SM X11SBA-F won't POST after upgrading memory

[doe3462]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought an Supermicro X11SBA-F and plan to use it as my new home server with focus on low power consumption, ~7W Idle with SATA, PCIE, IPMI and at least 8GB RAM. However, this board seems to be super picky when it comes to memory hardware and I hope someone can provide me with some experience, because information about this board is somewhat limited.

The board came with a preinstalled Kingston 4GB stick and works fine with it, so I thought "Why not try to expand it a bit to 8GB or maybe 16GB?" I know it's officially limited to 8GB in total, but there are some comments in product reviews that say 16GB would work. Unfortunately (and obviously), it does not work as expected and it won't boot after IPMI initialization and hangs at POST code 2E "configuring memory" with either one or two stick configurations.

Memory tried so far:
- Kingston KVR16LS11/4 4GB DDR3L-1600MHz // single slot: working
- Crucial CT102464BF160B 16GB Kit (2*8GB) DDR3L-1600MHz // single slot: not working // dual slot: not working
- SK Hynix HMT41GS6BFR8A-PB 16GB Kit (2*8GB) DDR3L-1600MHz // single slot: not working // dual slot: not working

Hopefully, someone can provide me some feedback. Thank you for any suggestions!

Edit: corrected memory size

 

[Spearfoot]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought an Supermicro X11SBA-F and plan to use it as my new home server with focus on low power consumption, ~7W Idle with SATA, PCIE, IPMI and at least 8GB RAM. However, this board seems to be super picky when it comes to memory hardware and I hope someone can provide me with some experience, because information about this board is somewhat limited.

The board came with a preinstalled Kingston 4GB stick and works fine with it, so I thought "Why not try to expand it a bit to 8GB or maybe 16GB?" I know it's officially limited to 8GB in total, but there are some comments in product reviews that say 16GB would work. Unfortunately (and obviously), it does not work as expected and it won't boot after IPMI initialization and hangs at POST code 2E "configuring memory" with either one or two stick configurations.

Memory tried so far:
- Kingston KVR16LS11/4 4GB DDR3L-1600MHz // single slot: working
- Crucial CT102464BF160B 16GB Kit (2*8GB) DDR3L-1600MHz // single slot: not working // dual slot: not working
- SK Hynix HMT41GS6BFR8A-PB 16GB Kit (2*8GB) DDR3L-1600MHz // single slot: not working // dual slot: not working

Hopefully, someone can provide me some feedback. Thank you for any suggestions!

Edit: corrected memory size

According to Intel, the N3710 only supports 8GB, so 16GB is a non-starter:

Intel® Pentium® Processor N3710 (2M Cache, up to 2.56 GHz) Product Specifications

Intel® Pentium® Processor N3710 (2M Cache, up to 2.56 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

Crucial only shows 4GB modules for that board, so the Crucial kit you tried is probably just incompatible:

Supermicro X11SBA-F | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial.com

Crucial Memory and SSD upgrades - 100% Compatibility Guaranteed for Supermicro X11SBA-F - FREE US Delivery.

www.crucial.com

On the other hand, memory.net does show some 1x8GB modules for it, which seems odd:

Supermicro Memory

memory.net

Supermicro lists some 8GB modules in their 'Tested Memory List' which -- again -- seems odd:

X11SBA-F | Motherboards | Products | Supermicro

Looks like your best bet is to get 2 x 4GB modules chosen from the selections above, and settle for 8GB.

 

[doe3462]

According to Intel, the N3710 only supports 8GB, so 16GB is a non-starter:

Intel® Pentium® Processor N3710 (2M Cache, up to 2.56 GHz) Product Specifications

Intel® Pentium® Processor N3710 (2M Cache, up to 2.56 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

You're right! But... I once had an Intel J4105 board (ASRock J4105M) which officially supports only 8GB, but there was no problem to use it with 16GB, what I did. Different chip, different story - but encouraged me to do it again with N3710.

Supermicro lists some 8GB modules in their 'Tested Memory List' which -- again -- seems odd:

X11SBA-F | Motherboards | Products | Supermicro

Indeed! I thought if it doesn't accept two sticks, I can at least use one and have my minimum 8GB. The Crucial sticks are not on the list, but, according to the MCL on the Supermicro product page, the Hynix stick(s) should work fine.

Looks like your best bet is to get 2 x 4GB modules chosen from the selections above, and settle for 8GB.

Sad but true...

I wrote the SM support and received this answer:

Hi,

X11SBA has quite "picky" on the DIMM. We have tested several brands and some had issue to boot or passing test.

Please use M3ST-8GMSDL0E-PS168 (Innodisk) (SMC PN: MEM-DR380L-IL02-SO18)

Regards,

The Innodisk DIMM is virtually not existent and imho far too expensive for an DDR3 stick, so I'll stop testing 8GB sticks at this point. Disappointing, though I still hope for someone with a working 8 single slot or 16GB dual slot setup without Innodisk.

 

[tinfoil3d]

Thanks for sharing. This is purely TIAS unless someone already did that for you for extending memory. Because it actually works sometimes. Heck I even went beyond intel's own specs for the CPU, probably because back then nobody was expecting 8gb ddr3 to exist. But it did work. So nobody knows for sure.