Minisforum MS-01 PCIe Card and RAM Compatibility Thread

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daylightroberty

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Jun 18, 2024
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My question is whether an expansion card like this would work in one of the NVMe slots:

M.2 NVMe to Mini SAS 36 Pin SFF-8087 SATA 3.0 Expansion Card M.2 Key-m Key-b | eBay
So I've been searching for information on the control chip (ASM1064) for this adapter, and it comes recommended by Unraid so long as it has no more than 4 ports attached: Recommended controllers for Unraid

It should do ~900MB/s Sata/SAS controllers tested (real world max throughput during parity check)

From my very limited understanding the motherboard will see the four connected drives via one single controller meaning bifurcation should not be needed.

I think I'll give it a go unless anyone can offer contrary advice :)

------ Edit: I think I've answered my own question

The review says this QNAP DAS + PCIe controller combo was compatible

The controller on that card is an ASM1164 and the controller on the NVMe adapter is a ASM1064

Might be cheaper to find a PCIe adapter. I will keep hunting
 
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vb6d1bgxk

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Jun 14, 2024
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What's the best way to run a 10G network, Fiber or Ethernet? let say I have five MS-01 and want to connect them together.

I assume fiber switch and cable are cheaper to build?
 

michaeld

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Oct 10, 2012
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Anyone had any issues with the i226-LM port not working? I was wanting to try out MeshCommander and I haven't got any activity lights on that port. There don't seem to be any setting in the BIOS to enable/disable it.
Late reply, but might help you. There are settings in the BIOS to enable/disable all four NICs. Look under: Advanced\Onboard Devices\SA-PCIE and PCH-PCI-e ports

FWIW, both the x710 and both 226 NICs were enabled by default out of the box for me.
 

anewsome

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Mar 15, 2024
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What's the best way to run a 10G network, Fiber or Ethernet? let say I have five MS-01 and want to connect them together.

I assume fiber switch and cable are cheaper to build?
I do have 5 MS01, so I feel like I can help here.

When you say "connect them together", I'm assuming you mean connect all 10 of the SFP+ 10g ethernets to a switch, just as if they were regular ethernets. This one is easy, get a low cost consumer grade switch with at least 10 ports. You probably want 12 ports so you can uplink the switch to the rest of your network. This is exactly what I did. I think the switch was a couple hundred dollars on Amazon. It has 12 ports.

For cabling the MS01 to the switch, I opted to go without transceivers and simply use DAC cables directly to the switch. My MS01 and switch are close enough to do this with. If your switch is further away than a DAC cable can service, I'd recommend getting transceivers and using cat 6 cables rated for 10g speeds. I think this is a better option than fiber, some users might disagree.

If by "connnect them together", you mean creating a ring network between the MS01, that's possible too. In fact I've done that with my MS01 and the thunderbolt ports. They form a ring network, with every MS01 connected to it's neighbor. I've also created this kind of ring network with on a different cluster with ancient Mellanox dual 40g ethernet/infiniband adapters, just for kicks. Since I had no 40g switch, ring network was the only option. The cards were only $17 each on ebay, but the QSFP DAC cables cost just as much. I used it to run a Ceph cluster to see how well it would work. Honestly, I was surprised it worked at all.
 
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michaeld

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Oct 10, 2012
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Anyone know of a way to reset the BIOS to factory/out of the box configuration? "Load optimized defaults" does not work. Pulling the BIOS battery would likely work, but the connection for the button battery is at the edge of the motherboard, underneath the case rails. You'd have to disassemble the entire thing.

At least on my BIOS v1.22 sample, if you disable secure boot before going into MEBx (AMT) settings, MEBx is inaccessible to you afterwards. This BIOS is definitely buggy. If only one thing in a BIOS works properly, it should be the reset to factory settings button/option.
 
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P00r

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May 29, 2024
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Anyone know of a way to reset the BIOS to factory/out of the box configuration? "Load optimized defaults" does not work. Pulling the BIOS battery would likely work, but the connection for the button battery is at the edge of the motherboard, underneath the case rails. You'd have to disassemble the entire thing.

At least on my BIOS v1.22 sample, if you disable secure boot before going into MEBx (AMT) settings, MEBx is inaccessible to you afterwards.
Maybe try a bios update with the same version if you can't unplug the battery?
 

michaeld

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Oct 10, 2012
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Was just thinking about that. Or possibly trying to pull the battery connector. Pulling it out would be the "easy part." Plugging it back in, not so much. Debating just returning it, but will probably try pulling the battery connector first.
 

michaeld

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Oct 10, 2012
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Rather than risk bricking it by flashing the bios, or disassembling it and losing the right to return it, I'm just going to return it. I'll leave it unplugged completely overnight, if it's not good to go in the morning, back it goes. Shame the BIOS is buggy.

