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Lenovo Thinkcentre/ThinkStation Tiny (Project TinyMiniMicro) Reference Thread

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Occamsrazor

Member
Feb 23, 2018
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The 2x and 4x 1GbE options are the standard (in some parts of the world!) add-in PCIe cards.
On Lenovo UK I don't see any way to order any kind of module at all. I don't know why these manufacturers (Intel is the same with the Dual-LAN modules on their latest NUCs) don't just sell these separately.... on their own site, on Amazon etc.
 

nimik

New Member
Jan 4, 2022
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I've got some new information on riser compatibility with the P360. Apparently only the new x4 riser (FRU 5C50W00909) will work with add-in NICs. I'm not sure why, but the x16 riser that comes with the system when you get a GPU (FRU 5C50W00910) doesn't work. I tried installing an I350-T4 with that and it's just not detected at all. I asked Lenovo support about it in this thread and they got the same results when testing. They've also confirmed that the older P340/P350 risers aren't compatible with the P360.

Unfortunately the new x4 riser doesn't seem to be stocked anywhere at the moment as far as I can see. So for anyone looking to get the P360 and add a NIC, it might be better to wait until that's available, or order it from Lenovo with an I350-T4 preinstalled.

@Parallax it might be worth adding this info on riser compatibility to the first post, since I imagine somebody else might run into the same problem otherwise.
I'm running two P360 Tiny's with Supermicro AOC-STGN-i2S NICs on x16 risers without issue, FWIW. With 3D printed baffles thanks to this thread.
 

Parallax

Active Member
Nov 8, 2020
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London, UK
On Lenovo UK I don't see any way to order any kind of module at all. I don't know why these manufacturers (Intel is the same with the Dual-LAN modules on their latest NUCs) don't just sell these separately.... on their own site, on Amazon etc.
Complain to the Lenovo EU product manager. ;)
 

Vorwrath

Member
Feb 24, 2020
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On Lenovo UK I don't see any way to order any kind of module at all. I don't know why these manufacturers (Intel is the same with the Dual-LAN modules on their latest NUCs) don't just sell these separately.... on their own site, on Amazon etc.
You can add the I350-T4 from the "Build your own" page for the P360 Tiny on Lenovo's UK site. It's a £160 option from them (under the "Networking" section). It's a bit confusing, since you have to pick one of the base models that doesn't come with a GPU in order for it to show up. At least for this generation, the ones with "T" series processors always seem to come with a GPU, so it appears you can't spec those with a NIC.

Those custom orders usually take forever to ship, but it might be the only option at the moment if you want the I350-T4, since that x4 riser previously discussed doesn't currently seem to be available elsewhere.
 

Vorwrath

Member
Feb 24, 2020
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I'm running two P360 Tiny's with Supermicro AOC-STGN-i2S NICs on x16 risers without issue, FWIW. With 3D printed baffles thanks to this thread.
Hmm, that's interesting. Maybe it's just the I350-T4 specifically that doesn't work then. I don't really understand why that would be - hopefully Lenovo will reply to Parallax's post in the thread on their forums with some more information on the reason.
 

Numbernine

New Member
Oct 17, 2022
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Hello all!

I've been working on a small homelab using a few m720q units - firstly, let me say that this thread has been super helpful, so thanks to everyone that has contributed!

I decided to add a second NVME drive to my m720q using one of these adapters which works perfectly fine - I'm wondering if anyone else has done this and did have you figured out a way to "mount" the drive and adapter inside the case so that it doesn't move around inside? Ideas and suggestions welcomed.
 

Phenic

Member
Mar 17, 2015
45
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Hello all!

I've been working on a small homelab using a few m720q units - firstly, let me say that this thread has been super helpful, so thanks to everyone that has contributed!

I decided to add a second NVME drive to my m720q using one of these adapters which works perfectly fine - I'm wondering if anyone else has done this and did have you figured out a way to "mount" the drive and adapter inside the case so that it doesn't move around inside? Ideas and suggestions welcomed.
Interesting. I didn't know that slot could recognise a nvme ssd.

