tmp31416 Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 hello all -- so i added a 3rd supermicro CSE-M35T-1B in my cm 590, to get a max of 15 drives instead of 12 like i used to have. i did lose the built-in dvd drive, but if i want to boot a live cd for testing, that's what usb optical drives are for. i also replaced the sempron 1250 with a sempron 140, to deal with the extra processing (parity calculations and whatnot) brought upon by the additional drives. the heatsink on the new cpu is really smaller, which is nice. suprise once everything was mounted: with a third noctua 92mm fan in the server, it is not noisier than before. ok, i do not have an absolute decibel readout to prove it, but i did not perceive an increase in noise. and the cabling is slightly tidyier than it was. anyway, i had an issue with adding the 3rd drive cage: for it to fit, i had to remove all screws from the existing ones, allowing them to drop about one millimetre, for the third CSE-M35T-1B to fit. it is so tight, that even without screws, the cages are now held in place by simple mechanical friction -- not my preferred solution. i quickly went through this thread searching for anyone else has a config like mine, to see how their cages were mounted, but did not find what i was looking for. hmmm. that can't be right. who else used three supermicro drive cages in a cm 590? and whomever did it, how did you mount your cages? i understand that the '590 was not exactly designed to hold 3 supermicro 5-in-3 enclosures, because i had to modify to get the cages to fit (cutting out the support tabs), but nonetheless, they should still fit correctly... in theory. i'm attaching a front picture of my new setup, for anyone to point out any mistake on my part. ***edit*** i am adding a 2nd picture, to illustrate my problem (and the reason for this post). as you can see, the drive cage's screw holes are "shifted" compared to the cases's, which prevents me from securing the CSE-M35T-1Bs. anyone else having this issue? cheers. Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Looks good. I had planned on that configuration, but switched to 4 Supermicro CSE-M35T-1B in a CM Stacker 810. I have my CSE-M35T-1B's the other way around with the red tab on top. This way the LED's are on top. This lets me see the LED's even on the lowest rack. Link to comment
tmp31416 Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 Weebotech -- assuming you experimented with the mounting of your drive cage (i.e., red tabs on top or on the bottom), did you notice if the screw holes line up differently, depending on the way you mount your drive cage? i assumed it did not make a difference myself. i must admit that i have started to wonder if i should flip my 5-in-3s around (with the red tabs on the top) to see if i could then screw the cage to the case. but it was such a b*tch to make thing fit, i don't want to do this for nothing. come to think of it, what made thing difficult was the case's "front panel" (power button & lights, etc.): is it removable? i don't think so, but if it was, i could try removing it, "shift up" the drive cages to screw them in and try to put back the panel. Link to comment
lionelhutz Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The front cover just pulls off. Easy to remove. Peter Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I could try removing it, "shift up" the drive cages to screw them in and try to put back the panel. I think you have to rotate them. I don't remember the CM590 being so tight, but then again, maybe you need to nibble off more of the tabs. Probably does not matter which way the tabs are facing. I just wanted the lower ones to be visible without crouching over. Link to comment
tmp31416 Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 I could try removing it, "shift up" the drive cages to screw them in and try to put back the panel. I think you have to rotate them. I don't remember the CM590 being so tight, but then again, maybe you need to nibble off more of the tabs. Probably does not matter which way the tabs are facing. I just wanted the lower ones to be visible without crouching over. the tabs are not an issue -- once i snipped all of them out (forgot the back ones initially -- duh). it's really the front panel that is in the way, surprisingly. in my previous configuration (2 supermicro drive cages, 2 kingwin trayless drive bays, 1 optical drive), i had no problem mounting the two bottom drive cages securely. it's when i added the 3rd cage that i had troubles to get it in the case, mounting tabs notwithstanding. to turn the question around, could *you* mount 3 supermicros in your case if they had their red tabs "at the bottom" like with my units? Link to comment
bigdog66 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 you could easily just use a drill and make the holes on the case bigger....since it doesn't have threads seems like a pretty easy fix to be able to house all those drives Link to comment
tmp31416 Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 you could easily just use a drill and make the holes on the case bigger....since it doesn't have threads seems like a pretty easy fix to be able to house all those drives true, i could do this, but is it supposed to be this tight? it *really* is, as if the 3rd drive cage was bigger than the 2 others, or if my cm 590 had a smaller front opening than other '590s, even if it is by just 1 mm ... nonetheless, your solution is the easiest one to implement and i will most probably do it. thanks for the suggestion, i did not think of that. and if i have to pull the supermicro units out of the chassis to make the latter's screw holes bigger, might as well try to flip the drive cages "upside down" to see if the screw holes don't line up differently. i am still curious to know, is there anyone else "out there" that has a cm 590 and three supermicro 5-in-3s? can i (we) see pictures? i find it hard to believe that i would be the only one with such a setup. cheers. Link to comment
bkasten Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 you could easily just use a drill and make the holes on the case bigger....since it doesn't have threads seems like a pretty easy fix to be able to house all those drives true, i could do this, but is it supposed to be this tight? it *really* is, as if the 3rd drive cage was bigger than the 2 others, or if my cm 590 had a smaller front opening than other '590s, even if it is by just 1 mm ... nonetheless, your solution is the easiest one to implement and i will most probably do it. thanks for the suggestion, i did not think of that. and if i have to pull the supermicro units out of the chassis to make the latter's screw holes bigger, might as well try to flip the drive cages "upside down" to see if the screw holes don't line up differently. i am still curious to know, is there anyone else "out there" that has a cm 590 and three supermicro 5-in-3s? can i (we) see pictures? i find it hard to believe that i would be the only one with such a setup. cheers. I have the same case (CM590) and 3 of the same drive cages. I mounted mine with the red tabs up. I do not recall having any trouble with the holes lining up at all. I also do not recall it being too tight, at all. It was tight, but not so tight that I could forgo mounting it with screws. Now, with that said, not all the holes lined up, but it worked. I went the less glamorous route of just bending the tabs out of the way, with a lot of pounding (small strokes so as not to fubar the case). As I remember, once the tabs were out of the way, it all slid together and screwed in place rather nicely. I knocked out some pictures, as you requested. Don't laugh at my bent tabs!! Not sure if this helps you, but that is what my experience. Bruce Link to comment
bkasten Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 and one more time (I was stopped by the site from uploading all the images at once.) click on image for larger view. Link to comment
tmp31416 Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 bkasten -- ah *ha*! thanks a million for posting these pictures! i will then try to flip my drive cages around (red tabs up instead of down) to see if the screw holes line up better before enlarging the case's -- it's been modded enough (i snipped all the tabs out). and to re-iterate (sp?), things are exceedingly tight on the vertical axis, not the horizontal one. cheers. Link to comment
bkasten Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 If I have been any help, I am glad. I am interested in the results, so once you get things turned around, repost please. Thanks Link to comment
tmp31416 Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 If I have been any help, I am glad. I am interested in the results, so once you get things turned around, repost please. Thanks back on the air for a quick update: flipped the supermicro drive cages to get the "red tabs" up and the screw holes fit way better. things are still tighter than they should, but the trick was to mount the top-most drive cage first. the consequence of this, though, is that the wiring is now quite f**king ugly and the sata cable bundles are impeding the airflow of the side fan (used to cool the video card & the supermicro sas/sata controller). but, at least, things are working -- running a parity check at the moment. i'll have to tidy things when i can, probably after i move the server in its spot in the basement. at that point i'll take pictures and post them. all the feedback & pictures have been greatly appreciated. thanks to all. cheers. Link to comment
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