2 driver installed.

 

[TigerClaw27]

I'll try the AMD X2 driver, thanks for the suggestion. Since I started the thread, I've replaced the case (to get better airflow) and motherboard (now using DFI Ultra-D), and I was about to buy another 165 to check if its the chip? I'll post back once I'm sure the problem has gone away.

P.S. I dont know if this is a sign of the problem too or not, however sometimes when I boot into XP it switches back to the XP theme, instead of running in Classic theme, which is how I have it set.

EDIT: Looks like the AMD X2 driver did the trick. Problem free for the last two weeks.

 

[swaq]

I tried installing the driver but it said that there is already an older version installed and that I need to uninstall that first. I tried uninstalling the processor driving in the Device Manager which forced me to reboot. When the computer rebooted the driver installer said the same thing... Any ideas?