Will My Current PC Suffice For A 'new' build?

[Compass]

Hi,

 

Hope someone can help, in the next few weeks/months I would like to start looking at upgrading my PC, but am also looking for a backup/server box.

 

My current PC is as follows, it's 3 years old, pretty basic

 

Mobo = GA-P35-DS3/S3

CPU  = Intel Core2 Duo E6550 @2.33GHz w/stock fan

RAM  = 2G unknown brand

GPU  = nVidia Ge Force 7200SE

PSU  = Yasa 500w noisy as hell!

HDD = 300Gb WD

 

Would my current system be suitable as an unRaid box?

 

I would put a better quality PSU in and 3 2TB Hdd's to use the free version to start.

 

Or should I build a new unRaid and hold onto the current PC for another 12 months or so?

 

My backup/storage needs are not huge, for example the current Hdd is only half full and I've had the PC for nearly 3 years! However I do have a 1TB drive full of movies/music/pics and I need more room. And a few other smaller hdd's lying around.

 

My uses for unRaid are backup my desktop and stream movies(including Blueray)/music etc to a PS3.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rob_Esc]

Be very aware of Gigabyte motherboard HPA issues.  Search the forums here for 'HPA' and check the wiki:

 

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=UnRAID_Topical_Index#HPA

[queeg]

Mobo = GA-P35-DS3/S3

CPU   = Intel Core2 Duo E6550 @2.33GHz w/stock fan

RAM  = 2G unknown brand

GPU  = nVidia Ge Force 7200SE

PSU  = Yasa 500w noisy as hell!

HDD = 300Gb WD

 

Would my current system be suitable as an unRaid box?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Is this your motherboard?  http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813128050  

 

The cpu is way overkill but will work.  A Celeron 420 can do the job.

2GB ram is fine.

High end graphics won't be used because unRAID uses a text based console interface.  

[Compass]

Thanks for the replies,

 

I have read about the HPA issues, I guess I will have to check to see if I can change that in the BIOS.

 

Yes that is my motherboard, and I realise it would probably be overkill for a unRaid box, just wanting to know if it is at all possible with said components.,

 

I can use that GPU in a new PC as I dont game, and my monitors res is pretty lame.,

 

ah, decisions, decisions.............

[queeg]

Thanks for the replies,

 

I have read about the HPA issues, I guess I will have to check to see if I can change that in the BIOS.

 

Yes that is my motherboard, and I realise it would probably be overkill for a unRaid box, just wanting to know if it is at all possible with said components.,

 

I can use that GPU in a new PC as I dont game, and my monitors res is pretty lame.,

 

ah, decisions, decisions.............

 

Well the 8 sata ports is nice.  Use the cpu and graphics controller if no other better use for them.  Your getting a new psu so get one with a single 12v rail.  I recommend this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&Tpk=corsair%20power%20supply

Be aware that the HPA scares most of us.  Make sure not only that you can disable it but that the bios version comes with it disabled. 

 

[Compass]

It's got the Xpress Bios rescue/Xpress Recovery 2 on the flash screen, but in BIOS I can't see anywhere to turn it off/disable. All sounds like more trouble than what it's worth, after reading through some of the HPA posts.

 

Looks like a brand new unRaid build , and the old clunker will have to survive a bit longer. :'(

 

 

[prostuff1]

It's got the Xpress Bios rescue/Xpress Recovery 2 on the flash screen, but in BIOS I can't see anywhere to turn it off/disable. All sounds like more trouble than what it's worth, after reading through some of the HPA posts.

 

Looks like a brand new unRaid build , and the old clunker will have to survive a bit longer. :'(

 

 

 

Check for a BIOS update for the board.  Once people started complaining about HPA and the issues it can cause Gigabyte gave out a BIOS for most board that will allow you to turn it off. I know my Gigabyte board had the option and it is off by default.

[MvL]

I also have a Gigabyte motherboard, as far as i know i have no issues. I have the GA-G33M-DS2R with the F8 bios (2009-06-18). I checked the bios, but there is no option to disable HPA. When i check unRAID all drives (3x 1TB) give 976,761,496 KB of space.

[Joe L.]

I also have a Gigabyte motherboard, as far as i know i have no issues. I have the GA-G33M-DS2R with the F8 bios (2009-06-18). I checked the bios, but there is no option to disable HPA. When i check unRAID all drives (3x 1TB) give 976,761,496 KB of space.

It should show 976,762,552 for a 1TB disk.  1056K has been stolen by the BIOS when it created the HPA.

