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Intel Recalls New Chipset-Based Motherboards

VD writes "Intel Corp., world's largest chip maker, has made a serious mistake, which led the chip giant to recall its recently launched 925 and 915 chipset based motherboards. Intel reported the problem to be with the ICH6 and requested that motherboard makers recall their motherboards from the channel. The chip maker has agreed to pay compensation to motherboard makers for the losses." There's also a Reuters story as well.

34 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. Ouch! by TheGavster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, Rueter's made it sound like no big deal, but I think its a bit of a confidence killer. Looks how issues with a small subset of a product seem to taint it for life: overheating/crushable AMDs, P4s need super-expensive RAM, GeFroceFXs require a leafblower, etc. Release bugs seem to follow computer parts in spirit well after the flaw is corrected.

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    1. Re:Ouch! by JAFSlashdotter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But a quick, well handled recall is 1000% better than deny, deny, deny, deny... oh? oh yeah! we do have a problem!

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    2. Re:Ouch! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What's interesting is that this comes on the heels of what could've been a PR mess for AMD. The Opteron errata are unlikely to be hit by compiler-generated code, and AMD's taken the appropriate countermeasures (the mentioned BIOS patching, and alerting the world so compiler vendors and so on can test for the cases), but I was expecting Intel backers to try to play it up on par with the FDIV bug. (It isn't, if you're too lazy to read the link.)

      Instead, not only do we get this Intel oops (which actually isn't a bad one, if it only entails eating CMOS batteries quick... my old Nx586 system -- remember NexGen? -- used to go through one every few months before I gave up and built an external AA pack for it)... but we get this Intel oops distracting the attention from more serious issues in the next Pentium 4. Bugs that, when you think about it, are a bit more worrisome for not being easily fixed in software.

      Sorry, Intel, looks like this round goes well in favor of AMD.

  2. Foolish AMD quote by bender647 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Sources close to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stated that AMD will most likely benefit from this recall as it will gain trust from more consumers.

    In general, a mistake by one competitor does not give me more trust in another. Less trust in the former, yes.

    1. Re:Foolish AMD quote by shird · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well to be honest I put more trust in Intel after this incident. Afterall, they were quick to admit their mistake, and are prepared to compensate the manufacturers for any loss.

      Id have a lot less trust if they tried to deny it for ages, until theyre eventually forced to admit the mistake and then not want to compensate people for their losses.

      Of course, with the problem being that the motherboards prevent booting, I suspect its not something they could hide for long - so they really didnt have much choice.

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    2. Re:Foolish AMD quote by luna69 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Granted, but considering AMD's excellent new socket 939-based CPUs, I think that they will see a strong synergistic effect here, with some public doubt about Intel steering the fence-sitters toward Athlon 64 and 64 FX solutions.

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    3. Re:Foolish AMD quote by SoTuA · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Id have a lot less trust if they tried to deny it for ages, until theyre eventually forced to admit the mistake and then not want to compensate people for their losses.

      Yeah, that rocks. Maybe they learned something from the 585.98234587264872642348725462532 fiasco...

  3. Costs by mfh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The customer is going to pay for Intel's mistake, in many ways. They will have to foot the bill for it, and they will be without computers for a while, unless they have their old systems. How many of you keep old systems lying around? I've got a backup system on hand, but it certainly hurts to have to use it!

    Customers will think twice before being early adopters for Intel, and that is when prices go up.

    --
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    1. Re:Costs by kunudo · · Score: 2

      How many of you keep old systems lying around?

      I would suspect that many here do, some would say to excess... I have 4 computers and spare parts enough for another 4 lying around in closets and boxes... :)

    2. Re:Costs by mfh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think it's the news that hurts most. News is picked up and spread like word of mouth. Early adopters will hold off until they hear good news from a source they trust. Early adopters fund new projects by quickly infusing cash into the company; they get the ball rolling early on in sales, and that means they are critical to sales and research. Intel will feel it, even if just a little.

      --
      The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  4. Its clear that... by ankit · · Score: 5, Funny

    This time A times B times C equaled more than the cost of a recall.

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  5. Intel rushed.... by Yenhsrav_Keviv · · Score: 4, Interesting

    it seems like everytime AMD puts pressure on Intel, Intel rushes and screws up in some way, like this. The P3 1.13ghz comes to mind.

