BIOS Update to Support Pentium III "Coppermine" Processors

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BIOS Update to Support Pentium III "Coppermine" Processors VMware Bug 3813 or Out of Date BIOS Hint on Power-On

Problem Summary

If you power on your virtual machine and immediately receive either a warning message reporting VMware bug 3813 or a hint about an out of date BIOS, that indicates one of two things: The VMware product software has detected a condition on your machine that is likely to prevent the VMware product from running correctly. Or the VMware product has detected a failure that is likely caused by this condition.

The problem has been observed on hardware with an older system BIOS and a new Intel Penitum III processor.

In most cases, you can fix the problem by upgrading your BIOS. This page provides information on how to upgrade your BIOS so that your VMware product will run correctly on your machine.

Common Problem Situations

We have only seen this problem on a very small percentage of systems, all of which have a CPU from the Intel Pentium III family (that is, Pentium III, Mobile Pentium III, and Pentium III Xeon). The CPUs all have family number 6, model 8, and stepping 1. They are sometimes referred to by the Intel code name "Coppermine."

If you are unsure what CPU you have, look in your VMware product's log file on your computer. If you see a line containing
CPUID version=0x681
you have the type of processor associated with this problem.

The Linux file /proc/cpuinfo or the Intel CPUID utility can also determine this information.

If you do not have this version of the Intel Pentium III CPU, then it is likely you have a different problem than the one specified in this document.

The problem reports that we have seen fall into three broad categories.

Some users have upgraded an older computer by installing an Intel Pentium III without also upgrading the BIOS to support this configuration.
Some users have purchased a Pentium III system from a vendor that did not upgrade the motherboard BIOS to support the configuration. However, BIOS updates are available for these machines.
Finally, there are a few computers that ship with Pentium III "Coppermine" processors but have no BIOS support for this configuration. This page includes a list of problem machines we have encountered, and VMware is working to get resolution for situations in which the latest host BIOS does not resolve the problem.

Resolving the Problem

Customers in the first two groups can resolve the problem by applying the latest update to the BIOS in their host computers. We have provided links to the BIOS update pages for many of the motherboard and system manufacturers. Follow these links to get information on how to upgrade your BIOS.

If you have purchased a license, if updating to the latest host BIOS doesn't solve the problem, and if you do not want to wait for the appropriate BIOS to become available, you may return the VMware product software and we will refund the cost of your license.

Please file an incident report. This is particularly important if you have a CPU other than a Coppermine or if your computer or motherboard is not represented in the table that follows.

Unresolved - Motherboard or host computer BIOS combinations listed under this heading are reported to be an issue.
Resolved - Motherboards or computers listed under this heading have been reported to VMware but are no longer an issue when updated to the BIOS specified.
Links to other computer and motherboard manufacturers.

Unresolved

ABIT	ABIT BH6 version 1.01. The latest BIOS (dated 7/3/2000) does not flash correctly. http://www.abit-usa.com/english/download/ index.htm
ASUS	ASUS F7400-B Laptop, BIOS 1111, Feb 16 2000 ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/nb/f7400-b/ ASUS P3W-E ATX, BIOS 1011 04/20/2000 http://www.asus.com.tw/products/Motherboard/ bios_slot1.html#p3w-e ASUS CUBX, BIOS 1005, Apr 24 2000 http://www.asus.com/Products/Motherboard/ bios_s370.html#cubx
A-Trend	A-Trend ATC-6240, BIOS 6240204.bin, date unknown http://www.atrend.com/bios.html
Chembook	Chembook 7400-B: same as ASUS F7400-B
HP	HP Omnibook 4150B, BIOS 7.11 (ACPI for Win2K) Apr 20 2000 http://www.hp.com/cposupport/swindexes/ hpomnibook18766_swen.html
Micron	Micron Transport ZX, BIOS ZXR-06NN Apr 20 2000 http://support.micronpc.com/apps/SpecDriv.ASP? HUB=TransportPIIIZX&include
Peacock	Peacock Independer Notebook Model 5723, BIOS 6.0 03np.rom, date unknown http://www.peacock.de
TMC	TMC-T16NB 2.20, BIOS ti6nbdt5.exe 3/5/99 http://www.mycomp-tmc.com
Toshiba	Toshiba Tecra 8000 BIOS 9.0, 1/31/00 Jan 31 2000 http://www.toshiba.ca/support/Downloads/ index.html

