Supermicro X9SCM/X9SCL LGA-1155 Xeon Motherboard Series

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dswartz

Active Member
Jul 14, 2011
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Sorry, no. I have heard of similar issues where option ram can cause things like this. Maybe google will turn something up :(
 

matt_garman

Active Member
Feb 7, 2011
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I just replaced my fileserver's X8SIL-F + X3440 with an X9SCL+-F and E3-1230. Only the board and CPU changed, everything else remained the same, including an IBM m1015 HBA. The new board does its POST without any issue; likewise, the IBM m1015 also makes it through it's POST/BIOS init. However, when I boot into the operating system, it hangs with constant PCI errors (wasn't able to get a screen shot). If I remove the m1015, it boots fine. I've tried different PCIe slots and different m1015 cards, no luck. Operating system is CentOS 6.0 (same as RedHat Enterprise Linux [RHEL]). Seems like an odd issue, since the card worked just fine with the old motherboard.

Anyone seen anything like this? Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Matt
 

matt_garman

Active Member
Feb 7, 2011
212
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I just replaced my fileserver's X8SIL-F + X3440 with an X9SCL+-F and E3-1230. Only the board and CPU changed, everything else remained the same, including an IBM m1015 HBA. The new board does its POST without any issue; likewise, the IBM m1015 also makes it through it's POST/BIOS init. However, when I boot into the operating system, it hangs with constant PCI errors (wasn't able to get a screen shot). If I remove the m1015, it boots fine. I've tried different PCIe slots and different m1015 cards, no luck. Operating system is CentOS 6.0 (same as RedHat Enterprise Linux [RHEL]). Seems like an odd issue, since the card worked just fine with the old motherboard.
I should have checked SuperMicro's FAQ first. There is a question about this board with a similar LSI RAID card and CentOS 5.5. A simple BIOS upgrade to v1.1a fixed my problem. I added a comment to SuperMicro's FAQ, hope this helps anyone else with a similar issue.
 

nilsga

New Member
Mar 8, 2011
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Just got my server set up with a X9SCM-F. Everything seems to work just fine, exepct it beeps like crazy, like an ambulance, when booting. It's just during POST and OS bootup. When the OS has loaded, the beeping stops. The CPU temp is about 36 degrees celcius, so that should not be the problem, yet in the event log I can see that there are overheat warnings. Is it possible to disable this alarm somehow?
 

Abula

New Member
Oct 10, 2011
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I see 5x 4pin mobo fan heathers, none says CPU, i think its Fan1, Fan2, Fan3, Fan4, FanA, is there any that should be used for the CPU or recommended or doesnt matter?
 

nilsga

New Member
Mar 8, 2011
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I have installed ESXi 5 and I'm trying to pass through my IBM M1015 Raid controller. However, ESXi reports that "host does not support passthrough configuration". I have tried both enabling and disabling virtualization features in the BIOS, but no change... Anybody experienced this?

Edit: Figured it out. Was a second setting for enabling virtualization in the BIOS. Finally found it...
 
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hga

New Member
Sep 20, 2011
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Some updates to the X9SCM-F board

I and a project I'm helping are very fond on this board and we recently did a new build and found the board had been updated:

It had a newer version of the IMPI firmware; to get everything working I had to update IPMIView (either of the last two versions, 2.9.3 or 4, works).

We noticed they're perhaps refining the board. For a long time we were putting them into Supermicro 512 1U enclosures, which work just fine if you use an active cooler such as the Dynatron K2 so that the central blower doesn't have to run so fast it shakes your disks apart. Unfortuantely we also need to run a hot add on card (SAS host adaptor) and while you can make this work with a some duct tape (ask for details, including how to keep your disks cool) it wasn't good enough for the very hot rack our co-lo had assigned to us (we're switching to the 113 enclosures as a result).

