Planning my first NAS build. HDDs purchased, planning computer hardware.

[AND_YOU_ARE]

Looking at the Supermicro page for my motherboard, I read it as this board can support the Intel Xeon E3-1240 V6 Kaby Lake 3.7 GHz. Text from the Supermicro page: Single socket H4 (LGA 1151) supports Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v6/v5, Intel® 7th/6th Gen
https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C236_C232/X11SSH-F.cfm

So in that case, I dont see why I should not get the Xeon E3-1240 V6 Kaby Lake chip. Am I missing something?

Looking at the Supermico QVL for 16GB ram modules, is there any reason to pick one of the three brands over the other?
https://www.supermicro.com/support/...9&prid=84852&type=DDR4 1.2V&ecc=1&reg=0&fbd=0

 

[Chris Moore]

It might be a problem it the board you get doesn't have the latest firmware installed. I remember hearing of a situation where the board would not boot with the new revision CPU until the upgrade was done.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

I assume that the motherboard would be able to post and update the bios with the newer CPU installed? Or would I need an older CPU to just update the bios?

 

[Chris Moore]

I assume that the motherboard would be able to post and update the bios with the newer CPU installed? Or would I need an older CPU to just update the bios?

There are challenges associated with that. It may not be possible.

 

[Ericloewe]

Motherboards these days do not boot if the processor isn't supported by the system firmware. Presumably, the CPUs need substantial microcode updates to even work, which must be uploaded on boot.

You will need an older processor or an offline flasher (like the IPMI flasher) if this is your problem.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

Ive never heard of IPMI flashing before. After looking into it quickly, it doesnt sound like anything quick and simple. Does it require anything special or knowledge of something specific?

I dont like the idea of buying a chip that is supposed to be supported, but not fully supported and extra hoops have to be jumped through to get it working. I dont have spare Xeon chips lying around to use if it doesnt work, and I dont want to buy a second chip. I guess the conservative thing to do would be purchase the Xeon E3-1240 V5.

 

[Johnnie Black]

The board would need to be from very old stock to come with a bios not supporting Kabylake, since bios 2.0 supporting those CPUs was release almost a year ago, still it's a possibility.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

I bought the board back in December from Newegg. Is there any way to tell what bios is installed without having a cpu installed?

 

[MikeSuede]

I bought the board back in December from Newegg. Is there any way to tell what bios is installed without having a cpu installed?

I believe in most cases that the bios info can be found on the motherboard box. Other than that, I don’t know if it can be done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

Checking over the box of the motherboard, the only numbers I see is the model number of the MB and two bar codes with a series of numbers below each bar code. There are some labels on the motherboard that could be a bios version.

The motherboard has a stamp on it stating that its Rev 1.01. One label has an IPMI number (AC1F6B2FB505).

 

[Ericloewe]

IPMI works without a CPU and should tell you the BIOS version. Just power up the board.

 

[religiouslyconfused]

I have a X11SSM-F system that I have built months ago, and I have BIOS 2.0.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

Ive never used IPMI before. Is it pretty foolproof? Or is there a crash course or guide for using it?

 

[religiouslyconfused]

It is pretty easy to figure out. I use it in place of a monitor and keyboard. Mine initially had an older firmware that only could support Java, so I updated it to a newer version that can use either Java or a new HTML5 protocol called REDFISH. You can access it using an IP address and a login. It has a lot of interesting information. I use 2 ethernet ports (1 NAS, 1 IPMI), but you can have it work over just 1 ethernet. It is really cool! Installing FreeNAS over IPMI is pretty easy.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

I'll have to look into this IPMI more. I assume that the onboard VGA port on the motherboard wouldnt work because the Xeon processor doesnt have onboard video capabilities. I do have an old video card I could use. But I assume everything would have to be set up using the IPMI ethernet port, from installing the OS, to burning in the hardware, to setting up FreeNAS.

 

[danb35]

I assume that the onboard VGA port on the motherboard wouldnt work because the Xeon processor doesnt have onboard video capabilities.

You assume incorrectly.

 

[religiouslyconfused]

I'll have to look into this IPMI more. I assume that the onboard VGA port on the motherboard wouldnt work because the Xeon processor doesnt have onboard video capabilities. I do have an old video card I could use. But I assume everything would have to be set up using the IPMI ethernet port, from installing the OS, to burning in the hardware, to setting up FreeNAS.

IPMI chip (BMC) controls the VGA port.

 

[Chris Moore]

I'll have to look into this IPMI more. I assume that the onboard VGA port on the motherboard wouldnt work because the Xeon processor doesnt have onboard video capabilities. I do have an old video card I could use. But I assume everything would have to be set up using the IPMI ethernet port, from installing the OS, to burning in the hardware, to setting up FreeNAS.

Did someone here tell you that you needed a video card or a Xeon chip with embedded video? I don't think so.
One of the biggest reasons that Supermicro boards are suggested is the integrated (on board) video hardware. There is an actual VGA controller integrated on the system board in addition to the IPMI firmware and BMC.
The IPMI firmware creates a web page that you can navigate to where you can launch a KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) console and you can even mount a ISO file remotely as if it were plugged into a CD drive and connected to the system board by USB.

Yes, you need to learn about IPMI because it gives you all you need to manage the system remotely. In use, the system can be connected by a power cord and a network cord, and NOTHING else.

 

[Awc]

IPMI works without a CPU and should tell you the BIOS version. Just power up the board.

New X11SSM-F-0 arrived recently.
Wanted to know BIOS version on this new MBO before making decision to buy the Xeon E3 1240v6 Or i3-7320 CPUs

Tried connecting it to the ATX Corsair CX450M power supply connectors (both 24pins & 8pins) via JPWR1 & JPWR2 power connectors. Also connected power button connection to JF1 Pin 1 & 2.

My Observations:
1) IPMI LAN Link LED is on and activity LED is blinking
2) BMC Heartbeat LED is Blinking Green
3) On board PWR LED is OFF (no green light, totally no light)

Press the "On" button but nothing happens.

Also tried to turn it on via IPMI. Failed to turn on.

What's wrong? Is it a Dead Motherboard on Arrival (DOA) ?

Not sure what to do now...

 

[Chris Moore]

You just apply power to the board and IPMI comes on. You don't need to turn it on. You access the IPMI interface through the IPMI network connection using a web browser. Here is a YouTube video that might help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPv_ikws7A0