Cheap way to flash BIOS on X9SCM-F?

[Stephen2]

Hey all, got a good server hardware combination going, thanks to some good advice here.

Problem is the Ivy Bridge XEON won't boot on the X9SCM-F :( It needs a BIOS update, any ideas on cheap ways to get this done?

I mean, it probably comes down to buying the cheapest Sandy Bridge CPU, which one do you think?


Thanks everyone

 

[joeschmuck]

To be honest, before spending any money I would contact Supermicro and ask them. They may have a way that you could flash that on without having to use a different CPU. Things I'm thinking of include disabling in BIOS all advanced features of the CPU, or maybe there is a JTAG or similar connection you could use to force a BIOS flash. Of course the website does have upgrade instructions which do state that you need to use the earlier version to do the upgrade.

So as a test, with the v2 CPU installed, can you get to the BIOS screen? If so then I'd disable every advanced feature you could and then see if you can get the CPU to boot up. If you can then I'd try the BIOS update. That is just me and how I roll. I can't say that this would work, you may not get far at all. But again, for you, I'd contact Supermicro and ask them for a bit of help to see if there is an alternate way around it. Either that or find someone willing to let you gut their computer so you can borrow their CPU.

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

If you end up going that route, I think the E5-2609's are dirt cheap. They are in the $15-20 range on eBay.

 

[BigDave]

Does not come much cheaper than this...
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Intel-C...0&_nkw=lga+1155+cpu&_from=R40&rt=nc&_dcat=164

 

[joeschmuck]

Does not come much cheaper than this...
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Intel-Celeron-G1610T-2-3GHz-2-Core-HD-Graphics-LGA1155-35-W/283014587834?hash=item41e4fbe5ba:g:lGoAAOSwbm9bKJGb&_sacat=0&_nkw=lga+1155+cpu&_from=R40&rt=nc&_dcat=164

Agreed!

 

[danb35]

I think the E5-2609's are dirt cheap.

...but won't fit on a Socket 1155 board.

 

[joeschmuck]

...but won't fit on a Socket 1155 board.

Why not?, looks like the CPU image is version B4 and I thought these are compatible. Please be specific, this is a learning experience for me and I actually enjoy them.

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

...but won't fit on a Socket 1155 board.

That may be my bad. I assumed (oops) from the description that he was talking about E5 versus E5 v2 ones like the ones I am using. Sorry if I lead anyone astray.

 

[danb35]

Why not?

The X9SCM is a Socket 1155 board; the E5-2609 is a Socket 2011 chip.

 

[Inxsible]

Does your board have the option to update via IPMI? If so, you can do that without a CPU. Supermicro does charge for a "license" fee in order to allow BIOS upgrade via IPMI, but you might get lucky and Supermicro may give you one if you ask nicely.

 

[Stephen2]

Thanks everyone! The Pentium link inspired me, found a G620 for $8 shipped :)

Though that whole update via IPMI was intriguing, it led me down a rabbit hole of too much investigation and licensing, and I decided to just spend the cash.

 

[Johnnie Black]

X9SCM doesn't support bios update using IPMI, getting an older CPU is your only option

 

[charlie89]

Are you sure it doesn't support bios update using IMPI?
I recently got a X9DRi-F board and an E5-2690v2 CPU and had the same issue, bios too old to recognize the cpu.
Going into the bios was not possible and even the IPMI webinterface got stuck after powering it on.
So i downloaded the newest IPMI version and upgraded it through the IPMI webinterface, which then enabled the BIOS update option.
After 2 hours of searching the internet (cause it was on a sunday and i didnt want to wait either for the required license key or an E5 v1 cpu) i found a site where you could very easy calculate the license key with the boards mac address (i wont publicly name the site here ) (oh and i personally hate every license restriction, i mean i bought this thing and now you tell me i cant use it? ).
From there on i just simply flashed the bios through the IPMI webinterface and everything worked just fine after that :)

 

[Johnnie Black]

Are you sure it doesn't support bios update using IMPI?

Yes, it's not an option even using the latest IPMI firmware.

 

[joeschmuck]

The X9SCM is a Socket 1155 board; the E5-2609 is a Socket 2011 chip.

Ah, an earlier posting. I was thinking you were referencing this posting...

Does not come much cheaper than this...
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Intel-Celeron-G1610T-2-3GHz-2-Core-HD-Graphics-LGA1155-35-W/283014587834?hash=item41e4fbe5ba:g:lGoAAOSwbm9bKJGb&_sacat=0&_nkw=lga+1155+cpu&_from=R40&rt=nc&_dcat=164