SuperMicro X9 E3 boards - December 31, 2020 BIOS bug

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Neccros

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Jun 22, 2018
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Well the last BIOS was updated in 2018.... Obviously they still support the board. This is a isolated bug that's probably easily fixed.
 

Sean Ho

seanho.com
Nov 19, 2019
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Good morning, I am new to the forum even though I have been following you for a long time. Sorry for the translation, but I don't speak English. I have three x9sci-ln4f boards with the AB problem, one that I have with the freenas working fine. I have done some tests 1. Set BIOS clock to date before 2021 result after system boot, next reboot follows problem AB 2. With a live ubuntu program, the hardware clock with hwclock. Result of restarting problem AB. 3. Remove the BIOS stack. Result on restarting problem AB From the tests performed, the only way to enter BIOS is to restore cmos. Shared BIOS here is not supported by x9sci-ln4f Hope supermicro will update BIOS for all X9 boards; otherwise i will not buy supermicro again
I empathise with your frustration; it can be stressful to encounter a new bug like this in hardware that's been successfully running for a long time. First, note that the user reports we've seen only indicate issues with entering BIOS setup, not normal system boot. From your description, it sounds like you are able to boot Ubuntu, so you are at least still able to boot and use the system normally, yes?

Secondly, note that usually there are (at least) three clocks in use: BIOS RTC, system time (in the OS), and BMC/IPMI clock. BMC and the OS usually read time from BIOS RTC when they start up, and subsequently sync to NTP. They can then optionally sync back to the RTC. Perhaps this is what you're seeing in #2? After running `hwclock` in Ubuntu, if Ubuntu's own clock is still current in 2021, then when it does a graceful reboot, it'll sync the 2021 date back to the RTC. You could either additionally backdate the OS clock (e.g., `hwclock -s`), or disable the automatic RTC sync when Ubuntu shuts down, or do a hard reboot instead of a graceful one, or boot into a rescue disk that doesn't touch the RTC. Also remember to disable ntpd/timesyncd so that it won't sync to NTP again and undo your work.

All of this is only needed whenever you need to enter BIOS setup, not for regular boot. And yes, CMOS clear also works.
 
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Dgarsan

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Jan 5, 2021
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Good morning, thanks for the reply. If I am frustrated, I have three teams with supermicro x9sci-ln4f running, two with freenas distributions and one with ubuntu server, the systems work fine, I just can't get into the BIOS. From what I have been able to observe with hwclock-show, the rtc bios clock is synchronized with the system clock, so when restarting the bios it cannot be accessed, I have tried to change the system clock to an earlier date but I have not been successful. I have also tried ipmi without any success at the moment the only thing that has helped me is resetting cmos to enter bios. The funny thing is that the changes I make in the BIOS even though I can't access are executed normally
 

Smiles79

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Jan 11, 2021
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Commenting so I'm aware of the fix.

I just started building a server with an X9SCL last night. Thought I bricked the motherboard when I get the blue screen and "AB" in the corner. I inadvertently found the workaround of clearing the CMOS, but I was able to get into the BIOS this morning.

I don't have an OS installed yet, will the board recognize my USB drive with the iso on it when it's trying to boot up, without me going into the BIOS to change the boot order?
 

Neccros

New Member
Jun 22, 2018
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Commenting so I'm aware of the fix.

I just started building a server with an X9SCL last night. Thought I bricked the motherboard when I get the blue screen and "AB" in the corner. I inadvertently found the workaround of clearing the CMOS, but I was able to get into the BIOS this morning.

I don't have an OS installed yet, will the board recognize my USB drive with the iso on it when it's trying to boot up, without me going into the BIOS to change the boot order?
You should be able to access the boot menu (F11) and boot that way... But if you need to change the boot order for normal use, then you will need to clear the CMOS
 
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x9dr3user

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Jan 11, 2021
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Hi there, has anyone been able to replicate this issue on an X9DR3i-F board? I'd forgotten about this forum post until I rebooted for the first time this year today, but I'm getting code b2 and a black background screen rather than the blue described by others. I found this posting that seems like the same issue, but because this board is almost certainly impacted by the bug listed in this thread, I thought I'd ask and see if it should be the same issue as others have had here or if I should just follow the guide I linked. Thanks :)

Edit to note: I've tried clearing CMOS several times, and no success/change in behavior (which makes me more convinced that it's the standard b2 error rather than this thread's ab error)
 
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Rychek

New Member
Jul 28, 2020
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I ran into this issue two nights ago on my home server. I thought I had killed my X9SCM-F while trying to install ESXi. After muddling around and multiple CMOS clears, I put everything back to way it was before I started tinkering until the final parts for my new server arrive later this week. I'm very glad to hear that SM is going to release a fix.
 

webjunkie

Member
Mar 17, 2016
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Hi there, has anyone been able to replicate this issue on an X9DR3i-F board? I'd forgotten about this forum post until I rebooted for the first time this year today, but I'm getting code b2 and a black background screen rather than the blue described by others. I found this posting that seems like the same issue, but because this board is almost certainly impacted by the bug listed in this thread, I thought I'd ask and see if it should be the same issue as others have had here or if I should just follow the guide I linked. Thanks :)

Edit to note: I've tried clearing CMOS several times, and no success/change in behavior (which makes me more convinced that it's the standard b2 error rather than this thread's ab error)
No - this is not the same issue. We have many of the X9DRi/X9DR3 and similar boards with no issues. Only the Xeon E3v1/v2 CPU-based boards are impacted.
 

rjkbj

New Member
Jan 14, 2021
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Frustrating. Glad I found this forum! Changed the date using Ubuntu from a USB and it was fine. Looks like there is now a fix for my 3 boards. X9SCL-F with E3's.
 

webjunkie

Member
Mar 17, 2016
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I heard back from SuperMicro. They posted updates for X9SCL-F, X9SCL+-F, X9SCI-LN4F, X9SCA-F, X9SCM-F today on the SuperMicro site. I have asked about the X9SCM-iiF and the Microcloud nodes.
 

Neccros

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Jun 22, 2018
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I heard back from SuperMicro. They posted updates for X9SCL-F, X9SCL+-F, X9SCI-LN4F, X9SCA-F, X9SCM-F today on the SuperMicro site. I have asked about the X9SCM-iiF and the Microcloud nodes.
Yeah I mentioned the BIOS was up yesterday
 

webjunkie

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Mar 17, 2016
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SuperMicro replied that they are expecting the X9SCM-iiF and Microcloud boards to be updated by January 22.
 

webjunkie

Member
Mar 17, 2016
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what's the -iiF on that model mean? I never understood their model numbering
It's a very similar board to the X9SCM-F, but it has different network adapters.

X9SCM-F has one Intel® 82579LM NIC and one 82574L NIC
X9SCM-iiF has dual Intel® 82574L NICs
 

artlessknave

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Mar 16, 2017
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it looks like x9spu is included as well, mine sits at a blue AB screen from the end of time :eek:
 
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