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C.A.P.S. v4 Pipeline build help needed


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I hope someone who already put together the C.A.P.S. v4 Pipeline can help me out a bit. This is not the first PC I'm putting together (more like 50th) but the first that does not want to power on.

 

For the record, I connected the following things:

 

- ATX power (both 24pin and 8pin);

- SSD (SATA and POWER);

- standby/ON cable;

- power LED cable.

 

Switching the PSU on (still in standby) lights up the green led LE3 (Onboard Power LED Indicator) in the front right corner:

 

YAwRZl.jpg

 

Another led that lights up is an amber led LE6 in the rear left corner - User's Manual is says no word about this led and its purpose. Finaly, there is a green led LE5 (BMC Heartbeat LED according to Manual) which starts to blink.

 

Power led on the front of the case is off.

 

Now, after pushing the standby/ON button, PSU fan kicks in, amber led LE6 turns green for about 5s, then turns red and ... that's pretty much it:

 

sRBP2S.jpg

 

No beep (there is an internal buzzer installed on the MoBo), monitor does not switch on, even the ON led on the front of the case does not light up.

 

The ON led on the front of the case is interesting in itself. It lights up blue on standby, but switches off completely after you press the on button (shouldn't that be the other way round ?).

 

What is more, the power led works only after cable polarity is reversed (!). When the cable is connected correctly, the it doesn't light up at all :(

 

(Yes, I double and triple checked the power led cable polarity; the + pin is the one closer to the heatsink and that is where I connected the red cable marked PWR LED +. The cable polarity is not reversed on LED end either - there is even no possibility to do that, as it is integrated with standby cable, on a single 4-pin connector).

 

I'm using Chris recommended:

Supermicro MBD-X10SLH-F-P MoBo

Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3L 1600MT/s (PC3-12800) DRx8 ECC UDIMM 240p (CT2KIT102472BD160B)

Intel Xeon E3 (1230L v3) 1.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache 25W Socket LGA1150 Processor

Standard Enermax ATX Modu 82+ psu (for testing only)

 

The procesor is different - less powerfull low TDP variant - but it is from the same family. MoBo has an extra '-P' suffix ... not sure it matters.

 

Any ideas ?

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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I have not used that board but this may help from the Supermicro site (which takes forever to load for me). It may be worth getting in touch with them or whoever you bought the board from or trying a different psu as it may be a faulty board, try it with the minimum hardware loaded - one stick of ram no power leds etc.

 

What is the meaning of LE6 on X10SLM+-F?

 

Green means all onboard powers are ready.

 

Orange means standby power is OK but not power on yet.

 

Red means some onboard power has issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I had a build a few weeks ago where I got no output. It started the psu fan but no output, I originally discounted the psu as it was a new Corsair cx430 and I had tested it with a psu tester. It did turn out to be the psu as when I attached an Intel cpu heatsink and fan it didn't come on (with a fanless heatsink these things cannot be seen). Another psu fixed the problem.

 

At least yours may be giving you a clue with the le6 light and I would be tempted to try a different psu first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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OK, found the problem. The MoBo doesn't want to start without the fan connected. Can you imagine ? You are building a computer with no fan, and the board doesn't even want to start without the fan, LOL.

 

I have connected a spare PWM fan I had lying around and presto - instant boot. I have run Memtest86 - which is a memory testing program that can be run from the USB thumb drive without the need for the OS - and it just worked fine. 1h of memory testing and everything worked OK. The CPU didn't even got warm - it was probably around 30'C at the end of the test.

 

Now I need to find out how to tell the MoBo in the BIOS that there are no fans installed. I have taken a quick look, but couldn't find any fan settings.

 

Need to read the manual.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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When you connected the fan did the le6 light go green?

I don't think I'll ever be using this board but I would be interested to know.

 

Correct. The LE6 led sequence is as follows:

 

No fan connected: amber -> green -> red - board does not start

PWM fan connected: amber -> green - board starts without problems

 

The red must indicate the CPU fan fail on those boards.

