Originally this was the case. But one wu would get 90%, and the other wu would get 10%.

But see my post below this - at Ethan's suggestion, I tried setting one cpu per wu, and switched the affinity's back and forth.

cpu0 always got 90%, cpu1 always got 10%, regardless of which wu was assigned to them.

Here's what one user suggests

@ mmciastro.........

I don't have a Rosetta account but I read the thread about the Penguins X2 problems. I have a suggestion you could post there for him. Go to task manager and right click each instance of Rosetta. Click "Set Affinity" and ensure that both cores ( core0 and core1 ) are selected for each instance of Rosetta.

Hope this helps.

Furthermore, if both wu's are set to cpu0, then each wu is about 10%, with system idle at 80%.

If both wu's are set to cpu1, then each wu is about 6%, with system idle at about 90%.

Originally this was the case. But one wu would get 90%, and the other wu would get 10%.

But see my post below this - at Ethan's suggestion, I tried setting one cpu per wu, and switched the affinity's back and forth.

cpu0 always got 90%, cpu1 always got 10%, regardless of which wu was assigned to them.

Here's what one user suggests

@ mmciastro.........

I don't have a Rosetta account but I read the thread about the Penguins X2 problems. I have a suggestion you could post there for him. Go to task manager and right click each instance of Rosetta. Click "Set Affinity" and ensure that both cores ( core0 and core1 ) are selected for each instance of Rosetta.

Hope this helps.

Does your windows xp cd already have sp2 on it? I don't believe the sp1 or earlier versions ship with the correct hal.dll and halmacpi.dll. I also don't think you can fix this by installing sp2, it needs to be done at the time of the OS install.

There's a way to update the files by loading into command prompt safe mode and copying the correct ones over. Exactally which commands to use and where to get the correct files. . well, I can't help with :)

Finally, if you do have an older xp install cd, you can slipstream sp2 into it by burning a new disk and reinstalling the OS. Anyone familiar with this?

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I don't know.

Compaq has an "Emergency Partition" from which it formats the main partition and re-installs Windows.

Now, SP2 is showing.

But I can't state for 100% this was how it was installed. There have been some "mandatory" updates during the few re-boots I've made after re-installing Windows.

It's possible sp1 was installed, and sp2 was auto-updated.

Can't say with any certainty.

Haven't reinstalled app software.

So, if I have to do another Windows reinstall, now is a good time...

Does your windows xp cd already have sp2 on it? I don't believe the sp1 or earlier versions ship with the correct hal.dll and halmacpi.dll. I also don't think you can fix this by installing sp2, it needs to be done at the time of the OS install.

There's a way to update the files by loading into command prompt safe mode and copying the correct ones over. Exactally which commands to use and where to get the correct files. . well, I can't help with :)

Finally, if you do have an older xp install cd, you can slipstream sp2 into it by burning a new disk and reinstalling the OS. Anyone familiar with this?

SP2 is not an auto update !

BP rather than struggle, a reinstall will be quicker in the long run IMHO!

Leave everything including Boinc set at the default, it should pick it up.

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

Already have done one re-install, to no avail.

If sp2 is not an auto update, and I have sp2 now, that implies the re-install was of sp2.

Just so I understand clearly, are you suggesting a second re-install of Windows?

If I have to do it, now is the time...

SP2 is not an auto update !

BP rather than struggle, a reinstall will be quicker in the long run IMHO!

If you`ve already done a re-install then it`s a setting somewhere possibly you`ve altered with good intention. Set your Boinc etc for default settings, undo all that you`ve done !

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

If it was only that simple :)

How many posts in this thread? And still have hairs turning gray!

If you`ve already done a re-install then it`s a setting somewhere possibly you`ve altered with good intention. Set your Boinc etc for default settings, undo all that you`ve done !

Sounds to me like you have a defective CPU #1 although I don't know how you could actually determine that that was true.

My inital thought is that AMD has good qc, and a defective cpu a rarity.

However, after all I've been (and put others here at Rosetta) through in the last 24 hours, I have to wonder.

Too many observations / results are contradictory.

My best guesses at this time are:

(1) Power supply too weak. But the HP A1350N has the same mobo, and I assume same power supply, and uses X2 4200's.

(2) Some "setting" either in hardware or Windows not proper.

(3) Defective cpu.

I agree. Is there any way to test whether either of the individual cores is defective?

If the cpu has to go back to NewEgg, I'm on a 7-day limit, which began date of order, last Friday.

Got maybe another 24 hours to solve before times up.

Sounds to me like you have a defective CPU #1 although I don't know how you could actually determine that that was true.

If it was only that simple :)

How many posts in this thread? And still have hairs turning gray!

If you`ve already done a re-install then it`s a setting somewhere possibly you`ve altered with good intention. Set your Boinc etc for default settings, undo all that you`ve done !

This is why those recovery partitions are crap. It may not be actually erasing and reinstalling XP. Perhaps it is just "repairing" XP...and in this case doing nothing.

Call the supplier and get a recovery CD (or better yet, an actual OEM copy of XP on CD). Then wipe the partition and reinstall from CD. Get the CD now anyway. God forbid your HD dies 2 years from now. How will you be able to install the OS on a new HD without a CD? And by then it will be out of warranty.

