X9DR7-TF+ issues

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mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
23
1
3
Hi. I am doing a new NAS build with a supermicro X9DR7-TF+ motherboard in a SC846 case with two 1200W gold PSUs and a E5-2609 CPU in socket 1, and 4x8GB of ECC DDR3 1600 memory installed in the proper slots.

Everything looks good, but the board won't POST and output any video after power on. The IPMI jack lights up and shows traffic, as do the LAN ports, and this is displayed on the front panel network lights. The fans spin up to high after a brief period of time, and I get a single short beep at start, which the manual says the board is ready to boot.

The IPMI doesn't appear to issue a DHCP ask, and IPMIview on a machine connected to the same LAN doesn't find it, but does find another supermicro motherboard in another server on the same network..

The only oddity is that the red SAS Fault LED is on, and even after I removed the cables to the builtin SAS2 expander, it stays on. What could cause this indication, and could it be related to the lack of video output? I can't find any documentation on why this LED should be red or what it means.

No PCIE cards are installed, and the system does the same thing whether or not a USB drive is present in the system.

I have a KVM switch hooked up to the system, but the port that is being used is the same port that was used before by a different system and it works fine. At boot, the KVM port blanks, and then goes back to idle, so I think something is connected.

I have pulled all but one RAM stick, and tried non-ecc sticks as well, but there is no change in behavior.

Anyone have any idea as to what's going on?

thanks!
Mike
 

abstractalgebra

Active Member
Dec 3, 2013
182
26
28
MA, USA
Hum, have you tried maximal simplification by removing every data cable from the motherboard and every power cable. Any electrically connected device could be the problem. Then only connect motherboard power. Now turning on any video or num lock light turning on and off on the keyboard? Try removing all RAM, does it beep? Still nothing then remove the motherboard from chassis to test as well.
 

mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
23
1
3
Thanks guys for the replies!

Yes, I pulled power and removed the battery to assure defaults were set in the BIOS. It should definitely be at defaults.

The only cables connected are the power cables, the front panel cable, the fans, and the chassis intrusion switch. No cards and no disks connected. I do have a usb kvm connected to the vga and usb connectors on the rear of the system.

I guess I can pull the front panel cable, but not sure how I turn it on with the power switch disconnected. The fans all power up and spin fine.

Do you think the BIOS can't recognize the E5-2609? It is a newer part than some of the E5 series, but it would seem odd that this is what happens because of a cpu mismatch. It's a real E5, not an engineering sample.

Also, I do get the short beep on power on. Which the manual says indicates it's ready to boot. Just no video and no IPMI.

Thanks again for the help!

Mike
 

MikeC

Member
Apr 27, 2013
59
11
8
UK
[
I seem to recall that some E5-2609's require the latest BIOS to be able to boot succcessfully. The way forward is to install an earlier version of a E5 chip which will allow the box to boot and then you can update the the BIOS and replace the original CPU.
See Supermicro | Products | Motherboards | Xeon® Boards | X9DR7-TF+
and the note on that page "Note † BIOS version 3.0 or above is required"

HTH
 

mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
23
1
3
MikeC, that makes sense. I have another CPU (An E5-2640) that should work. Will try that and report back!

Thanks!
 

mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
23
1
3
Well, I put in another CPU, and as predicted, the system came right up. The SAS fault was due to disks that the board had been using before that weren't there. Once that config was reset, the SAS fault LED went out.

So I upgraded to a the latest BIOS, that went fine. Then I pulled the plugs to the PSU's, and reset the CMOS. And then I put back not just 1 but two different E5-2609's. No go. Even with the most recent BIOS, this board will not POST with an E5-2609.

I did notice that once I configured the IPMI for DHCP, even with the E5-2609 in there, the IMPI worked fine. Apparently resetting the CMOS on the motherboard does not put the IPMI into DHCP mode. If you had the right authroization code, it looks like you could update the BIOS this way instead of with a different CPU.

Anyways, I had an extra E5-2640 I had allocated for a different project, but like the E5-2660, it works just fine. So I am sticking with it and will find a different use for the E5-2609s. Very odd.

Thanks everyone!
Mike
 

MikeC

Member
Apr 27, 2013
59
11
8
UK
You should be able to change DHCP to static IP addressing on the IPMI by logging into the box using the IPMI address with default username / passsword of ADMIN / ADMIN. You can then go to Configuration / Network
and set DHCP or static settings there.

HTH

Mike