SuperMicro X7SPA-HF-D525 trouble shooting

[AT0MAC]

I have a SuperMicro X7SPA-HF-D525 that is giving me quite some trouble.

 

I have two problems:

 

 

1) Can't boot from USB, have tried almost everything in the BIOS settings but don't seem to find the right combination to make it work (USB boot work perfectly on my Lenovo Laptop with the same drives)

 

2) Can't get into BIOS of my IBM MegaRAID M1015 controller! It have a special BIOS menu that should be able to reach at some point during startup, but no matter what I do when the machine starts I always end up having a blank black screen - sometimes with the error code 00AB.

 

 

 

...on top of that, I can't see any of my harddrives connected trough the internal SATA ports (not the controller card), the drives are empty and non-formated, but I guess the motherboard should still be able to see something connected?

 

Really a big issue as the whole rig is now assembled and I only need to configure the software to make it tick.

[jowi]

Does the usb stick (named) show up in the boot order menu in the bios, and is it selected as boot device?

Try resetting the bios to optmized or failsafe defaults. Also, set AHCI for the internal SATA ports in the BIOS.

[AT0MAC]

Does the usb stick (named) show up in the boot order menu in the bios, and is it selected as boot device?

Try resetting the bios to optmized or failsafe defaults. Also, set AHCI for the internal SATA ports in the BIOS.

 

 

Yes, USB stick show up in the boot order menu (but not as boot name, only as vendor name but I guess thats how this MB does it...?)

 

 

I have tried both failsafe option and optimized but no luck.

 

 

Have not tried AHCI option but will do that next time I am with the Server (I am building it at my workplace)

 

 

 

 

...I am seriously puzzled why USB boot will not work, the drive works perfectly in other machines

[jowi]

Maybe the m1015 is faulty and prevents booting the system. Try booting without it?

[AT0MAC]

Maybe the m1015 is faulty and prevents booting the system. Try booting without it?

 

 

Actually not tried that, but maybe you are right... Oh my god, was quite a task to get that card wish it's something easier to handle, that reseller was a nightmare.

[jowi]

Just try booting as naked as possible first (the motherboard that is ) just the memory (does it show up?) and the usb stick, no disks. Just take it from there. You know you can use IPMI for remote management over  the network, like booting, entering the bios etc? That way you dont have to connect a monitor and keyboard etc.

[AT0MAC]

Just try booting as naked as possible first (the motherboard that is ) just the memory (does it show up?) and the usb stick, no disks. Just take it from there. You know you can use IPMI for remote management over  the network, like booting, entering the bios etc? That way you dont have to connect a monitor and keyboard etc.

 

 

Yes I know, and that is a BIG part of why I bought this MB - but as long I am building I can connect it to a proper monitor and keyboard, so no worries there.

RAM is counted at startup, all 4GB - and the USB is also recognized, but no discs (wich is very strange, unless they are not supposed to show up when they are un-formated?)

 

 

 

 

There might be some things I don't know as it's ages ago since I worked with a proper sized PC, I have had Mac and various laptops for so long.....

[jowi]

The disks, if attached to the onboard SATA connectors should show up in the BIOS, formatted or not. Just pull out the M1015 first and try again... maybe it's faulty, or the motherboard is trying to boot from it, in which case you should find a way into the M1015's bios to disable INT13, maybe M1015 owners can help you with that, i dont have one.

[BobPhoenix]

I don't have an X7SPA so I can only go off the bios settings from my X7SBE but make sure the USB drive is first in the boot order.  When you get to the boot order screen there is two sections a top section and a bottom section.  Only items in the top section are bootable.  So if the USB drive is only listed at the bottom you need to highlight the USB drive and press X (or maybe CONTROL-X) to switch it from the bottom list to the top.  Then move it to the top of the list with the + key.  Then reboot and see if you can get it to boot from the USB drive.

 

Not having the drives show in the boot order screen is not good as I see all drives and I don't believe a drive being unformatted makes a difference.  So as jowi suggested try it with only MB drives connected first and get it to boot from the USB drive that way.  Then put the M1015 back in.

 

When you see a message on the screen from the M1015 you press CONTROL-M to get into it.  You may have to disable "FAST BOOT" to get the message I don't remember as I always disable the fast boot.  I like to see the boot messages that are sometimes covered up with splash screens.

[AT0MAC]

I don't have an X7SPA so I can only go off the bios settings from my X7SBE but make sure the USB drive is first in the boot order.  When you get to the boot order screen there is two sections a top section and a bottom section.  Only items in the top section are bootable.  So if the USB drive is only listed at the bottom you need to highlight the USB drive and press X (or maybe CONTROL-X) to switch it from the bottom list to the top.  Then move it to the top of the list with the + key.  Then reboot and see if you can get it to boot from the USB drive.

 

Not having the drives show in the boot order screen is not good as I see all drives and I don't believe a drive being unformatted makes a difference.  So as jowi suggested try it with only MB drives connected first and get it to boot from the USB drive that way.  Then put the M1015 back in.

