Thanks for all the suggestions about the torque on the socket. The seller didn’t send me a torque wrench with my purchase. It is eBay after all. 😂 I do think I accidentally got the pressure right for the final mount considering that I got it to power up. However I will get an appropriate torque wrench for the follow up video.
(copy pasta from another comment string) the early epic's were extremely sensitive to mounting pressures. Even mounting the heatsink could wind up screwing up memory channels etc. There's a pretty specific way you need to install the processors and hsf's. And yes, it can take a longgggg time to do memory training...like i seem to remember it could take upwards of 10-15 min or more sometimes (although you probably would have seen some signs of life if you got to the memory training phase). Anyway....looking forward to seeing you figure it out 👍 (Edit-you should send Wendell a message from "level 1 techs"...he lives and breathes this stuff. I'm sure he'd be happy to help you out)
These CPU retention brackets need to be torqued to a specific spec. if that's not the case you could get bad contact on the pins of the socket to the CPU and that can end in a no-boot scenario. Usually, if you buy these CPUs ne, there is a tool included. That is missing in you case, Dawid. I suggest getting your hands on one of those tools ans try again.
Yeah they even give you that specially clicking, orange, T-shaped, torx screwdriver with Threadripper! I remember it when I built a 1950X workstation back in the day.
Also remember that server hardware takes a LONG time to fire up properly. I noticed at the front there was a little green light flashing? Did that give you an error code of some type? Did you try plugging a monitor into the onboard VGA to see if that gave you an output? I'm not sure if it was AMD CPUS but at some point they (HP or Dell I think) started locking CPUS to specific motherboards so that they would only work in that specific combination. Thank you for such entertaining videos good sir 🫡
The network port above the USB plugs is ipmi I believe, you should be able to plug that in, then go to the IP address that gets assigned to it in a web browser and log in and the board will probably tell you what's wrong, and you should be able to power it on from there as well.
@@frederichardy8844 yea it is slow but If ITS running you dont need a grafikcard for fiddeling in BIOS and com comandshell boot but If it is requerd you can use every GPU you want but die the Most time i use a t100 it smal no extra Power and can handle Windows easy
I was going to say the same thing. I used to support huge racks of servers, including dual CPU Epyc, Intel, Power6 (and above) AIX, HP-UX, and all those other fun letters. IPMI port needs to be connected to a system and booted through it to do the initial setup. You can then configure the MB to boot directly to the internal media, that is what those USB and SDcard connectors on the MB are for. You would, for example, have VMware installed on a USB Stick or SDcard, and boot from it, then either have internal HDs, or space on a SAN/NAS/SAS that would have all the virtual machines and such. Lots of fun...yes, I am strange. 🙂
Keep in mind that you have to use the VGA out. It might be different now, but for my Supermicro board, the VGA is the only way to get into bios. In all of its 640x480 glory. A GPU will work fine in windows, but until windows boots, it doesn't show anything for me.
Ah yes, supermicro. When I started getting back into PCs right before the dark period between rx4-500, I started out with free trash 771 workstations as my younger coworker was really into XP - 7 era stuff. For years he was always pushing supermicro for compatibility. I had a couple over the years but they were never more than 2 memory slots and were basic boards. The one supermicro board I kept was an mATX 1150 board for a NAS that i wanted more than just 1 x16 and 2-3 x1 as I was running sas cards and wanted at least x4 on two. I also already had a shit ton of various DDR3. The board claimed to work with the i3, celerons and E3 xeons, but not the i5-i7s. The single 1150 i5 I had came before the xeon and wouldn't post, but i had another 1150 board coming for my kid's PC at the time (hence the i5 while i waited for the xeon in the mail). His board had a couple of pins smashed down I was able to re-articulate with micro tweezers. Put in the 'tested' i5. No post. Start the process for returning the motherboard, seller is fine with taking it back, the e3-1230v3 arrives. Before I ship the bad pin board I put it in. Posts immediately. I end up getting another i5 that comes up later. So in the meantime my kid has my nas cpu and my coworker insists that supermicros limited ram compatibility for my particular board is near imaginary. I get the i5 in and swap it into his PC. I put my generic 1333 ecc dell memory that usually works with everything else, no post. I try some matched crucial, no post. I try my all of my 1600 sticks individually, only one stick of random 2GB works. I sell it off to my coworker as he swears he'll get it with his sticks. He ends up going through several sets with the similar results with memory from his server and workstation stash. I end up buying it back to give it another go. The listed sets that were supported were hard to find secondhand except for one set. I bit the bullet and bought the RAM, but then put my nas off until I found a 4 U case I liked and gathered SFP+ equipment. Time passes, I swap the i5 out for another i7 equivalent xeon and pair it with my old rx580 to my kids pc during a case upgrade. For fun I put the i5 in the supermicro with random non ecc memory. Forums, cpu support and bios update documentation all claim the i5-i7 aren't supported. Fucking thing posts. I still have it to this very day, I doubt I'll ever get rid of it willingly, even though I low key hate it lol Only supermicro board I've ever had issues like that with, but damn was it a bad taste compared to their 2011 and 1156-55 boards I'd used prior.
Before Power On 1. Check that the LEDM1 is blinking before the motherboard is turned on. 2. Check that the LED3 on the motherboard is on. 3. Make sure that the power connector is connected to your power supply. 4. Make sure that no short circuits exist between the motherboard and chassis. 5. Disconnect all cables from the motherboard, including those for the keyboard and mouse. 6. Remove all add-on cards. 7. Install a CPU, a heatsink, and at least one DIMM on the motherboard. Check all jumper settings properly. Make sure that the heatsink is fully seated. 8. Use the correct type of onboard CMOS battery (CR2032) as recommended by the manufacturer. To avoid possible explosion, do not install the CMOS battery upside down. No Power 1. Make sure that no short circuits exist between the motherboard and the chassis. 2. Verify that all jumpers are set to their default positions. 3. Turn the power switch on and off to test the system. 4. The battery on your motherboard may be old. Check to verify that it still supplies ~3VDC. If it does not, replace it with a new one Manual Fro SuperMicro
its most probably a mounting issue as you need a a proper torque wrench with the correct amount of torque id suggest watch Linus videos he's had this issue before
That’s interesting. I’ll get a torque wrench for the next try so I can properly dial in the pressure. I think I did get it right for the last mount, considering the fans spinning up and all that. Interested to see what the proper RAM and mounting pressure will do.
also possibly could be doing memory training. The ethernet port on its own will be a iLO (or out of band management) port that will give a web site showing the bios error codes most likely could be worth trying that.
Could the issue be not the correct torque on the cpu hold down? if I remember correctly threadripper used to come with a torque driver. Just a thought.
