BIOS settings didn't stick on new BioStar motherboard.

[Printingdude]

I got my very first unRAID up and running last week, using the BioStar A760G-M2+ motherboard.  Of course, the first thing I needed to do to get it to boot from the USB thumb drive was to set the BIOS settings to boot from it and select it as the first boot device.  Once the BIOS was set, it booted up perfectly and ran its first parity calculation.

 

Once I knew I had it all set up, and I could connect to it from my home network of Macs and PCs, I moved it upstairs (necessarily unplugging it, of course).

 

It took me 20 or so minutes to figure out why I couldn't see it on the network when I turned it on.  I had to hook up a monitor to see that the boot process was stuck at the hardware monitor.  When I checked out the BIOS settings, all of the settings I had changed were gone and back to defaults. 

 

I'm going to have to check the motherboard battery.  If it's not that, and the problem persists, I might have a bum motherboard. 

[Rajahal]

My first thought would be the CMOS battery as well.  I believe these motherboards also have a CMOS jumper that can be used to reset all the BIOS settings.  Perhaps you touched it by accident?  Or (less likely) perhaps there is a jumper installed that constantly clears the BIOS settings upon every reboot.  Check your manual to find out where the jumper is located.

 

As you know, I'm now using my second one of these motherboards and I haven't had this problem.

[Printingdude]

Ah, that's a good point, I hadn't thought about the possibility of a misplaced CMOS jumper.  Since I got the motherboard on the NewEgg open-box sale, it is entirely possible that a first owner [mis]placed a jumper.  Definitely something I'll check, just to make sure.

 

Thanks!

[Rajahal]

No problem, I hope it is something as simple as that.

 

I also took a chance on an open box A760G-M2+ recently, but I wasn't quite as lucky as you.  I got only the motherboard, no cables, no IO panel, etc.  I can live without all the accessories, but the IO Panel is pretty crucial.  It looks like I'll end up having to buy one directly from Biostar for $12, which pretty much eats up the savings from going for the open box deal in the first place. 

 

At least the motherboard works, and works flawlessly as far as I can tell.

[Printingdude]

Well I've had more time to work with my motherboard, and I believe I will have to seek an RMA replacement.  Every time the unit is unplugged, it loses the BIOS settings and I have to connect a monitor and keyboard up to it to set it to boot from USB in order to get it to start again.  Once it's running it's fine across restarts as long as it remains plugged in.

 

I checked the CMOS clear jumper and it is set correctly to *not* clear.  I've checked the battery and it checks out okay too.  I even pulled the motherboard and checked the underside for cracked solder joints around the battery holder pins, but it's okay.  I'm left with no other option but to seek an RMA replacement from Newegg.  Traditionally they're easy to deal with for returns, although I've never tried returning an open-box sale item before.

 

Newegg generally takes calls 24 hours, but I'm waiting until normal business hours to call them.  The last time I tried to do an RMA replacement product with them on the night shift, they issued the RMA, but refunded my credit card rather than send a working replacement item that we agreed to when I called.  I would like to try another one of these boards.  I wonder if they have an open-box unit to replace it with, or whether I'll have to buy a new-in-box unit?

 

Meanwhile, I've added my third drive to my unRAID with the addition of a 2TB Seagate drive.  It's clearing at the moment, and I've read this can take around 30 hours.  I was hoping to perform a level 1 certification with it, but it may have to wait until I get a replacement motherboard.

 

Thanks for the ideas, but I think this board will require an RMA replacement.

 

 

[Rajahal]

Unfortunately, I believe you are right.  Sorry for your bad luck.

 

If you do end up replacing it with a brand new board, please let me know.  I really need an IO Panel for one of these boards (the metal piece that protects the ports in the back.  If you end up with an extra one, I will happily buy it from you.  Biostar wants to charge me $12 for that piece, which seems ridiculous to me.  I'll pay you $5 plus shipping (which should be just a buck or two).

 

Hope the next board you get doesn't give you any trouble.  By the way, how did you test out the CMOS battery?  Did you have a spare to swap in there?

[Printingdude]

Well, big Kudos to NewEgg. 

I called regarding my motherboard, and Open Box units have a 30-day return policy.

The purchase date for my order was April 9, and today is May 13.  (My invoice is dated April 13.)

However, even before the words "So am I stuck with it?" were out of my mouth, the NewEgg agent issued me a one-time exception and issued the RMA. 

 

The UPS shipping label is good for 7 days, so I have a couple more days to double-check the unit.

I tested the battery with a DVM and got 3.2 volts out of the CR2032 battery, but as an extra check I'll buy a new battery and check it.

 

Finally, there are no replacements for Open-Box items.  If you buy an Open-Box item and need a replacement, you just have to order a new one if the Open-Box sale is over.  (At least this is a relatively inexpensive board to begin with.)

