Lenovo Thinkcentre/ThinkStation Tiny (Project TinyMiniMicro) Reference Thread

[ZombieBiceps]

Over the 65w?

Yes, from what I remember I would get longer turbo duration on the 5650GE. Been a while since I've used the machine for much but I just leave it plugged in to a 135w adapter since I had a few laying around. Probably not worth buying a new PSU for it though in my opinion.

 

[teal]

Hello together, I sadly can't go any deeper then C8 on my m920x, has anyone experienced a similar issue?

I know it can go deeper, an this usually gives me 1-2 watts less drain in idle.

 

[metlrise]

@teal you didn't mention whats inside the lenovo, take a look here (direct link at the C states), but C8 is still pretty good

 

[deja_geek]

Looking for recommendations on a quad port 2.5G Nic for Gen 1 m90q running Proxmox. Seems like a couple of years ago Realtek was the preferred choice in this area as the i225/i226 seemed to have disconnect issues? That still the case? Any recommendations on what card manufacturer to go with?

Edit: I am aware that 10G might be a better value proposition, but one of my constraints is needing silent/passively cooled desktop switches and RJ45 transceivers get to hot for switches like that.

 

[joeribl]

Looking for recommendations on a quad port 2.5G Nic for Gen 1 m90q running Proxmox. Seems like a couple of years ago Realtek was the preferred choice in this area as the i225/i226 seemed to have disconnect issues? That still the case? Any recommendations on what card manufacturer to go with?

Edit: I am aware that 10G might be a better value proposition, but one of my constraints is needing silent/passively cooled desktop switches and RJ45 transceivers get to hot for switches like that.

Not sure there are any good recommendations. The realtek and i226 options are using a PCIe Bridge as it is not a native quad port solution. That leaves only the Intel e610-T4 as a native 2.5Gbit solution, but the drivers are not that mature yet as i understand. Alternatively you could use a Intel X710-T4 (which is 10Gbit, and also supports 2.5Gbit speeds) but not sure if it fits length wise.

 

[teal]

@teal you didn't mention whats inside the lenovo, take a look here (direct link at the C states), but C8 is still pretty good

It is a rather basic configuration:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-9100 CPU @ 3.60GHz
SATA SSD: Crucial 1TB CT1000MX500SSD4
NVME: KXG6AZNV256G TOSHIBA
RAM: 1 x 8GiB SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous 2667 MHz

I just install debian 13.3 on the exact same system to test if it is a proxmox bug. Somehow my proxmox installation got stucked at C2 for way too much time (completely idle, no VMS running whatsoever).

Well turns out maybe it is really a proxmox bug. On debian (after powertop --auto-tune which I of course tried on proxmox to) I get into C9 and around 4-5 watt in idle (screenshot attached).

 

[deja_geek]

Not sure there are any good recommendations. The realtek and i226 options are using a PCIe Bridge as it is not a native quad port solution. That leaves only the Intel e610-T4 as a native 2.5Gbit solution, but the drivers are not that mature yet as i understand. Alternatively you could use a Intel X710-T4 (which is 10Gbit, and also supports 2.5Gbit speeds) but not sure if it fits length wise.

I've decided to not go with 10Gbase-t/Nbase-T. Instead I've narrowed it down to either using a Mellanox ConnectX-4 LX or a SolarFlare
SFN7002F. Any insights on which one is "better"? I'm told the SolarFlare should run cooler, but I'm hesitant about driver support (running Proxmox) and SPF+ module compatibility.

 

[VexingRaven]

In my opinion, the Silicom PE325G2I71 is the best XXV710 for Tiny's. It's short, supports ASPM/requires no airflow, and can be updated with the stock Intel firmware if you add its ID.

You can get them super cheap on eBay... in the US:

Silicom PE325G2I71-XR-CX DP 25Gbps PCIE Network Server Adapter Low Profile | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Silicom PE325G2I71-XR-CX DP 25Gbps PCIE Network Server Adapter Low Profile at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

One of the mounting screws lines up with this official Lenovo baffle so it looks stock, too:

Amazon.com: New Caddy Bracket Replacement for 5M10U50350 Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q P340 P350 P360 Tiny6 7 8 Intel I350-T4 PCI Network Card Bezel w/Screw : Electronics

Buy New Caddy Bracket Replacement for 5M10U50350 Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q P340 P350 P360 Tiny6 7 8 Intel I350-T4 PCI Network Card Bezel w/Screw: Laptop Replacement Parts - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Same deal with this:

HPE 817753-B21 Ethernet 10/25Gb 2-port 640SFP28 Adapter 817751-001 hh bracket | eBay

HPE 817753-B21 Ethernet 10/25Gb 2-port 640SFP28 Adapter 817751-001 HH / SHORT bracket

www.ebay.com

ConnectX-4 Lx with an obscure model name, can be flashed with stock firmware. Supports ASPM, runs a little hotter than Intel. Try searching some of the model numbers in the listing title for someone that'll ship to you.

