SuperMicro X10SL7-F - Onboard LSI

 

Well, not too many. It is indeed very good, more so after I finally got them to solve the problem that caused LSI f/w v19 

I run it headless, and use the IPMI features exclusively. It's a treat. Just make sure you get a decent processor for it and obviously ECC RAM.

 

I run ESXi on it. All kinds of passthru work flawlessly. Cool stuff.

i don't remember which cpu i've installed, maybe a E3-1240. 16 gb ram ecc ;-) so for you it's better to installa esxi and passthru the lsi to a vm and install unraid? i'm in test and i'm considering if it's enough to use the integrated XEN or KVM....

 

Well, not too many. It is indeed very good, more so after I finally got them to solve the problem that caused LSI f/w v19 

I run it headless, and use the IPMI features exclusively. It's a treat. Just make sure you get a decent processor for it and obviously ECC RAM.

 

I run ESXi on it. All kinds of passthru work flawlessly. Cool stuff.

 

i don't remember which cpu i've installed, maybe a E3-1240. 16 gb ram ecc ;-) so for you it's better to installa esxi and passthru the lsi to a vm and install unraid? i'm in test and i'm considering if it's enough to use the integrated XEN or KVM....

My "production" unRAID is v5. So it's pre all those fancy virtualization capabilities of v6 beta (I did use the VirtualBox plugin in the past - nice plugin - but abandoned it in favor of an ESXi setup). If I were to install from scratch today, I'd seriously consider the new KVM options as an alternative to running unRAID under a separate hypervisor (although there's also something to be said in favor of "do one thing and do it well" and splitting the functionalities). I can say that my ESXi (v5.5) has been rock solid so far on the X10SL7, as has unRAID.

Oh, and one more thing if you do consider ESXi: the vanilla hypervisor had to be modified to support the NIC chips on the X10SL7. They were too new for the bundled drivers. Not a big deal, but need to modify the ISO. This may have been solved in more recent versions - I don't know.

I have the x10sl-7 and I am finding it really picky with power supplies when it comes to IPMI.  The issue I have is that when I poweroff using IPMI it will shutdown the system and power supply then a few seconds later it will start up again.  Also sometimes it won't power up with the switch or IPMI.  I need to hold power switch in for 10 seconds and then the switch will work.  I have tried corsair, silverstone and a brand new evga 1000 GS.  The one that responded the best was the silverstone.  At this point I am just about ready to cave and order the PWS-865-PQ 865W if supermicro engineers confirm it works on this board.  The engineer I am working with at Supermicro had suggested it could be incorrect signals to power supply.  They are deciding now what they think the issues is. 

Anyone here have any recommends for power supplies that work properly with x10sl7-f using IPMI power on/off/reset?    I need something that can support up to 20 drives.

I have the x10sl-7 and I am finding it really picky with power supplies when it comes to IPMI.  The issue I have is that when I poweroff using IPMI it will shutdown the system and power supply then a few seconds later it will start up again.  Also sometimes it won't power up with the switch or IPMI.  I need to hold power switch in for 10 seconds and then the switch will work.  I have tried corsair, silverstone and a brand new evga 1000 GS.  The one that responded the best was the silverstone.  At this point I am just about ready to cave and order the PWS-865-PQ 865W if supermicro engineers confirm it works on this board.  The engineer I am working with at Supermicro had suggested it could be incorrect signals to power supply.  They are deciding now what they think the issues is. 

 

Anyone here have any recommends for power supplies that work properly with x10sl7-f using IPMI power on/off/reset?    I need something that can support up to 20 drives.

I'm using a corsair hx750 and it works just fine.  Haven't had any issues.

Just bought this board and flashed it to IT.  However, I can't get it to boot from the internal USB 3.0 port below the CPU.  I'm using a 16GB Sandisk Ultra Fit USB flash drive and followed the steps on the Lime Tech site to make it a bootable USB key (via OSX).  In BIOS, it recognizes I have a USB Hard Drive: Sandisk  available and so I set that as the first boot option.  I even disable the rest of the boot options.  When I exit BIOS and restart, however, it gets to the bootloader but acts like there's no media anywhere.

