Minisforum MS-01 PCIe Card and RAM Compatibility Thread

[Mastema]

Hi,

I am running the Crucial 96GB kit but I have the same issue with my second unit now. The unit boots fine and runs perfectly, memtest passes, VMs start etc.

But the second I turn off the power for the MS-01 (either via disconnect or a shutdown for a longer period of time), the next boot causes the MS-01 to bootloop (it turns on, then quickly off, and does not even get to BIOS). At first, I thought it was a BIOS issue, so I disconnected the CMOS to clear it and then reconnected it. The MS-01 booted with no issues after the memory training was completed. I then shut down, plugged the CMOS back in, and it started fine. I performed a normal shutdown again (or disconnected the power cord), and I encountered the same issue. Weirdly enough, this didn’t happen at all when rebooting.

I sent the video to Minisforum and received an RMA unit.

I tested the RMA unit with their set of RAM, and everything worked fine, with no problems. I replaced the RAM with my Crucial kit, and the same behavior occurred on the new unit. This made me think, and instead of disconnecting the CMOS and wiping the entire BIOS, I simply removed and reinserted the RAM sticks. To my surprise, it booted well again. However, after performing the shutdown process, it bootlooped again.

I tried swapping back to the factory RAM, and everything works fine across multiple shutdowns.

Any idea what else I could try or do?

Test your CMOS battery voltage, if the voltage on it is borderline unplugging it to do something (i.e. change out RAM) can let it "recover" just enough for one more boot (or a few depending how borderline it is). I saw the same issue on 2 of my 4 MS01's, after replacing the CMOS battery. When testing my (bad) CMOS battery with a mutimeter the voltage on it was ~1.17v as opposed to the 3v it should be (and the replacement is).

From what I have seen/read elsewhere this is not uncommon for the CMOS batteries in these units. It's really a shame as the CMOS batteries in these are a ROYAL PAIN to replace, I really wish minisforum had gone with a more traditional socketed CMOS battery design. I'm not sure if they where bad from the beginning or if there is some offline drain of them going on but since I have not had any fail after replacing the OEM battery in the two that had issues I'm leaning twords the bad from the beginning direction.

After the second one failed I got these so I had some on hand in case more failed (which of course means I've had mo more failures)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F38WVWH?th=1
Note: the wires on these are shorter than the original ones meaning you'll want to find a place to stick them.

 

[renounce126]

Test your CMOS battery voltage, if the voltage on it is borderline unplugging it to do something (i.e. change out RAM) can let it "recover" just enough for one more boot (or a few depending how borderline it is). I saw the same issue on 2 of my 4 MS01's, after replacing the CMOS battery. When testing my (bad) CMOS battery with a mutimeter the voltage on it was ~1.17v as opposed to the 3v it should be (and the replacement is).

From what I have seen/read elsewhere this is not uncommon for the CMOS batteries in these units. It's really a shame as the CMOS batteries in these are a ROYAL PAIN to replace, I really wish minisforum had gone with a more traditional socketed CMOS battery design. I'm not sure if they where bad from the beginning or if there is some offline drain of them going on but since I have not had any fail after replacing the OEM battery in the two that had issues I'm leaning twords the bad from the beginning direction.

After the second one failed I got these so I had some on hand in case more failed (which of course means I've had mo more failures)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F38WVWH?th=1
Note: the wires on these are shorter than the original ones meaning you'll want to find a place to stick them.

Thanks for the tips, I already did try replacing the CMOS battery on the old unit, funnily enough for the exact one you posted. Mine was 3V from factory on the old unit, I have to admit that I have not measured the RMA'd unit yet. Will do that tomorrow and report the results.

Once again, thank you for the suggestion!

P.S. I also tried updating the bios to the latest version, but that made no change to the behaviour. The only consistent thing that fixed the issue was replacing the RAM sticks with the factory ones (the old unit had 32GBs of Crucial, the new one has 32GBs of ADATA (dual channel). I bought the 1TB SSD+32GBs of RAM I9-13900H variant)

 

[renounce126]

Thanks for the tips, I already did try replacing the CMOS battery on the old unit, funnily enough for the exact one you posted. Mine was 3V from factory on the old unit, I have to admit that I have not measured the RMA'd unit yet. Will do that tomorrow and report the results.

