Gigabyte R180-F34 1U Server (2011-3) $94-109 + Shipping

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kfriis

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Apr 8, 2015
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Anyone else get the below error when trying to flash the 488.bin BMC file via the BMC GUI?

"Selected file is not valid for Embedded Management Software update.
Select valid file and click upload."

I grabbed the latest BMC firmware via Gigabyte here: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Firmware/server_firmware_ast2400.zip, but the 488.bin file as mentioned earlier is not working.
I did not want to deal with a very old browser to make this work, so I just booted a DOS-based USB stick and manually applied the 488.bin update using gigaflash.exe. Worked perfect.
 

danedeath

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Feb 21, 2021
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Default User?

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Sep 5, 2020
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Has anyone tried to use 3.5" SAS HDDs in this? Maybe using an adapter like this.
why would you need this?
In the r180 f34 servers U can use the stock caddy with sas or sata drives.
I am using a 4tb ironwolf Sata,500gb wd red sata, 1tb ssd sata connections.
The controller on the board is built to support 10 sata drives.

there's no need for an adapter unless you are testing a wd white labeled drive which has a pin that needs to be covered and even then a piece of electrical tape over the pin would work fine.

When I get my SAS drives in I will pop one in and see if it is noticed as well.
 

ptcfast2

Member
Feb 1, 2021
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The controller on the board is built to support 10 sata drives.

there's no need for an adapter unless you are testing a wd white labeled drive which has a pin that needs to be covered and even then a piece of electrical tape over the pin would work fine.
This is technically an enterprise server with an enterprise backplane. The white label drives work in this without a pin being covered - using some with this server as we speak.

The backplane supports both SATA and SAS drives. There's also two separate controllers - one supports 6 drives, one supports 4.
 

Firebug24k

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Apr 12, 2017
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This is technically an enterprise server with an enterprise backplane. The white label drives work in this without a pin being covered - using some with this server as we speak.

The backplane supports both SATA and SAS drives. There's also two separate controllers - one supports 6 drives, one supports 4.
Hm, I'll have to take another look at the way mine came wired, it did not recognize SAS drives, SATA only. Maybe I have to switch the ports the backplane is connected to or something.
 

eptesicus

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Jun 25, 2017
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Hm, I'll have to take another look at the way mine came wired, it did not recognize SAS drives, SATA only. Maybe I have to switch the ports the backplane is connected to or something.
The one SAS SSD I tried wasn't recognized either. I'll throw a spinning SAS drive in there later and see if I can't get it to show up too.
 

ptcfast2

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Feb 1, 2021
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Hm, I'll have to take another look at the way mine came wired, it did not recognize SAS drives, SATA only. Maybe I have to switch the ports the backplane is connected to or something.
The one SAS SSD I tried wasn't recognized either. I'll throw a spinning SAS drive in there later and see if I can't get it to show up too.
Oh no I meant the backplane can accept SAS drives based on the connector (looked at it with a flashlight). I think you might need a PCI-E HBA or RAID Controller to read them though. I don't think the onboard chipset can without that, but could be wrong. It's kind of weird.
 

kfriis

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Apr 8, 2015
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Oh no I meant the backplane can accept SAS drives based on the connector (looked at it with a flashlight). I think you might need a PCI-E HBA or RAID Controller to read them though. I don't think the onboard chipset can without that, but could be wrong. It's kind of weird.
I can confirm that the backplane works with SAS HDDs using a LSI 9271-8i RAID controller.

I asked if anyone had tried SAS HDDs in the server implying just using the onboard controller. It seems we do not have someone confirming that (yet).
 

eptesicus

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Jun 25, 2017
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I can confirm that the backplane works with SAS HDDs using a LSI 9271-8i RAID controller.