@@kadrix732 sure that's gotta be it they are not torqued down properly🤣 that's it exactly which is why they sold the whole system for 400 dollars makes no sense at all unless they were dead to begin with that's how ebay works got a dead system sell it off to someone whom wants to try and fix it simple
@@raven4k998 I've seen people have issues with actual threadripper CPUs similar to these issues because they weren't making proper contact. It's an actual thing.
The socket specific torque wrench tool wasn't included with your mobo. Ask the seller for it as that is going to most likely be your issue. Notice the tightening order for the screws printed on the cpu bracket? Thats the order you torque them in.
@@ilichio I would still watch. I'm glad that he hasn't become obnoxious like so many smaller you tubers that think behaving outrageously works just as well and is much easier to accomplish.
Seeing you install the CPUs without the pressure torx screwdriver that the socket needs to put the right amount of pressure over the motherboard pins put me in pain.
Be sure that the board and CPUs are compatible. Some of those server boards only work with certain CPUs. You may also want to try going IPMI into it if the board supports it or going in the VGA/Mesozoi port.
2:10 one of those network ports will likely also be a remote management port: a computer in the computer that hosts a webpage that lets you start, stop, and reboot the computer. It will _probably_ also let you remotely control the computer but ymmv on if you need an ancient version of Java filled with security holes to run it. These management ports typically have diagnostic information such as voltages from the power supply, fan RPM, and sometimes what CPUs+memory configuration it sees.
You may want to try the VGA port on the motherboard. Server boards usually have an aspeed video chip and dedicated network port so you can remotely change bios settings over ethernet. It has to get though that nonsense before it even thinks about booting the cpu.
You must use the supplied torque wrench to get the system working. Sadly being used you did not get this. But they are only ~20 USD. Without it the CPU is likely twisted in the socket with pins not making contact. These are a behemoth of a CPU that must be secured properly.
I think I've seen this issue before.... It's because supermicro uses their weird proprietory connector which fit in x16 but actually pcie x8 with different output lanes so that a normal pcie device couldn't work. The connector is used for a storage such as SATA and NVME. I've seen the converter to a normal pcie but I never tried it. This problem also happened to my old supermicro server, the difference is I'm still using lga 2011.
yeah as mentioned before i strongly believe that is the CPUs not making proper contact since these need to be torqued with the bright orange thingy they include when new.
happy to help you figure this out as there were quite a few things done incorrectly in the video. - CPU mounting: the cpu has to click in with those blue tabs then you put the retention bracket and torque it to spec (must have tool for that, comes with threadripper CPUs typically, not sure about epyc). Thermal past application, use 9 dots at least - RAM: do NOT EVER use non-ecc on server mainboards. check carefully online and the manual to confirm compatibility. Check manual for which RAM slots to use if not fully populated. You can fry normal DDR4 sticks if mounted in server. - you don't need a GPU, you can connect a VGA monitor to see the bios screen and get the IPMI IP address. There is like a small computer within the mainboard that manages the big PC and gets you plenty information about your components (without even booting the PC). I think those flashing green lights mean it is powered on and ready to use. - The Ethernet ports are not all for the PC. One of them is for the IMPI remote management system. Make sure to check which one that is (manual again) then connect it to ethernet to be able to use remote access. - use the IP address displayed in bios boot screen. type it in your browser, then you can access the ipmi. - remember that it takes a couple of minutes for the on-board IPMI (small computer on the mainboard) to boot up. hope this helps. There are a few more precautions. reach out if you'd like some more help. This hardware is tricky to get running. Once you do, you can add multiple GPUs, everything will run at full speed as you have a ton of PCIE lanes
It could be the fact the mobo doesn’t like not having a power switch, I had this issue with my old 5000psl mobo until I got a power switch from Amazon and tried all the configurations on the panel pins. After that if powered on.
It could be the IPMI needs time to boot before the system powers on. Not sure but the blinking light beside the Aspeed IPMI chip is an indicator. Also, you should torque town those CPUs with the AMD Thread ripper/epyc tool.
Yup. I've a supermicro board and if you power it in immediately after plugging it in, it'll sit there for a minute waiting for the BMC to boot up. I think it even outputs "waiting for IPMI" to the screen.
@@b127_1 Usually fans will already spin up when the IPMI is initializing. But yes, it can mean you'll nervously wait minutes until anything comes on screen.
These motherboard are equipped with an onboard graphic chipset. I would recommend to boot the motherboard with no graphic card and a display connected to the vga port
From what i see it most likely a torque issue - these CPUs require a lot of torque on the socket screws, it is by no mean "finger tight". I do not think that it is a memory or cpu vendor lock issue because these manifest much later and you would see the fans spinning. To this theory the bad spread of thermal paste adds up as well - looks like cooler bottomed out on the socket instead of the CPU itself. Also, in order to get more information - assuming you just apply more force to screws - just connect an external VGA display to this mesozoic port, these boards come with IPMI management chip (it is active since it blinks green when board is fully powered and it booted up) and it starts outputting debug information to the onboard VGA before it even initializes PCIe devices so you will get information much sooner.
If cpu isnt mounted correctly it may do that that also explains why it booted for a second there. These sockets do require a lot of mounting pressure so maybe you have to really screw it down (I think they come with a Torque driver and recomanded specs). The board has ipmi so trying that would be the first thing you should do.
Great video Dawid. I am on my second server motherboard from Ebay, but mine are a bit older. I currently run a Supermicro dual socket with 2 Xeon X5650 and modern coolers. Keep up the good work and good luck with the project.
Not sure if that changed on Epyc, but you will usually not get POST with CPUs installed but no memory. Also, server motherboards usually require the correct memory positions to be filled - so please double check in the manual. Easist process is to start with just one CPU and the least amount of memory possible, then start changing memory modules untill you have any signal. Like other people commented, server motherboards can take a long amount of time to do anything. Another thing that comes to mind, maybe the BIOS is not updated for this specific CPU? That would be problematic because you would need a supported CPU in order to boot and uptade BIOS. Well, good luck! Part of the fun is getting it to work :)
It's server hardware and you don't have a CMOS battery installed, even in the clip where you're resetting it. I've seen consumer grade hardware that refused to boot with a bad one before. Should try that if you haven't!
