Minisforum MS-01 PCIe Card and RAM Compatibility Thread

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pf740

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Mar 18, 2024
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Yes to both.

Dual 10G NIC works on the PCI expansion card. Plenty of SFP+ to 10G-BASET modules that will work, as x710 NIC on the machine is not vendor locked.
Thankyou. Could you recommend a suitable module I could possibly try. Its a mine field...

Heat wouldn't be an issue if opting for a physical card over the sfp ports? Cheers
 

NerdAshes

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Jan 6, 2024
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Thankyou. Could you recommend a suitable module I could possibly try. Its a mine field...
servethehome.com review of the dual port Intel NIC

servethehome.com review of the 4 port Intel NIC

Heat wouldn't be an issue if opting for a physical card over the sfp ports?
In this form factor, heat is going to be an issue either way. I added dual USB 80mm fans to the top of the case, blowing down into the little holes, and it keeps my dual 100gps QSFP28 NIC (runs hot) at 38C (cool for this card). If you did the same you should be safe.
If you can use SFP+ with DAC that would run cooler. If the issue is just a switch, it may be less expensive to get a 10gps SPF+ switch and use your current ports. Running one port with module (from the switch) to the modem.

I should add.. I'm probably going to ditch the two 80mm fans for a single 140mm. I'll be cutting a big hole in the top instead of little holes too. It's not that the dual 80mm fans sitting on the top don't work, I just like the single fan better for stacking and I expect better cooling too. It's the same cost - so you may want to go that route too?
 
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GreenAvacado

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Sep 25, 2022
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Guys anyone successfully managed to passthrough one of the X710 in proxmox to a VM? i need one of the two but whatever i do it passes both of them.
I also tried the SR-IOV thing.. i set the number to 4 and i try to pass one of this new cards that appeared to a VM, it seems ok but the VM doesnt have internet...
I'm doing just that. Entire passthrough one x710 for WAN and split the other x710 with SR-IOV for pfSense LAN and other VFs go to individual VMs. Works beautifully.
 
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GreenAvacado

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Volkerball

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Mar 23, 2024
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What is the maximum size of PCIe card you can put inside? I have an ASM2824 4-drive low-profile bifurcation card with a length of 193 mm in 22110 configuration, but I think I can shorten PCB up to 164 mm for 2280 drives. But more importantly, I think I need at least 4-5 mm of clearance beneath the PCB and 19-20 mm above the PCB.
 
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pf740

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BlueChris

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Jul 18, 2021
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I'm doing just that. Entire passthrough one x710 for WAN and split the other x710 with SR-IOV for pfSense LAN and other VFs go to individual VMs. Works beautifully.
Dear friend, can you elaborate the steps of how you did that, which card etc? in the life of me i cannot do it successfully in my proxmox and i found many guides on it... if you have one that you used, please share it..

Thx
Chris
 

GreenAvacado

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Sep 25, 2022
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Dear friend, can you elaborate the steps of how you did that, which card etc? in the life of me i cannot do it successfully in my proxmox and i found many guides on it... if you have one that you used, please share it..

Thx
Chris
Sure here you go:
  • Create systemd service to auto create VF after reboot
    /etc/systemd/system/sriov-nic.service (pick any name) -- make sure to enable the service, the usual systemd drill

  • Contents of sriov-nic.service file below
  • Change to whatever NIC your system has (in my case, enp6s0f1)
  • Change number of VF you need according (5 in my case)
  • Change to whatever MAC address you would like to assign, this ensure MAC address assignment is static after every reboot

Code:
[Unit]

Description=Script to enable 10G SFP+ SR-IOV on boot



[Service]

Environment=nic=enp6s0f1

Type=oneshot

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/echo 5 > /sys/class/net/${nic}/device/sriov_numvfs'



ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 0 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:00'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 1 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:01'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 2 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:02'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 3 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:03'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 4 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:04'



[Install]

WantedBy=multi-user.target
 
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MrTeeJay

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Feb 19, 2019
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Have read through the thread but can't see if this has been asked before.

Has anyone tried the QNAP QMP-2P2G2T with the SMBus tape hack?? Just curious if it has the same issue as other cards which cause the ms-01 to not boot.
 

Joss

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Jan 21, 2024
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What is the maximum size of PCIe card you can put inside? I have an ASM2824 4-drive low-profile bifurcation card with a length of 193 mm in 22110 configuration, but I think I can shorten PCB up to 164 mm for 2280 drives. But more importantly, I think I need at least 4-5 mm of clearance beneath the PCB and 19-20 mm above the PCB.
Would interest me, too. (I haven't given up yet on using the MS-01 as an M.2-based Unraid server/NAS.) We have discussed the PCB length earlier, and 22110 cards are too long, but 2280 should work, so in theory you would be able to add a card with four M.2 NVMe 2280 SSDs running at x2 speeds. You'd need a card with a PCB that you can break off at the end. However, one user already wrote that the clearance beneath might be too small, so with the two M.2 SSDs on the underside it might not fit. But someone would have to test it. Another important issue would be the heat. Using four gen3 SSDs at x2 speeds, which is the logical choice for a RAID setup together with the other built-in slots, would not produce as much heat, especially if you add one or two of those USB-powered external fans. However, that would still leave the two SSDs on the underside of the card, which I'm sure would run at higher temperatures than the other two, even with an additional fan. (Provided they fit at all.) It might work, it might not… we won't know until someone runs a few tests.
 