 

When you see a message on the screen from the M1015 you press CONTROL-M to get into it.  You may have to disable "FAST BOOT" to get the message I don't remember as I always disable the fast boot.  I like to see the boot messages that are sometimes covered up with splash screens.

 

 

All sounds like very good ideas! I will report back in a few days when I have had time to test it.

[BobPhoenix]

I don't have an X7SPA so I can only go off the bios settings from my X7SBE but make sure the USB drive is first in the boot order.  When you get to the boot order screen there is two sections a top section and a bottom section.  Only items in the top section are bootable.  So if the USB drive is only listed at the bottom you need to highlight the USB drive and press X (or maybe CONTROL-X) to switch it from the bottom list to the top.  Then move it to the top of the list with the + key.  Then reboot and see if you can get it to boot from the USB drive.

 

Not having the drives show in the boot order screen is not good as I see all drives and I don't believe a drive being unformatted makes a difference.  So as jowi suggested try it with only MB drives connected first and get it to boot from the USB drive that way.  Then put the M1015 back in.

 

When you see a message on the screen from the M1015 you press CONTROL-M to get into it.  You may have to disable "FAST BOOT" to get the message I don't remember as I always disable the fast boot.  I like to see the boot messages that are sometimes covered up with splash screens.

 

 

All sounds like very good ideas! I will report back in a few days when I have had time to test it.

One last thing the splash screen is actually disabled with a "Disable splash screen" setting if I remember correctly so that may be all you need rather than disabling "FAST BOOT".  I would still disable both until you get this booting then you can reenable the splash screen and "FAST BOOT" if you want.  Sorry just remembered that the splash screen is a separate setting and I'm at work going from memory.

[AT0MAC]

Disabled fast boot and have it showing the POST screens. After it reached the countdown from 10 to boot, it makes a blib sound and goes to black - don't load any OS from my USB.

 

USB is the only enabled boot device so it is by default boot 1.

 

Will try disassemble and repport back

 

 

---------update

 

Disassembled whole server rig and only left PSU, two fans and the MB in the chassis - connected my USB boot drive with unRAID on (tested and boots fine on a laptop) but still just a blank black screen...

 

Is my MB faulty? And what could be the reasson for that? Everything seems fine, it just don't boot from USB...

[BobPhoenix]

Disabled fast boot and have it showing the POST screens. After it reached the countdown from 10 to boot, it makes a blib sound and goes to black - don't load any OS from my USB.

 

USB is the only enabled boot device so it is by default boot 1.

 

Will try disassemble and repport back

 

 

---------update

 

Disassembled whole server rig and only left PSU, two fans and the MB in the chassis - connected my USB boot drive with unRAID on (tested and boots fine on a laptop) but still just a blank black screen...

 

Is my MB faulty? And what could be the reasson for that? Everything seems fine, it just don't boot from USB...

One last thing you can try but will require a REAL HDD with an OS on it.  If that boots then it may not be a MB problem.  If that will NOT boot then I can't imagine SuperMicro not replacing it with a new board.  As to an OS to try the quickest for me would be a FreeDOS boot partition.

[jowi]

To be sure, try another set of memory as well. Or if you have 2 bars, try just either 1 on their own. The X7SPA needs 800Mhz memory, but it downclocks faster memory, so 1066 or 1333 will runat 800. Its a long shot but maybe the combination of memory/board is not 100% compatible.

[AT0MAC]

To be sure, try another set of memory as well. Or if you have 2 bars, try just either 1 on their own. The X7SPA needs 800Mhz memory, but it downclocks faster memory, so 1066 or 1333 will runat 800. Its a long shot but maybe the combination of memory/board is not 100% compatible.

 

 

I have the exact same memory as SuperMicro have tested - Hynix HMT325S6BFR8C-H9 - and knows it is working as I can test it in my Mac Mini.

SM have only tested with one row, but I have two - MB seems to account for all 4GB so I don't think that is the problem, or am I mistaken?

 

 

I asked both their support and the retailer I bought the MB from and SM tells me to use optimal settings (wich I have tried a bunch of times but will do again) and the retailer said they don't know the board, only sell it so advised me to make an RMA for it (problem with that is that they have a fee of $200 if no faults are found!).

 

 

Will try to load some Ubuntu or Windows Server Beta to a HDD and try boot from that, report back what I find later...

[drmindbender]

Just try booting as naked as possible first (the motherboard that is ) just the memory (does it show up?) and the usb stick, no disks. Just take it from there. You know you can use IPMI for remote management over  the network, like booting, entering the bios etc? That way you dont have to connect a monitor and keyboard etc.

 

i am having the same issue. but when i disconnect all the power sata cables from the power supply, the machine boots into unraid. i have two power sata cables, each connected to 3 hard drives each. the machine will not boot when the drives are connected, even if i disconnect one and leave the other sata cable connected and vice versa.

 

I have a SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SPE-HF-D525-O board and I have replaced the board with the another same board. both boards were new.

i was able to boot unraid and try to set up my shares once early on. then, i needed to update to 5.0 and rebooted the machine. that is the last time it booted properly with the drives connected.