Once again, thank you for the suggestion!

P.S. I also tried updating the bios to the latest version, but that made no change to the behaviour. The only consistent thing that fixed the issue was replacing the RAM sticks with the factory ones (the old unit had 32GBs of Crucial, the new one has 32GBs of ADATA (dual channel). I bought the 1TB SSD+32GBs of RAM I9-13900H variant)

@Mastema Ok, so the RMA CMOS is dated 2025 and is 5V. I also noticed that the unit uses some better parts, compared to my initial one (sturdier connectors on the headers, better insulated cables, but has the same crappy thermal paste). Therefore it is most likely not the CMOS

 

[unexpectedrelease]

If you're feeling adventurous, it looks like you can remove the motherboard by removing the four mounting screws but you'll also need to remove the CPU heat sink and probably the back panel to do it. If you do it, post some pics, would love to see it disassembled but I want my warranty intact at this stage.

Has anyone managed to disassemble the case (remove it completely) without any problems and breaking anything, leaving just the bare motherboard?

 

[Fuzzylog1c]

Hey, new user / electrical engineer here. Looking to get a MS-01 to run OpenWRT and Cake QoS without restricting the throughput of my 1.2 Gbps cable internet connection. I'm coming from a Asus GT-AX6000 running MerlinWRT, which could only manage about 320 Mbps, and I plan on using that router as an access point due to its strong wireless capabilities.

I just wanted to ask if anyone sees anything wrong with what I'm planning above.

Other questions:

• Is there any reason to get the 13th gen CPU version over the 12th gen, considering it costs $250 more?
• Do you recommend any particular brand of 10 GbE SFP+ modules? Was thinking about a pair of TL-SM5310-T.
• Should I be concerned about cooling? Was was thinking about printing this case and throwing a 140m Noctua fan on it.
• I don't I need a bunch of RAM but willing to be proven wrong. See any problem with the Crucial 32GB CT2K16G56C46S5 kit?

Finally, is there any way to add strong wireless capability to the MS-01 so that I can eliminate the GT-AX6000? It's been a while (at least 8 years) since I've looked into external WiFi modules. In the past I've never found one that can compete with a MU-MIMO router.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[h0schi]

An i5 is absolutely enough for your workload.
Maybe you can check OPNsense with IDS and Zenarmor.

For WiFi i recommend a seperate access-point from UniFi.

 

[Popcorncandy09]

I have also just replaced my thermal paste with thermal grizzly kyronaut and when i took the heatsink off i was shocked at the level of the paste....it came off in chunks it was that poor and dry !

Once loaded up with new paste it does not go over 80c over load like stich86's post.

 

[karloldreyes]

I searched this rather long thread and it seems no one has tried to add SATA or U.2 storage inside of the PCIe bay. I'd like to install a high capacity SATA SSD inside the unit. There are plenty of half height SATA PCIe cards but I can't find any obvious way to supply SATA power. Is there a solution I am not aware of?

Alternatively, I would like to install a large capacity U.2 drive that's 15mm height which doesn't fit in the built in U.2 slot. I bought a PCIe to U.2 adapter and it works but because of the cable length, I can't fit the cable and U.2 drive inside the case.

Amazon.com: DiliVing . X4 to . SSD, - Adapter, 70CM Cable (No Additional Power Plug Required) : Electronics

Any ideas? I would love to max out this unit with storage.

Hey, I'm interested in buying this too. What's been your experience so far?

 

[karloldreyes]

Hey, I'm interested in buying this too. What's been your experience so far?

Replying to my own comment here, but I bought this and it's working okay. I had to pop out the low profile bracket cover to let some of the cable out of the case since it was pretty long. So far, temps seem okay.

 

[Scott Laird]

FYI, I'm having a hard time fitting an Intel XL710-QDA2 into the PCIE slot for mechanical reasons -- QSFP sockets protrude ~4mm from the bracket, and the top QSFP socket runs into the top of the slot opening on the MS-01 when you're trying to install it. It fits when it's pushed into the PCIe connector, but you can't get the card into position to do that without trimming the top QSFP connector a bit, because the connector pushes the card too far back for the PCIe connector to fit.

