Discrete graphics disables IPMI

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

denywinarto

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
238
29
28
40
Specs, nothing fancy, just my home server :

SuperMicro X11SCL-IF + i5-8400 + RTX 2070 mini

The issue is after moving the server to 2nd floor (don't want cables around toddlers) and use hollyland's lan-based KVM

I'm getting “IKVM doesn’t support add-on VGA device” during boot.
The kvm on the server side is connected to the GPU's HDMI.

Googled a bit and apparently i have to reset bios + set the BIOS video priority to onboard, not offboard.
It works again with this setup but problem is, the OS won't recognize the GPU if i do this.
Also Checked the VGA pin on the board and its enabled

Any thoughts?
 

Terry Kennedy

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2015
1,140
594
113
New York City
www.glaver.org
My experience is all with (much) older systems, but the issue back then was that the IPMI works by "peeking" in the framebuffer of the embedded video, and it neither knows how to do that nor has access to those memory contents when an add-in video card is used.
 

denywinarto

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
238
29
28
40
Well just found out that IPMI works on the 1st floor monitor connected to the hollyland IKVM, so at least there's a workaround.
Although it's a little bit of hassle since i can't access it through my phone / laptop.

Hmm makes me wanna go AM4 Asrockrack + 5700g route, since i don't really do heavy gaming
but the reported bugs makes me skeptical about the quality.
 
Last edited:

ectoplasmosis

Active Member
Jul 28, 2021
117
53
28
Well just found out that IPMI works on the 1st floor monitor connected to the hollyland IKVM, so at least there's a workaround.
Although it's a little bit of hassle since i can't access it through my phone / laptop.

Hmm makes me wanna go AM4 Asrockrack + 5700g route, since i don't really do heavy gaming
but the reported bugs makes me skeptical about the quality.
On a tangent, what are the reported bugs that are making you shy away from the AM4 platform?
 

denywinarto

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
238
29
28
40
On a tangent, what are the reported bugs that are making you shy away from the AM4 platform?

Came into conclusion that after i read some posts here, and some in unraid forum i think.
That they're BMC is not as mature as Supermicro.

although i'm not sure if they have resolved it with the newest BIOS.

400 bucks is tough too swallow for server board with stability issues,
perhaps i'll pull the trigger once a used one pops up on ebay.
 

RageBone

Active Member
Jul 11, 2017
617
159
43
I think the issue described by the title will be present with any current ipmi implementation.
Usually, the BMC has its own GPU.
When that is used by the system, the ipmi can forward its output.
That is not possible to my knowledge with a dedicated GPU.
It could of course be achieved, but i don't think such standards and interfaces exists yet.

In my own experience, even Supermicro can have issues so the mentioned maturity" is non existent for me.
Why don't you ask on the L1T Thread how bad it really is?
Or name your concrete concerns that they can be addressed specifically.

Presumably, if it were unusable, you'd see a bigger outcry and more returns.
 

denywinarto

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
238
29
28
40
I think the issue described by the title will be present with any current ipmi implementation.
Usually, the BMC has its own GPU.
When that is used by the system, the ipmi can forward its output.
That is not possible to my knowledge with a dedicated GPU.
It could of course be achieved, but i don't think such standards and interfaces exists yet.

In my own experience, even Supermicro can have issues so the mentioned maturity" is non existent for me.
Why don't you ask on the L1T Thread how bad it really is?
Or name your concrete concerns that they can be addressed specifically.

Presumably, if it were unusable, you'd see a bigger outcry and more returns.
I didn't have this issue before using the hollyland KVM.
The machine was in my room without KVM and all IPMI function works properly.
 

Zhang

Member
Sep 18, 2018
48
38
18
In BIOS there is usually a setting for VGA priority. Setting that to "Onboard" will re-enable IPMI KVM.
On some motherboards the default is "auto", which means discrete graphics if it installed. It makes sense for a workstation - imagine someone installs a new GPU for the workstation and expects to run desktop and other 3D/professional applications on the discrete GPU, so the BIOS defaults to discrete GPU when it is installed.
In a headless server setting you can just switch it back to "onboard".