[HELP] A Couple of Questions on Assembly (60TB Blackhole Copy)

[Netbug]

Hi, all.

 

So I loved the design from the 60TB Blackhole that I have attempted to replicate it. However, I don't build a tonne and I'm having difficulty with a couple of cable connections on the board, case, and hot-swap bay. Original Thread: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=19773.0

 

Case: Lian-Li PC-A77F http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=478&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61&g=spec

Motherboard: SuperMicro X9SCM-F http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182253&Tpk=SuperMicro%20X9SCM-F

HD Bay: SuperMicro CSE-M35T-1B http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405

Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750M http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139030&Tpk=corsair%20tx750m

 

First, how does one attach the 4 front USB connectors to the motherboard?

 

 

Second, there are 4 connectors coming off of the hot swap bay, referred to in the manual as "CBL-0057" which I cannot figure out what to connect to on the board.  They are clearly LED indicators.

 

 

My only other question (at this point) is how does one spit or connect more power to the three additional 5-3 bays when I get them? 

 

Any help for this noob would be appreciated. I'm hoping I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.

 

Thanks.

[bugleboy]

Those usb cables can either be plugged into the rear panel usb ports, or you will need a motherboard header adapter along the lines of THIS to plug them into.

 

As for the additional power connectors, it would appear that you need 2 4pin molex power connections for each 5-3 bay.  It looks like your power supply has 6 of these connectors so you should be ok for up to 3 bays (unless u need some for other devices)  If you need more you can get splitters, or if you have unused sata power connectors you can get sata-molex adapters.

 

Not real sure about the 4 wires from drive bay, but i suspect they are fan power/monitoring and it would depend on the motherboard if it has fan headers available, and some motherboards will have 3 pin fan headers and some newer ones will have 4 pin fan headers.

 

Fan pinouts are as follows

1 - GND

2 - 12VDC

3 - Sense (senses the fan speed)

4 - control (if available allows motherboard to control fan speed)

 

Do any of those wires have any label/markings as such?

 

**Edit**

Actually found reference to a CBL-0057 in a manual for a supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 sata raid card.  But the connector it referenced is a 10 pin connector.  So i'm not sure what to say.

 

"Extended Activity LED Connector

(JS9) indicates the status of Extended

Activity of SATA ports.

This connector is only compatible

with Supermicro's SATA panel

and requires SATA Cables such

as CBL-0069, CBL-0055, CBL-

0056, or CBL-0057 installed to

function properly."

[Johnm]

You do not need the extra cables from the CSE-M35T-1B. those are for drive activity lights on a supermicro server.

It is basically for the activity and fail lights. (the activity should work off the sata plug without this cable)

[dikkiedirk]

Are you also going to use a drive cage on top of the PSU. Really wonder how you attach it.

[dikkiedirk]

My PCA77F didn't come with those USB cables. Instead there are USB 3.0 cable plus a converter cable that attaches to a USB connector on the motherboard.

[Netbug]

My PCA77F didn't come with those USB cables. Instead there are USB 3.0 cable plus a converter cable that attaches to a USB connector on the motherboard.

 

It came with one, but that only takes care of two of the 4 USB connections on the top of the case. the other two, at present, I have connected to the back of the case. Kind of a waste of the on-board USB, but I don't think I'll really need it for anything on this machine.

 

Are you also going to use a drive cage on top of the PSU. Really wonder how you attach it.

 

Unsure at present. I only have one hot swap bay in it at the moment. I will most likely figure out a way to mount the parity drive internally as was done with the original 60TB Blackhole, but I'm not really happy about the use of the full cage internally. It doesn't fit very well.

 

You do not need the extra cables from the CSE-M35T-1B. those are for drive activity lights on a supermicro server.

It is basically for the activity and fail lights. (the activity should work off the sata plug without this cable)

 

Wonderful. That's sort of what I assumed after bouncing around the web a bit. Just wish the manual was more clear on that point. I've taken them out. Thanks.

 

Those usb cables can either be plugged into the rear panel usb ports, or you will need a motherboard header adapter along the lines of THIS to plug them into.

 

As for the additional power connectors, it would appear that you need 2 4pin molex power connections for each 5-3 bay.  It looks like your power supply has 6 of these connectors so you should be ok for up to 3 bays (unless u need some for other devices)  If you need more you can get splitters, or if you have unused sata power connectors you can get sata-molex adapters.

 

Not real sure about the 4 wires from drive bay, but i suspect they are fan power/monitoring and it would depend on the motherboard if it has fan headers available, and some motherboards will have 3 pin fan headers and some newer ones will have 4 pin fan headers.

 

Fan pinouts are as follows

1 - GND

2 - 12VDC

3 - Sense (senses the fan speed)

4 - control (if available allows motherboard to control fan speed)

 

Do any of those wires have any label/markings as such?

 

Thanks for all the research and info, bugleboy. I've taken out the odd drive bay connector as it was mentioned that it is only for specific server instances and not needed. I attached the USB connectors as you suggested.

 

Now on to the software...

[dikkiedirk]

Really like to hear from you if the TX750M works. My X9SCM-F wouldn't start with that PSU. Might be just my bad luck though (Murphy's Law).

[Netbug]

Really like to hear from you if the TX750M works. My X9SCM-F wouldn't start with that PSU. Might be just my bad luck though (Murphy's Law).

 

Sorry it took so long to reply to this, dikkiedirk. I haven't had any trouble with the PSU at all yet. Fired up right away and has been incredibly quiet.

 

Actually, aside from the SuperMicro hot-swap bay fan being extremely loud (had some wonderful help from other forum members here and rewired it with a resistor, but it's still too loud), the entire build process has been flawless with all components working out of the box.