I trimmed a bit off the bracket with wire cutters and everything fit, but the MS-01 failed to POST after waiting 10 minutes. I'm not sure if it's a generic problem w/ XL710-QDA2s and MS-01s, a bad NIC, a bad PCIe port on the MS-01, or if I damaged the NIC. Going to try a MCX4131A-BCAT instead.

 

[Tarwater]

I have also just replaced my thermal paste with thermal grizzly kyronaut and when i took the heatsink off i was shocked at the level of the paste....it came off in chunks it was that poor and dry !

Once loaded up with new paste it does not go over 80c over load like stich86's post.

View attachment 45412

Hi, I am also interested in repasting, may I ask how did you remove the heatsink without damaging the isolation cover?

 

[FedeB]

Today I replaced the thermal paste on my MS-01 with an i5-12600. I applied Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut as recommended in this forum. I can finally re-enable turbo mode — the temperature now stays below 75 °C, whereas before it would go over 90 °C within seconds.

 

[herbie]

Hi guys,

I would like some advice. I will use a pon optical module to replace my internet box directly in ms-01 and I don't want to risk to plug in directly in sfp ports because it's very hot.

So I prefer to use a pcie card for that. In your opinion, which single sfp 10g port card will be the more efficient and cooler without doing cooling mods in the ms-01 case?

 

[dak64]

Hi guys,

I would like some advice. I will use a pon optical module to replace my internet box directly in ms-01 and I don't want to risk to plug in directly in sfp ports because it's very hot.

So I prefer to use a pcie card for that. In your opinion, which single sfp 10g port card will be the more efficient and cooler without doing cooling mods in the ms-01 case?

What makes you think it will be cooler? I always thought that the heat is mostly from the modules plugged into the SFP+ cage, not the underlying X710 or whatever. Modules for RJ45 10GbaseT get very hot, but optical modules less so.

 

[herbie]

What makes you think it will be cooler? I always thought that the heat is mostly from the modules plugged into the SFP+ cage, not the underlying X710 or whatever. Modules for RJ45 10GbaseT get very hot, but optical modules less so.

I don't necessarily think it will be cooler, but pcie card is replaceable easily, motherboard is more complicated. It's a xgs-pon module that run on a basis of 65°C because it includes a kind micro CPU and RAM.

 

[ms264556]

I got my last 4+2 switch for $16 delivered & it uses 1W idle. If you're really worried about isolation then why not run a DAC to one SFP+ port and plug your module into the other?

 

[herbie]

I got my last 4+2 switch for $16 delivered & it uses 1W idle. If you're really worried about isolation then why not run a DAC to one SFP+ port and plug your module into the other?

As it receives the fiber, I need to configure the interface with vlan and dhcp from internet provider in opnsense. I don't think I can do it via a switch

 

[ms264556]

As it receives the fiber, I need to configure the interface with vlan and dhcp from internet provider in opnsense. I don't think I can do it via a switch

Only anecdotal, but I've never owned a dumb switch which didn't pass through VLAN tags and DHCP.

 

[bryan_v]

@herbie Couple of things:

1. In general, client side PON modules burn roughly the same amount of juice as standard optics. The only difference in the tech has to do with how the multiple endpoints are bundled together at the ISP side and at the splitter sites along the poles. (yes this is a super simplification and there are other differences, but w/e). Certain XGPON modules do burn 2W, which is twice the normal amount, but they are super rare on the client side.
2. DACs, AOCs, and optics are all within spec for the MS-01's onboard SFP+ ports as they all operate within that same ≤1W power envelope. 10GBase-T SFP+ are more of the edge case that most chassis were never designed for (there are other types of SFP+ modules that burn more than >1W also, but they're super niche.) I'd still recommend checking the data sheet if you're worried
3. There is no active cooling in the MS-01 other than the CPU fan. If you use a 10G or higher pcie card that isn't optimized for passive cooling without active airflow, your card will be the issue, not the module (e.g trying to use a passive Mellanox CX3/CX4 card, or a passive X520/X710). In general, 10G SFP+ cards consume 5W-10W, so in an enclosed space, they need either an active cooling solution (heatsink with a fan) or active airflow like in a server chassis.
4. If your PON links at ≤10Gbps, then media converters in general are the go-to for any heat mitigation as they move the tranciever to a separate box. TP-Link converters are currently my favorite as they have both 10GBase-T to SFP+ as well as SFP+ to SFP+ and are pretty low cost, way cheaper than an equivilant switch. If your PON links at ≤1G then the media converters then they're basically a rounding error. For the MS-01, you would use an SFP+ to SFP+ converter, and place the PON module in one port, and probably a DAC in the other one, but will depend on whether you have a GPON or XGPON uplink.
5. There is a way to use a switch in a PON-based PPPoE link path, however it takes a fair bit of effort to set up if you've never done it before and don't know how switches work, so I'd stay away from that approach if you're new to that world (if you're using a PON and VLAN tagging, it sounds like you're probably going to have a username & password based PPPoE link back to the CO)