 

You have HPA's on your disks... and eventually, they may be an issue.

You should look into getting a BIOS update.

 

Joe L.

 

[MvL]

Hmm, ok Joe L.

 

Just checked the Gigabye site. There is a newer bios version F9a (2009/07/31). With these updates: Update latest onboard VGA BIOS & AHCI ROM. Can give it a go maybe there is option to disable HPA. They only have a update utility for Windows . Now i have to install Windows to update my bios. Are there any other options?

[queeg]

There might be a boot cd at http://www.bootdisk.com/ that you can use.  Remove the flash drive and try one of the boot disks.

[razmajazz]

That motherboard has Q-Flash (http://www.gigabyte.us/FileList/NewTech/old_motherboard_newtech/tech_qflash.htm) so the BIOS can be updated directly after entering the BIOS settings (press F8). I was able to use a USB stick to load the BIOS image even though the documentation refers to a floppy drive but I have a different Gigabyte motherboard so YMMV.

[Compass]

Well I updated the mobo using Q-flash, it all went well, logged into xp no worries. Turned machine off, came back a few hours later, pressed power, get the flash screen, then blank, then a message that reads,

 

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

 

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

 

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Set Up using the original Setup CD-ROM.

Select 'r' at the first screento start repair.

End

 

 

So, I cant get the setup cd to even start!

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

 

 

[Joe L.]

Well I updated the mobo using Q-flash, it all went well, logged into xp no worries. Turned machine off, came back a few hours later, pressed power, get the flash screen, then blank, then a message that reads,

 

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

 

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

 

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Set Up using the original Setup CD-ROM.

Select 'r' at the first screento start repair.

End

It looks to me as if it is not configured to use the flash drive as the  boot device.  It is still trying to boot from one of your hard-disks.

When you flashed the bios, it un-did any prior setup you had done to choose the flash drive as the boot device.

[Compass]

Ok, in the bios there is

 

HDD Boot Priority (press enter),goes to new page, On this page there are 2 choices,

1, Ch0 M. : WDC WD3200AAJS-65RYA0

2, Bootable Add in Cards

 

Back on the first page is as follows,

 

First boot    (floppy)

Second boot  (HDD)

Third boot    (cdrom)

 

This is the default setting, as in the manual.

 

Anymore suggestions?

 

Thanks

[Joe L.]

Ok, in the bios there is

 

HDD Boot Priority (press enter),goes to new page, On this page there are 2 choices,

1, Ch0 M. : WDC WD3200AAJS-65RYA0

2, Bootable Add in Cards

 

Back on the first page is as follows,

 

First boot    (floppy)

Second boot  (HDD)

Third boot    (cdrom)

 

This is the default setting, as in the manual.

 

Anymore suggestions?

 

Thanks

On your USB settings therw will be a setting to have the USB drive emulate an removable disk, or a hard disk.  set it first.

Then, go back and select the boot order to use it first and on boot priority to use it first.

 

Right now you have it trying to boot from the WDC drive.

[Compass]

Hi Joe,

 

Thanks for your help, but I dont understand what you are saying exactly.

 

Where are the USB settings you mentioned? On the Advanced BIOS Features page?

 

Cheers,

 

[razmajazz]

On the Advanced BIOS Features page highlight First Boot Device (probably says Floppy now). Press Enter and change to USB-HDD.

[Compass]

Thanks Raz,

 

No love for me though,

 

I can't even get it to boot from the xp cd, but I can boot using a Ubuntu Live Cd,

 

the hdd is there with everything still on it, bloody annoying eh.

 

Ta

[razmajazz]

Maybe a strange question at this point but did the UnRAID flash drive boot prior to the BIOS update? If the first boot device is set to USB-HDD and it is not booting then it could be the flash drive is not being recognized as a valid boot device. There are a lot of tricks you can try to successfully prepare a USB Flash for booting up on UnRAID here: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation. I had to use the HP USB Format Tool to get mine to work but that is not always necessary.

[Compass]

Hi Raz,

 

Maybe lost in translation, but unRaid is not on this machine yet. On another members advice I did the Q-Flash Bios update to see if I could control the HPA issue people have mention, anyway, the bios update must have exposed a corrupt system file so I could not boot into windows xp.

 

Thankfully I had a Ubuntu Live Cd, which I could boot into and use to replace the system file with one from an earlier restore point.

 

Am back into windows and running dskchk now.

 

If your interested,

 

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=624943

 

 

Thanks for your input though,