Supermicro X11SSH-LN4F not support Intel 600P M.2 SSD?

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HKMichaelKing

New Member
Oct 11, 2016
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Install Intel 600P SSD to X11SSH-LN4F, but BIOS no show SSD installed, BIOS Boot Hard drive list no 600P SSD.

How to fix it:(
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
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The BIOS won't recognize it (or any other NVMe device) as an "ssd" on the SATA screens because it isn't a SATA device. Seems odd - but you won't see it.

SM Boot will only recognize an NVMe device IF the boot option is set to UEFI-only AND the device has a UEFI boot block installed (which it will after you install a bootable OS). There is no legacy boot option for NVMe devices in SMs BIOS (anymore...there was in the 1.0 BIOS for this board but it was broken and removed from 1.1 forward).

So - to get it to work - set the boot options to UEFI only, boot from your installation media, install your OS on the NVMe device, reboot to BIOS and you should be able to select the device in the UEFI boot options.

I've done this with at least two other X11SSH-family boards (X11SSH-f and X11SSH-tf). It should work with your -LN4F board too.
 

PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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X11SSH-LN4F support Intel 600P M.2 SSD, BIOS not need change setup for use
Correct - BIOS does not not need to be changed for use - your OS will recognize it if it supports NVMe.

But in order to boot from it you need to follow the steps above (UEFI only, etc).

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 

HKMichaelKing

New Member
Oct 11, 2016
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X11SSH-LN4F UEFI Boot ESXi 6.0 (3620759) is ok

Now Install Dell Broadcom 57810 10Gbps Dual Port card can't normal reboot,

But install other MB with ESXi 6.0 (3620759) is no problem
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
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X11SSH-LN4F UEFI Boot ESXi 6.0 (3620759) is ok

Now Install Dell Broadcom 57810 10Gbps Dual Port card can't normal reboot,

But install other MB with ESXi 6.0 (3620759) is no problem
Stuck at the end of the BIOS checks showing step code "B2".

I had a similar issue with the X11SSH-f (difference was using UEFI boot from NVMe and a Mellanox CX3 card) when using BIOS rev 2.0. I had to get SM to send me the prior BIOS 1.1 and it got past this and proceeded to boot.

Unfortunately I had other priorities and did not take this further with SM.

See here: Odd issue with X11SSH-f and Mellanox CX3-EN
 

HKMichaelKing

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Oct 11, 2016
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Now test

PCI-E Slot 6 Dell H730P
PCI-E Slot 5 Dell Braodcom 57810 10Gbps DP card

ESXi 6.0 (3620759) Normal reboot / shut Down is no problem:cool:



Before PCI-E Slot 4 install Dell Braodcom 57810 10Gbps DP card can't Normal reboot / shut Down
 
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am4593

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Feb 20, 2017
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So I run this exact same mobo with an ahci SM951 to run pfsense and it does work. I could not get pfsense installed on an SM961 NVME drive but was able to run windows on it. as has been correctly pointed out you wont see this drive in the bios until you get an OS on it. After installing windows the bios boot devices displays "windows boot manager"
 

Nightwatch

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Feb 9, 2018
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Just adding my 2-cents because I have been working on this issue for at least half a day without any avail (after searching many forums and about pulling out my hair, including 3 calls to SuperMicro) and FINALLY solved the problem, so I wanted to save others from scouring the internet which did not help me.

Equipment:
SUPERMICRO 5019S-MN4 1U Rack Server Platform, LGA1151, Intel® C236, DDR4-2133 ECC UDIMM 64GB / 4, SATA RAID 5 / 4, VGA, GbLAN / 4, IPMI, SuperDOM / 2, M.2 / 1, 350W PSU w/ PFC
INTEL Xeon E3-1225 v5 Quad-Core 3.3 - 3.7GHz TB, HD Graphics P530, LGA 1151, 8 GT/s DMI, 8MB L3 Cache, DDR4, 14nm, 80W, Retail Processor
X11SSH-LN4F Supermicro Motherboard
2 x CRUCIAL 16GB Dual-Rank PC4-17000 DDR4 2133MHz CL15 1.2V SDRAM DIMM, ECC Unbuffered Memory
INTEL 128GB 600p 2280, 770 / 450 MB/s, 3D NAND TLC, PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe, M.2 SSD
WESTERN DIGITAL 8TB Purple Surveillance WD80PUZX, 5400 RPM, SATA 6Gb/s, 128MB cache, 3.5-Inch OEM HDD
MICROSOFT Windows 10 Pro 64-bit DVD OEM

