SC847 case only has 20 pin ATX supply cable

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mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
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Hi everyone. I am trying to move my Supermicro X9DR7-TF+ motherboard from my SC846 case to a new SC847A case to make room for more drives. The MB works just fine in the SC846 case, but when installed in the SC847 case, the it hangs on boot with "system initializing" and post code A3. It's a dual CPU based system.

In trying to track down the issue, I noticed the SC847 which has the 1400W redundant PSU's only has a 20 pin ATX cable that plugs into the MB, not 24 pin. The X9DR7-TF+ motherboard manual explicitly warns that a 24 pin ATX cable and the two 8 Pin PCIE cables MUST be used.

It's a little weird that the SC847 doesn't support the 24pin ATX connector. Should I try and get an adapter or give up on this?

Thanks
mike
 

Rahvin9999

Active Member
Jan 14, 2016
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Rotterdam, The Netherlands
You can get a 20 to 24 pin ATX converter. Done this many times in the past with Supermicro cases that had a 20Pin power distributor.
This works without problems
Usually the 2U LP models have a 24Pin one and the ones with the horizontally oriented expansion slots have a 20pin one.

Other option would be to get a new power distributer from Ebay. (PDB-PT847-8824)
Supermicro 2 Slot Power Distribution Board PDB PT847 8824 FREE US SHIPPING | eBay
Only thing to watch out for there is that you get the right revision. Some of the older models did not yet have advanced PMBus powermonitoring.
 

CyberSkulls

Active Member
Apr 14, 2016
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I've also used the 20 to 24 pin adapters without issue. I believe mine were star tech and were like $8 or so on Amazon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
23
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3
Thanks for the quick turnaround folks!

I can buy an adapter locally, so will try that today and see if it fixes the issue. It will also add some length to that cable which is very very tight now as well.

Mike
 

mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
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Well, that didn't fix it.

Anyone know what code A3 means on an x9 motherboard?

Thx!
Mike
 

i386

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2016
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Germany
Yes, I saw that, but given no X9 (or X8 or X7) board has an IDE port, I am pretty certain that can't be the meaning. :)

Is there a sequence for the various POST tests that these boards run through? I saw it flash 15 and 93 before stopping at A3.

Thx
mike
Sata devices have an ide mode for legacy os like server 2003/windows xp
 

mikesm

New Member
Mar 3, 2013
23
1
3
Sata devices have an ide mode for legacy os like server 2003/windows xp
Thanks. Why would it pail to POST though? None of the SATA ports are in use. Its a freenas system so boots from a USB stick and all the data drives are on SAS ports on cards that are not plugged in.

Thx
Mike