Thanks Chris
I hadn't even bothered getting as far as looking at the IPMI yet because I was trying to sort out the RAID controller issue that I am having. That will now hopefully be much easier with quieter fans. I will give it a go
New home NAS and Hypervisor setup
- Thread starter TallGraham
- Start date
Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
I hadn't even bothered getting as far as looking at the IPMI yet because I was trying to sort out the RAID controller issue that I am having. That will now hopefully be much easier with quieter fans. I will give it a goOK, I have set up the IPMI and checked the fan controller settings. They are on Standard already. Fans seem to work fine for about 5 seconds and then the case alarm starts going. One or two of the fans will have stopped spinning properly and almost seem stuck. Trying to spin but failing. If I switch back to full speed then they start spinning again properly.
The RPM speed for standard goes down to 1,425 RPM and that's when the issue seems to start. On full speed they run at 2,500 RPM and quite frankly would keep a volcano cool
The IPMI says that the firmware version is 1.60. There are thresholds that show for everything on the system health screen via the IPMI but I can't see how to set them to increase the speed just a tiny bit.
At full speed the CPU doesn't even show a temperature it just says "Low" and the system and peripheral temperature stays at 27C
I wonder if I need to look and see if there is an IPMI upgrade that may solve this.....
Upgraded the IPMI firmware from 1.60 to 2.38. Still the same problem with the fans stopping spinning and the case alarm kicking in.
This is getting very frustrating now
This is getting very frustrating now
Update from Supermicro and Adaptec
Next day response from both companies. Brilliant support!
Supermicro have suggested disabling the option ROM for the RAID cards that I don't want to boot from. If that doesn't work they are talking about a pre-release BIOS that they may be able to send me to help.
Adaptec have suggested pretty much the same thing by suggesting I change the Runtime BIOS setting to be disabled on the two 5805 cards and leaving it only on the 6405 card that I want to boot from. They also suggest that this may be a resources issue with the motherboard and this should help, but I may need to contact Supermicro to get the newer BIOS that they mention.
Either way both seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet and very quick with helpful responses
+1 to DBayPlaya2k3 who suggested something like this could be the cause in post #56 earlier in the thread
I am going to call the case supplier tomorrow to see if they can shed any light on the fan fault that keeps happening at low speeds. There are some jumpers on the fan controller PCB but no documentation to tell me what they mean
Next day response from both companies. Brilliant support!
Supermicro have suggested disabling the option ROM for the RAID cards that I don't want to boot from. If that doesn't work they are talking about a pre-release BIOS that they may be able to send me to help.
Adaptec have suggested pretty much the same thing by suggesting I change the Runtime BIOS setting to be disabled on the two 5805 cards and leaving it only on the 6405 card that I want to boot from. They also suggest that this may be a resources issue with the motherboard and this should help, but I may need to contact Supermicro to get the newer BIOS that they mention.
Either way both seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet and very quick with helpful responses
+1 to DBayPlaya2k3 who suggested something like this could be the cause in post #56 earlier in the thread
I am going to call the case supplier tomorrow to see if they can shed any light on the fan fault that keeps happening at low speeds. There are some jumpers on the fan controller PCB but no documentation to tell me what they mean
Glad to hear that they both responded so quickly. I knew SuperMicro had great support but I never had any reason to call adaptec (I have owned one of their cards before it worked for years and i personally still think they make good kit ).
I have to admit that I never had these problems with fan alarm and X9SRL-F/RM424 Pro. I assume that the fan controller is the same for both cases. Must be a defect with the fans, controller board or cable. With the alarm coming from the fan board, it's not connected in any way with the motherboard in my opinion. My case only starts an alarm if the fans are removed...
Let me know if you want me to try something out. I can't reboot or switch off my server, but play around with the fans.
Btw, if you get any information about the jumpers on the fan controller board, please share. I already asked, but didn't get any information.
Good luck!
Latest Update
First thanks to everyone for your continued input and ideas. This really is such a great site and forum full of wonderful and helpful people. I hope in the future I can help others out as much in return.
OK, so I had another email from Supermicro support today containing a private FTP link for me to use to get the fabled 2.0b version of the BIOS for the motherboard. They suggested that I flashed this first before doing anything else. So I did this, all went well no errors and I rebooted the system. Now all of a sudden I can't get into the BIOS. It just freezes with a _ cursor in the top left corner and a A9 in the bottom right corner. Hmmmmm
So I thought let's get back to basics. Powered off, removed all the cards, and powered on again. Started straight up and I got into the BIOS. All settings had restored to defaults so that might be why it wouldn't go in.