Anyway, in the process of doing this, my friend used an IR thermometer to make sure all the chips were cool enough, and found one hot one, which turned out to be a voltage regulator who's data sheet said was well in spec (power chips are generally designed to run hot). And we noticed the newer motherboard we'd just gotten had changed that part, from one which could handle 5 watts to one that could do 3 as I recall. This suggests to me that Supermicro has got the board working well and is now polishing it, in this case I assume they discovered they didn't need as much margin in that part as they'd originally though and replaced it with a slightly cheaper one that will get the job done.

Or perhaps they had supply issues and were using the 5 watt part when they couldn't get enough of the 3 watt one. Anyway, the moral of this story is that these boards are rock solid but are getting evolved going forward; given their quality and price point I suspect they're selling well and are therefore getting continued attention.
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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Great info. Happen to have any pictures of the part change or the duct tape?
 

hga

New Member
Sep 20, 2011
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Modifying a 512-260B

Great info. Happen to have any pictures of the part change or the duct tape?
I don't have a closeup picture of the changed part (although see below) and it would be a little hard to get one at the moment, but it's an obvious power IC labeled U 15, located behind the VRM heatsink on the left (the orientation I use is that the "back" of the motherboard is the edge with the external connections (USB, VGA, Ethernet, etc.)).

On an older motherboard (ought to check others I have here of that vintage) there was an APL1084 and the newest one I've looked at has an APL1085. Keep the latter part below 64 C and it'll be entirely happy (above that its performance starts falling off although it can run hotter). In the above arrangement the former higher rated part was running at a consistent 48 C when the CPU was running at 40 C; the room was kept hot for this testing, 78 F or higher.

As for the enclosure modifications, I have a set of pictures which are mostly of the work in progress, and that work was split between myself and the friend I built the system for. It's pretty simple, though, especially if you aren't adding a hot Add On Card (AOC as Supermicro sometimes calls them).

First some orientation pictures I took before going wild with the duct tape; this is with an LSI SAS controller and without the mandatory shroud attached:



IMPORTANT NOTE: the orientation of the Dynatron K2 CPU cooler above is suboptimal; initially I just didn't pay much attention to where it was venting. To get it to significantly contribute to the cooling of an AOC, rotate it 180 degrees from what you see here and it'll exhaust in a good direction, plus help keep the Southbridge cool.

With the shroud attached and tacked in place with Scotch(TM) tape:



Some time later after I'd added my mods and my friend had replaced the LSI SAS controller with an Adaptec and had done his own modifications of the duct to cool the AOC:



Anyway, the concept has 2-3 parts. First, construct an air dam so that the power supply's intake is isolated from the rest of the enclosure. That way there won't be a tug of war between its small exhaust fan and the central blower, who's intake area is going to be severely constrained:



Now, to keep your disks cool, use duct tape to require all the central blower's intake air to flow past them. The picture below shows an optimal balance between that objective and getting lots of air into the enclosure to cool a hot AOC, where a single piece of duct tape in the front is covering all the front slots from the air dam to the left, leaving open the last 11. You can cover more, but that will restrict air getting into the central blower, which might matter depending on what you've put in the box and where it lives:



Finally, here's the last AOC duct modification my friend made (made from folded index card paper), it'll give you an idea of the sorts of things you can do. This one splits the airflow coming out of the Dynatron CPU cooler (note that it's been rotated 180 degrees) so that most goes to the AOC but some goes to the Southbridge. Also note the small IC in the lower right corner, I believe that's the U 15 APL1084/5 voltage regulator discussed above:

 
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Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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How loud are those blowers? That extra space in the 512 looks promising.
 

hga

New Member
Sep 20, 2011
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BTW, one thing I forgot to say is that the current boards we're getting from NewEgg have updated IPMI firmware, requiring an up-to-date version of IPMIView.

How loud are those blowers?
Not bad for a machine room, too loud to share an office with. Much quieter than having the central blower do all the work with a passive heat sink, which is said to cause vibration issues.

That extra space in the 512 looks promising.
???

