I would like to summarize the issues I face when using the Supermicro H11SSL-I motherboard for my workstation build,
so that others know what they might run into, when building a workstation with the same motherboard.
I am aware that according to Supermicro the H11SSL boards are not meant for workstation builds and are not supported for this scenario,
nethertheless due to the lack of other boards from Supermicro, I tried my luck.
1. Startup time to bios takes very long
When you power up the board, it takes very long till the bios screen is shown.
About 30s to 1 min, so don't switch the board off and wait a little bit longer to see if it boots or not.
During that time it might not show any sign of life - USB ports not powered, GPU fan off, etc.
This might also be because I have fully populated all ram slots, but as it is my first server class board, I am not sure, why it takes so long.
2. Only onboard GPUs supported
According to another forum member Supermicro said that only the internal GPU of the BMC is supported and they have not tested any other configurations.
It took me quite some time to figure out how to disable the integrated GPU and use my AMD Radeon WX7100.
Basically the internal GPU has to be enabled (don't disable it via the jumper on the board),
then install your GPU. Enter the BIOS and set the primary GPU to your external.
Make sure that you get video output through your addin GPU. Sometimes I had to unplug the VGA connector on the board, so that the external GPU showed some output.
After that you can disable the internal GPU on the BMC via the switch on the board.
3. iKVM can not be disabled
I have searched through the documentation and tried to look for an option to disable the internal iKVM, but die not find any.
The iKVM is causing loads of issues with the addin GPU as such it partly overwrites the screen during boot and you can't see what the OS is doing during boot.
At that time it shows a fullscreen Supermicro logo. Some parts of the screen are updated, like the small round circle when Windows is loading,
the rest of the Screen is filled with the Supermicro logo.
4. BMC is controlling FANs
If you want to disable the BMC completely, you should be aware that this also disables the fan control, which is done by the BMC,
resulting in the fans running at full speed all the time.
5. VGA monitor required for setup
Setting up a system with an external GPU requires to have a monitor with VGA, just be aware that you got one. You will need it for the initial setup,
as the addin GPU is not working during that time.
6. Windows 10 not supported
According to the Supermicro Website, Windows 10 is not supported on this board. I tried the install,
but ended up with loads of yellow exclamation marks in the device manager.
I was also not able to install the chipset drivers from the driver CD. The AMD SP3 drivers got stuck during install.
In addition the AMD Radeon WX7100 was not present in Windows, although I had a picture from it.
As a result the AMD drivers reported that there is no AMD GPU available to install drivers for.
Maybe an issue with the integrated iKVM? Unfortunately I can not disable it to do further troubleshooting.
7. System can't shutdown
Microsoft Windows nor Linux (Fedora Silverblue 31, 32, CentOS 8.1, Manjaro Linux) can shut the system down.
The screen goes off, then it takes about 1-2 min and the system reboots.
8. Fans constantly revving up and down
When first installed my 3 pin Noctua case fans were constantly revving up and down. This is due to the BMC thinking that the low RPM of the fans is a fan failure.
Solution: Use the IPMI tool from Supermicro to set the minimum fan speed to sth. like 150 or 200 RPMs. Fan speed might vary for different fans.
so that others know what they might run into, when building a workstation with the same motherboard.
I am aware that according to Supermicro the H11SSL boards are not meant for workstation builds and are not supported for this scenario,
nethertheless due to the lack of other boards from Supermicro, I tried my luck.
1. Startup time to bios takes very long
When you power up the board, it takes very long till the bios screen is shown.
About 30s to 1 min, so don't switch the board off and wait a little bit longer to see if it boots or not.
During that time it might not show any sign of life - USB ports not powered, GPU fan off, etc.
This might also be because I have fully populated all ram slots, but as it is my first server class board, I am not sure, why it takes so long.
2. Only onboard GPUs supported
According to another forum member Supermicro said that only the internal GPU of the BMC is supported and they have not tested any other configurations.
It took me quite some time to figure out how to disable the integrated GPU and use my AMD Radeon WX7100.
Basically the internal GPU has to be enabled (don't disable it via the jumper on the board),
then install your GPU. Enter the BIOS and set the primary GPU to your external.
Make sure that you get video output through your addin GPU. Sometimes I had to unplug the VGA connector on the board, so that the external GPU showed some output.
After that you can disable the internal GPU on the BMC via the switch on the board.
3. iKVM can not be disabled
I have searched through the documentation and tried to look for an option to disable the internal iKVM, but die not find any.
The iKVM is causing loads of issues with the addin GPU as such it partly overwrites the screen during boot and you can't see what the OS is doing during boot.
At that time it shows a fullscreen Supermicro logo. Some parts of the screen are updated, like the small round circle when Windows is loading,
the rest of the Screen is filled with the Supermicro logo.
4. BMC is controlling FANs
If you want to disable the BMC completely, you should be aware that this also disables the fan control, which is done by the BMC,
resulting in the fans running at full speed all the time.
5. VGA monitor required for setup
Setting up a system with an external GPU requires to have a monitor with VGA, just be aware that you got one. You will need it for the initial setup,
as the addin GPU is not working during that time.
6. Windows 10 not supported
According to the Supermicro Website, Windows 10 is not supported on this board. I tried the install,
but ended up with loads of yellow exclamation marks in the device manager.
I was also not able to install the chipset drivers from the driver CD. The AMD SP3 drivers got stuck during install.
In addition the AMD Radeon WX7100 was not present in Windows, although I had a picture from it.
As a result the AMD drivers reported that there is no AMD GPU available to install drivers for.
Maybe an issue with the integrated iKVM? Unfortunately I can not disable it to do further troubleshooting.
7. System can't shutdown
Microsoft Windows nor Linux (Fedora Silverblue 31, 32, CentOS 8.1, Manjaro Linux) can shut the system down.
The screen goes off, then it takes about 1-2 min and the system reboots.
8. Fans constantly revving up and down
When first installed my 3 pin Noctua case fans were constantly revving up and down. This is due to the BMC thinking that the low RPM of the fans is a fan failure.
Solution: Use the IPMI tool from Supermicro to set the minimum fan speed to sth. like 150 or 200 RPMs. Fan speed might vary for different fans.
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