I put two of the cards in. Started with 5805 in slot 7 and the 6405 slot 5, where I want them to be in the end. Just as before runs the BIOS for the 5805 and the 6405 isn't even registered. Swapped over. Now the 6405 in slot 7 runs it BIOS first and just as before the 5805 crashes with corrupted firmware error of FF.
Back into the RAID card settings now to try what Adaptec suggested about disabling the Runtime BIOS setting in the 5805 card. Still the same issue with 5805 firmware crashing. Getting more confused and annoyed now
Suddenly remembered the PCIE Gen Settings. Changed this from Auto to Enabled as before and the GenX Setting to Gen2. Tried again and the same issues either way around.
So I enabled the Runtime BIOS setting in the 5805 again. Now I used the BIOS on the motherboard to disabled the OpROM for the slot that the 5805 is in. Start with 5805 back in slot 6 and the 6405 in slot 5...... Oh my Life.....
SUCCESS!!!!!
OK, now calm down again. Change the setting back and try it. Fails. Set it back again..... Success!
The Adaptec BIOS from the 6405 now starts. It finds the 5805 card then goes on and finds the 6405 card. All is good. This is how it used to work in my old Asus P5Q3 motherboard.
Now to put the other 5805 card into slot 7. This Supermicro BIOS is weird though it will only let you change the OpROM setting if there is a card in the slot. So second 5805 card in slot 7 runs it's own BIOS for now, sees the other 5805 card and ignores the 6405. As to be expected by past issues. Trouble is now when I try to enter the motherboard BIOS I get a big blue box saying "Saving Configuration Data. Press Enter to Continue". I press enter and everything freezes! And at 12:35am I need to switch it off and get some sleep.
I am now wondering if the 2.0b BIOS is having a few stability problems. The 2.0a version would let me in the BIOS every time with no issues. No matter what the RAID cards were doing. No matter what card I put in slot 7 it comes up with this blue box. I will try and get a picture tomorrow and post it here. It's not an exciting blue box like the TARDIS though
I may try going back to the 2.0a BIOS and changing the OpROM settings to see if that works. I had also downgraded the firmwares on the Adaptec cards after finding the mention about compatibility with the 6 series and 5 series in a 6 series BIOS update readme.
So small amount of progress made. At the moment I am concentrating on the RAID card issue. Will deal with the fan controller one when I have sussed this I think. Almost there, just pesky sleep and work keep getting in the way
First thanks to everyone for your continued input and ideas. This really is such a great site and forum full of wonderful and helpful people. I hope in the future I can help others out as much in return.
OK, so I had another email from Supermicro support today containing a private FTP link for me to use to get the fabled 2.0b version of the BIOS for the motherboard. They suggested that I flashed this first before doing anything else. So I did this, all went well no errors and I rebooted the system. Now all of a sudden I can't get into the BIOS. It just freezes with a _ cursor in the top left corner and a A9 in the bottom right corner. Hmmmmm
So I thought let's get back to basics. Powered off, removed all the cards, and powered on again. Started straight up and I got into the BIOS. All settings had restored to defaults so that might be why it wouldn't go in.
I put two of the cards in. Started with 5805 in slot 7 and the 6405 slot 5, where I want them to be in the end. Just as before runs the BIOS for the 5805 and the 6405 isn't even registered. Swapped over. Now the 6405 in slot 7 runs it BIOS first and just as before the 5805 crashes with corrupted firmware error of FF.
Back into the RAID card settings now to try what Adaptec suggested about disabling the Runtime BIOS setting in the 5805 card. Still the same issue with 5805 firmware crashing. Getting more confused and annoyed now
Suddenly remembered the PCIE Gen Settings. Changed this from Auto to Enabled as before and the GenX Setting to Gen2. Tried again and the same issues either way around.
So I enabled the Runtime BIOS setting in the 5805 again. Now I used the BIOS on the motherboard to disabled the OpROM for the slot that the 5805 is in. Start with 5805 back in slot 6 and the 6405 in slot 5...... Oh my Life.....
SUCCESS!!!!!
OK, now calm down again. Change the setting back and try it. Fails. Set it back again..... Success!
The Adaptec BIOS from the 6405 now starts. It finds the 5805 card then goes on and finds the 6405 card. All is good. This is how it used to work in my old Asus P5Q3 motherboard.
Now to put the other 5805 card into slot 7. This Supermicro BIOS is weird though it will only let you change the OpROM setting if there is a card in the slot. So second 5805 card in slot 7 runs it's own BIOS for now, sees the other 5805 card and ignores the 6405. As to be expected by past issues. Trouble is now when I try to enter the motherboard BIOS I get a big blue box saying "Saving Configuration Data. Press Enter to Continue". I press enter and everything freezes! And at 12:35am I need to switch it off and get some sleep.
