Booting X10SLM

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

rjoancea

New Member
Apr 28, 2015
19
2
3
38
So, feeling pretty slow here but figured I'd ask for thoughts.

Just recently got a X10SLM based system off eBay and went to start it up. While the IPMI port is hitting activity, IPMI is not pulling a DHCP address from anything I can see (assuming there's a static set), VGA does not produce anything (VGA jumper is enabled, but assuming it may have been configured or is default in bios), and I'm kind of stuck.

I've tried clearing CMOS to reset the bios with no luck, and gone as far as wiresharking the IPMI port to see if I could catch anything, but I'm not seeing anything obvious and I am relatively amateur with packet captures. Alternatively, not getting any post beeps at all, so maybe this is a separate issue - also don't have a console cable offhand to try that. Thoughts to help someone being a little slow today?
 
Last edited:

rjoancea

New Member
Apr 28, 2015
19
2
3
38
So as a follow-up, did pull the board and boot it on a test bed outside of chassis. Was able to plug an external graphics in (which didn't register itself) but somehow triggered the onboard vga to come online with half-garbled screens and only would occasionally post and get to a bios. Ironically, in the bios it stated bmc/ipmi firwmware status as 'not working.'

Checked socket pins and didn't see anything bent, but based on completely inconsistent behavior and oddities, thinking this is an issue that is easiest solved by passing on this hardware.
 

helsyeah

Active Member
Aug 22, 2015
111
30
28
43
I had a similar issue with one of its sister boards, the X10SLL-F. I was able to reset the BMC/IPMI using IPMICFG and it started behaving normally.

Not that this is your issue, but it might be worth a shot.
 

rjoancea

New Member
Apr 28, 2015
19
2
3
38
I had a similar issue with one of its sister boards, the X10SLL-F. I was able to reset the BMC/IPMI using IPMICFG and it started behaving normally.

Not that this is your issue, but it might be worth a shot.
Thanks for the thought, and may still try that out. That said, was planning on using this board for pfsense so I'm not sure how I feel about having "trust issues" with it.
 

fractal

Active Member
Jun 7, 2016
309
69
28
33
Does the X10SLM default to DHCP on the IPMI port? The bios on the X8/X9 boards I have suggest the IPMI address is static by default. I haven't actually connected them to see.

Google says that board wants unbuffered ecc ddr3 memory. It probably won't do much with desktop memory.

I picked up a X9SCI-LN4F for an openstack network node and it sips just under 30 watts idle with a G2020T and a bit of memory. My dual core atom pfSense box draws just under that and struggles to route more than about 700 mbps. Google says it is an issue with those boards. I am thinking of picking up another X9SCI-LN4F for a pfSense box. A little more power for a lot more oomph. The usage of this box is an internal router to create a separate PXE DHCP domain for those who are wondering why I am bothered by 700 mbps ;)

Let us know how much power you are drawing from the wall when you get your X10SLM up running pfSense.