It could be a pressure issue, the three retaining screws on EPYC and Threadripper sockets must be torqued down to a fairly specific amount - if you get the torque wrong (and yes, too high is also wrong!) some or all of the memory channels and/or PCI channels often won't work so that's another possible reason though usually at least ThreadRippers tends to get to the BIOS screen. But since it's a server they MAY have decided you're supposed to check the BMC information for that instead.... The ASPEED Baseboard Management Controller runs completely independent of everything else and you connect to it via the dedicated (third) network port. That should be your first place to check. All Threadripper retail packages includes a yellow bespoke torque-controlled torx screwdriver that goes "click" when you hit the right amount so they're fairly easy and cheap to get on the second-hand market. I've seen blue ones that presumably comes with at least some EPYC processors (matches the 7xx1 carrier board color) but a EPYC one should work. It's NOT impossible to do this without a torque wrench but it's definitely not trivial even if you've done it many times! Looking at SuperMicros memory list I'll note that it's VERY small but also that all the few 16GB sticks it does list are 1Rx8 models, not 2Rx4 like the ones you bought. It does have some larger 2Rx4 sticks so it clearly supports x4 chips which means those memory sticks MIGHT be supported but... risky. From any of the other large vendors the manual would spell out exactly what memory is supported but not with SuperMicro... The other source is various memory vendor memory configurators - Crucial only show 1Rx8 models for 16GB but that might be because the memory chips required for 2Rx4 is, well, long since out of production and they're selling new memory. Kingston's Memory Configurator usually has a side-bar telling you what the hardware supports (in addition to "these current server memory sticks will work) which is really neat but... their entire site is down for maintenance Sigh. The manual does say how to officially run it just one memory stick and one CPU (and 2/4/8) but two cpus officially needs all 16 memory slots populated, I expect this is completely bogus.
Jesus dude the way you screw the cpus down made me hurt inside you have to carefully turn each screw a step at a time to apply even force across the cpu onto the board. I won’t be surprised if you screwing on side down fully and then the other has damaged something preventing booting. Those “were” working but poor handling as per the evidence in this video probably killed them
Seems like torx bit that you used for tightening down CPU to the socket, was little to big. Might be that you didn't tighten those three torx screws enough.
In case it hasn't been mentioned already in the comments, you need the proper torque screwdriver that usually comes with the cpu to mount the cpu correctly. :)
i’ve used ebay a total of 4 times in my entire life & i’ve legitimately been happy with it once. i’m actually shocked & equally impressed it’s managed to survive so long
When you buy used non-pin CPUs and RAM you always should clean their contacts with eraser rubber and ethanol. They always get an invisible film of rust/oxidation which acts as insulator.
In those types of motherboards, I believe you have to run dual CPUs or install a continuity module for the "empty" CPU socket. it does sound like one of the CPUs was dead though if you weren't getting any power with just one, or possibly one of the sockets on the board is bad.
It likely works. You just don't have the torque wrench that is normally included with the cpu's. And they are VERY sensitive to torque. If you are even 1 Nm out of spec they can just refuse to work.
I work in data centers, POST time on these types of systems con be stupidly long. I've seen them take up to 45 minutes to come up after a hardware swap, so make sure you're giving it plenty of time.
have servers.... can confirm. To counter my own post I have this setup myself these supermicro boards are not that bad for post time even with whack tons of ram.
Funny how I for years have made builds from trash picked hardware literally, I can't see a PC next to a trash bin without having to open it and check out what's in it! So watching your channel is strangely satisfying. Guess making a youtube channel is kind of brilliant. Thank you for letting me know I'm not the only weirdo out there.
Those are torx bit screws, very common anymore at the hardware store for things like deck screws and drywall screws. Make sure to get the right size, there are about 6 sizes all pretty close. They don't slip and cam out under high load like Phillips bits do.
None of your videos are pointless. At the very least they're a chance to say Linnnoooooooooode. And even when nothing works, you keep it entertaining. Nicely done.
Don't know if it applies to this build or not, but some server boards require some kind of memory cooling shrouds in order to work properly. Guess cause the memory sticks can get a little toasty, but I don't know about these things all that much if at all.
Hi, on my server mainboard, i need to close a contact for open chassis. On a other Mainboard (HP) all FAN Slots need to be connected. is there any clue in the manuel?
If this was run in a server, you might need to set up a console via the management port and tell it to turn on. It could be that it's just waiting for the command to start up. Turning on a server board just starts to initialise the management subsystem, think of it as turning on the computer that will turn on the computer.
I really dislike this video as it gives the wrong impression. With some thought into part selection you can easily get amazing systems up and running. I have a ebay sourced amd server and had none of these issues.
Enough people have already pointed out the need to properly torque the socket retention - but you may still require multiple attempts after getting the right torque tool. The EPYC SP3 carrier and tolerances were "pretty bad" to the point that even now, most board vendors sell the board with a CPU preinstalled and guaranteed to POST. From there, server boards like that one have a BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) which is basically a full low power PC similar to a raspberry pi that runs a low resource OS and hosts an out of band management interface accessible in a web browser. This interface lets you mount disc images for software and driver installation, view the screen and input keyboard and mouse inputs, as well as turn the server off and on as if you were standing in front of it. That BMC can take QUITE a long time to boot (up to FIVE MINUTES) so its worth just leaving the server off but plugged in with the power supply on for a bit. The BMC will stay in a low power initialized state for quite a while on the 3.3v battery, but will eventually fully shut down again abd require that startup again.
That thermal paste application gave me chills. I've had to replace a few EPYCs on my job and we have a giant pre-formed thermalpad that covers the entire surface of the lid
A few things as well. Not all epyc chips will work on all boards. You need to verify that chip works on that motherboard. There were what 3/4 gens on that socket? So thats what i would check first.
You need to check and see what pcie lanes are tied to what processor. Very likely the second full-length slot is tied to the second CPU, and will not function without it.
You should be able to see what's going on from the IPMI.. that's essentially a small computer which is independent of the rest of the system and will tell you exactly what the board diagnostics are saying, even if it's 'your CPU is toast'. Basically plug a network cable into the IPMI port and see if you get lights.. then hope you got the password..
"This was a complete waste of more than a week of my life". Nice what about young soldier that spend 2 years of duty ? Anyway good video guide about what to not do it.
When troubleshooting this stuff, you should remove the graphics card and just go with the onboard VGA. Server hardware doesn't always like graphics cards. Also disconnect all your USB stuff to begin with. Sometimes USB devices can prevent boot. Lastly, if you can, try hooking up a console cable to the serial port on the board. Some of these server boards will give you diagnostic info on the serial port as soon as power is given to the board, before you actually switch it on. Also as suggested, ipmi on one of the network sockets.
Torque to the German spec of "gutentight" -- should be fine. I doubt your issue is from not enough torque. I've read several better reasons such as Bios updates/CPU compatibility.
For first boots use internal GPU from IPMI (to use different one you still must set it in BIOS anyway) and just connect monitor thru VGA, you can also look to IPMI what happening during boot (aka 15 mins boot is normal)
@DawidDoesTechStuff for minimum POST, I would drop the dedicated GPU. The motherboard already comes with a GPU. It's inside the ASPEED IC. You can connect to the VGA port, or better use the remote console through the IPMI. For what it's worth, the IPMI is like a separate computer on the motherboard, and should work even if the system does not boot or POST. Note the IPMI "heartbeat" LED on the motherboard.
Another thing that could be the issue, (i dont have experience with server hardware) it could be the fact that both cpus werent populated and also like most of the comments say that the cpus werent torqued to spec. just looking at something that could also be a potential issue
I knew right away that that wasn't nearly enough thermal paste. I believe those CPUs have multiple dies, so the dies are not actually in the center, making it even more important to get good coverage with the thermal paste.