  6. Re:Imagine if the mistake was yours by kasperd · · Score: 4, Informative

    Right now, I wouldn't want to be in the pants of the engineer responsible for the gaffe...

    It is not necesarilly an engineer who is responsible for the mistake. It is not a design flaw, it is a flaw in the manufacturing process. Guess this could possibly have been caused by broken equipment, possibly careless handling.

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  7. We should be more surprised by Timesprout · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That this is not a more frequent occurence. Any company that pushes complex technology the way Intel does will always run the risk of this happening. Its no big deal, they are going to fix it and make reparation. From Intels point of view the most damaging part is the marketing boost AMD get from this.

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  8. So what's the problem? by no+longer+myself · · Score: 2, Funny
    From the article: The problem with ICH6 can even the cause the computer to not boot. Some motherboard makers reported the loss to be minimal while others reported it to be rather significant.

    Oh, lord... The comedic value to be had in that line alone...

    Were the ones who reported that loss to be "minimal" either Windows or Linux users? In any event, the inability to boot would certainly negate my ability to download that evil free stuff off the internet, so perhaps Intel just mistakenly released their DRM version ahead of schedule.

  9. Tom's Hardware link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    A little more info here:Intel Grantsdale Recall

  10. Bleeding Edge by Tx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You buy new shit, consider yourself a beta tester. Waiting a few months to let others find these problems has always seemed smart to me, and I really don't feel like I lose anything.

    --
    Oh no... it's the future.
  11. hardware vs software.. by sucati · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's ironic in that if Intel was a software (only) company, this probably wouldn't make a headline. If they were a software company, the customer would probably end up paying for the fix. You have to wonder what it would be like if software was developed and tested with the same rigor as hardware. Instead, software is often pushed out the door, chock full of bugs, and it's the customer who ultimately pays the price. Of course I'm generalizing, I understand there's plenty of quality software out there, but much more poor quality software. The obvious explanation is that software is of lesser quality because it can be; it can be patched, and with great efficiency these days via auto updates, whereas hardware doesn't afford the same benefit.

  12. NOT a big deal by Egekrusher2K · · Score: 5, Informative

    For one thing, this news is 2 days old now. Thanks for staying current. :rolleyes: For another, this is not a design flaw, it was a manufacturing flaw- a thin film substrate wasn't completely removed from the chipset before the chips were sent out to the mobo manufacturers, and they believe that the "recall" will only affect, at most, 1000 motherboards. Lastly, there are no video cards available on the market that can be used on these motherboards, as they can use ONLY PCI Express video cards, not AGP. Therefore, virtually noone can even use the boards yet. Early adopters? I doubt if there are any yet. Oh yeah, one last thing- I'd like to know what manufacturer doesn't use chipset based motherboards???? The poster of this article sounds like he was just trying to raise a ruckus, without even being informed about the issue.

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    1. Re:NOT a big deal by ForceOfWill · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Oh yeah, one last thing- I'd like to know what manufacturer doesn't use chipset based motherboards????

      It was probably meant to be parsed "((new chipset)-based) motherboards", not "new (chipset-based) motherboards". English needs explicit scoping ;-)
      --

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  13. Re:Intentions? by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We all know that Intel puts all their equipment through a strong Quality Assurance check. They run tests on computer equipment that others in manufacturing envy.

    The first line you wrote pretty much negates all the drivel that follows it. You obviously have absolutely no idea how a manufacturing process works.

    Intel needs to restructure their company.

    Yes because they have been such a consistently pathetic failure over the last 10- 15 years.

    all innovation in the CPU industry is put on hold until the market demands updates in speeds

    The market constantly demands increases in speed as enterprise applications become more sophisticated and complex.

    before we find an accounting error trying to sustain a broken company

    One of the dumbest comments I have ever seen on /. Intel have been in a dream position for the last 20 years to make shedloads of money. They have consistently produced high quality minor engineering miracles used by 100's of millions of people daily. You try design and build a CPU rather than spout mindless, unsubstantiated drivel.