Issue 1: Was hanging / rebooting on PEI - - IPMI Initialization frequently on reboot, would not get past unless I cold booted machine by pulling the plug. (big issue b/c it is a used as a recording server for a camera system)
Issue 1 Fix (after many tries, including replacing memory & power supply):
1. Downloaded latest IPMI & BIOS firmware from Supermicro Support (Product Resources | Support - Super Micro Computer, Inc.)
2. Using IPMI web interface (you will need to see what IP it gets on the screen that hangs OR set it to static in BIOS), I logged in with username ADMIN and password ADMIN
3. Flashed IPMI to update firmware from R1.11 to R1.39
4. Downloaded and ran Rufus (Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way) to create a FreeDOS bootable thumbdrive
5. Unzipped firmware update files to the drive that we just made bootable
6. Rebooted, pressed delete to enter BIOS
7. In BIOS, changed BOOT Tab to Dual to be able to boot from USB drive
8. Hit F4 to save & reboot
9. Pressed F11 to select bootable thumbdrive, followed README included with BIOS download to updated BIOS from 1.0b to 2.0c
10. Stopped hanging on PEI - - IPMI screen

Issue 2: After BIOS firmware update, system would not recognize onboard SSD or boot from it.
Issue 2 Fix (after calling Supermicro 3 times, on 3rd try I got someone who knew what he was talking about and talked me step-by-step through BIOS changes):
1. Enter BIOS, go to ADVANCED tab, change NVMe Firmware Source to "AMI Native Support"
2. Go to BOOT Tab, change Boot Mode Select to UEFI (if your Windows copy is UEFI like mine)
3. Set Boot Order on this Tab so it sees your disk
4. Still under BOOT Tab, go to UEFI Hard Disk Drive BBS Priorities, change UEFI Boot Order #1: to "Windows Boot Manager"
5. Hit F4 to save & reboot

After all of that was said and done, I set system to auto reboot using tool called Rebooter (PassMark Rebooter - Reboot and restart your PC automatically) and let it reboot over 100 times (so far), and it did not hang once, booting to Windows every time.
 

Monkey_Demon

New Member
May 16, 2018
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I just got a 120 GB HP SSD EX900 M.2 running as the boot disk for FreeNAS on a Supermicro X11SSH-F motherboard. I'm sharing my experience here to help those who follow this path. This post has three parts: purchasing considerations, Installation, FreeNAS installation, and X11SSH-F BIOS configuration. This last part should work with any bootable UEFI OS, so if you already have a M.2 device for your X11SSH-F motherboard (or another, similar motherboard -- YMMV) and are not using FreeNAS, you might just jump the the last section.

Purchasing Considerations
After agonizing about what boot device to use, I chose the EX900. It was only $55 from Walmart.com and seemed worthwhile compared to alternatives, such as SATA ssd drives (which would take up a SATA port on my server) and USB thumb drives (which I don't trust for intensive use). I've also read that I can use the extra space on the M.2 as swap space and for FreeNAS jails (securely isolated areas for individual apps), so I may be able to use the extra space productively. But even if not, the small price difference made this a good choice.

Installation
I had never even seen a M.2 device before, but installing it was easy once I figured out where the slot was in the motherboard's connector. (It's near the top. The mounted board sits parallel to the motherboard, so if you look at the screw standoff you should find the slot easily.) M.2 cards require a screw to hold them down, but on the Web I've seen complaints about M.2 drives that don't come with screws. Not to worry. The EX900 comes with a small screw, and there's already one on the X11SSH-F motherboard!

FreeNAS
Installing FreeNAS was straightforward. Just make sure to choose the UEFI installation option. I highly recommend Uncle Fester's Basic FreeNAS 9.10 Configuration Guide. Don't let the 9.10 fool you, there are virtually no differences installing the latest version (11.1) of FreeNAS.

BIOS Configuration
After installing FreeNAS on the EX900, at first FreeNAS would not boot, but a two undocumented tricks fixed things.

1. In the BIOS, or using IPMI Console Redirection, go to the Boot tab and change Boot Mode Select to UEFI. I also set the second boot source to UEFI Hard Disk, but as long as this is in the boot sequence and there's not a competing boot source earlier in the list, making it second in the list may be unnecessary. In fact, because this stuff is undocumented, I don't even know if the BIOS considers a M.2 drive to be a kind of hard drive.

2. Also in the BIOS, go to the Advanced tab and select PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration. Change the NVMeFirmware Source to AMI Native Support.

Not too hard once you know how. But searching the web for hours to discover this undocumented stuff is the pits.
 
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