I asked if anyone had tried SAS HDDs in the server implying just using the onboard controller. It seems we do not have someone confirming that (yet).
I've tried SAS SSDs and SAS HDD's... None of them work with the onboard controller. That's a major bummer. I only have plans for a single CPU in these, but occupy both available PCI slots for CPU0 with NVMe and 10GbE... I guess I have to just not use SAS drives, or spend the money and power consumption on more CPUs to get an HBA in there...
 

Zalouma

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Aug 5, 2020
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@Zalouma - I have the exact Dual M.2 PCIE Adapter for SATA and NVMe you have linked above. Have you tried it or a similar adapter with just an NVMe drive (not SATA)? I have and the server/BIOS does not seem to recognize the NVMe drive. Is there some BIOS setting that needs to be changed? Wonder if this type of M.2 adapter only works with bifurcation, which I don't think this motherboard support.
Hi

I have It on 3 unit and on all 3 it would show, it would show under PCI though, it wont show under SATA... You can even use the NVMe as the boot drive
 

ptcfast2

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Feb 1, 2021
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I've tried SAS SSDs and SAS HDD's... None of them work with the onboard controller. That's a major bummer. I only have plans for a single CPU in these, but occupy both available PCI slots for CPU0 with NVMe and 10GbE... I guess I have to just not use SAS drives, or spend the money and power consumption on more CPUs to get an HBA in there...
Can't go wrong with the L series Xeons if you're after low power consumption! What are you running now?
 
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eptesicus

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Jun 25, 2017
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Can't go wrong with the L series Xeons if you're after low power consumption! What are you running now?
I got an E5-2640v3 in each server. I was bothered by the lower clock speed of the L CPUs and wanted to keep power consumption, heat, and noise down, so I opted for the single 2640. Luckily, I'm only planning on using SATA drives, but it would've been nice to use my 3.8TB SAS SSDs too, but I've been trying to sell them anyway.
 

eptesicus

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Jun 25, 2017
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The supermicro rails mentioned earlier in this thread work with holes being drilled, they are currently sold out.
I broke mine trying to put it back in the rack, going to try a shelf rack and see how that goes, may need wood. will update After.
So I ordered these. I cut the round tabs off the server, drilled holes in the rails, but was unable to get them to work. After fiddling with it for about 30 minutes, I realized I broke the guide with the bearings in it. It takes a miracle to get them aligned.

If anyone wants to try to get them to work, I have 3 non-broken, unmodified, sets of the SM rails that I'll sell for half what I bought them for. I guess I'll go the universal route.
 

Firebug24k

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Apr 12, 2017
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So I ordered these. I cut the round tabs off the server, drilled holes in the rails, but was unable to get them to work. After fiddling with it for about 30 minutes, I realized I broke the guide with the bearings in it. It takes a miracle to get them aligned.

If anyone wants to try to get them to work, I have 3 non-broken, unmodified, sets of the SM rails that I'll sell for half what I bought them for. I guess I'll go the universal route.
Wonder if you'd be better off drilling the holes into the server case.
 

ptcfast2

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Feb 1, 2021
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Got my 4th server in - this one came with processors still installed! :oops:

So...now I have 2x 2630 v3 destined for eBay @ $40 each! Two of the other servers came with LSI 9271-8i cards installed, which I was able to flip on eBay for $80 each. So, if my math is correct I ended up paying a little over $150 for 4 servers. I ain't mad. :D

Fun Fact: This 4th one came with different carriers than the others. Still fit just fine, just yellow instead of green and a slightly different design.
 

Firebug24k

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Apr 12, 2017
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Nice, I picked 5 (with no trays) but the boxes are all still in the garage until the weekend, maybe there will be a nice suprise in there for me. My other one I bought from the first batch came with a dual 10GB SFP+ card installed.
 
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eptesicus

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Jun 25, 2017
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Wonder if you'd be better off drilling the holes into the server case.
The holes aren't the problem. It's the rails themselves. They are designed for a shallow depth server it appears. The roller guides in the outer rail is also not of great quality compared to the Cisco and Dell rails I'm used to.