Perhaps you can look at a 2230 nvme that would fit in that slot so an adapter isn't needed. If not, double sided tape to the top of the case?
 

joeribl

Active Member
Jun 6, 2021
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Interesting. I didn't know that slot could recognise a nvme ssd.

Perhaps you can look at a 2230 nvme that would fit in that slot so an adapter isn't needed. If not, double sided tape to the top of the case?
Even with a 2230, you still need an adapter to go from A+E to M key. But there is not enough space to put an adapter directly, that is why Numbernine used the adapter with the flex cable.
 

poulpor

New Member
Jul 1, 2022
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Southwest France
Interesting. I didn't know that slot could recognise a nvme ssd.

Perhaps you can look at a 2230 nvme that would fit in that slot so an adapter isn't needed. If not, double sided tape to the top of the case?
The M.2 Wifi port is just a pci express slot, so you can plug in any pci-e expansion cards: ssd NVMe, network, SATA controller, graphics card, etc...

@Numbernine, would be interesting to run a speedtest on your nvme because this port is, if I'm not wrong, a pci-e 3.0 x1, so it should go up to 0.985 GB/s. Regarding your lack of space problem, it's far from perfect but you could have bought an ADT-Link R54SF with a cable long enough (up to 100cm) to place the NVMe outside of the case.
 

Numbernine

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Oct 17, 2022
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@joeribl hit the nail on the head with regards to why I'm doing this. :) I was hoping to avoid just attaching it to the top of the case because I know I will forget and remove the lid with too much zeal at some point in the future.

@Numbernine, would be interesting to run a speedtest on your nvme because this port is, if I'm not wrong, a pci-e 3.0 x1, so it should go up to 0.985 GB/s.
I haven't run a real speed test (other than a quick hdparm -Tt to make sure it didn't burst into flames) but it seems fine so far but it definitely won't be winning any speed records. It also comes with the caveat that the BIOS won't let you use it as a boot drive but that's a solvable problem.

Regarding your lack of space problem, it's far from perfect but you could have bought an ADT-Link R54SF with a cable long enough (up to 100cm) to place the NVMe outside of the case.
Oof. That would've been a good solution. I looked everywhere for something like that and never found the ADT product before - clearly I wasn't searching for the right terms! If anyone has used the ADT product I'd love to hear their experiences.
 

poulpor

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Jul 1, 2022
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@joeribl hit the nail on the head with regards to why I'm doing this. :) I was hoping to avoid just attaching it to the top of the case because I know I will forget and remove the lid with too much zeal at some point in the future.


I haven't run a real speed test (other than a quick hdparm -Tt to make sure it didn't burst into flames) but it seems fine so far but it definitely won't be winning any speed records. It also comes with the caveat that the BIOS won't let you use it as a boot drive but that's a solvable problem.


Oof. That would've been a good solution. I looked everywhere for something like that and never found the ADT product before - clearly I wasn't searching for the right terms! If anyone has used the ADT product I'd love to hear their experiences.
Hi, as I explained briefly in this previous post, I'm currently using an ADT-Link R52SF (M.2 Wifi to pci-e 3.0 x1 slot) and in this one, I explained how I built an egpu for my M720q, thanks to an ADT-Link R23SG (pci-e x16 to egpu pci-e x4) so, yes, in my opinion, ADT-Link products are very good quality.
 
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Occamsrazor

Member
Feb 23, 2018
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I'm running two P360 Tiny's with Supermicro AOC-STGN-i2S NICs on x16 risers without issue, FWIW. With 3D printed baffles thanks to this thread.
Hi @nimik - could you confirm the exact spec of the P360 model & riser - was it a graphics card model and you are using the riser that came with that, the same as Vorwrath? Thanks.
 
