Optional Second Microprocessor - HP X Class 500/550MHz Reference Manual

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Optional Second Microprocessor

HP V Personal Workstations have dual processing capability. Installing a second
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processor is only advantageous when the software can make use of parallel activity. In
particular, you need to be running a multi-threaded operating system that supports
multiprocessing (one that is MPS-ready), such as Windows NT. The Windows NT operating
system makes the best use of the Pentium III's 32-bit architecture (though other operating
systems will also show some benefit if 32-bit application programs are run).
The following table summarizes the supported operating systems:
Table 2-6. Summary of Supported Operating Systems
Multi-threaded
MPS-ready
32-bit operating system
32-bit applications available
1. 32-bit operation at the outermost levels, but only 16-bit working internally.
The two processors must be operating at the same processor speed, and both, or neither,
must support the processor internal ECC functionality.
Configuring Setup for Multi-Processing
HP V Personal Workstations support Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP). When
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adding a second processor, you must ensure that: (a) the "multi-processing" choice has
been made in the system Setup; (b) the operating system supports multi-processors.
In the case of Windows NT, it might be necessary to perform an upgrade from the MPS
uniprocessor to the MPS multi-processor version.
NOTE The system Setup allows a choice between "mono or multi-processing"
operations. The "mono-processing" mode has been implemented in order to
support operating systems that rely on the "legacy" interrupt controller
82C59 and are not aware of I/O APIC controller 820093AA operation. Refer to
the section "Interrupt Controllers" in the chapter "HP BIOS" for further
details.
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Windows NT 4.0 (or greater)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Windows 95 and Windows 98
Yes
No
1
Partial
Yes
Chapter 2