*EDIT* It was not fine in the morning, so it's on the way back. Replacement already ordered. At least now I know what not to do when setting up the BIOS on the new one. Hope to get Proxmox 8.2-1 loaded on the good MS-01 I do have later today. Will likely run Memtest to ensure the Crucial 96GB kit is functioning properly. I'm a little concerned about not having the ECC safety net I'm used to, but that's part of the point of running a PVE cluster with HA; if one machine goes down, all VMs keep running.
 
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daylightroberty

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Jun 18, 2024
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I actually found the same exact QNAP disk controller from the review for sale on eBay so I've ordered it. It should stay cool and being short like that means it won't trap heat in underneath it.

I've ordered the i5 MS-01 to help keep the temperature down too. It operates at a slightly lower wattage.

Cable-wise I've ordered one of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005830936415.html

And then one of these to house the disks in: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004679669836.html

Hopefully that'll all work together. It's quite confusing trying to piece together the specifications.

I went for the backplane with 12Gb/SAS connector because this means the cable can have external terminations at both ends. My hope is that this will form a faraday cage and protect the signals from interference
 

Osorkon

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Jun 1, 2024
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Running Proxmox on MS-01 i9-13900H with 96GB RAM since few weeks.
3 x nvme
Bios v1.22
I replace the WIFI Card with a coral m.2, works fine.
Today I received the Qnap TS-D400S with QXP-400eS-A1164
Unfortunately I had no luck. As soon the pcie card ist plugged in, no of the LAN ports is working anymore?!
Are the any settings in bios, I have to adjust?
 

michaeld

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Oct 10, 2012
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I seem to remember reading something about PCI-E lanes limitations. If you have all 3 M.2 slots populated, that uses up some or all of the PCI-E slot's PCI-E lanes. I could be remembering incorrectly though.
 
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Silvard

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Feb 14, 2024
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I went through this entire thread and I might have missed it. Does the i5 version of the MS-01 "support" (I know it doesn't officially) 96GB of RAM? Has anyone tried that configuration?
 

daylightroberty

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Jun 18, 2024
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Running Proxmox on MS-01 i9-13900H with 96GB RAM since few weeks.
3 x nvme
Bios v1.22
I replace the WIFI Card with a coral m.2, works fine.
Today I received the Qnap TS-D400S with QXP-400eS-A1164
Unfortunately I had no luck. As soon the pcie card ist plugged in, no of the LAN ports is working anymore?!
Are the any settings in bios, I have to adjust?
Will be interested to hear if you get to the bottom of this, I have the same card coming
 

Sebo

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Jan 14, 2024
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Running Proxmox on MS-01 i9-13900H with 96GB RAM since few weeks.
3 x nvme
Bios v1.22
I replace the WIFI Card with a coral m.2, works fine.
Today I received the Qnap TS-D400S with QXP-400eS-A1164
Unfortunately I had no luck. As soon the pcie card ist plugged in, no of the LAN ports is working anymore?!
Are the any settings in bios, I have to adjust?
Are you sure the ports are not working and not NIC names changing in Proxmox (because they are based on PCI addresses) so the config is wrong? Connect display and keyboard and check if NICs names changed
 
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Osorkon

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Jun 1, 2024
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Are you sure the ports are not working and not NIC names changing in Proxmox (because they are based on PCI addresses) so the config is wrong? Connect display and keyboard and check if NICs names changed
I did the Overriding network device names to avoid changing the device name.
Now it works! :D Thank you very much @Sebo for the hint!
The TrueNas project can continue.

So far I'm happy with the MS-01. I was able to successfully migrate my Zimaboard duo cluster to MS-01. And if all goes well, the Synology NAS (DS720+) as well.
Proxmox currently runs with 5 VM's and 18 LXC's
The original thermal paste was replaced with a decent one (Thermal Grizzly), so the MS-01 stays cool.
On one of the Zimaboard PBS is now running. The second one I will use as backup Server.
 
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Sebo

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Jan 14, 2024
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Great to hear! I’m really curious how your experience with that QNAP JBOD will be. I’ve been considering TL-R400S which uses the same PCI card and is basically the same JBOD but in rack form factor.
 

scentilating

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Apr 22, 2024
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www.scentillant.org
I have a 3060 attached to PCIE slot and it isn't showing up in BIOS or proxmox anywhere. I have not tried passthroug. Installed Proxmox 4x after attempting various driver fixes etc. New to linux and tempted to try windows on bare metal to see if it shows up. All brand new hardware. Bios it shipped with. 13900 model with 64 GB ram. Two NVME drives in slot 1 and 2.