[SOLVED] X9SRL-F weirdness...broken, or some config issue?

[nabsltd]

I bought a used X9SRL-F (listed as "seller refurbished"), and I'm getting pretty much no response out of it. The BMC light blinks like it should, and the board powers on (and activates the VGA output, as my monitor sees a signal), but I get nothing else...no beeps, nothing on the display, etc. The IPMI does not grab an IP using DHCP, although my switch can see the MAC address of the dedicated NIC. I have cleared the CMOS, but I don't know if that resets the IPMI config to the default of using DHCP. Even so, all connecting to IPMI would really do is tell me the if BIOS version isn't high enough, and the BMC works.

I've got 3 more of these boards running in servers, so I know how they work and long they take to POST, and it's definitely not that I'm not waiting long enough. I've tried 3 different CPUs, but they are all v2. The docs say that you need BIOS version 3.0 or higher to support them.

So, my big question is whether or not I should get an error beep of some kind if the CPU is not supported because the BIOS isn't high enough, or would I get the nothing I'm getting now. I could buy a cheap "v1" chip to test, but I'd like to avoid even the $5 plus the time if I could.

 

[Labs]

I also have an issue with one Supermicro board but mine doesn't power on. The BMC works and I can get to the web gui and also SSH to it.
Resetting the CMOS doesn't reset the IPMI only the BIOS.

For finding out the IPMI IP, connect your laptop to dedicated port and setup initial IP on the interface of your laptop, something from 10.0.0.0/8 subnet and after add secondary IP addresses from the other 2 private classes 192.168 and 172.16. Then start Wireshark on the interface connected to the IPMI port directly and ping the broadcast from each subnet and watch the wireshark if you see other address that is different from the ones you setup for your laptop.
You can also power off/on the motherboard (remove power cord from PSU and plug it in again) so the IPMI can reboot also and watch the wireshark for IP addresses that ask for some ARP.

Good luck!

 

[nk215]

Check to see if your battery is still good. That may be the reason why IPMI doesn't work right.

If your board does not support a v2 CPU (and you put in a v2 CPU), you'll get nothing; no beep, no log in IPMI (when you an get in IPMI), no video output.

Your best bet is to get a cheap v1 CPU.

 

[nabsltd]

Check to see if your battery is still good.

Battery seems to be OK, as the CMOS (and clock) doesn't crap out even when unplugged from mains for a day. If everything else gets ruled out, I'll swap that.

If your board does not support a v2 CPU (and you put in a v2 CPU), you'll get nothing; no beep, no log in IPMI (when you an get in IPMI), no video output.

Your best bet is to get a cheap v1 CPU.

I would have expected the "bad CPU" beep, so this is good to know. I've got a E5-2640 on the way. Less than $6.50 shipped, and it could be useful if I run into other LGA2011 boards which need new BIOS.

 

[nabsltd]

After receiving the E5-2640 and getting the same result when it was installed, I did something I should have done sooner, and that was pull all the RAM but one stick. This allowed the system to POST, but further investigation shows that the motherboard is still broken.

I'm running the board on the bench, so no case or standoffs to short anything. When I short the "power" jumper and the board starts, it takes about 3 blinks of the BMC LED for the VGA to power on. Then, after about 8 blinks, the VGA briefly shuts off, then back on, and the board POSTs. Regardless of how much RAM is installed, these timings are the same, at least from 4GB to 32GB.

But, if I have RAM installed in slots B1 or D1 (the slots that are 2nd away from the processor on each side), the VGA powers on as normal, but never shuts off again, and the board does not POST. If RAM is installed in B2 or D2, then the VGA does not even power on. I have nearly two dozen sticks of DDR3 ECC RAM that were pulled from other working servers by me, and I've tried a bunch of different combinations, so I'm fairly certain it's not faulty RAM. I have some of the exact same RAM in other X9SRL-F boards with every slot filled, so it's not some weird incompatibility. So, I'm probably going to return this board, as I was planning on using 8x8GB like in my other servers.

Thanks for all the help, and sorry I didn't try just one stick first, but I've never had a modern board with known compatible RAM just do nothing when one of the slots was wonky. Most of the time, the RAM from that slot just doesn't show up, although sometimes you get a RAM error beep.

 

[RolloZ170]

If RAM is installed in B2 or D2, then the VGA does not even power on

as expected because B2 is secondary/slave slot, only populate if B1 is populated.

two dozen sticks of DDR3 ECC RAM

only ECC or REG ?

 

[Sean Ho]

X9SRL-F should work with UDIMM (both ECC and non-ECC) as well as RDIMM. Just don't mix types at the same time.

Sounds like one bad channel. Perhaps blow out DIMM slots and check CPU socket pins.

 

[RolloZ170]

X9SRL-F should work with UDIMM (both ECC and non-ECC) as well as RDIMM

don't know much about sandy&ivy. but i know that lga3647 skylake support UDIMM but cascade lake not(only some rare do)

 

[ddaenen1]

X9SRL-F should work with UDIMM (both ECC and non-ECC) as well as RDIMM. Just don't mix types at the same time.

Sounds like one bad channel. Perhaps blow out DIMM slots and check CPU socket pins.

Supermicro makes great boards but i have experienced that they are very sensitive when it comes to memory.

 

[RolloZ170]

Supermicro makes great boards but i have experienced that they are very sensitive when it comes to memory.

SM server/workstation boards do memory checks, if a module is bad it will rejected.
each serious JEDEC module will work fine on supermicro boards.
if youtalking about desktop consumer boards the story is very different, but supermicro is not alone then.

 

[nabsltd]

as expected because B2 is secondary/slave slot, only populate if B1 is populated.

And, yet, doing that causes the motherboard to get even less distance into the POST. Installing memory in B1 lets the VGA come on, but then adding a DIMM in B2 causes VGA not to turn on at all.

only ECC or REG ?

Everything is ECC registered. All the DIMMs work fine in other X9SRL-F boards.

I thought about just keeping the board and living with the limit of 4 DIMMs, since it was going to be used for a storage server of mostly backups, and the difference between 32GB and 64GB isn't a big deal in that case, but I like this board because even with slots used for 10Gbe and an HBA, I can install a total of 6 NVMe devices in the remaining 4 slots (2x x8 and 2x x4), and do it with cheap add-in cards because of the bifurcation support.

So, I plugged in UBCD on a USB stick to run a memory test, and it didn't boot. I tried Windows 7 and Windows 10 installs on USB and they also failed to boot. With all the DIMM slot weirdness and not booting either legacy or UEFI, it's going back. Also, free return shipping.