I am now wondering if the 2.0b BIOS is having a few stability problems. The 2.0a version would let me in the BIOS every time with no issues. No matter what the RAID cards were doing. No matter what card I put in slot 7 it comes up with this blue box. I will try and get a picture tomorrow and post it here. It's not an exciting blue box like the TARDIS though
I may try going back to the 2.0a BIOS and changing the OpROM settings to see if that works. I had also downgraded the firmwares on the Adaptec cards after finding the mention about compatibility with the 6 series and 5 series in a 6 series BIOS update readme.
So small amount of progress made. At the moment I am concentrating on the RAID card issue. Will deal with the fan controller one when I have sussed this I think. Almost there, just pesky sleep and work keep getting in the way
Thanks TangoWhiskey9
Here is the screen I have been trying to get for a week now.
All three cards running together. So here is how it was done in case anyone else has the same hassles.
Motherboard PCIE slots are laid out like so: Slot 4 | Slot 5 | Slot 6 | Slot 7 | CPU
I couldn't use Supermicro BIOS v2.0b in the end because whenever I had a PCIE card in slot 7 it would lock up if I tried to enter the BIOS. So I went back to BIOS v2.0a
I had to set:
"PCI Express Port" from Auto to Enabled
"PCI Express Port - GenX" from Auto to GEN2
Slot 7 Option ROM from Enabled to Disabled
Slot 6 Option ROM from Enabled to Disabled
I noticed that the cards seem to detect from slot 7 downwards. So I needed my 6405 card that was going to run the Adaptec BIOS at the end of the line of three. Luckily that is where I wanted it anyway.
Now the system starts up and the 6405 BIOS loads. It then finds the 5805 card in slot 7 with all its disks, the 5805 card in slot 6 with all its disks, and finally the 6405 card in slot 5 with all its disks and the bootable array.
Super happy now
Next to ring the case supplier about the fans as it just seems weird about the alarm. They are even using the X9SCM-IIF motherboard in the video on their site for the RM424 Pro case with the fans nice and slow and quiet.
Here is the screen I have been trying to get for a week now.
All three cards running together. So here is how it was done in case anyone else has the same hassles.
Motherboard PCIE slots are laid out like so: Slot 4 | Slot 5 | Slot 6 | Slot 7 | CPU
I couldn't use Supermicro BIOS v2.0b in the end because whenever I had a PCIE card in slot 7 it would lock up if I tried to enter the BIOS. So I went back to BIOS v2.0a
I had to set:
"PCI Express Port" from Auto to Enabled
"PCI Express Port - GenX" from Auto to GEN2
Slot 7 Option ROM from Enabled to Disabled
Slot 6 Option ROM from Enabled to Disabled
I noticed that the cards seem to detect from slot 7 downwards. So I needed my 6405 card that was going to run the Adaptec BIOS at the end of the line of three. Luckily that is where I wanted it anyway.
Now the system starts up and the 6405 BIOS loads. It then finds the 5805 card in slot 7 with all its disks, the 5805 card in slot 6 with all its disks, and finally the 6405 card in slot 5 with all its disks and the bootable array.
Super happy now
Next to ring the case supplier about the fans as it just seems weird about the alarm. They are even using the X9SCM-IIF motherboard in the video on their site for the RM424 Pro case with the fans nice and slow and quiet.
Quick update.
Adaptec emailed me back today and asked if I would do a detailed explanation of the final solution that made the cards work with the X9SCM-IIF motherboard. They want to add it to their knowledge base on their website.
I feel quite chuffed about this in a silly way. But can't claim all the credit as you guys all helped me.
So I suppose this is a little triumph for the website and the forum
Adaptec emailed me back today and asked if I would do a detailed explanation of the final solution that made the cards work with the X9SCM-IIF motherboard. They want to add it to their knowledge base on their website.
I feel quite chuffed about this in a silly way. But can't claim all the credit as you guys all helped me.
So I suppose this is a little triumph for the website and the forum
Another update. Installed Windows Server 2012 R2 onto the SSD Array yesterday. Runs really nicely. Did the install using the IPMI and the Java console, accessing the install ISO that was on my local machine. A really nice way to be able to do things.
Now I have the Server OS running I started the 2 x Adaptec 5805 cards building their arrays. Each array is RAID 6 and consists of 8 x 1TB drives. With both arrays building/verifying and the 3 x 120 fans running maxed out at 2700RPM constantly the whole thing is only pulling 127W at peak. I am very happy with that.
Fans are super duper duper duper duper noisy though. Still not worked out why they fail at Standard speed and need to get on to the supplier next week. I have been swapping around the fan locations and trying different things. They did stay on standard speed for a while without alarming when I swapped the positions of Fans 1 & 3 around. I thought it was solved. Then this problem reared its head.