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nimik

New Member
Jan 4, 2022
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Hi @nimik - could you confirm the exact spec of the P360 model & riser - was it a graphics card model and you are using the riser that came with that, the same as Vorwrath? Thanks.
Yes, I bought them with GPUs for the x16 risers (FRU 5C50W00910). The PCB says rev 1.1. No issues here

.IMG_E4196.JPG
 
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marmata75

New Member
Nov 9, 2022
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Hi all,
this is a great thread and learnt a lot of things. Unfortunately I can't discern one thing. IS the m720q ok for iGPU/PCIe Passthrough via proxmox? Does it have working VT-d implementation? It looks like the M920q is ok on that regards, but can't find a definitive answer for the little brother m720q! Going to pull the trigger to buy one just need this little confirmation, thanks!
 

adman_c

Active Member
Feb 14, 2016
257
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Chicago
Hi all,
this is a great thread and learnt a lot of things. Unfortunately I can't discern one thing. IS the m720q ok for iGPU/PCIe Passthrough via proxmox? Does it have working VT-d implementation? It looks like the M920q is ok on that regards, but can't find a definitive answer for the little brother m720q! Going to pull the trigger to buy one just need this little confirmation, thanks!
I haven't passed the iGPU in a m720q through to a VM, but I have had it working just fine for plex hw transcoding in a Proxmox LXC container. Not sure if that's helpful. FWIW, passthrough of other PCIE devices works just fine. I passed through a NIC for my pfsense VM before switching over to virtio for my pfsense networking.
 
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poulpor

New Member
Jul 1, 2022
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Southwest France
Hi all,
this is a great thread and learnt a lot of things. Unfortunately I can't discern one thing. IS the m720q ok for iGPU/PCIe Passthrough via proxmox? Does it have working VT-d implementation? It looks like the M920q is ok on that regards, but can't find a definitive answer for the little brother m720q! Going to pull the trigger to buy one just need this little confirmation, thanks!
VT-d option is present in Bios of the M720Q too, No problem for pci-e passthrough via Proxmox but regarding iGPU, it's not very stable and I can't recommend proxmox if you require this specific need. It's not an M720Q problem, iGPU passthrough is, from my knowledge, not very usable under proxmox. If you install a dedicated graphic card, it's another story and you'll get a stable solution. Other solution is to use proxmox LXC container, in this situation, iGPU works fine but I didn't like the idea.
That's the main reason I replaced proxmox by ESXi (on my M720Q), in which iGPU passthrough is working flawlessly (tested with OMV and xpeno, jellyfin hardware transcoding).
The free license is enough BUT, backup of VMs with passthrough peripherals is a pain in the *** and at the moment I didn't find a way to do so.

EDIT: the easiest way to backup an ESXi VM with passthrough peripherals and free license (aka without vCenter server), in my opinion, is to clone it. I followed this guide and it worked fine.
 
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marmata75

New Member
Nov 9, 2022
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I haven't passed the iGPU in a m720q through to a VM, but I have had it working just fine for plex hw transcoding in a Proxmox LXC container. Not sure if that's helpful. FWIW, passthrough of other PCIE devices works just fine. I passed through a NIC for my pfsense VM before switching over to virtio for my pfsense networking.
Thank you so much for this!
 

marmata75

New Member
Nov 9, 2022
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0
1
VT-d option is present in Bios of the M720Q too, No problem for pci-e passthrough via Proxmox but regarding iGPU, it's not very stable and I can't recommend proxmox if you require this specific need. It's not an M720Q problem, iGPU passthrough is, from my knowledge, not very usable under proxmox. If you install a dedicated graphic card, it's another story and you'll get a stable solution. Other solution is to use proxmox LXC container, in this situation, iGPU works fine but I didn't like the idea.
That's the main reason I replaced proxmox by ESXi (on my M720Q), in which iGPU passthrough is working flawlessly (tested with OMV and xpeno, jellyfin hardware transcoding).
The free license is enough BUT, backup of VMs with passthrough peripherals is a pain in the *** and at the moment I didn't find a way to do so.

EDIT: the easiest way to backup an ESXi VM with passthrough peripherals and free license (aka without vCenter server), in my opinion, is to clone it. I followed this guide and it worked fine.
Fantastic, going to pull the trigger on the purchase right now, thank you!