All those ram slots are so satisfying to fill, yet such a pain to troubleshoot. The Dell Precision Towers my work uses have 8 Ram slots and its just glorious to look at them all filled.
those connectors are miniSAS, you use breakout miniSAS to SATA cables with them. Easiest way to do 8 SATAs without making 8 ports is to make 2 miniSAS ports. It is also standard in the industry to use it for RAID. I suspect the NVMe slot is meant to be used for RAID cache and not to boot of off. In past you'd have a SODIMM slot (and most dedicated RAID controllers either have soldered on cache or a SODIMM slot for cache module, which is not the exact same as RAM module, just uses same socket). The microSD slot there is for booting off. ESXi, Proxmox, Truenas etc can be all booted off a USB stick or microSD card and it is often the preferred method in enterprise. I suspect since this is server grade MoBo from Supermicro, that one of those ethernet ports is for management/KVM connection through browser. Enterprise HW is made for stability and redundancy so that's why you get only ECC support and why the MoBo will not respond to power signal without RAM. You get diagnostics LEDs and you very often the management from aforementioned extra ethernet port is a low powered dedicated KVM machine that will work even without CPUs and has on-board diagnostic tools. Genuinely if you want to buy enterprise hardware for homelab, forget ebay and just scour local businesses that use on-prem solutions. They do refreshes of HW once in 5-8 years so EPYCs are slowly trickling in now and you get way better deals (often you;ll manage to snag the stuff for free as they are throwing it away and you save them effort from hiring ewaste disposal). Figuring out how companies use on-prem is a bit harder and it really depends on location, I work in the industry so it is much easier for me, but I would check out universities, sw dev companies and media production companies. Fintech often uses cloud solutions and banks have strict compliance and won't sell off any HW.
This is me, but with vintage hardware (i.e. anything older than Core 2 Duo). Server hardware is notoriously fussy about memory, CPU compatibility, et cetera. Good job engaging your local community to try and find out what was going on with it. Also, I'm pretty sure those slots on board are SAS cable slots, but without looking at the manual I can't be for sure.
The torque on the cpu and heatsink needs to be 1.4 Nm.(just use a t15 bit and electric screw machine) Also if you connect by ipmi you can check sel log ( useful if you get errors) can check sensors and more. (you can use a serial cable for it it believe)
Added video card when builtin video is present. "Resetting cmos" when CMOS battery is missing. It is server board. There is nothing fancy about 2 lan + 1 management lan.
When you do get it working, be aware that those CPU coolers will be loud. Really loud. You might want to replace them with Noctua coolers down the line. Or put the board somewhere where the noise doesn't matter.
If you ever want to sink your teeth into it, look into xeon e7's, with the 8 prefix. You can find some old ones with pretty high core counts for just.. nothing. Something like 20-40$. You can put eight of those bad boys on a single motherboard. The only motherboards I have found though that have it, are blade motherboards, so you would have to figure that whole mess out in terms of powering it ;). But might be fun?
Get a VGA analog cable and a monitor for it and use the onboard BMC GPU for troubleshooting. IPMI port at this stage is not much helpful (not to mention that it might be password locked and on other static ip). Sure tighten the CPU socket with a proper torque screwdriver. What I then use for troubleshooting is a Port80 display (made by asus, but i rewired the cable to the supermicro tpm port connector). That provides some more insight into the early boot process.
Those Supermicro motherboards turn on without cpu and ram. Try connecting the network cable to the IPMI port, look at your router if give an IPADDR then try this IP on your web browser.
Other people have commented on the IPMI. If the unit has IPMI enabled, its worth logging into that just to see if there are any errors. Default creds will be admin and admin. Maybe in caps.
Thanks for all the suggestions about the torque on the socket. The seller didn’t send me a torque wrench with my purchase. It is eBay after all. 😂 I do think I accidentally got the pressure right for the final mount considering that I got it to power up. However I will get an appropriate torque wrench for the follow up video.
what's the model of motherboard?
(copy pasta from another comment string) the early epic's were extremely sensitive to mounting pressures. Even mounting the heatsink could wind up screwing up memory channels etc. There's a pretty specific way you need to install the processors and hsf's. And yes, it can take a longgggg time to do memory training...like i seem to remember it could take upwards of 10-15 min or more sometimes (although you probably would have seen some signs of life if you got to the memory training phase). Anyway....looking forward to seeing you figure it out 👍
(Edit-you should send Wendell a message from "level 1 techs"...he lives and breathes this stuff. I'm sure he'd be happy to help you out)
yeah go ask Lius for one. He has like 10 of them.
I would also check what pcie lanes are assigned to what slots, it may not be able to boot a video card off of the second CPUs pcie link
please release touching cpu cooler video
These CPU retention brackets need to be torqued to a specific spec. if that's not the case you could get bad contact on the pins of the socket to the CPU and that can end in a no-boot scenario. Usually, if you buy these CPUs ne, there is a tool included. That is missing in you case, Dawid. I suggest getting your hands on one of those tools ans try again.
Thanks for the suggestion. Will definitely get an appropriate torque wrench for the follow up video.
Yeah they even give you that specially clicking, orange, T-shaped, torx screwdriver with Threadripper! I remember it when I built a 1950X workstation back in the day.
It honestly should still power on with NO heat sinks. It would just overheat and power off in 60 seconds.
Also remember that server hardware takes a LONG time to fire up properly. I noticed at the front there was a little green light flashing? Did that give you an error code of some type? Did you try plugging a monitor into the onboard VGA to see if that gave you an output? I'm not sure if it was AMD CPUS but at some point they (HP or Dell I think) started locking CPUS to specific motherboards so that they would only work in that specific combination. Thank you for such entertaining videos good sir 🫡
@@the_wiki9408He's talking about the retention bracket screw, not the heatsink ones
The network port above the USB plugs is ipmi I believe, you should be able to plug that in, then go to the IP address that gets assigned to it in a web browser and log in and the board will probably tell you what's wrong, and you should be able to power it on from there as well.
The ipmi will Report you his issues. I think the Jumpers are incorrect or some vendor Lock in ither Case the ipmi tells you
That’s a great suggestion. I’ll look into that for the next video. 👍
Yes and usually you cannot turn on from the front panel until the ipmi server is running (and the ipmi is not very fast to boot...)