Any suggestions on what I should do?

Update: I think this is a flash drive issue.  I was able to boot via USB just once tonight; but it seemed like it froze at one point.  If issues continues, I will probably start a new thread to better discuss this problem.

Update 2: resolved.  Not a usb issue.  The OSX version of the unRAID download just doesn't work!!  I had to make a bootable flash drive from a Windows PC instead.  However, now I have issues accessing the unRAID gui.

Update 3: resolved.  Managed to access the gui by complete accident.  The method I used is not described anywhere on the main site, the wiki, or the forums.  Sigh, I am beginning to become wary of transferring over my data. Although OSX is supported it just feels like there isn't much info for OSX users if I continue to run into issues. 

Update 4: building confidence in unraid6.  After leaving my tower on overnight (without starting the array), I woke up the next morning to find my boot/flash disconnected.  The USB was still in the mobo; but I could not access it through either telnet or via the OSX Finder.  Turns out the USB was defective after all...it would actually overheat just sitting idle and would disconnect itself randomly.  Anyways, bought a USB 2.0 stick because it was on sale, reinstalled unRAID and so far so good.  I've done a 47+ hr preclear on 3x 5TB WD Red drives and patiently transferring over nearly 8TB of data from my old raid.  Tower is easily accessed now either through web gui or OSX Finder without having to manually connect to the tower.  So far so good.

Hi,

I didn't want to open a new topic. I have some questions if you can guide me that will be nice.

I am a very very basic home user. Upgrading my unraid now. Sorry if i ask something too basic for you. Just want to be sure before i completed the case.

I Just bought SuperMicro X10SL7-F - few days ago. Slowly going on for Unraid6 Setup. Seems too many things to learn.

- I made a mistake as i bought Pentium G3258 which support 1333mhz ram. So i can not run my ram on 1600mhz. Will that change my life alot? (Will use tower at home for simple streaming)

- I have 6tb WD red as parity and additionally i have 8 2tb WD greens. I will plug parity alone to normal SATA3 plug which is white color. Is it ok or shall i connect it to LSI also? Which is best?

- If i use Sata2 ports with my sata3 greens or reds does that mean there will be speed difference which i will feel?

- I swithced to IT mode succesfully and unraid detect all 10 sata 3 including LSI. Is there any other option you recommend me to change or edit in bios?

- Is there any benefit for home use to use both LANs with unraid6? Like streaming in 2 different xbmc at the same time? Or no value add for home user?

- Is there any plugin site or in forum for unraid6? Sorry for this question too many things to do at the same time.

My Config is

Supermicro MBD-X10SL7-F-O Mainboard Sockel LGA 1150

Crucial CT2KIT102472BD160B Speicher, 16 GB (2 x 8 GB)

Seasonic SS-660XP2 Active PFC Platinum-660 PC-Netzteil (660 Watt, ATX 12V)

Thank you,

Hi Songokusan,

I'm new to unraid, too, so I'm afraid I can't answer any of your questions w certainty.  But here are my answers:

1. I have 16GB of RAM installed; but I haven't noticed unRAID using it extensively for any specific functions yet.  Even when I did preclear on my 3 5TB drives simultaneously, it didn't touch my RAM....it was all CPU processing.  RAM may be more important when using Docker.

2. You only need to install your hard drive in either SATA or LSI .  Don't need to install in both at same time.  Not even sure how you do that.

3. Not sure about SATA2 vs SATA3...or even vs LSI.  Speedwise, the SATA3 and LSI connections should be the same...but I've made the decision to first connect the SATA3 ports, then LSI, and lastly my SATA2 ports

4. The only settings I would change in BIOS is to make your USB flash boot the first boot option.  Everything else is default for me.

5. I'm not sure what you're asking.

6. I haven't personally explored Docker...but supposedly once you do you can run any Linux program that's available or something.

Good luck with your build.  It took me almost a week of daily research just to get mine to boot.  Take your time doing the research and be patient when setting it up.  I've noticed that neither the Configuration Tutorial in the LimeTech wiki, nor the setup instructions in the Lime Tech blog are actually up to date with unRAID v6....but a lot of my setup questions were answered by these two sources.