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Aug 20, 2023
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Redid the thermal paste on my x3 MS-01 yesterday, boost clocks are now hitting 5.1ghz and havent heard the fan once.
The concrete paste they applied on the cpu in the factory is very bad, dry, badly applied to die.
Mail sent to minisforum.eu requesting that they refund my thermal paste :)
 

Volkerball

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Mar 23, 2024
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Would interest me, too. (I haven't given up yet on using the MS-01 as an M.2-based Unraid server/NAS.) We have discussed the PCB length earlier, and 22110 cards are too long, but 2280 should work, so in theory you would be able to add a card with four M.2 NVMe 2280 SSDs running at x2 speeds. You'd need a card with a PCB that you can break off at the end. However, one user already wrote that the clearance beneath might be too small, so with the two M.2 SSDs on the underside it might not fit. But someone would have to test it. Another important issue would be the heat. Using four gen3 SSDs at x2 speeds, which is the logical choice for a RAID setup together with the other built-in slots, would not produce as much heat, especially if you add one or two of those USB-powered external fans. However, that would still leave the two SSDs on the underside of the card, which I'm sure would run at higher temperatures than the other two, even with an additional fan. (Provided they fit at all.) It might work, it might not… we won't know until someone runs a few tests.
My card does not have break-off perforation at the end, but I thought I could fix it with some accurate hacksaw/dremel action and elbow grease. I originally bought this card for use with Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny m720q, but I have run into clearance issues above and beneath the card (length was also a problem, but I was planning to solve it with dremel/hacksaw). I guess MS-01 might also have the same issues but with higher stakes. I have another idea involving Aaeon MAX-Q670A and ASM2824 card, so I guess I will pass on MS-01. Thanks for the information.
 

BlueChris

Active Member
Jul 18, 2021
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Athens-Greece
Sure here you go:
  • Create systemd service to auto create VF after reboot
    /etc/systemd/system/sriov-nic.service (pick any name) -- make sure to enable the service, the usual systemd drill

  • Contents of sriov-nic.service file below
  • Change to whatever NIC your system has (in my case, enp6s0f1)
  • Change number of VF you need according (5 in my case)
  • Change to whatever MAC address you would like to assign, this ensure MAC address assignment is static after every reboot

Code:
[Unit]

Description=Script to enable 10G SFP+ SR-IOV on boot



[Service]

Environment=nic=enp6s0f1

Type=oneshot

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/echo 5 > /sys/class/net/${nic}/device/sriov_numvfs'



ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 0 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:00'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 1 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:01'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 2 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:02'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 3 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:03'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/ip link set ${nic} vf 4 mac 62:c5:b8:58:8b:04'



[Install]

WantedBy=multi-user.target
Thank you for the info.. before i proceed this is what i followed that forced me to alter grub etc
I undo all this changes first and then i apply yours right?
 

pf740

New Member
Mar 18, 2024
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Anyone put an energy use meter in front of it to see what it pulls? Be interested in how many watts it's using in basic use etc.

Thanks
 

BlueChris

Active Member
Jul 18, 2021
106
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Athens-Greece
Sure here you go:
Dear GreenAvacado i finally fixed and i see 5 cards. I can passthrough this cards in Windows or Linux and they work but unfortunatelly they dont work in my nested ESXI. I have Proxmox in bare metal and nested esxi on top of it but the driver that is shown in esxi (Intel 700 series) unfortunatelly is not recognised.

Anyone put an energy use meter in front of it to see what it pulls? Be interested in how many watts it's using in basic use etc.

Thanks
I have Shelly meters everywhere in home (60 switches and plugs) and i have measurements of everything. Normally the machine sits around 50w but when i startup my own VM (this is the one i work on and has the Onboard Usb3 controller and the Radeon passthrough) it raises around 60-95 watts and that depends on what I do.

Inside i have
1 Intel P4801x 200gb M2 optane
1 Samsung 990 Pro 2TB
1 Samsung PM983 8TB U2
1 AMD Radeon 6400
96GB Ram

1711319800061.png
 

GreenAvacado

Active Member
Sep 25, 2022
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Dear GreenAvacado i finally fixed and i see 5 cards. I can passthrough this cards in Windows or Linux and they work but unfortunatelly they dont work in my nested ESXI. I have Proxmox in bare metal and nested esxi on top of it but the driver that is shown in esxi (Intel 700 series) unfortunatelly is not recognised.
Never used VF in nested environment so can't be of much help here but my sense is that this is purely driver related issue.
 

Agent_Husky

New Member
Mar 16, 2024
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3
I just got an E-Mail from the support, the shipment has been delayed again...
To be honest, I don't believe them anymore. At first, there was the delay because of chines new year holidays, now there are some weird power supply issues out of the blue.
I would never have bought the product if I had known about all the problems beforehand.

View attachment 35537
It is very interesting, i asked them a few days ago, when the batch will be shipped to the german warehouse (for all EU people). They said, that the container left Hong Kong march 21st and that it will take 18-23 days to arrive in germany. Fingers crossed, they will be here mid april.
1711360223023.png
 
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oharag

Member
Feb 18, 2024
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If you can find single sided 4TB: should work. Double sided may not fit or get too hot.
would be interesting if enterprise grade 22110 ones perform well or do overheat…
Hey I just purchased 4TB SN850X on sale at Amazon hoping to use this in the MS-01. Will this be an issue without a heatsink? More worried about the underside on SSD and the MS-01 mainboard? I didn't get the concern with the rubber bands and the heatsink Patrick spoke of in the video review. I'm hoping the WD_BLACK will fit. I think the WD_BLACK 4Tb is a double sided SSD.

Amazon.com: WD_BLACK 4TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive - Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280, Up to 7,300 MB/s - WDS400T2X0E : Electronics