I suppose you could stick an SDD or two in there, but otherwise this maxes it out with one AOC and two 2.5 in hard drives. What are you thinking of?
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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I suppose you could stick an SDD or two in there, but otherwise this maxes it out with one AOC and two 2.5 in hard drives. What are you thinking of?
That extra space would provide extra room for things like SATA connectors that run parallel to the motherboard PCB. The 502L is too small for that. Does the 512 have a removable I/O shield? From the pictures it looks similar to the 502L with a fixed I/O shield.
 

hga

New Member
Sep 20, 2011
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Supermicro 512 vs. 502L 1U Chassis

That extra space would provide extra room for things like SATA connectors that run parallel to the motherboard PCB. The 502L is too small for that. Does the 512 have a removable I/O shield? From the pictures it looks similar to the 502L with a fixed I/O shield.
Well, it's 4 inches deeper to accommodate the blower; not sure what you mean by "SATA connectors that run parallel to the motherboard PCB" (I keep asking for specifics because I've got a spare 512 in my hands so if I can visualize what you'd like to do I could tell you if it would likely work).

Its I/O shield is removable.
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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Sweet, the I/O shield being removable is great. For the SATA connectors, a lot of consumer/ prosumer boards have SATA connectors that are parallel with the motherboard surface instead of at 90 degree angles.

See the recent ASUS P9X79 review (it is a good feature because it makes cable management a bit cleaner):

In the CSE-502L-200B a mATX board, with those type of SATA connectors would not have room to plug a cable in.
 

hga

New Member
Sep 20, 2011
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WRT Right angle/parallel to motherboard SATA connectors and chassis

Yeah, I can see how they're both good and bad. In that location, on the opposite edge of the I/O shield and enough to the left that they wouldn't foul the central blower, a little work with a Dremel tool or whatever would make an opening in the supplied left air dam to get the straight into the disk compartment.

Although if they're enough to the right the fit between them and the 2.5 inch disk bracket would be tight; you could at worst route the cable through the disk bracket's side (after a little modification of it) if you could get by with one disk. I haven't tried putting a 3.5 disk there but clearly it wouldn't provide enough front to back clearance.
 

Samir

Post Liker and Deal Hunter Extraordinaire!
Jul 21, 2017
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HSV and SFO
I know is a very old thread, but I know many of you have used this board and have a lot more information on it than just what is in this thread so far. I just recently started working with the one I have and it seems that the cpu limitations excluding the i5 and i7 can be eliminated by using non-ecc memory as long as you are on bios 2+. I'm curious how far someone has maxed this system out.

I got mine with an i3-2120 in it and 8gb of ram and am curious what the upgrade path might look like today. Thank you in advance for any assistance!
 

Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
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I know is a very old thread, but I know many of you have used this board and have a lot more information on it than just what is in this thread so far. I just recently started working with the one I have and it seems that the cpu limitations excluding the i5 and i7 can be eliminated by using non-ecc memory as long as you are on bios 2+. I'm curious how far someone has maxed this system out.

I got mine with an i3-2120 in it and 8gb of ram and am curious what the upgrade path might look like today. Thank you in advance for any assistance!
Your question made me curious, so I thought I'd test it. I have a system with an X9SCL that wasn't currently in use. BIOS version is 2.3 (6/12/2018). I installed what I had on hand, an i5-3475S and 24GB of Unbuffered DDR3 1600mhz.

On first boot attempt, I was able to enter BIOS and confirmed that the CPU and Memory were recognized. Once I exited the BIOS, however, the system did not boot, or even start the boot process, and I wasn't even able to get into the BIOS again even with repeated attempts. I did some memory swaps and tried a GPU without success. As this is the SCL version (no management NIC) I couldn't log in to see what the status was. Dropping the Xeon and ECC memory back in, it started right up.

So, while it may work for others, it definitely didn't work for me!
 

Samir

Post Liker and Deal Hunter Extraordinaire!
Jul 21, 2017
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Thank you for the test! Strange that it recognized it and then just wouldn't ever again.

I don't have a cpu to try in it yet, but I'll definitely post back here with my research and findings.