Personally, I wipe the drives completely and install Ubuntu. You could try installing Ubuntu as a dual boot (leaving your XP partitions alone), and see if you still have the problem.

Note: Ubuntu by default throttles X2 chips. You will need to run the application "CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor" and set the regulator to max performance. To do *that* you will need to run the command "sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets" to give your user permission to do so.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Bad Penquin, can you read the seti thread? It's here, starting with my post asking for assistance. If so, I'll stop me playing middle man. I was out cutting the "back forty" or I'd have responded sooner.

tony

I have no idea of what happens "under the hood", but during re-install I was given two options, "repair" or "format".

I did the "format", and there must have been a zillion warnings to back up all my data, cause it was gonna be gone.

I can't swear it really did a format, re-install, as per what it claimed.

For what its worth, the format, re-install took about 20 mins.

Sound about the right amount of time?

This is why those recovery partitions are crap. It may not be actually erasing and reinstalling XP. Perhaps it is just "repairing" XP...and in this case doing nothing.

Call the supplier and get a recovery CD (or better yet, an actual OEM copy of XP on CD). Then wipe the partition and reinstall from CD. Get the CD now anyway. God forbid your HD dies 2 years from now. How will you be able to install the OS on a new HD without a CD? And by then it will be out of warranty.

Personally, I wipe the drives completely and install Ubuntu. You could try installing Ubuntu as a dual boot (leaving your XP partitions alone), and see if you still have the problem.

Note: Ubuntu by default throttles X2 chips. You will need to run the application "CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor" and set the regulator to max performance. To do *that* you will need to run the command "sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets" to give your user permission to do so.

For what its worth, the format, re-install took about 20 mins.

Sound about the right amount of time?

Yes, I did a recent re-install to a 100Mb NTFS partition on a blank harddisk from an original release XP CD and it took about that much time including the SP2 update.

I think you can tell if the files and folders are really new ones by looking at the dates. New ones should have a 'date created' (in properties) that is the date you did the install even when the 'date modified' is something different (an earlier or later date).

I have no idea of what happens "under the hood", but during re-install I was given two options, "repair" or "format".

I did the "format", and there must have been a zillion warnings to back up all my data, cause it was gonna be gone.

I can't swear it really did a format, re-install, as per what it claimed.

For what its worth, the format, re-install took about 20 mins.

Sound about the right amount of time?

Sounds right. If you want to rule out the OS as the problem, then install another OS like Ubuntu. It's free, and won't take very long to download and install.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Well, I'm thoroughly confused now! Microsoft says, in various places, that XP Home supports only one physical processor. I can't find anywhere that SP2 actually changes that support. However, the question remains whether an X2 or a Core Duo or a Core 2 Duo is considered as a single physical CPU or as two physical CPUs. It would seem logical that they are two physical CPUs even though they are in the same physical package. It remains, though, whether the XP installer detects the dual-processors as single or multiple CPUs for the purpose of determining processor support. Clearly it is a multiple CPU in terms of hardware but is it multiple in terms of the software license.

All of this is irrelevant if SP2 changes what it considers a multiple CPU system. But I've not been able to confirm what SP2 does consider as single/multiple in terms of the software license.

My processor is HT so all this is academic for me. I suppose we need someone to report in who has XP Home properly installed on a dual processor, and ask them if it seems to be working as advertised.

I've never heard of this problem with XP Home so I'm assuming SP2 should run properly with the dual processor chips. It's possible that XP Home doesn't actually run properly in this case and nobody has noticed it yet.

In case you haven't noticed, I've written all this with CYA as the objective and with the intent of a disclaimer. And now that I read it it's mostly useless info. Well, I'll post it anyway in the hope that someone else won't have to go through the same exercise.

I've seen a number of comments about WinXP Home supporting dual core cpus; but can't quickly find a statement from Micro$oft.

Acer Ferrari 1000 is a mere $4000 laptop that sports a dual core cpu and has the option of WinXP Home. If a $100 OS upgrade doubled the performance (allowed both cores of the dual core cpu to work) of a $4000 laptop, they wouldn't offer WinXP Home as an option.

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Windows XP Home supports dual core procs.

Microsoft licenses per socket. It doesn't matter if you have a dual or quad core, as long as they're on the same physical chip it counts as one 'cpu'.

I've set up 3 family laptops in the last half year with dual proc intel chips. . none of them have had the problems noted in this thread.

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This report and hotfix from Microsoft may be relevant to bad multiprocessor performance.

Ethan@:
I'll remember you said that, and I'm glad it works for you, I just haven't had any experience with the new dual CPUs. It would seem reasonable that the license is 'per socket' but I long ago stopped trusting Microsoft to be reasonable. I just didn't know what the software actually did although I expected XP Home to work properly on the new dual CPUs.

BP if you have a friend with an oem copy of Windows home SP2 you can install from that using your numbers, you may have to phone Mickey$oft to activate but it doesn`t take long and you won`t have problems. I have to do it all the time for my customers.

I will admit the PSU sounds a bit low in strength.

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.