So yea, just check the data sheet for the module, but you should be fine to use the onboard SFP+ ports with the PON module.

 

[herbie]

@herbie Couple of things:

1. In general, client side PON modules burn roughly the same amount of juice as standard optics. The only difference in the tech has to do with how the multiple endpoints are bundled together at the ISP side and at the splitter sites along the poles. (yes this is a super simplification and there are other differences, but w/e). Certain XGPON modules do burn 2W, which is twice the normal amount, but they are super rare on the client side.
2. DACs, AOCs, and optics are all within spec for the MS-01's onboard SFP+ ports as they all operate within that same ≤1W power envelope. 10GBase-T SFP+ are more of the edge case that most chassis were never designed for (there are other types of SFP+ modules that burn more than >1W also, but they're super niche.) I'd still recommend checking the data sheet if you're worried
3. There is no active cooling in the MS-01 other than the CPU fan. If you use a 10G or higher pcie card that isn't optimized for passive cooling without active airflow, your card will be the issue, not the module (e.g trying to use a passive Mellanox CX3/CX4 card, or a passive X520/X710). In general, 10G SFP+ cards consume 5W-10W, so in an enclosed space, they need either an active cooling solution (heatsink with a fan) or active airflow like in a server chassis.
4. If your PON links at ≤10Gbps, then media converters in general are the go-to for any heat mitigation as they move the tranciever to a separate box. TP-Link converters are currently my favorite as they have both 10GBase-T to SFP+ as well as SFP+ to SFP+ and are pretty low cost, way cheaper than an equivilant switch. If your PON links at ≤1G then the media converters then they're basically a rounding error. For the MS-01, you would use an SFP+ to SFP+ converter, and place the PON module in one port, and probably a DAC in the other one, but will depend on whether you have a GPON or XGPON uplink.
5. There is a way to use a switch in a PON-based PPPoE link path, however it takes a fair bit of effort to set up if you've never done it before and don't know how switches work, so I'd stay away from that approach if you're new to that world (if you're using a PON and VLAN tagging, it sounds like you're probably going to have a username & password based PPPoE link back to the CO)

So yea, just check the data sheet for the module, but you should be fine to use the onboard SFP+ ports with the PON module.

Thanks @bryan_v , here are specs of my xgs-pon if you want to have a look:
XGSPON ONU STICK SFP+ Transceiver SC/APC Receptacle
* Single fiber bi-directional data links symmetric TX 9.953 Gb/s / RX 9.953 Gb/s with MAC function
* SFP package with SC/APC receptacle
* Single 3.3 V power supply
* Hot-pluggable capability
* High power 1270 nm DML DFB LD and high sensitivity 1577 nm APD
* Support 20 km transmission distance with SMF
* CML compatible data input/output interface
* Low power dissipation < 2.5 W
* Low EMI and excellent ESD protection
* Digital diagnostic monitor interface
* RoHS-6 compliance
* Support of GPON/XGS-PON/NGPON2 standards
* 256 GEM/XGEM ports, 64 T-CONTs or 16 LLIDs
* Carrier Grade QoS Engine
* Advanced loopback and diagnostic capabilities
* Supports Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE)
* Case temperature range:
Commercial: 0°C ~ 70°C
Industrial: -40°C ~ +85°C
* MAC IC: Maxlinear PRX126

According specs, do you think it will be ok to put the module in sfp port of ms-01?

Or as the module is xgs-pon and simulate the internet provider box with virtual serial number and stuff. Do you think it will work with media converter ?