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Lenovo Thinkcentre/ThinkStation Tiny (Project TinyMiniMicro) Reference Thread

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Jennifer2023

New Member
Aug 12, 2023
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john40406 said:
Have you checked the boot menu? On mine, the NICs seems to appear in the boot order, hence it could easily be seen as boot device.
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Okay I can't get into the bios to change the boot sequence when the dual SFP+ nic was installed. It's just stuck there until I turn it off.
So I pulled the plug , pulled the card out (yet again), it boots up into bios no problem (by pressing F1). I went to boot order and removed everything but the m.2 nvme. It did have the built in ethernet nic as the 1st one to boot from in the order but I removed it.

But is this card adding itself to the bios and trying to boot from it? Wouldn't it give me some sort of error message instead of being indefinitely stuck at the lenovo splash screen?
 
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Jennifer2023

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Aug 12, 2023
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Which is the best, most efficient, 4 port 1gbe NIC for the m920q? I'd like to get one to try out to see if it works. These Emulex dual SFP+ just cause my m920q to lock up on the lenovo splash screen, not being able to boot.I need to try another nic to see if this is a bad batch of Emulex SFP+ nics.
 
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john40406

New Member
Jul 15, 2023
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Jennifer2023 said:
Okay I can't get into the bios to change the boot sequence when the dual SFP+ nic was installed. It's just stuck there until I turn it off.
So I pulled the plug , pulled the card out (yet again), it boots up into bios no problem (by pressing F1). I went to boot order and removed everything but the m.2 nvme. It did have the built in ethernet nic as the 1st one to boot from in the order but I removed it.

But is this card adding itself to the bios and trying to boot from it? Wouldn't it give me some sort of error message instead of being indefinitely stuck at the lenovo splash screen?
Click to expand...
nvme appears to show up as a PCIe device, not entirely sure but I suspect the PCIe card is the first PCI device and appears to alter the boot sequence somehow. I had to reinstall ESXI on 2 of these device after adding a PCIe NIC due to the PCI sequence alteration.

It appears you have a different problem though since you're unable to access the BIOS setup when the NICs are added.
A good place to start would be to exclude the riser cards by testing the riser cards with a known working device/NIC.
BTW - have you been able to test the NICs using a different PCIe slot, in a desktop for example?
 
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Jennifer2023

New Member
Aug 12, 2023
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john40406 said:
nvme appears to show up as a PCIe device, not entirely sure but I suspect the PCIe card is the first PCI device and appears to alter the boot sequence somehow. I had to reinstall ESXI on 2 of these device after adding a PCIe NIC due to the PCI sequence alteration.

It appears you have a different problem though since you're unable to access the BIOS setup when the NICs are added.
A good place to start would be to exclude the riser cards by testing the riser cards with a known working device/NIC.
BTW - have you been able to test the NICs using a different PCIe slot, in a desktop for example?
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Thank you for the reply. I did plug in some sata pcie card and it boots up fine with it in it. (But I don't see the extra sata port in the bios setup, don't know if it would be there. I also don't see it in proxmox UI, but probably not looking in the right place or might have to execute some shell command.) I'll try the emulex dual sfp+ nic in my BF's old tower PC and see if it works. (He has a hackintosh, I guess it would show up in mac os on his.. he's running ventura somehow.) (He doesn't use it anymore b/c he got my old Mac Mini M1 from me, after I got the Mac Mini M2 pro.)

If the m920q was attempting to boot from teh newly installed nic, wouldn't it say something? Like "Booting from network.." etc. Instead of just hanging on the Lenovo splash screen, stuck indefinitely?
 
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john40406

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Jul 15, 2023
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Jennifer2023 said:
Thank you for the reply. I did plug in some sata pcie card and it boots up fine with it in it. (But I don't see the extra sata port in the bios setup, don't know if it would be there. I also don't see it in proxmox UI, but probably not looking in the right place or might have to execute some shell command.) I'll try the emulex dual sfp+ nic in my BF's old tower PC and see if it works. (He has a hackintosh, I guess it would show up in mac os on his.. he's running ventura somehow.) (He doesn't use it anymore b/c he got my old Mac Mini M1 from me, after I got the Mac Mini M2 pro.)

If the m920q was attempting to boot from teh newly installed nic, wouldn't it say something? Like "Booting from network.." etc. Instead of just hanging on the Lenovo splash screen, stuck indefinitely?
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Yes, I think it should provide info about ongoing PXE boot if I'm not mistaking. In your case, I don't think the system POSTs successfully. Could try updating your m920q BIOS, updating fw on the card etc.

If RJ45 is preferred and willing to spend more, the following quad port 2.5gbe NIC with cooling fan and Intel chipset would be worthwhile

 
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Jennifer2023

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Aug 12, 2023
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Okay, I found an old NVME pcie card I had laying around. I installed a spare Samsung EVO 970 Plus NVME into it. Then plugged that pcie card into the riser and then into the m920q.

The proxmox installer actually recognized the NVME via PCIE slot and I did another install of Proxmox using that NVME. Install finished successfully. When I rebooted, Proxmox got confused b/c it saw two "rpool" partitions. So I know the PCIE slot and the riser are okay. It's just this dang Emulex dual SFP+ card.
 
