BUILD Newbie Build - Suggestions/Critiques Welcome

[jnas]

So the BMC is working fine... I even updated its firmware in the hope that something good would happen. In addition I:

• reseated the CPU
• booted with and without memory
• removed and inserted the battery

Finally I just removed the whole thing from the case I tried it standalone... still not a peep. In the pic below the connections I have are:

24 pin power
4 pin power (one of two found on the Seasonic SSR-550RM)
VGA out
USB keyboard
IPMI / ethernet
heatsink fan
two DIMMs

Have I done something obviously wrong. If not then I'm trying to decide between:

• bad board
• bad power supply (SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM)
• bad or incompatible CPU (Core i3-4150 Haswell)
• bad or incompatible memory (Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600)

I bought everything from new egg with the exception of the power supply which I got from amazon. Pondering my next steps here

 

[Ericloewe]

First of all, the DIMMs aren't positioned correctly. It shouldn't be a problem, but you should populate either the blue or black sockets first (check the manual).

That processor is quite recent and may need a BIOS update to work. Check Supermicro's website (and hopefully there's a way to flash the BIOS without a CPU - some motherboards allow this).

If you have a multimeter handy, check the voltage on the CPU power connector (the 4 pin one). Since IPMI is somewhat working, it's getting power, so if it's related to the PSU, it's a bad cable. If you get 12V, the problem lies elsewhere.

 

[jnas]

I checked the 4 pin connectors (PS has two). For all 4 pairs I got 12.18V. Also I moved the DIMMs per your suggestion (had previously tried it a few ways, SuperMicro manual wasn't entirely clear) and no change. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to flash the BIOS without a working CPU as near as I can tell. I opened a ticket with SM support... I'll see what they come back with. Then I may end up RMAing the board to newegg.

 

[jnas]

I found one of the reviewers on newegg hitting basically the same problem. Though more specifically I also get the solid orange (power) and blinking green (BMC normal), while he says his board gets worse after "PWR contacts were connected" – maybe he means the 4 pin CPU power? My board seemed new– hopefully it isn't one of these 3 RMAs

Pros:Lots of features; out-of-band management is a great feature.
Cons: I have hard 3 boards, and can not get them to POST.

I'm on my third board AND processor: like others, this is paired with a Xeon E3-1230v3, 32GB RAM (Kingston KVR16E11K4/32, and a SeaSonic 400w PSU. However, each time, I will plug in these components (CPU, fans, RAM, PSU) - get solid LED4 orange light and green blinking management light. But when the PWR contacts were connected, the fans spun for about half a second, and then LED4 ("standby" light) started blinking slowly. That was it. No more life. Tested other PSUs, ultimately other CPUs.

Ultimately, I RMA'd this board, and actually ordered a second board AND processor for testing. These arrived and the exact same thing happened. When the RMA items arrived, I assembled those parts, and the same thing is happening.

I suspect that perhaps there have been newer Xeon models produced, and perhaps the board needs a BIOS update. SuperMicro had issues with their X9-series boards in the same way.

BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FLASH THE BIOS?

Supermicro support has been unhelpful thus far.

Then the PSU is turned on, all I get is a blinking orange/amber LE4/LED4 indicator - no matter what I do: new CMOS battery; erase CMOS; unplug all components and allow capacitors to drain for 6 days; unplug all components - try as I might, the board is dead.

The third one.

I even purchased an Intel Core i3 4th generation and placed it on this board -- same behavior. Once the first, initial half-second of life is used, orange blinky is its only behavior.
Other Thoughts: If others have had this issue and overcome it, please, PLEASE help me out! :) Many people swear by Supermicro and by these X10-series boards. I might too, if I could get it to work.

Did I mention that I have now tried 3 completely different boards and 3 completely different CPUs? And that this behavior occurs even when no RAM is installed?

 

[Ericloewe]

I found one of the reviewers on newegg hitting basically the same problem. Though more specifically I also get the solid orange (power) and blinking green (BMC normal), while he says his board gets worse after "PWR contacts were connected" – maybe he means the 4 pin CPU power? My board seemed new– hopefully it isn't one of these 3 RMAs

His problem involves older processors that wouldn't require a BIOS update... You most certainly do not want to disconnect any power cables with the system powered on, too.

 

[jnas]

His problem involves older processors that wouldn't require a BIOS update... You most certainly do not want to disconnect any power cables with the system powered on, too.

Right, I know not to do that (touch power cables when live). At this point I'm completely stalled, waiting for super micro to answer my ticket. If it needs a bios update then I may have to ship it back to them as I don't have another CPU to use for it.