@@frederichardy8844 yea it is slow but If ITS running you dont need a grafikcard for fiddeling in BIOS and com comandshell boot but If it is requerd you can use every GPU you want but die the Most time i use a t100 it smal no extra Power and can handle Windows easy
I was going to say the same thing. I used to support huge racks of servers, including dual CPU Epyc, Intel, Power6 (and above) AIX, HP-UX, and all those other fun letters. IPMI port needs to be connected to a system and booted through it to do the initial setup. You can then configure the MB to boot directly to the internal media, that is what those USB and SDcard connectors on the MB are for. You would, for example, have VMware installed on a USB Stick or SDcard, and boot from it, then either have internal HDs, or space on a SAN/NAS/SAS that would have all the virtual machines and such. Lots of fun...yes, I am strange. 🙂
Keep in mind that you have to use the VGA out. It might be different now, but for my Supermicro board, the VGA is the only way to get into bios. In all of its 640x480 glory. A GPU will work fine in windows, but until windows boots, it doesn't show anything for me.
He didnt read this comment. He spent weeks trying to figure this out. Then made new video on it. Only if he saw your comment,man 😅
Ah yes, supermicro.
When I started getting back into PCs right before the dark period between rx4-500, I started out with free trash 771 workstations as my younger coworker was really into XP - 7 era stuff. For years he was always pushing supermicro for compatibility. I had a couple over the years but they were never more than 2 memory slots and were basic boards. The one supermicro board I kept was an mATX 1150 board for a NAS that i wanted more than just 1 x16 and 2-3 x1 as I was running sas cards and wanted at least x4 on two. I also already had a shit ton of various DDR3. The board claimed to work with the i3, celerons and E3 xeons, but not the i5-i7s. The single 1150 i5 I had came before the xeon and wouldn't post, but i had another 1150 board coming for my kid's PC at the time (hence the i5 while i waited for the xeon in the mail). His board had a couple of pins smashed down I was able to re-articulate with micro tweezers. Put in the 'tested' i5. No post. Start the process for returning the motherboard, seller is fine with taking it back, the e3-1230v3 arrives. Before I ship the bad pin board I put it in. Posts immediately. I end up getting another i5 that comes up later.
So in the meantime my kid has my nas cpu and my coworker insists that supermicros limited ram compatibility for my particular board is near imaginary. I get the i5 in and swap it into his PC. I put my generic 1333 ecc dell memory that usually works with everything else, no post. I try some matched crucial, no post. I try my all of my 1600 sticks individually, only one stick of random 2GB works. I sell it off to my coworker as he swears he'll get it with his sticks. He ends up going through several sets with the similar results with memory from his server and workstation stash. I end up buying it back to give it another go. The listed sets that were supported were hard to find secondhand except for one set. I bit the bullet and bought the RAM, but then put my nas off until I found a 4 U case I liked and gathered SFP+ equipment. Time passes, I swap the i5 out for another i7 equivalent xeon and pair it with my old rx580 to my kids pc during a case upgrade. For fun I put the i5 in the supermicro with random non ecc memory. Forums, cpu support and bios update documentation all claim the i5-i7 aren't supported. Fucking thing posts. I still have it to this very day, I doubt I'll ever get rid of it willingly, even though I low key hate it lol Only supermicro board I've ever had issues like that with, but damn was it a bad taste compared to their 2011 and 1156-55 boards I'd used prior.
Dawid, those cpu socket lid screws have to be torqued for the cpu to make contact with the pins. They usually have an included torx wrench.
Before Power On
1. Check that the LEDM1 is blinking before the motherboard is turned on.
2. Check that the LED3 on the motherboard is on.
3. Make sure that the power connector is connected to your power supply.
4. Make sure that no short circuits exist between the motherboard and chassis.
5. Disconnect all cables from the motherboard, including those for the keyboard and
mouse.
6. Remove all add-on cards.
7. Install a CPU, a heatsink, and at least one DIMM on the motherboard. Check all
jumper settings properly. Make sure that the heatsink is fully seated.
8. Use the correct type of onboard CMOS battery (CR2032) as recommended by the
manufacturer. To avoid possible explosion, do not install the CMOS battery upside down.
No Power
1. Make sure that no short circuits exist between the motherboard and the chassis.
2. Verify that all jumpers are set to their default positions.
3. Turn the power switch on and off to test the system.
4. The battery on your motherboard may be old. Check to verify that it still supplies
~3VDC. If it does not, replace it with a new one
Manual Fro SuperMicro
It looks like there isn't even a CMOS battery installed in the first place...
its most probably a mounting issue as you need a a proper torque wrench with the correct amount of torque id suggest watch Linus videos he's had this issue before
This
That’s interesting. I’ll get a torque wrench for the next try so I can properly dial in the pressure. I think I did get it right for the last mount, considering the fans spinning up and all that. Interested to see what the proper RAM and mounting pressure will do.
This is what I thought.
also possibly could be doing memory training. The ethernet port on its own will be a iLO (or out of band management) port that will give a web site showing the bios error codes most likely could be worth trying that.
@@samjonesmartin That sounds super useful. I will definitely give that a try. 👍
Could the issue be not the correct torque on the cpu hold down? if I remember correctly threadripper used to come with a torque driver. Just a thought.
I was about to comment the same.
yep,you need it to be exactly the correct torque otherwise it wont seat the cpu properly and could even damage the mobo
I really dont think that is the issue
Those epyc need specific torque on each screw to seat properly. You need to find it or get the driver that would have come with the cpu.
You might want to torque down those cpu mounting screws a bit more. AMD gives a calibrated screwdriver just for that.
the question is how those ryzen thread rippers got killed maybe the motherboard killed them🤣
@@raven4k998We don't know that they're dead. If they're not torqued down properly, they won't work.
@@kadrix732 sure that's gotta be it they are not torqued down properly🤣
that's it exactly which is why they sold the whole system for 400 dollars makes no sense at all unless they were dead to begin with that's how ebay works got a dead system sell it off to someone whom wants to try and fix it simple
@@raven4k998you don't understand how the value of quickly advancing technology is incapable of retaining value for any actual length of time.
@@raven4k998 I've seen people have issues with actual threadripper CPUs similar to these issues because they weren't making proper contact. It's an actual thing.
this is 100% mounting issue, normally amd gives you a torque wrench that helps you with the correct force you need to give it
"Okay, so. Big problem, I didn't do enough research going into this video. Which is quite normal..." Dawid is rocking that self-awareness.
I am gripped by this saga, well and truly. Can't wait for part 2, with a nice cuppa to boot.
And Rich Tea with it or no? Cos a drink's too wet without one!!
@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome I prefer shortbread biscuits - I can say I don't add sugar to my tea but secretly I'm just dunking it in instead.
The socket specific torque wrench tool wasn't included with your mobo. Ask the seller for it as that is going to most likely be your issue. Notice the tightening order for the screws printed on the cpu bracket? Thats the order you torque them in.
THIS
There's an order in which the torx screws must be tighten also those connector are for an storage array!
5:23 not enough thermal paste, that is ~50% of what you really need.
I'm so incredibly disappointed that it didn't work. I was on the edge of my seat... Glad that you aren't giving up. You are a real hero!