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Parallax

Active Member
Nov 8, 2020
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London, UK
Lionkong said:
Thanks for your reply.
I tried the Chelsio card. And you are right. It is not fit for M720q Tiny. :confused:

How about the Sun Oracle Intel X520-DA2 Dual Port 10GB PCIe HBA 7051223 Low Profile Card


Will it fit for Tiny? Sorry, I can't check how long for this card.
I just want to make sure it fit before I buy it.

Does this card will work with Pfsense?

Is there any recommend and that will surely fit for the Tiny?

Thank you so much!
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I think there's a discussion on that one early in the thread. I think it fits (just) but you have to cut the metal support.

They should be fine in pfSense, but I've not tried.

The recommendations are in the first post. Personally I use Supermicro AOC-STGN-I2S - I have five - they do get a little hot but they're very compact and leave though room for a shucked SSD at the front.
 
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Phenic

Member
Mar 17, 2015
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Jennifer2023 said:
Which is the best, most efficient, 4 port 1gbe NIC for the m920q? I'd like to get one to try out to see if it works. These Emulex dual SFP+ just cause my m920q to lock up on the lenovo splash screen, not being able to boot.I need to try another nic to see if this is a bad batch of Emulex SFP+ nics.
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I use 1x Supermicro AOC-STGN-I2S and 2x Mellanox ConnectX-3 in my tiny cluster. No clue on power consumption or temperature though.
 
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986box

Active Member
Oct 14, 2017
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I position the fan at the back of the chassis to pull hot air out. Until I find a top cover for p330 for cheap. Temp did drop by 3-4 degree Celsius.

with p330 cover, I expect it to drop a few more degree.
 
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guavajuice791

New Member
Aug 15, 2023
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986box said:
I position the fan at the back of the chassis to pull hot air out. Until I find a top cover for p330 for cheap. Temp did drop by 3-4 degree Celsius.

with p330 cover, I expect it to drop a few more degree.
Click to expand...
ah which 10g nic you using? And whats your current temps?
 
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986box

Active Member
Oct 14, 2017
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Supermicro AOC-STGN-i2s. Temp is around 41 degree Celsius. Before installing fan, it was at 45 degree.
 
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986box

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Oct 14, 2017
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M920q in the basement. Gets warming during summer. Rest of the year is much cooler. 2nd port is not utilized.
 
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skyva

New Member
May 23, 2023
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Hi I have a 2nd hand M920q (16GB and i5-8500) and some questions. I want to run pfsense, probably on Proxmox as a lab, I have a router and network already but looking to expand and understand.
1. I have single stick 16gb Samsung ram. I want to add more and wonder how picky is it with ram? Can it run in single channel with another 8gb stick for 24GB?
2. Also, do I need to match the ram exactly. Mine is M471A2K43CB1-CTD There are a lot of variations of this type (batch varies but same timing) available. Do I only need to match timing or be exact with batch etc?
3. I have a 1tb M2 NVME storage ssd on board. I also have a dual 1GB HP360 NIC PCIE in the slot, apparently working fine but taking up the space for a 2.5 ssd. I want another drive (OS) and use the nvme drive for storage. Do sata 2.5" to M2 adapters work in these with a M2 sata drive as OS? It will fit between the HP NIC and cover, giving me two drives. I prefer one drive OS and other nvme drive data (in this case iso's and data for proxmox, pfsense and whatever).

I have read a fair bit but still have a lot to go. Thanks for the great resource.
 
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986box

Active Member
Oct 14, 2017
255
48
28
44
skyva said:
1. I have single stick 16gb Samsung ram. I want to add more and wonder how picky is it with ram? Can it run in single channel with another 8gb stick for 24GB?
2. Also, do I need to match the ram exactly. Mine is M471A2K43CB1-CTD There are a lot of variations of this type (batch varies but same timing) available. Do I only need to match timing or be exact with batch etc?
3. I have a 1tb M2 NVME storage ssd on board. I also have a dual 1GB HP360 NIC PCIE in the slot, apparently working fine but taking up the space for a 2.5 ssd. I want another drive (OS) and use the nvme drive for storage. Do sata 2.5" to M2 adapters work in these with a M2 sata drive as OS? It will fit between the HP NIC and cover, giving me two drives. I prefer one drive OS and other nvme drive data (in this case iso's and data for proxmox, pfsense and whatever).

I have read a fair bit but still have a lot to go. Thanks for the great resource.
Click to expand...
system will operate at the slowest speed of memory module and it wont see the full benefit of dual channel.
Adding 2.5 sata drive is possible but you wont be able install full size ssd drive. like msata SSD.

First post updated regularly by Parallax is good source of information. From time to time, I will check that first. unless its some one off configuration.
 
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damex

Member
Apr 7, 2019
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hi,
i have been using three p330tiny and one m920q with Supermicro AOC-STGN-I2S of various revisions and have spare m920q.

looking for an idea about expanding my network using spare m920q.

my Supermicro AOC-STGN-I2S (x520-da2) does not have enough ports for my use case so maybe there is something as short but with 4 ports? or
maybe there is a good (short!) quad 2.5gbe nic? (i don't keep my hopes up for 5gbe)

it might sound crazy but i have seen before 'nics' with switch on them. is it not a thing anymore?

i would like to get quad ports and 'replace' (up to some extent) my current 1gbe switch.

thank you
 
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Xandr

New Member
Jan 28, 2023
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Has anyone been able to source an intel-based (i225/226) 2.5GbE NIC that fits in that A+E-Key M.2 slot?

I found this M2-225 from Commell but unfortunately, none of their European distributors sell to individuals - all B2B only.
 
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