 

[jnas]

I've heard nothing from SuperMicro yet. Newegg suggested I called Intel to check compatibility. On ark they don't list C222 as compatible:

http://ark.intel.com/products/77486/Intel-Core-i3-4150-Processor-3M-Cache-3_50-GHz#@compatibility

But SuperMicro says 4th gen Core i3 should be good:

Single socket H3 (LGA 1150) supports Intel® Xeon® E3-1200 v3, 4th gen. Core i3, Pentium, Celeron processors.

I'm trying to decide whether the board is bad, if it might need a BIOS upgrade, or if I just bought the wrong CPU...

 

[Ericloewe]

The CPU is theoretically compatible. Unless something is defective, all that is needed is the BIOS update.

 

[jnas]

Can someone suggest the cheapest CPU which is 100% compatible with this board, even with older firmware? My backup plan will be to just buy that if it will fix my problem (then I can flash it to use the i3 4150), since I've got about $1k in equipment idle now. My primary plan is either to RMA to SuperMicro for them to test and upgrade, or else pursue an RMA with Newegg.

 

[indy]

A Celeron G1820 should be the cheapest of the old Haswells.
You could sell it off on ebay afterwards and get away even cheaper.

 

[jnas]

So SuperMicro is going to cross-ship a replacement, presumably with an up-to-date BIOS– I requested that both in the original RMA request and also in the signed formed I faxed back. Hopefully this will resolve my issue :)

 

[solarisguy]

This is a list of CPUs compatible with an Intel server motherboard with C222
http://ark.intel.com/products/71385/#@compatibility

Your CPU is not on the list, but maybe you can buy one of the cheaper ones listed there.

 

[jnas]

This is a list of CPUs compatible with an Intel server motherboard with C222
http://ark.intel.com/products/71385/#@compatibility

Your CPU is not on the list, but maybe you can buy one of the cheaper ones listed there.

After consulting Newegg and Intel tech support the consensus is that the board should be compatible as long as I have latest BIOS. So I'm having SuperMicro cross ship me a replacement board. Hopefully that will work, else I'll have to see about swapping the CPUs. I honestly didn't realize the 4150 was so new when I ordered it. Apparently it was released just last month, so it's not too surprising that a BIOS upgrade would be required.

Here's something I got back from Intel:

Now, there is something very important to take in consideration, the Intel® Core™ i3-4150 Processor is part of the “Haswell refresh” processor models recently released. They are also known with the code name Devil’s Canyon. These processors use the same architecture of the first Haswell processors but they require a newer microcode in the motherboard BIOS to support them. If the motherboard model that you are using was released before 2014, as you said, it is possible that the board requires a BIOS update to add the support for Haswell refresh processors. My best recommendation is to contact Supermicro to confirm if this board is ready to support Haswell refresh (Devil’s Canyon) processors.

 

[jnas]

My saga continues. SuperMicro will cross-ship a replacement, but they are waiting to hear from their own tech support to confirm what BIOS is needed for i3-4150. So I just ordered a Pentium G3420 and am hoping it will work, and that I can then flash the board for the i3-4150. The G3420 is from 3Q13 so should be compatible with whatever BIOS is on that board now. If it doesn't work either then at least I'll know something else is the issue!

 

[tmsmith]

Currently watching this thread to see what hardware to get for my first FreeNAS box. Please keep us updated. Hope everything goes well.

 

[jnas]

Currently watching this thread to see what hardware to get for my first FreeNAS box. Please keep us updated. Hope everything goes well.

Thanks. The other CPU should arrive Tuesday so I plan to post an update then.

 

[tmsmith]

It looks like the OP CPU also got a small update:
OP - Xeon E3-1270V3
Refresh - Xeon E3-1271V3

Surprisingly it looks like the new CPU is $5 cheaper..

 

[jnas]

It's posting now with the older Pentium CPU. I just updated the BIOS– going to swap in the Haswell and see if it works or not ;)

One silly question– I'm having trouble reliably getting to the BIOS menu. When the system comes up it spends a while "initializing IPMI." Then it says "system initializing" then it beeps and I briefly see the BIOS screen. I hold down "delete" continuously but it rarely enters the setup menu. It seems like my keyboard isn't always recognized. I've tried several different USB ports. Any thoughts on getting into the BIOS setup reliably??

 

[solarisguy]

Did you try accessing through IPMI? Any better? Worse?

 

[danb35]

Once in the BIOS on my X9SCL, I can set a timeout for BIOS access. It defaults to 1 second, but can be set higher to make it easier to get in.