I ended up buying the Silicom card and was able to get it installed and booted with it no problem. I am curious what you mean by "can be updated with the stock Intel firmware if you add its ID." Can you elaborate a little on what that looks like? I downloaded the latest update tool from Intel and it shows "Update not available" for this card which I suspect is because I need to do this process you mention. I'm also curious what DAC or transceivers you use with yours, as the PROLINE DAC I got does not seem to work.

 

[deja_geek]

I ended up buying the Silicom card and was able to get it installed and booted with it no problem. I am curious what you mean by "can be updated with the stock Intel firmware if you add its ID." Can you elaborate a little on what that looks like? I downloaded the latest update tool from Intel and it shows "Update not available" for this card which I suspect is because I need to do this process you mention. I'm also curious what DAC or transceivers you use with yours, as the PROLINE DAC I got does not seem to work.

I haven't been able to find any place where instructions are posted. Seems like interesting cards, and the xxv710 platform is interesting (and newer than the ConnectX-4 LX I've been looking at). Being able to flash Intel firmware would be great

 

[VexingRaven]

I haven't been able to find any place where instructions are posted. Seems like interesting cards, and the xxv710 platform is interesting (and newer than the ConnectX-4 LX I've been looking at). Being able to flash Intel firmware would be great

Personally I don't care that much what firmware is on it, they came with reasonably new firmware (6.02) and unlocked out of the box. Trouble is the Proline DAC I got doesn't show a link and I was hoping new firmware might help but the Intel updater shows "Not available" for this card. I ended up ordering an Intel-coded 10GTek DAC instead, so we'll see if that works.

But hey, at least the system boots with it in, which is better than I had heard other people experienced with X710-based cards with the P350 Tiny.

 

[nimik]

Any DAC I've ordered off Amazon has worked with the Silicom card (10Gtek, FLYPROFiber).

Here's how to flash the generic firmware in a Linux live environment like Ubuntu-

Grab the latest firmware (9.56 in this case), extract it, and replace the contents of nvmupdate.cfg with

CURRENT FAMILY: 1.0.0
CONFIG VERSION: 1.14.0
;XXV710 CTLE
BEGIN DEVICE
DEVICENAME: XXV710
VENDOR: 8086
DEVICE: 158B
NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_9p56_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN_CTLE_Fix.bin
OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB
EEPID: 80010121
REPLACES: 800037B8 80003A0A 80003A9E 80003D22 80003D27 80003DC4 8000403E 80004CEE 8000648F 800079E4 80008386 80008B71 80009423 800095F0 80009BD3 8000A484 8000ABDB 8000B701 8000BD4F 8000C3D6 8000C8C9 8000CE7C 8000D019 8000D885 8000E5DD 8000ECFB 8000F152 8000F4CF 8000F902 8000FB98 8000FE4C
EEPROM MAP: 25G_HC_MAP.txt
RESET TYPE: REBOOT
END DEVICE

Find your cards current EEPID with ethtool and add it to the list in REPLACES:

For example (not this card):

ethtool -i enp1s0f0
driver: i40e
version: 6.5.13-1-pve
firmware-version: 9.40 0x8000ecb7 1.3429.0

If your output looked like this, you'd add 8000ECB7 to the REPLACES: line and then run ./nvmupdate64e to flash it.

 

[deja_geek]

Any DAC I've ordered off Amazon has worked with the Silicom card (10Gtek, FLYPROFiber).