I like the fact that Dawid shows the failures. As any of us who have been immersed in the PC sphere knows, sh*t happens.
I think his failures make for his funniest videos. They're why we are still watching his content.
His channel could be named the idiot with PC parts. It's part of the show.
@@ilichio I would still watch. I'm glad that he hasn't become obnoxious like so many smaller you tubers that think behaving outrageously works just as well and is much easier to accomplish.
Seeing you install the CPUs without the pressure torx screwdriver that the socket needs to put the right amount of pressure over the motherboard pins put me in pain.
i love dawid doing the stupid stuf im to broke to do its super interesting and he does the kinds of things i know i would.
this is pretty much overkill science project but it's hilarious that he is trying to get this thing working 😂😂
what build a server 😂
Be sure that the board and CPUs are compatible. Some of those server boards only work with certain CPUs. You may also want to try going IPMI into it if the board supports it or going in the VGA/Mesozoi port.
2:10 one of those network ports will likely also be a remote management port: a computer in the computer that hosts a webpage that lets you start, stop, and reboot the computer. It will _probably_ also let you remotely control the computer but ymmv on if you need an ancient version of Java filled with security holes to run it.
These management ports typically have diagnostic information such as voltages from the power supply, fan RPM, and sometimes what CPUs+memory configuration it sees.
Didn't those Epic CPUs come with a torque wrench. For installation
Nah, it wasn’t in the box. Can’t expect much from eBay sellers. 😂 I’ll get a wrench for the follow up video.
0:10 - great Arnie impersonation 😂😂😂
You may want to try the VGA port on the motherboard. Server boards usually have an aspeed video chip and dedicated network port so you can remotely change bios settings over ethernet. It has to get though that nonsense before it even thinks about booting the cpu.
You must use the supplied torque wrench to get the system working. Sadly being used you did not get this. But they are only ~20 USD. Without it the CPU is likely twisted in the socket with pins not making contact. These are a behemoth of a CPU that must be secured properly.
I think I've seen this issue before.... It's because supermicro uses their weird proprietory connector which fit in x16 but actually pcie x8 with different output lanes so that a normal pcie device couldn't work. The connector is used for a storage such as SATA and NVME. I've seen the converter to a normal pcie but I never tried it. This problem also happened to my old supermicro server, the difference is I'm still using lga 2011.
yeah as mentioned before i strongly believe that is the CPUs not making proper contact since these need to be torqued with the bright orange thingy they include when new.
did you try mounting the cpu by torquing the screws in the right order to the right torque value? ya know, like you're supposed to?
happy to help you figure this out as there were quite a few things done incorrectly in the video.
- CPU mounting: the cpu has to click in with those blue tabs then you put the retention bracket and torque it to spec (must have tool for that, comes with threadripper CPUs typically, not sure about epyc). Thermal past application, use 9 dots at least
- RAM: do NOT EVER use non-ecc on server mainboards. check carefully online and the manual to confirm compatibility. Check manual for which RAM slots to use if not fully populated. You can fry normal DDR4 sticks if mounted in server.
- you don't need a GPU, you can connect a VGA monitor to see the bios screen and get the IPMI IP address. There is like a small computer within the mainboard that manages the big PC and gets you plenty information about your components (without even booting the PC). I think those flashing green lights mean it is powered on and ready to use.
- The Ethernet ports are not all for the PC. One of them is for the IMPI remote management system. Make sure to check which one that is (manual again) then connect it to ethernet to be able to use remote access.
- use the IP address displayed in bios boot screen. type it in your browser, then you can access the ipmi.
- remember that it takes a couple of minutes for the on-board IPMI (small computer on the mainboard) to boot up.
hope this helps. There are a few more precautions. reach out if you'd like some more help. This hardware is tricky to get running. Once you do, you can add multiple GPUs, everything will run at full speed as you have a ton of PCIE lanes
It could be the fact the mobo doesn’t like not having a power switch, I had this issue with my old 5000psl mobo until I got a power switch from Amazon and tried all the configurations on the panel pins. After that if powered on.
1 yes you need the torque wrench
and 2. the memory training takes LOOONG so just give it a solid 2 to 3 minutes once you got it torqued right
Those CPUs need to be correctly torqued like the threadripper or they won't work.
It could be the IPMI needs time to boot before the system powers on. Not sure but the blinking light beside the Aspeed IPMI chip is an indicator. Also, you should torque town those CPUs with the AMD Thread ripper/epyc tool.
Yup. I've a supermicro board and if you power it in immediately after plugging it in, it'll sit there for a minute waiting for the BMC to boot up. I think it even outputs "waiting for IPMI" to the screen.
@@b127_1 Usually fans will already spin up when the IPMI is initializing. But yes, it can mean you'll nervously wait minutes until anything comes on screen.
These motherboard are equipped with an onboard graphic chipset. I would recommend to boot the motherboard with no graphic card and a display connected to the vga port
From what i see it most likely a torque issue - these CPUs require a lot of torque on the socket screws, it is by no mean "finger tight". I do not think that it is a memory or cpu vendor lock issue because these manifest much later and you would see the fans spinning. To this theory the bad spread of thermal paste adds up as well - looks like cooler bottomed out on the socket instead of the CPU itself. Also, in order to get more information - assuming you just apply more force to screws - just connect an external VGA display to this mesozoic port, these boards come with IPMI management chip (it is active since it blinks green when board is fully powered and it booted up) and it starts outputting debug information to the onboard VGA before it even initializes PCIe devices so you will get information much sooner.
If cpu isnt mounted correctly it may do that that also explains why it booted for a second there. These sockets do require a lot of mounting pressure so maybe you have to really screw it down (I think they come with a Torque driver and recomanded specs). The board has ipmi so trying that would be the first thing you should do.
Great video Dawid. I am on my second server motherboard from Ebay, but mine are a bit older. I currently run a Supermicro dual socket with 2 Xeon X5650 and modern coolers.
Keep up the good work and good luck with the project.
I'm somewhat convinced the Ebay Seller is like, 'Cool, I have some noob who will buy all this potentially broken hardware... sweeeet'
Jeez... Tell him to read the manual and check the LEDs/jumper configurations.
It works fine, he's just lazy
@@zCaptainz No he needs to torque the cpu to the exact correct pressure for the pins to make contact
@@LinusTechTipsTemporary I don't think that's the issue
Not sure if that changed on Epyc, but you will usually not get POST with CPUs installed but no memory. Also, server motherboards usually require the correct memory positions to be filled - so please double check in the manual. Easist process is to start with just one CPU and the least amount of memory possible, then start changing memory modules untill you have any signal. Like other people commented, server motherboards can take a long amount of time to do anything. Another thing that comes to mind, maybe the BIOS is not updated for this specific CPU? That would be problematic because you would need a supported CPU in order to boot and uptade BIOS. Well, good luck! Part of the fun is getting it to work :)
It's server hardware and you don't have a CMOS battery installed, even in the clip where you're resetting it.
