Weird Power Up issue & No clue how to solve it.

[One2go]

When powering up my server with 8 plus parity drives it never gets to the POST message of the mother board, the HD activity LED briefly flickers and then stops and there is no video signal. I let the tower run for about a minute or two. Then I keep the power on button pressed in and server shuts down. Press the power button again, this time it goes into the mother board on screen splash and we have video signal, however my Adaptec 1430 sa did not go through its power up sequence. At the command prompt I just type poweroff and since the array is not online because it misses 4 drives the server just shuts down. Press the power button again and this time it starts up normal with all drives and the array being online. This is how I start my server now every time. I replaced the flash drive with a backup but that did not solve the problem.

 

Here is my basic hardware configuration as posted here and in operation with no flaws for about 3 years:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5102.msg47279

 

The first time I noticed it, was when my server had shut down unexpected, but I didn't give it much thought. After that I noticed when it had difficulties starting that the CPU fan (4 wire stock) tried to start turning and whenever that was the case the tower never started. Once the CPU fan started to run after about a minute or two the tower booted up. I replaced the CPU fan with a decent one but it only had 3 wires, but I don't believe this has anything to do with it.

 

Possibly the unexpected server shutdown could have been a thermal shutdown, but I am not sure about this just conjecture as I have no explanation why the server was off line.

 

The power supply is a Corsair TX750 and I am wondering if that is the culprit, if not is a mother board replacement needed or are there some settings that have changed and needed to be reset. I am at a total loss and before going on a wild goose chase I thought maybe someone could give me a structured approach on how to narrow down the problem why I have to go through this weird power up sequence to get the server online.

 

Thanks

O2G

[DaleWilliams]

You mention issues with your fan...it made me think of this:

 

My motherboard (not the same maker as yours, but still...) is designed so that upon power up, it will IMMEDIATELY power down if there is not a FAN connected to the SYS_FAN.

 

You might swap in a cheap replacement system fan and see if that solves the problem.

 

[One2go]

Thanks for giving me some ideas. I checked the manual that I have and this is what it says:

 

 

I will check the BIOS set up but it is hard to explain while on second power up it goes into the POST and starts normally.

[DaleWilliams]

Power supplies are expensive, and a PITA to swap out...

 

! Ghost in the machine !

I don't have a clue how its possible, but I've had my BIOS change its settings without my help. 

Can you get to your BIOS by removing the UNRAID flash drive?

 

The official site:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4A78E/#support

wasn't much help...

[garycase]

Disconnect ALL of your drives and see if you still have power-on issues accessing the BIOS (and booting to the UnRAID USB flash drive).

 

If it boots fine after you've removed all that extra loading, then it's most likely your power supply.  Unfortunately, if it still doesn't boot, it's not conclusive => it could still be any of several things (including the PSU).    Troubleshooting these kinds of issues either requires very expensive test equipment, or a set of spares you can swap in/out to isolate the defective component.    From what you've outlined, the power supply seems most likely -- but that's by no means definitive.

 

[One2go]

Thanks for all the help. I have removed the 2 cards PCI-e NIC & the Adaptec controller as well as 4 drives but it did not power up. I am almost tempted on BF to get the same Corsair PS in that way all I have to do is replace the unit and keep the cabling in place. If that doesn't work I may go for a new more powerful MB to allow for on the fly encoding to different formats.

 

I looked at the CPU fan and it is correctly installed, I did a BIOS change regarding the cooling of the CPU but I don't believe that this will do the trick, somehow it may point to the PS.

[garycase]

I'd do exactly as you're considering => replace the power supply;  then if that doesn't resolve it, upgrade to a new motherboard/CPU/memory config that provides more "horsepower" for your add-ons.

 

[One2go]

Just ordered a replacement PS from Newegg Corsair HX750 and to my surprise free shipping $40 discount and a $20 mail in rebate total cost $90 for a replacement. If that doesn't work then it is off to a new MB with an i-3 or i-5 processor to do some transcoding for the Roku.

 

Thanks for any help, and please share any additional observations.

O2G

[One2go]

The Corsair HX750 PS arrived from Newegg, waited a few weeks before installing the new one AND, AND, wait, wait, it didn't cure the problem but it did improve the way to get it up and running.

 

Now after I power it up the Disc light on the front of the Tower Case comes on briefly but the USB drive when being accessed flashes normally but in this case it does not. Wait a minute or two, hold down the power button and the server powers down. Press the power button again and this time it starts the server and array fully. No need to typing poweroff from the commmand line and powering it up again. Now the USB key flashes and all is well again in the land of UnRaid.

 

My conclusion is that possibly the power supply as well as the mother board are both defective.

 

Since I can get the server up and running I am open for a new mother board suggestion, at least 5 SATA ports and two PCI-E slots for SATA controllers plus PCI-E x1 for NIC card possibly. Intel i-5 processor for doing transcoding, form factor normal ATX, no mini or micro.

 

Thanks for any help.

O2G

[dirtysanchez]

Just FYI, the Roku can play most file formats natively. I have numerous end devices in my home and about the only thing that requires transcoding (depending on source format of course) is iOS devices. What are you attempting to stream to the Roku that requires transcoding? 

[One2go]

Roku is very limited in what it supports:

 

Video Support

MP4 (H.264)

MOV (H.264)

MKV (H.264)

ASF/WMV (WMV9/VC-1)

 

Audio Support

MP3

AAC

Dolby Digital (MP4, MOV and MKV pass through only)

DTS (MKV pass through only)

 

No support for MPEG-2 and a other video formats, No TrueHD, DTS-MA & other audio formats. For the Roku 3 basically native is MP4 & AAC.

[One2go]

I'd do exactly as you're considering => replace the power supply;  then if that doesn't resolve it, upgrade to a new motherboard/CPU/memory config that provides more "horsepower" for your add-ons.

Took your advise and after replacing the Power Supply didn't solve the issue just installed a new Mother Board Asus Z87-A included an i5-4570 with 8GB of G-Skill ripjaws memory.

 

Problem solved.

 

However I did have to do some BIOS adjustments on the board. Disabled the onboard Network connection since it is a RealTek one and used my excisting Intel NIC. Slso disabled all the HD Audio parts but most importantly select on boot up only check SATA connections for Boot Drive and do Boot priority USB as the first device.

 

Do next is exploring PLEX.