 

I have went through all menues in the BIOS but was unable to find any menu that would show any fan settings. There is even no RPM display or CPU core temp readout - sth that is a standard on all regular, consumer MoBos.

 

I will email Chris the link to this thread. Hopefully he can share with us his experience.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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I read the maual. There is no mention about the fans in the manual, apart from this line:

 

The fan speeds are controlled by the firmware management via IPMI 2.0.

 

It seems the fans can only be controlled via LAN and IPMI interface (from another computer). I need to educate myself of what IPMI is, as I have never heard of that before, not to mention using one.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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I read the maual. There is no mention about the fans in the manual, apart from this line:

 

The fan speeds are controlled by the firmware management via IPMI 2.0.

 

It seems the fans can only be controlled via LAN and IPMI interface (from another computer). I need to educate myself of what IPMI is, as I have never heard of that before, not to mention using one.

 

IMPI is an interface that allows remote console and bios access to headless server or to servers that do have a console but are remotely located, for instance in a computer centre.

 

Your mainboard should have a dedicated ethernet port for the IMPI, as for default IP address for that, you would have to check the manual.

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I have emailed Chris, but he is at CES. He promissed to look at this thread when he can.

 

Chris is familiar with IPMI. From the CAPS v4 project page:

 

The last piece of the X10SL7-F motherboard that I absolutely love is the integrated Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) 2.0 with KVM and dedicated LAN port. This interface enables the user to connect to the server via web browser and access it as if the user was physically at the server with a keyboard, monitor, and mouse. The IPMI even enables the user to connect to the server when the power is off, get into the BIOS, and restart the server if the operating system hangs. It’s a great feature for the Cortes server because this server is likely to sit in a back room somewhere out of easy reach. My Cortes server resides in another room and without any keyboard, monitor, or mouse connected.

 

He is an IT guy though, so probably didn't think that the rest of us, mortals, might not have an idea what IPMI is and how to use it. Afterall, consumer MoBos do not come equipped with IPMI.

 

Hope someone will do a writeup on board setup, otherwise the project will be a non starter for 99% of CA readers (and many computer shops for that matter). I would hate to hire an IT network speclist just to setup this.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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Hi Elberoth,

in order to turn the board on to wich connector did you install the fan??? I am in the middle of building, still expecting the case.

 

There are 5 separate Fan Headers. Fan1 to 4, and FanA. I have connected the fan to FanA, which sits in the front left corner of the MoBo.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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If Chris is busy you could contact Small Green Computers who build the CAPS designs or [email protected]. Like I said I don't know this board and I won't be posting again (unless I find something useful!) but I had a quick look at the manual and it seems to have a fan fail feature so I am wondering do you have anything connected to pins 7 and 8 of JF1 which may be causing the le6 issue?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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(...)I am wondering do you have anything connected to pins 7 and 8 of JF1 which may be causing the le6 issue?

 

The only cable I have connected to JF1 header is Power On. No reset, no HDD LED, no Power LED.

 

I have even disconnected the Power LED, as it only worked when system was in Stand-by (the front panel blue led is only ON when the master switch on the ATX PSU is ON; switching the MoBo on with the Standby/Power On button turns the LED off; switching the MoBo off, turns the front LED on again - most unussual; to me the PWR LED on the JF1 header seems to be the Standby LED of sorts, not Power LED).

 

I'm trying to put this server together like the 50+ regular desktop computers I had put together before - but no luck :(

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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Success !

 

I have traced all the problems down to malfunctioning ATX PSU. Today I brought home some el cheapo ATX PSU to replace my pricey Enermax and presto ! Everything works as expected.

 

The MoBo boots, the front panel LED finally works as it should and most importantly - the MoBo boots without the CPU fan connected !

 

And this IPMI feature is absolutely amazing. Makes the monitor completely unnecessary.

 

And it is easy to run, too.