I've seen consumer grade hardware that refused to boot with a bad one before.
Should try that if you haven't!
Exactly, I would not be surprised if the board would come to life as soon as there is a battery installed :)
It could be a pressure issue, the three retaining screws on EPYC and Threadripper sockets must be torqued down to a fairly specific amount - if you get the torque wrong (and yes, too high is also wrong!) some or all of the memory channels and/or PCI channels often won't work so that's another possible reason though usually at least ThreadRippers tends to get to the BIOS screen. But since it's a server they MAY have decided you're supposed to check the BMC information for that instead.... The ASPEED Baseboard Management Controller runs completely independent of everything else and you connect to it via the dedicated (third) network port. That should be your first place to check.
All Threadripper retail packages includes a yellow bespoke torque-controlled torx screwdriver that goes "click" when you hit the right amount so they're fairly easy and cheap to get on the second-hand market. I've seen blue ones that presumably comes with at least some EPYC processors (matches the 7xx1 carrier board color) but a EPYC one should work. It's NOT impossible to do this without a torque wrench but it's definitely not trivial even if you've done it many times!
Looking at SuperMicros memory list I'll note that it's VERY small but also that all the few 16GB sticks it does list are 1Rx8 models, not 2Rx4 like the ones you bought.
It does have some larger 2Rx4 sticks so it clearly supports x4 chips which means those memory sticks MIGHT be supported but... risky. From any of the other large vendors the manual would spell out exactly what memory is supported but not with SuperMicro... The other source is various memory vendor memory configurators - Crucial only show 1Rx8 models for 16GB but that might be because the memory chips required for 2Rx4 is, well, long since out of production and they're selling new memory. Kingston's Memory Configurator usually has a side-bar telling you what the hardware supports (in addition to "these current server memory sticks will work) which is really neat but... their entire site is down for maintenance Sigh. The manual does say how to officially run it just one memory stick and one CPU (and 2/4/8) but two cpus officially needs all 16 memory slots populated, I expect this is completely bogus.
On the server board, you have OOB to fully control the chassis. So you don't need to jump the power pin nor need a GPU to have an output.
Jesus dude the way you screw the cpus down made me hurt inside you have to carefully turn each screw a step at a time to apply even force across the cpu onto the board. I won’t be surprised if you screwing on side down fully and then the other has damaged something preventing booting. Those “were” working but poor handling as per the evidence in this video probably killed them
Seems like torx bit that you used for tightening down CPU to the socket, was little to big. Might be that you didn't tighten those three torx screws enough.
did any one look at the blinking green led maybe thats telling u a post code i would start their
In case it hasn't been mentioned already in the comments, you need the proper torque screwdriver that usually comes with the cpu to mount the cpu correctly. :)
i’ve used ebay a total of 4 times in my entire life & i’ve legitimately been happy with it once. i’m actually shocked & equally impressed it’s managed to survive so long
Those CPUs are not even suspiciously cheap actually, just a little while back I sold 2 of them BNIB for $130 or 140 each iirc (USD).
When you buy used non-pin CPUs and RAM you always should clean their contacts with eraser rubber and ethanol. They always get an invisible film of rust/oxidation which acts as insulator.
In those types of motherboards, I believe you have to run dual CPUs or install a continuity module for the "empty" CPU socket. it does sound like one of the CPUs was dead though if you weren't getting any power with just one, or possibly one of the sockets on the board is bad.
It likely works. You just don't have the torque wrench that is normally included with the cpu's. And they are VERY sensitive to torque. If you are even 1 Nm out of spec they can just refuse to work.
These chips are tremendous! Did you get it to work? Ive helped build several for people and always managed to resolve any issue.
I work in data centers, POST time on these types of systems con be stupidly long. I've seen them take up to 45 minutes to come up after a hardware swap, so make sure you're giving it plenty of time.
have servers.... can confirm. To counter my own post I have this setup myself these supermicro boards are not that bad for post time even with whack tons of ram.
Funny how I for years have made builds from trash picked hardware literally, I can't see a PC next to a trash bin without having to open it and check out what's in it! So watching your channel is strangely satisfying. Guess making a youtube channel is kind of brilliant. Thank you for letting me know I'm not the only weirdo out there.
Those are torx bit screws, very common anymore at the hardware store for things like deck screws and drywall screws. Make sure to get the right size, there are about 6 sizes all pretty close. They don't slip and cam out under high load like Phillips bits do.
None of your videos are pointless. At the very least they're a chance to say Linnnoooooooooode. And even when nothing works, you keep it entertaining. Nicely done.
Server/enterprise-grade equipment and hardware is very difficult to get running, but if it runs, it runs till the end of time
This is slowly becoming my all-time favorite tech channel. Love the videos Dawid! Hope you can get this thing running!
Yeah, its like all the mistakes i was thinking of making, but they dont cost me a thing.
As always...I'm just here for the intro 👇(touches shiny heatsink)😁
Don't know if it applies to this build or not, but some server boards require some kind of memory cooling shrouds in order to work properly. Guess cause the memory sticks can get a little toasty, but I don't know about these things all that much if at all.
Hi, on my server mainboard, i need to close a contact for open chassis. On a other Mainboard (HP) all FAN Slots need to be connected. is there any clue in the manuel?
If this was run in a server, you might need to set up a console via the management port and tell it to turn on. It could be that it's just waiting for the command to start up. Turning on a server board just starts to initialise the management subsystem, think of it as turning on the computer that will turn on the computer.
Ive seen these combos on ebay and they were very interesting. Thanks for taking the plunge on one of these.
I really dislike this video as it gives the wrong impression. With some thought into part selection you can easily get amazing systems up and running. I have a ebay sourced amd server and had none of these issues.
Enough people have already pointed out the need to properly torque the socket retention - but you may still require multiple attempts after getting the right torque tool. The EPYC SP3 carrier and tolerances were "pretty bad" to the point that even now, most board vendors sell the board with a CPU preinstalled and guaranteed to POST.
From there, server boards like that one have a BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) which is basically a full low power PC similar to a raspberry pi that runs a low resource OS and hosts an out of band management interface accessible in a web browser. This interface lets you mount disc images for software and driver installation, view the screen and input keyboard and mouse inputs, as well as turn the server off and on as if you were standing in front of it.
That BMC can take QUITE a long time to boot (up to FIVE MINUTES) so its worth just leaving the server off but plugged in with the power supply on for a bit. The BMC will stay in a low power initialized state for quite a while on the 3.3v battery, but will eventually fully shut down again abd require that startup again.
That thermal paste application gave me chills.
I've had to replace a few EPYCs on my job and we have a giant pre-formed thermalpad that covers the entire surface of the lid
A few things as well. Not all epyc chips will work on all boards. You need to verify that chip works on that motherboard. There were what 3/4 gens on that socket? So thats what i would check first.
