Hi everybody. As a novice can anybody assist. I foolishly damaged the pins on the CPU which I had in the PC, while cleaning the fan so I bought a new CPU and installed it. Now it starts POST sequence and stops at "Unknown processor. Contact for BIOS updates. Fatal error". I thought I had bought the same CPU as was in there - AMD64 2800 - so should have been like for like replacement. It seems not, so I have to flash the BIOS. I believe I have the right BIOS from ASRock website. Slightly confused though as sales order from where I bought the PC in 2004 says BIOS manufacturer is AT/AT compatible. BIOS version is AMI-9000417.PNP BIOS version 1.0 The problem is I think I had previously changed boot sequence to CD first, rather than floppy, and I cannot get this beast to boot. I have been to several sites today and made several bootable CDs, all to no avail. I have tried Control & F2 which forces to the floppy - is that right? Can't make it work. I have ASROCK MOBO K8UPG Micro ATX FSB socket 754. Anybody got any ideas? Keep it simple though please! Thanks Nigel

How do you damage pins by cleaning a fan? There's got to be more to the story..... There are a few different versions of the desktop A64 2800+, but any one of them *should* be recognized by your current BIOS. Could it be that you bought a 2800+ mobile/laptop CPU rather than the desktop model? The CPU model information is printed right on top of the CPU...did you compare them before you installed it? A mobile CPU would be identified as "unknown processor" because the correct CPU data wouldn't be programmed into a desktop BIOS. The "unknown processor" issue was a common complaint when installing a mobile Athlon XP CPU in a desktop system. Your board has gone thru numerous BIOS revisions, but looking at the list, I see no reason in the descriptions to flash beyond version 1.30 UNLESS you're using the S939 or AM2 upgrade card. http://www.asrock.com/support/downl... Have you ever flashed a BIOS before? Do it incorrectly & your board will be rendered completely useless. I suggest you take another look at the new CPU to find out exactly what it is BEFORE doing anything else.

Thanks. Yes, there is more too this story, but it's not strictly relevant. The PC was shutting down regularly so I guessed it was a heat problem. I had never done this before but I was going to add more thermal paste, so I unclipped the fan from the CPU holder which of course pulled out the CPU with it. By this time I could see a thick layer of dust under the fan and realised this was the problem, but not realising how crucial the pins alignment were I bent some putting it back - and broke some off trying to straighten them. So much, so stupid. Anyway, I'll have another look at the CPU, but how do you tell whether it's mobile or not? It just says AMD64 2800

i say dump the whole project and go with a core 2 duo and good asus mobo! amd is dead and so slow how can u even use it!

You can always go to AMD's site and reference the numbers on the CPU. Search Engines Are Your Friends ☺ Morpheus: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. "The Matrix"