X9DR3-LN4F+ issues with RAM and "B7"

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BLinux

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I recently got a nice deal on a pair of X9DR3-LN4F+ systems. I've been testing them out in my spare time over the last week and noticed some memory related issues. Before I contact the seller I got them from, I just want to verify that my troubleshooting is sound.

The system came populated with 8x 4GB DIMMs = 32GB total with 2x E5-2630v1. It was 4 DIMMs per CPU, each DIMM using the 1st slot of each channel. This configuration boots up just fine.

I then added more DIMMs to fill up all 24 slots and the system would not complete POST. It just showed a message "System initializing ... B7". From my searches, this indicates a RAM module related error. So, I removed everything and went down to a 4x DIMM per CPU (8x DIMM total) configuration again; this booted up fine. So I added another set of DIMMS for 8x DIMM per CPU (16x DIMM total) configuraiton, and this booted up fine. When I added a 3rd set for 12x DIMM per CPU (24x DIMM total), I get the POST stuck at "B7" again.

In case my DIMMs were bad, I carefully took out the last 8 DIMMs, confirmed it would complete POST again, and then swapped the 8 DIMMs from the last set, with the DIMMs in the 2nd set. This also completed POST just fine; so I don't suspect any of the 8 DIMMs from the 3rd set are obviously bad.

On the motherboard, the DIMM slots are labeled like this:

P1=processor 1, P2=processor 2

P1C1
P1C2
P1C3
P1D1
P1D2
P1D3
(CPU1 sits between)
P1B3
P1B2
P1B1
P1A3
P1A2
P1A1

P2E1
P2E2
P2E3
P2F1
P2F2
P2F3
(CPU2 sits between)
P2H3
P2H2
P2H1
P2G3
P2G2
P2G1

Basically, if I populate A3,B3,D3,C3,E3,F3,H3,G3, I get the stuck at "B7" problem.

Can I populate a subset of the A3-G3 slots to further narrow down which slot might be having the issue? Is it likely I have a bad DIMM slot on this motherboard? Or, is there something particular about populating A3-G3 that requires a certain RAM module configuration (rank x devices?) to work properly?

By the way, I'm using DDR3 PC3-10600 ECC Registered DIMMs... other than the spec just mentioned, they are not exactly all identical (mostly 2Rx, some 1Rx, varying between 2GB,4GB,8GB). But I've been able to swap them in several permutations without error as long as I don't touch A3-G3 slots.

Thoughts?
 

Patrick

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Apologies, skimmed a bit (busy day) is it only an issue with all three sets at once? If so, did you check the ranks of the DIMMs and what the system supports? Sounds like it may be something "I know someone" (me) has done in the past and gotten an error.
 
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BLinux

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Apologies, skimmed a bit (busy day) is it only an issue with all three sets at once? If so, did you check the ranks of the DIMMs and what the system supports? Sounds like it may be something "I know someone" (me) has done in the past and gotten an error.
yeah, that's what i was implying in the last part of my OP... i recall years ago that some systems had a limit on how many ranks could be used in total. but considering all the DIMMs are either 2Rx or 1Rx, I didn't think I would have to worry about that again on a modern system.

I guess I'll check the manual...

BTW, since I just got these systems, I want to rule out if I have any bad DIMM slots. Would it be a workable configuration to unpopulate A2-G2, and populate A3-G3 along with A1-G1? If I can complete POST without B7 error with just A1-G1+A3-G3, then at least it would confirm the DIMM slots are okay and maybe it's just the RAM module configuration I'm trying to put into this thing?
 

T_Minus

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I believe it should work fine I forget which generation but some will say something like "RAM module installed in incorrect location"
 

frogtech

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Have you been able to update the IPMI and BIOS yet? I have read some unnerving stories about some of the early C602 boards accepting the BIOS updates but then not allowing boot into Win 8/10 and Server 2012/2016 due to ACPI BIOS ERROR... this one especially (and X9DRi-LN4F+).
 

BLinux

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Have you been able to update the IPMI and BIOS yet? I have read some unnerving stories about some of the early C602 boards accepting the BIOS updates but then not allowing boot into Win 8/10 and Server 2012/2016 due to ACPI BIOS ERROR... this one especially (and X9DRi-LN4F+).
I have updated the BIOS and IPMI/BMC firmware successfully from a bootable USB with DOS on it. That was fine, although the previous owner had disabled BMC via jumper so I had some issues at first where the BMC/IPMI was missing entirely. Once I switched the jumper, all was well.

I don't know any specifics about the Windows ACPI BIOS ERROR as I don't really use Windows much...
 
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BLinux

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Thanks for posting that... you are enabling my laziness though, but much appreciated! :D

So, according to that, the 3DPC column seems to indicate:

- no 1.35V DIMMs
- nothing faster than 1066Mhz

That might explain my problem... one of my DIMM sets is a PC3L-8500R (1.35V), and the other set of DIMMs I tried are all PC3-10600R (1333Mhz). So, it looks like if I want to use 3DPC, I need 1.5V, and PC3-8500R or PC3-6400R?
 

frogtech

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Yeah, that's if you max out the board completely from the get go. It's a different story if you get LRDIMMs though,
upload_2017-6-5_15-36-50.png
 

BLinux

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Yeah, that's if you max out the board completely from the get go. It's a different story if you get LRDIMMs though,
View attachment 5758
sorry if this is elementary, but i'm confused by the "Slot per channel" versus "DIMM per channel" terminology? In the labeling schema above, isn't every "letter" a channel, and the number after the channel the "DIMM per channel", e.g., A2 is Channel-A, DIMM-2 ? So what ooes "slot per channel" mean?
 

frogtech

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There's 8 memory channels, 4 per CPU, where you populate with 3 slots per DIMM, for the total of 24. The channel is indicated by the letter, so A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, and so on, through H.

I think they denote it first as the SPC to differentiate the full processor capabilities because it's kind of up to the CPU/chipset, since the proc platform in terms of memory can range well from only 4 DIMMs per CPU all the way up to 12 DIMMs. It's more of a general memory guideline for the E5-2600 processor series, and not for just this board. You could be concerned with the 3 SPC matrix since that's the layout of the board. Just as the Westmere chips could go up from the traditional 6 DIMMs per CPU, up to 9 DIMMs per (total of 18).
 
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BLinux

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This could be due to a scratched CPU. Have you tried a different CPU ?
no, if you read my responses above, it looks like using 3 DIMMs per channel has much stricter requirements according to Supermicro info. and the DIMMs I was using didn't meet those, i.e., had to be 1.5v and slower RAM if I want to populate the 3rd DIMM in each channel