I kept screaming at the screen "You need the correct amount of torque!"
EPYC doesn't have a southbridge/chipset. The CPU is an SOC.
Another Dawid moment of dawiding
You need to check and see what pcie lanes are tied to what processor. Very likely the second full-length slot is tied to the second CPU, and will not function without it.
You should be able to see what's going on from the IPMI.. that's essentially a small computer which is independent of the rest of the system and will tell you exactly what the board diagnostics are saying, even if it's 'your CPU is toast'.
Basically plug a network cable into the IPMI port and see if you get lights.. then hope you got the password..
"This was a complete waste of more than a week of my life". Nice what about young soldier that spend 2 years of duty ? Anyway good video guide about what to not do it.
I love it when Dawid Does Tech Stuff!
When troubleshooting this stuff, you should remove the graphics card and just go with the onboard VGA. Server hardware doesn't always like graphics cards. Also disconnect all your USB stuff to begin with. Sometimes USB devices can prevent boot.
Lastly, if you can, try hooking up a console cable to the serial port on the board. Some of these server boards will give you diagnostic info on the serial port as soon as power is given to the board, before you actually switch it on. Also as suggested, ipmi on one of the network sockets.
Torque to the German spec of "gutentight" -- should be fine. I doubt your issue is from not enough torque. I've read several better reasons such as Bios updates/CPU compatibility.
imagine its just the cpu power connector not receiving the correct power specifications.
Zen 1 cores, so no official Windows 11 support hence why it is inexpensive
4:30 That entire section was incredibly satisfying to watch. :3
4:10 though
you need Register-ECC Ram (RDIMM) modules for Epyc CPUs.
Wish I knew this before using that old DDR4 RAM I I had sitting around lol, extra 100 dollars now. RIP me.
For first boots use internal GPU from IPMI (to use different one you still must set it in BIOS anyway) and just connect monitor thru VGA, you can also look to IPMI what happening during boot (aka 15 mins boot is normal)
@DawidDoesTechStuff for minimum POST, I would drop the dedicated GPU. The motherboard already comes with a GPU. It's inside the ASPEED IC. You can connect to the VGA port, or better use the remote console through the IPMI. For what it's worth, the IPMI is like a separate computer on the motherboard, and should work even if the system does not boot or POST. Note the IPMI "heartbeat" LED on the motherboard.
Another thing that could be the issue, (i dont have experience with server hardware) it could be the fact that both cpus werent populated and also like most of the comments say that the cpus werent torqued to spec. just looking at something that could also be a potential issue
might not be torqued down correctly for the cpu(s) though , had similar issues before (using a 2990wx).
I knew right away that that wasn't nearly enough thermal paste. I believe those CPUs have multiple dies, so the dies are not actually in the center, making it even more important to get good coverage with the thermal paste.
All those ram slots are so satisfying to fill, yet such a pain to troubleshoot. The Dell Precision Towers my work uses have 8 Ram slots and its just glorious to look at them all filled.
those connectors are miniSAS, you use breakout miniSAS to SATA cables with them. Easiest way to do 8 SATAs without making 8 ports is to make 2 miniSAS ports. It is also standard in the industry to use it for RAID. I suspect the NVMe slot is meant to be used for RAID cache and not to boot of off. In past you'd have a SODIMM slot (and most dedicated RAID controllers either have soldered on cache or a SODIMM slot for cache module, which is not the exact same as RAM module, just uses same socket).
The microSD slot there is for booting off. ESXi, Proxmox, Truenas etc can be all booted off a USB stick or microSD card and it is often the preferred method in enterprise.
I suspect since this is server grade MoBo from Supermicro, that one of those ethernet ports is for management/KVM connection through browser.
Enterprise HW is made for stability and redundancy so that's why you get only ECC support and why the MoBo will not respond to power signal without RAM. You get diagnostics LEDs and you very often the management from aforementioned extra ethernet port is a low powered dedicated KVM machine that will work even without CPUs and has on-board diagnostic tools.
Genuinely if you want to buy enterprise hardware for homelab, forget ebay and just scour local businesses that use on-prem solutions. They do refreshes of HW once in 5-8 years so EPYCs are slowly trickling in now and you get way better deals (often you;ll manage to snag the stuff for free as they are throwing it away and you save them effort from hiring ewaste disposal). Figuring out how companies use on-prem is a bit harder and it really depends on location, I work in the industry so it is much easier for me, but I would check out universities, sw dev companies and media production companies. Fintech often uses cloud solutions and banks have strict compliance and won't sell off any HW.
This is me, but with vintage hardware (i.e. anything older than Core 2 Duo).
Server hardware is notoriously fussy about memory, CPU compatibility, et cetera. Good job engaging your local community to try and find out what was going on with it.
Also, I'm pretty sure those slots on board are SAS cable slots, but without looking at the manual I can't be for sure.
The torque on the cpu and heatsink needs to be 1.4 Nm.(just use a t15 bit and electric screw machine)
Also if you connect by ipmi you can check sel log ( useful if you get errors) can check sensors and more. (you can use a serial cable for it it believe)
Added video card when builtin video is present.
"Resetting cmos" when CMOS battery is missing.
It is server board. There is nothing fancy about 2 lan + 1 management lan.
When you do get it working, be aware that those CPU coolers will be loud. Really loud. You might want to replace them with Noctua coolers down the line. Or put the board somewhere where the noise doesn't matter.
If you ever want to sink your teeth into it, look into xeon e7's, with the 8 prefix. You can find some old ones with pretty high core counts for just.. nothing. Something like 20-40$.
You can put eight of those bad boys on a single motherboard. The only motherboards I have found though that have it, are blade motherboards, so you would have to figure that whole mess out in terms of powering it ;). But might be fun?
as soon as is saw him putting in those cpus i knew the contact would be terrible. im sure hell be fine in the follow up
Get a VGA analog cable and a monitor for it and use the onboard BMC GPU for troubleshooting. IPMI port at this stage is not much helpful (not to mention that it might be password locked and on other static ip). Sure tighten the CPU socket with a proper torque screwdriver. What I then use for troubleshooting is a Port80 display (made by asus, but i rewired the cable to the supermicro tpm port connector). That provides some more insight into the early boot process.
Put the Tweezers down and make a front IO power button, I beg of you xD
I used to work for Atech. Always a joy seeing their relabel sticks going in machines.
This is Epic, no pun intended, awesome stuff mate, can’t wait till part two!
Love your vids!
Those Supermicro motherboards turn on without cpu and ram. Try connecting the network cable to the IPMI port, look at your router if give an IPADDR then try this IP on your web browser.
Other people have commented on the IPMI. If the unit has IPMI enabled, its worth logging into that just to see if there are any errors. Default creds will be admin and admin. Maybe in caps.
You need the torque screw thingy from amd otherwise it wont properly seat the cpu