[Printingdude]

I bought a brand new CR2032 motherboard battery from Radio Shack this evening and put it in my unRAID box.  No change.  After setting up BIOS settings to boot from USB again, booting, shut down, unplug, replug, and reboot, BIOS settings were gone again.  I'm definitely going to RMA the board, and I'll have to pay around $25 more for a new board than I paid for this Open-Box unit.

 

To make matters worse, my Corsair 450VX power supply also suffers from the (apparently) well-known "squealing" power supply problem that plagues this model power supply.  I thought it was just hard-drive spinning noise, but it isn't; -it's the PSU squealing under load and not squealing under idle conditions.  I bought the PSU from Amazon, so I expect a decent return/exchange experience, but I've read so many reports of this squealing problem with this PSU, including people whose replacement PSU's suffered the same problem, that I'm skeptical about trying another one.  I've used Corsair HX supplies in the past on other builds, and I really like how quiet they are -except for this one, which squeals at a high frequency when under load.

 

The real crime about all of this is that my unRAID is working perfectly.  With the unregistered version, I have a 2TB Western Digital EADS parity drive, a 500GB Western Digital data drive, and a 2TB Seagate data drive.  It's all working just fine.  I even had a leftover USB header cable that went to an old computer case, so I have that installed inside the Centurion 590 case with the unRAID USB thumb drive, so it's all internal.  Everything works just perfectly, except for the motherboard BIOS getting lost if I unplug from AC power, and the PSU squealing under load.

 

Ah well, perhaps round two of hardware RMA's will fix these last problems.

[Printingdude]

As expected, Amazon's return process was excellent.  I've elected to receive a replacement unit.  They immediately produced a printable shipping lable, and I have 30 days to send it back.  They will ship the return unit ASAP, so I should be able to not have any down time with my unRAID server except for the motherboard, which I must now return within 7 days.

[Printingdude]

Interesting. . .regarding the motherboard, when I bought the A760G-M2+ Open Box motherboard from Newegg, they actually sent me a model TA760G-M2+ motherboard.  The only tangible differences I can see between the two boards according to the NewEgg specification pages and photos are that the "Model T" has four RAM slots to support up to 16GB of RAM, has minor changes in component layout, and it's one inch longer and 0.6 inches wider.  Other than that, exact same specs.

 

Since I have to place a new order in order to get a replacement board, does anyone see any reason *not* to order the TA760-M2+ board over the A760-M2+ board?  -Not that I'll ever need 16 gigs of RAM in an unRAID, but if I were to ever repurpose the board for some other use, I figure I might as well get the version that supports the extra RAM, no?

 

Links to both products at NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138137

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138138

[Rajahal]

You are correct, they are the exact same board except for the RAM capacity and the physical dimensions.  There's nothing wrong with the 'TA' model.  I personally prefer the 'A' model because of it's smaller physical dimensions, it makes it more compatible with different types of drive cages and other things.  For example, I recently built a prototype unRAID miniBox (5 drive capacity) and the smaller dimensions really paid off as the fit was a bit tight:

 

 

However, if you are using a mid or full sized tower, then space won't be an issue.  So yeah, no problem with the 'TA' model.

[Printingdude]

Wow, I really love the compactness of that build in the Rosewill case with the 5 in 3 bracket.  Very nice!

[Rajahal]

Yeah, I was pretty happy with it too, but it had some cooling issues.  I've since torn it apart as I'm building a 15 drive server for guiri out of three of those 5-in-3 cages and a CM 590, all the internals are the same.  I'll be honest, while those 5-in-3's look pretty snazzy, they aren't the best when it comes to cooling and sound.  The dual 60 mm fans aren't the greatest, and they are very difficult to replace.  In the Rosewill 101 case heat became somewhat of an issue.  Luckily, the CM 590 has much better cooling and airflow built in, so heat doesn't seem to be an issue thus far.  Using mostly green drives is helping as well.

 

When I have more time (probably after my trip to Europe) I plan on buying another 5-in-3 (or maybe a 4-in-3) with better cooling, and perhaps substituting in an Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU, which would pull air directly from the drive cage and out of the case.  The combination of both of those measures should fix any cooling problems the design may have.

[Printingdude]

Replacement TA760G-M2+ arrived today.  I just finished swapping it over:  Problem solved.  I can now shut down and unplug my unRAID, plug it back in, start it up, and my BIOS settings stick around.  Old motherboard is boxed up and ready to go back to NewEgg.  I'm glad I was able to order a new board and receive it in time to send the old board back within the 1-week window NewEgg's RMA is valid.  This way I didn't actually suffer any down-time on my unRAID.  It sure will be nice not having to keep re-entering BIOS settings every time I make a change inside the case.

 

I've also now populated my CoolerMaster 590 case with my fourth hard drive in my unRAID.  -Time to pay for a license!