Here's how to flash the generic firmware in a Linux live environment like Ubuntu-

Grab the latest firmware (9.56 in this case), extract it, and replace the contents of nvmupdate.cfg with

CURRENT FAMILY: 1.0.0
CONFIG VERSION: 1.14.0
;XXV710 CTLE
BEGIN DEVICE
DEVICENAME: XXV710
VENDOR: 8086
DEVICE: 158B
NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_9p56_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN_CTLE_Fix.bin
OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB
EEPID: 80010121
REPLACES: 800037B8 80003A0A 80003A9E 80003D22 80003D27 80003DC4 8000403E 80004CEE 8000648F 800079E4 80008386 80008B71 80009423 800095F0 80009BD3 8000A484 8000ABDB 8000B701 8000BD4F 8000C3D6 8000C8C9 8000CE7C 8000D019 8000D885 8000E5DD 8000ECFB 8000F152 8000F4CF 8000F902 8000FB98 8000FE4C
EEPROM MAP: 25G_HC_MAP.txt
RESET TYPE: REBOOT
END DEVICE

Find your cards current EEPID with ethtool and add it to the list in REPLACES:

For example (not this card):

ethtool -i enp1s0f0
driver: i40e
version: 6.5.13-1-pve
firmware-version: 9.40 0x8000ecb7 1.3429.0

If your output looked like this, you'd add 8000ECB7 to the REPLACES: line and then run ./nvmupdate64e to flash it.

Fantastic. Thanks for posting the instructions.

 

[VexingRaven]

Aaaand the Silicoms are all out of stock lol. Crap. Anyone have good luck with any other XXV710-based cards that don't cost a fortune?

 

[deja_geek]

Aaaand the Silicoms are all out of stock lol. Crap. Anyone have good luck with any other XXV710-based cards that don't cost a fortune?

I'm trying Supermicro's AOC-S25G-i2S. Also based on the XXV710. Comes with a slightly larger heatsink which might help the cooling some. The AOC-S25G-i2S is slightly larger than the Silicom but it should fit in the Lenovos.

 

[nimik]

I tried a Supermicro ConnectX-4 (AOC-S25G-m2S) in a Tiny before. It got insanely hot. Unlike a stock card, it did not support ASPM. Hopefully your Intel version works better.

 

[deja_geek]

I tried a Supermicro ConnectX-4 (AOC-S25G-m2S) in a Tiny before. It got insanely hot. Unlike a stock card, it did not support ASPM. Hopefully your Intel version works better.

That might be because the ConnectX-4 LX was/is very picky about ASPM. Some people have said flashing specific firmware allowed for ASPM while others posted saying even if ASPM is enabled with the right firmware, if it was connected to a PCIe slot that was directly connected to the CPU high c-states could't be achieved.

I hoping the xxv710 in the AOC-S25G-i2S run cool enough, but I've also have some shrouds coming with a blower fan which should also help keep it cool. The average usage of the AOC-S25G-i2S is 7.2w, only a few watts higher then the i350 quad ports I have in my Lenovo's now. I also won't be running Optic or RJ-45 transceivers. Just DAC for me.

 

[VexingRaven]

It would be pretty weird for an XXV710-based card not to support ASPM, wouldn't it?

 

[deja_geek]

It would be pretty weird for an XXV710-based card not to support ASPM, wouldn't it?

Depends on if it can be disabled in the firmware. The AOC-S25G-i2S was designed for use in Supermicro servers, and servers generally don't have power saving options enabled. I'm a least hoping if ASPM isn't supported, we could flash the Intel firmware. I'm also hoping it runs cool enough I don't have to worry about ASPM. None of my Lenovos go above a C3 anyway

 

[VexingRaven]

I hoping the xxv710 in the AOC-S25G-i2S run cool enough, but I've also have some shrouds coming with a blower fan which should also help keep it cool.

Tell me more about these shrouds!

 

[kohlschuetter]

Hi all! I've just released "zedk", a suite of useful UEFI tools.

zedk allows you to enter a more capable UEFI "BIOS" Setup, unlocking hidden "advanced" settings for several Lenovo Tiny machines, such as M920q/M920x/P330 as well as M625q.

zedk also comes with a simple script to enable a remote console over the serial port without having to change BIOS settings. zedk also works on M625q, which doesn't have such settings at all. Serial console support can be quite useful in combination with the Setup application or to diagnose iPXE booting issues, etc.

Please let me know if it works for you, and especially how it works on other systems than the ones listed above!

GitHub - kohlschuetter/zedk: Useful UEFI tools, based upon edk2

Useful UEFI tools, based upon edk2. Contribute to kohlschuetter/zedk development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com