The Adaptec 5805 RAID card in the middle hit 100C temperature!!!!!
The trouble with these Adaptec cards is that they are low profile. So with the case fans on low the air doesn't seem to be able to push enough to get past the SFF-8087 cables. I very quickly put the fans back on max speed and took the top off of the case for a few minutes as well to help let the heat out.
I may have to try and "MacGyver" a plate to hold a 60mm fan above the Adaptec heatsinks so that I can blow some air directly down onto them. I have a very nice, almost silent, Fractal Design 60mm fan from a previous PC so I will see what I can do.
RAID arrays are building nicely though. Estimated time was 8hrs 20mins for both, they are on target for that. Just need to sort out this damn fan noise. Gave me such a headache yesterday I had to turn it off and go outside in the fresh air!
Now I have the Server OS running I started the 2 x Adaptec 5805 cards building their arrays. Each array is RAID 6 and consists of 8 x 1TB drives. With both arrays building/verifying and the 3 x 120 fans running maxed out at 2700RPM constantly the whole thing is only pulling 127W at peak. I am very happy with that.
Fans are super duper duper duper duper noisy though. Still not worked out why they fail at Standard speed and need to get on to the supplier next week. I have been swapping around the fan locations and trying different things. They did stay on standard speed for a while without alarming when I swapped the positions of Fans 1 & 3 around. I thought it was solved. Then this problem reared its head.
The Adaptec 5805 RAID card in the middle hit 100C temperature!!!!!
The trouble with these Adaptec cards is that they are low profile. So with the case fans on low the air doesn't seem to be able to push enough to get past the SFF-8087 cables. I very quickly put the fans back on max speed and took the top off of the case for a few minutes as well to help let the heat out.
I may have to try and "MacGyver" a plate to hold a 60mm fan above the Adaptec heatsinks so that I can blow some air directly down onto them. I have a very nice, almost silent, Fractal Design 60mm fan from a previous PC so I will see what I can do.
RAID arrays are building nicely though. Estimated time was 8hrs 20mins for both, they are on target for that. Just need to sort out this damn fan noise. Gave me such a headache yesterday I had to turn it off and go outside in the fresh air!
Last edited:
That is exactly what I am thinking Patrick. Except a 60mm. The empty fan fixing you can see at the back of the case is a 60mm fan fixing. So should fit nicely across three cards and plug into the fan connector on the motherboard you can see by the VGA connector.
Going to try and find a couple of old card slot blanking plates, flatten then then mount the fan to them and use the card slot mounting screws to hold it in place. Air directly down onto the heatsinks.
That's the plan anyway
Going to try and find a couple of old card slot blanking plates, flatten then then mount the fan to them and use the card slot mounting screws to hold it in place. Air directly down onto the heatsinks.
That's the plan anyway
I know what you mean mrkrad
I've seen the ones in the Supermicro and Dell Chassis. They are awesome!
Hopefully my "MacGyver" Fan mount will do the job. I've found a couple of spare blanking plates. So off to the engineering department at college tomorrow to see if I can sweet talk the technician into helping me.
I've seen the ones in the Supermicro and Dell Chassis. They are awesome!
Hopefully my "MacGyver" Fan mount will do the job. I've found a couple of spare blanking plates. So off to the engineering department at college tomorrow to see if I can sweet talk the technician into helping me.
I have an Antec Spot Cool pointed at my 2x HBA and 2X NICs in the chassis, check them out.
Antec.com - Product: Spot Cool
Antec.com - Product: Spot Cool
Thanks for the idea sboesch
That looks pretty cool. Is it very noisy? I found a youtube video and it seemed almost silent even at hi speed. But didn't seem to stay in place very well, sort of flopped about all over the place
That looks pretty cool. Is it very noisy? I found a youtube video and it seemed almost silent even at hi speed. But didn't seem to stay in place very well, sort of flopped about all over the place
It is quiet. I have not had any problems with it staying fixed where I point it.
OK sboesch I'll get one I think. Is it the 80mm or the 100mm one that you have? The 80mm has 3 fan settings which I like the idea of. The 100mm seems to either be on full or tries to control fan speed based on the heat.
I've had no joy with the super noisy fan cases yet. No reply from the supplier here in the UK to my email I sent them Right now I either have super noisy fans or fan alarms on the case going off.
I have this little fan controller, but that will only work for 3 pin fans.
Does anyone know of the same sort of thing that will work for the 4 pin fan set up that this case has?
I've had no joy with the super noisy fan cases yet. No reply from the supplier here in the UK to my email I sent them
Right now I either have super noisy fans or fan alarms on the case going off.I have this little fan controller, but that will only work for 3 pin fans.
Does anyone know of the same sort of thing that will work for the 4 pin fan set up that this case has?