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  14. Re:ICH6? by builderbob_nz · · Score: 5, Informative

    ICH6 = Intel I/o Controller Hub 6. Basically it is the south bridge for Intel's new chipset.

    --

    Karma? Hey I just call it as I see it.
  15. Re:Intel rushed....but got it right by mcbridematt · · Score: 3, Informative

    He's referring to the earlier attempt to push Coppermine to 1.13GHz, which failed miserably.

  16. Re:Déja vù? by fontkick · · Score: 2, Informative

    The earliest releases of Apple's G3 233/266 motherboard had one component that would cause the motherboard to fail when faster processors were added (the Royal Technology brand voltage regulator module). I don't believe Apple ever issued a recall for this. There are also tons of reports of iBook motherboard failures, which Apple is recalling. They even have a link to this problem on the main page of their website.

    There is practically no reason for the average (or above average) user to use PPC architecture when AMD is readily available, cheap, and fast.

  17. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  18. Chipset-based motherboards?! by MagPulse · · Score: 2, Funny

    Good thing I'm still using my chipset-less motherboard. It's just a bus!

  19. Now we know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Intel inside stickers are warnings! :)

  20. required actions don't demonstrate trustworthiness by sacrilicious · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Well to be honest I put more trust in Intel after this incident. Afterall, they were quick to admit their mistake, and are prepared to compensate the manufacturers for any loss.

    Of course, with the problem being that the motherboards prevent booting, I suspect its not something they could hide for long - so they really didnt have much choice.

    I find the second point above weightier than the first. Intel was going to be found out about this rather quickly, so the best thing they could do for their own PR and their own bottom line was to neutralize this asap. IMO this doesn't really warrant "trust". They can't be counted on to avoid such huge mistakes to start with, nor is this evidence that they place the needs of partners or consumers above their own. Trust is a warm and fuzzy concept that I'm uncomfortable bestowing in response to coldly calculated bottom-line-driven strategic reactions to PR disasters.

    What this demonstrates is soundness of strategy given that they find themselves in this pickle (of their own making) to start with. They've avoided the even bigger mistake of staying silent, and the redress they're offering to mobo manufacturers is likely to minimize the damage to their relationships with these parties.

    --
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  21. Re:What's actually wrong with ICH6? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    A small piece of foil which was supposed to have been removed during manufacturing may not actually have been removed. If it has not been removed, it will cause a short which will drain the CMOS battery, which will mess up BIOS configuration and halt the Real Time Clock.

  22. Once again, well done intel by Bram+Stolk · · Score: 2, Informative

    I applaud Intel for the callback.
    I remember that they replaced my Pentium processor
    when it had the F00F bug in it.

    This was handled very well, even though I am in
    Europe, a new processor was delivered via courier,
    and I had to return the old one at the arrival of
    the replacement, so I had no large downtime.

    They did the right thing then, although at first
    they claimed that only science users should get a
    replacement, and private owners wouldnt notice
    the bug. After a storm of complaints they did the
    right thing, and now they do the right thing again.

    Bram

    --
    Bram Stolk http://stolk.org/tlctc/
  23. Foiled again! by gibbled · · Score: 2, Informative

    from http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20040625_1105 02.html

    According to spokesperson Christian Anderka, a piece of foil which should have been removed from the ICH6 was not removed completely which could result in leakage current in the Real Time Clock circuit and potentially stop a motherboard from booting.

  24. Re:Imagine if the mistake was yours by Alan+Cox · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do you want the head of
    - The engineer who made the original mistake
    - The document writer who may have caused it
    - The manager who failed to do enough checking
    - The QA people for missing it

    and so it goes on.

    Kudos to Intel for simply saying "We screwed up" and recalling products. They seem to have learned much from the old Pentium FPU errata handling.

  25. Re:Drat by idealego · · Score: 2, Insightful

    CPU's don't make noise - fans do and Intel CPU's produce more heat then AMD's so you need a higher capacity cooler while using an Intel CPU. If your setup is noisy that's because the fans used on it are noisy and you can always replace them.

  26. Re:Imagine if the mistake was yours by Al+Al+Cool+J · · Score: 2, Funny
    I wouldn't want to be in the pants of the engineer responsible for the gaffe
    I can safely say that there are very few engineers whose pants I'd like to get into.