Precision T3400 BIOS A11 problem

I have a T3400 with a14 bios with the same issue.

What was the resolution?

 

Wait a second... SPEEDSTEP has a PROBLEM!?! Obviously a sign of the coming apocalypse!

All humor aside, the resolution is to live with it or roll back to A09. The A11-A14 firmware diagnostics are broken and probably not going to be fixed. Use the latest CD diags if you want to keep the newer firmware.

Randy

rolling back is not an option with later cpu's

Fixes & Enhancements
1.Support windows signing

Version A14, A14

*****************************************************************

Precision T3400 System BIOS version A11.
Fixes & Enhancements
1. Cpu microcode update.  What CPU I have no idea.

A08 and A09 support QX9650 core 2 Extreme.  A09 seems as far as you can go if you want to run diags.

Version A11, A11
Release date
14 Dec 2010
Last Updated
03 Nov 2011

Ok, sorry. I didn't know that there were new CPU support added since A09.

Randy

The ftp site doesn't even show the A09 Bios :emotion-12:

BIOS - BIOS

Description	Importance	Version
DELL,DSK PROG,BIOS,PWS-T3400,A14,A14 Precision WorkStation T3400 System BIOS	Recommended	A14
Dell Precision T3400 System BIOS, A11 Precision T3400 System BIOS version A11.	Recommended	A11

I have several questions.  Which processors were validated with which version of BIOS??

When are they going to fix the Error in the bios??  

The fix may be in fact that for newer versions of the bios you need a newer CPU.

HOWEVER the TCPA keep the chinese out of your system via VPRO would still need to be addressed as it was in A14 bios.

The system also seems to have USB Freeze issues every few minutes for a USB mouse and or USB Wifi adapter.  

• USB devices do not work, or only work intermittently (every Nth reboot); behavior may change slightly by enabling/disabling different combinations of USB ports in the BIOS (or this may be a placebo effect on my part, who knows)
	
• Dreaded “Dee-Dunk” noise shortly after Windows desktop appears
	
• USB devices such as keyboards, mouse, etc. work for a while, then mysteriously stop working until machine is rebooted
 '
• “USB Device Not Recognized”…
	
• “There was a problem installing this hardware: 
  
    The device cannot start. (Code 10)”
  
	
• After installing a certain USB driver, machine crashes/hangs with a black screen for several minutes before the Windows desktop appears (may depend whether the corresponding device is plugged in)
	
• Machine hangs when trying to install USB device drivers
	

The behavior is the same for XP/VISTA/WIN7

A14	6/28/2012 6:16:08 AM
A13	12/12/2011 10:33:00 PM
A11	12/14/2010 12:37:55 AM
A09	10/29/2009 8:55:33 PM
A08	8/20/2008 2:24:12 PM
A07	7/22/2008 3:10:44 PM
A05	5/12/2008 8:17:06 AM
A04	4/4/2008 10:51:27 AM
A03	2/1/2008 4:53:44 PM
A02	1/10/2008 10:52:19 AM
A01	11/6/2007 2:23:31 PM

A00

Dell PRECISION T3400 SYSTEM BIOS

Precision WorkStation T3400 System BIOS A14

Release Date: 6/28/2012

1.Support windows signing

*****************************************************************************

Precision T3400 System BIOS version A11.

Release Date: 12/14/2010

Fixes & Enhancements

1. Cpu microcode update.

 *****************************************************************************

 *****************************************************************************

The following changes have been made to BIOS A05 to create A07:

Note: A06 is a Dell internal release only.

1. Added support for newer processors.        

2. Enhanced microcode selection algorithm.      

3. Corrected improper reporting of L3 cache size.

*****************************************************************************

The following change has been made to BIOS A02 to create A03:

1. This update includes recommended microcode updates from Intel.  A specific

  generation of Intel-based dual and quad core processors could potentially

  cause Machine Check Exception (MCE) or system hang.  The issue has been

  isolated to a rare set of timing conditions and address alignment of

  instructions in a short nested loop sequence.  The issue can be prevented

  with a BIOS update.

DELL Inc.

BIOS RELEASE NOTES

Copyright 2007 Dell Inc.  All rights reserved.

*****************************************************************************

System:        WS T3400

Version:       A02

Release Date:  12/24/2007

1. Modified PCI-Express training algorithm for certain multi-head video

  cards

2. Added handling code for situation where system runs out of option ROM

  space

3. Improved hard drive password support in RAID mode

4. Added support for newer processors

5. USB improvements

6. Fixed error in suspend resume with certain add-in SAS cards

*****************************************************************************

Precision T3400 System BIOS version A01

Release Date: 11/6/2007

Importance: Urgent

SpeedStep,

I found the link to download the A09 BIOS by going into Previous Versions from the A14 page. Here's the link: www.dell.com/.../precision-t3400

I don't seem to have any issues with my T3400s other than the Firmware Diags being horked. I have A11 on one and A14 on another. (I had a few more, but sold them to a friend and replaced them with a T3500 and a couple of T5400s... All of the T3400s are still running without issues.)

I have my KB/Mouse plugged into the USB ports directly under the NIC, and my printer is networked, so can't test for that. I'll see if I have any mouse or other issues if I move to the other rear or front USB ports.

Good luck on this.

Thanks, Randy

Hello, all. I just picked up a T3400 on ebay, flashed the BIOS to A14, installed the Q9400 from my failing Inspiron 545 (I know, I know... but I was really broke at the time), and ran the on-board diags as well as the latest bootable diags from the downloads page.

I got EXACTLY the same error codes as OP. So I googled, found this thread, and downgraded to A09. Both on-board and bootable diags now pass with flying colors. After reading these 5 pages, I'm going to be happy with that & keep A09 permanently. The date of A09 is well beyond the release date of my CPU, so I believe I'm good.

Wanted to share my results with everyone. Thanks to all who posted to this thread. You guys all rock!

Link to A09:
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/555/DriverDetails/Product/precision-t3400?driverId=F65DR&fileId=2988052443

Error Googled:

Running MATS Test
Test Result : System Error
Error Code: 2000-0111
Msg: CPU 0 : General Protection Exception Occurred

Thanks guys for your info regarding the Dell Precision T3400 BIOS, I have one for my personal use and had been using BIOS A14 for a while as in at least a year.  Suddenly last week started having troubles with blue screens never being able to boot or reload windows.  Googled the error which lead me to this thread, without this thread would have never found BIOS A09 or resurrected my PC!!!  After loading the BIOS A09 computer lets me load Window 7 Pro and I'm back and running.  Thank you sooooooo much for the info!!!

You guys really do ROCK,

Jimmy Fallin  :emotion-21::emotion-22: 

There is another issue with A08 and A09 besides the CPU Diags issue.

When putting a new R7 260X card in F2 gives a bios screen that flashes  unable to set video mode 103 cmos setup not possible or something on that order.

So with a newer video card you are locked out of bios in A08,09,11,14 

This is quite annoying.