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Precision T3400 BIOS A11 problem
I'm using a Precision T3400 with a Core 2 Duo E6550. Windows XP SP3 runs fine, but I've discovered some problems with the diagnostics that appear to be related to BIOS A11.
When I select Diagnostics from the F12 boot menu, the system locks up almost immediately at the start of the PSA. Here's the error message:
Running MATS Test
Test Result : System Error
Error Code: 2000-0111
Msg: CPU 0 : General Protection Exception Occurred
When I boot a diagnostics CD (ver. 1322.1) most of the tests pass, but some of the processor and system board tests cause the system to lock up. All the multiprocessor cache tests cause the following error:
Exception occurred in module MPCACHE.MDM file "IOAPICSP.asm". Line 1645!
For the system board, the I/O APIC MP Test causes the following error:
Exception occurred in module IOAPIC.MDM file "IOAPICSP.asm". Line 2918!
I reverted from BIOS A11 to A09 and all these problems went away.
Just thought someone might like to know.
lucalipa
4 Posts
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February 9th, 2012 00:00
I am looking italian support download page site of Dell, and for my T3400 the last bios update available is A11, the A13 is available only for Dell precision 3500, probably is there a different mother board or it is only a mistake of site update?
craggs
8 Posts
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February 9th, 2012 08:00
I guess Dell has not yet released the A13 BIOS in Italian. I don't know what other languages are available now besides English.
EdwardEMeyer
13 Posts
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February 16th, 2012 07:00
Having the same issue. Just upgraded from A05 to A13 and a day later the system is halting. Diagnostics throws a 2000-0111 issue right away. Must be a issue with the bios. I have four of theses and only one is experiencing the issue.
DELL-Chris M
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February 17th, 2012 05:00
I have four of theses and only one is experiencing the issue.
EdwardEMeyer
* All four PCs have A13 on them?
I am looking italian support download page site of Dell, and for my T3400 the last bios update available is A11, the A13 is available only for Dell precision 3500, probably is there a different mother board or it is only a mistake of site update?
* The Italian A13 is here.
I spoke with a tech support person today and he guided me to the following fix:
(1) upgrade BIOS to A13
(2) run latest version of diagnostic (ver 1384)
This did indeed fix the problem for me. Using earlier versions of either the BIOS or the diagnostic shows the problem. Both are needed for a fix. The latest version of the diagnostic is not listed for the T3400 but it is available under the Precision T3500. The diagnostic install program does not include the T3400 in its list of systems so user beware -- use at your own risk. By this I don't mean that I expect there is any risk in using this version of the diagnostic. I mean only that it may not diagnose a T3400 correctly but it seems to work properly on my system.
craggs
* I will ask why diags 1384 is not on the T4300 page. Thanks for the workaround.
BotMan
101 Posts
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April 5th, 2012 13:00
Diags CD ver 1384 does seem to work as expected, but the A13 BIOS based diags are still giving the same error. (2 different T3400s... Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Extreme.)
Have you heard if this will be corrected in an upcoming BIOS rev?
Thanks, Randy
Rchabot
6 Posts
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April 17th, 2012 11:00
I got the same problem.
T3400 with BIOS A11, updated to A13 and tested with the diag CD 1384.
2 Hours after update, the system crash again.
No luck :(
Rchabot
6 Posts
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April 19th, 2012 05:00
Any news ?
Next step is to replace the computer ?
Thanks
Paul_H68
4 Posts
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April 19th, 2012 09:00
I have flashed the bios to a previous version and am working fine.
Rchabot
6 Posts
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April 19th, 2012 10:00
Which version A11 or A09 ?
Do you have the link to download the previous version ?
Thanks
RoHe
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April 19th, 2012 10:00
T3400 BIOS version A11 is here.
RoHe
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43.7K Posts
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April 19th, 2012 10:00
T3400 BIOS version A09 is http://ftp1.us.dell.com/bios/T3400A09.EXE for the .exe and http://ftp1.us.dell.com/bios/T3400A09.BIN for the .bin.
Caveat emptor! I know nothing about any of these versions in terms of what was fixed from earlier versions (eg A07) and what was supposed to have been fixed in later versions (eg, A11 and A13).
I pinged my Dell tech contacts to see if they can re-engage in this topic.
BotMan
101 Posts
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April 19th, 2012 11:00
Neither of my T3400s are having any reliability issues under A13 (nor did they under A11) and the only issue I am seeing is when trying to run the INTERNAL BIOS BASED diagnostics. (hitting F12 at POST and choosing Diagnostics...).
For the users having BSoD issues, are you seeing this while running a specific application or is it otherwise a consistantly recreatable error? If so, could you please post how to recreate the error? Also, please post (if possible) your OS/CPU/RAM/Video configuration. I know it's a long shot, but maybe you are having a compatibility issue somewhere. (And maybe I am just not taxing my machines enough to trigger the failure...)
Thanks.
Rchabot
6 Posts
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April 20th, 2012 11:00
BIOS A11 or A13 is no success.
Last night i flashed the BIOS to A09 and at this time (13h13 Easterrn 20th April) the system works.
RoHe
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April 20th, 2012 11:00
My Dell contact said to flash BIOS to A13 and download 1384 diags from here CW1384A0.exe . Only run the 1384 diags and don't bother running the diagnostics by pressing F12 at boot which seem to have problems.
This system came out in 2007 and it's unlikely Dell will release any further updates.
BotMan
101 Posts
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April 20th, 2012 12:00
Well yes I do already have the latest CD based diags and they work fine, but I was just hoping that Dell would fix something that they recently borked. It's also useful to have a functional firmware based diags in certain situations. (Which is why Dell first decided to include them I'm thinking...)
It also seems that both A11 and A13 introduce reliability issues on some(?) T3400 systems.
Thanks, Randy