 

1. open your web browser (Chrome, Firefox etc)

2. enter your server IP in the address line (you can check that in the MoBo BIOS or your router menu - in my case it was xxx.xxx.1.18);

3. enter login and password (ADMIN & ADMIN are default)

 

and you are in :)

 

From there, you can check all of the board sensor readings like temps and voltages, shutdown or reboot the server or open a full function remote session with your server (the so called Console Redirection in IT speak).

 

When in Console Redirection mode, you can operate your server as you were diectly sitting at it.

 

And best of all - you do not have to install remote sesion clients on your computer, even when your OS isn't equipped with one. I'm running one from my ancient Win XP !

 

This is so great. So, so , sooooo - great ! Couldn't be happier. At last I will be able to ditch my monitor which was sitting next to my audio gear.

 

I will post a small tutorial how to get the server running during weekend.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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Adam,

 

Any tips or advice on the build or setup would be greatly appreciated. I'm just getting ready to start and, similar to you, I've built PCs but never a fanless case or set up a system as a music server. I'm going to use the HDPlex linear PSU recommended by Chris, so some detail on the best way to connect that would also be useful to this music server tyro.

 

Thanks.

 

Jim

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I will post some basic connection images on saturday. I will not be able to do a full tutorial, as that would require heatpipes disassembly.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

Link to comment

OK, here are some build images I promissed to post. I will be putting together another, identical server for a friend in 2-3 weeks time (depending on parts availability), so hopefully then I will do a full tutorial, from start to finish.

 

Here is a genral overview pf my build. I have marked all important connections + LEDs with digits from 1 to 7. I will refer to those numbers describing all connections below.

 

DAMarZ.jpg

 

First thing you have to install, before you connect the heatpipes, are the RAM modules. You have to install both of them in the first two slots, closest to the CPU. I have left the RAM locks open in the adjacent slots on purpose, so that you know which slots should be left empty.

 

TdFjn0.jpg

 

Now for the wires. There are 4 wires in the FC-10 case you have to connect. Two grey USB wires, and two black power wires. The USB wires should be connected to USB headers on the left (#1):

 

waTrDF.jpg

 

The two remaining power wires should be connected to SF1 header (#4) on the right of the MoBo. The power ON/standby wire should be connected to the first pair of pins, closest to the case front. The Power ON LED wire should be connected to the second pair of pins from the opposite end:

 

PhpHKp.jpg

 

Please observe the polarity of the Power ON LED wire, as otherwise the LED will not work (unlike bulbs, LEDs are polarity sensitive).

 

kokVy7.jpg

 

Next you have to connect your SSD to any of the 6 available onboard SATA ports:

 

gxt6pa.jpg

 

Finish off connecting the ATX PSU. The board requires 24pin + 8pin PSU, and User's Manual strongly advises agains using a 24pin + 4pin PSU:

 

SbUx0s.jpg

 

HOWEVER, if you don't have the ATX PSU with 8pin out on hand, you can also use a regular 4pin PSU as I do, provided you do not put one of those 150W max TDP CPUs in there. The extra 4 wires all cary the same +12V/GND as the first four, and are intended to deliver extra current for power hungry CPUs (some server boards can even have 2x 150W CPUs installed, which means that there will be a lot of current flowing through those wires - too much for a 4 pin arrangement). With the CPUs most of us gonna use (<80W TDP) you should be fine with 4pin arrangement.

 

My server build includes a 25W max TDP Xeon 1230Lv3 CPU, so a lower TDP variant than the one chosen by Chris. Since my Enermax 24pin + 8pin PSU broke, I went with el cheapo 24pin + 4pin PSU, as you can see on the image below:

 

lp3f57.jpg

 

The el cheapo PSU is only a temporary solution. I'm wating for my TeraDak linear ATX PSU to arrive.

 

Last but not least, the staus LEDs. There are 3 LEDs on the MoBo:

 

LED #3: should light green when the ATX PSU is switched on

LED #5: should be blinking green

LED #6: amber in standby; lights up green when ON; red - some kind of power related problem

 

Hope this helps.

Adam

 

PC: custom Roon server with Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB card

Digital: Lampizator Horizon DAC

Amp: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Stereo

Speakers: Magcio M3

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