Resolved

AOpen	AOpen AX63 Pro, BIOS AX63 Pro R1.14 Mar 15 2000 http://english.aopen.com/tech/download/ mbbios/ax63pro.htm
Asus	Note: Before upgrading the BIOS on some Asus motherboards, including those listed below, you must go to the BIOS configuration screen and be sure that the BIOS Update option is set to Enabled. The option must be left enabled after the update to allow appropriate interaction between the hardware and BIOS. ASUS P3B-F ATX, BIOS Rev 1005 Mar 29 2000 ftp://ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BIOS/Slot_I/ INTEL_chip set/i440BX/P3B-F/1005f3.zip ASUS P2B-LS Beta BIOS 2002004 ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/beta/mb/bios/ ASUS P3B-1394 BIOS 2002 Nov 02 1999 http://www.asus.com.tw/Products/motherboard/ bios_slot1.html#p3b-1394 Asus P2-99, BIOS 1012 Apr 20 2000 http://www.asus.com.tw/products/Motherboard/ bios_slot1.html#p2-99
Chaintech	Chaintech CT-6BTM MB 100M, BIOS 6BTM0C23 ftp://ftp.chaintech.com.tw/BIOS/6btm/
Compaq	Compaq Armada M700, BIOS 686H_99.1125 Rev G Mar 02 2000 http://www.compaq.com/support/files/ portables/us/software/1631.html
Dell	Dell 5000 Inspiron, BIOS A06, May 26 2000 http://support.dell.com/us/en/filelib/ Dell 7500 Inspiron, BIOS A11, May 24 2000 http://support.dell.com/us/en/filelib/
Gigabyte	Gigabyte BX2000, BIOS F2 Dec 21 1999 http://www.giga-byte.com/gigabyte-web/newindex.htm Gigabyte GA-BX6C, BIOS F1, Dec 21 1999 http://www.giga-byte.com/gigabyte-web/newindex.htm Gigabyte GA-6BA, BETA BIOS F1a, Mar 01 2000 http://www.giga-byte.com/gigabyte-web/newindex.htm
Intel	Intel SE440BX-2, BIOS SE2BIO16.EXE Feb 29 2000 http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/ se2/se2_bios.htm
MAXDATA	MAXDATA Artist Eton Pro Notebook, BIOS Ver.1.33a Feb 02 2000 http://ftp.maxdata.de/index.asp?info=/info/ MAXDATA_ARTIST_Notebooks\ARTIST_Eton_Pro
MSI	MSI MS-6163Pro, BIOS AWARD(R) BIOS ver 3.6 release http://www.msi.com.tw/support/BIOS/61.htm
Seanix	Seanix TCO TEDP3500-ACB, BIOS 1.2 (Award) Enter s/n at http://www.seanix.com/usa/support/ downloads/spcdlque.asp
Shuttle	Shuttle AV61, BIOS av61s02q.zip, 3/22/00 Mar 22 2000 http://www.spacewalker.com/english/ download.htm

Other Computer and Motherboard Manufacturers

DFI
http://www.dfiusa.com/

ECS (Elite Group)
http://www.ecsusa.com/

FIC Slot-1
http://www.fic.com.tw/techsupport/motherboards/pentium2/index.htm

FIC Super Socket 7
http://www.fic.com.tw/techsupport/motherboards/pentium/index.htm

Disabling Power Management on Inspirion Laptops

Disabling power management on a Dell Inspiron computer is a two-step process.

First, disable APM in the BIOS.

Press F2 while booting to enter the BIOS setup.
Switch to the Power tab using the right arrow.
Change the Power Management Mode to Disabled.
Save and Exit the BIOS setup.

Then disable APM in Windows 2000.

Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel.
Open the Power Options control panel.
In the drop-down Power Schemes list, chose Always on.

Note: The Standby option will continue to be available in the Shut Down Windows dialog.



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