Answers to some of your questions from my own experience -

- I made a mistake as i bought Pentium G3258 which support 1333mhz ram. So i can not run my ram on 1600mhz. Will that change my life alot? (Will use tower at home for simple streaming)

Not a big mistake in my humble opinion. I'd be willing to bet you will not feel any difference there.

- I have 6tb WD red as parity and additionally i have 8 2tb WD greens. I will plug parity alone to normal SATA3 plug which is white color. Is it ok or shall i connect it to LSI also? Which is best?

It is absolutely OK. The parity will have its own controller which, if at all, would be a plus (although I don't think it will be a noticeable plus). At any rate, not a downside.

- If i use Sata2 ports with my sata3 greens or reds does that mean there will be speed difference which i will feel?

Probably not something you'd feel in normal operations (although some benchmark tests, those which test bus <> HDD controller speeds, will see the difference). 3Gb/s SATA should not be a limiting factor for normal operation with WD greens.

- I swithced to IT mode succesfully and unraid detect all 10 sata 3 including LSI. Is there any other option you recommend me to change or edit in bios?

AHCI mode for SATA ports, if that's selectable (can't remember off the top of my head).

(By the way, it would have worked fine in IR mode too. That's how I work, for a long time now, with zero issues.)

- Is there any benefit for home use to use both LANs with unraid6? Like streaming in 2 different xbmc at the same time? Or no value add for home user?

Different homes have different requirements. It depends on how much data you can stream off the server simultaneously. Typical use will be far from saturating a 1Gb/s network interface.

Hope this helps.

Thanks both for answers

now putting up my backup to new server. I will disturb if i have any

Hi,

I have this Board with an E3-1231 since this weekend. Everything is working fine so far except that the processor always runs at full speed (3400MHz).

Can somebody give me a hint what I should enable / disable in the Bios or elsewhere that the processor does not always run at full speed?

Thanks

Hi,

 

I have this Board with an E3-1231 since this weekend. Everything is working fine so far except that the processor always runs at full speed (3400MHz).

Can somebody give me a hint what I should enable / disable in the Bios or elsewhere that the processor does not always run at full speed?

 

Thanks

It's a reporting issue, and a known bug.  The chip isn't actually running full speed all the time, it's just the GUI that's broken.

Hi,

 

I have this Board with an E3-1231 since this weekend. Everything is working fine so far except that the processor always runs at full speed (3400MHz).

Can somebody give me a hint what I should enable / disable in the Bios or elsewhere that the processor does not always run at full speed?

 

Thanks

 

It's a reporting issue, and a known bug.  The chip isn't actually running full speed all the time, it's just the GUI that's broken.

Hi,

after the update to Version 6.0.0 my CPU is still running all the time at full speed.

And it is not just in the GUI. When I run this command

watch -n.1 'cat /proc/cpuinfo|grep MHz'

I can see that they run at full speed.

So could someone with the same MB tell me what i have to enable / disable to get the speed stepping working. A screenshot of the Bios settings might be helpful 

Thanks

This would be useful to know before upgrading as well

If Limetech use this motherboard in their builds hopefully we'll get some insight?

Definitely something weird with Haswell.  I can see via the power consumption that the chips are entering the lower C-states, even if the frequency is high.  My E3-1225v3 machine uses 80W+ when the CPU is running at high load, and with the drives spun down it uses about 18W.  If the chip wasn't entering the SpeedStep low power states, it'd still be using 40W+ at least.  It doesn't, however.

I'm still confident it's a reporting issue rather than the chip running at high frequency and high power.

It's not something I see with Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, or indeed Bay Trail.  AMD works OK too. 

I have a SuperMicro X10SL7-F with an onboard LSI 2308 that I can't get operational. I think it may have been defective since I purchased board over 12 months ago, but I just attempted to expand array and can't seem to get any of the onboard ports for this controller to work.

I've been at it off and on for a couple weeks and I think I've been doing everything correctly. I've followed all instructions to flash it w/ the v19 firmware into IT mode but this is the error I keep getting.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Random long shot: there's an onboard jumper, not far from the RAM slots, called JPS1. Can you verify that it's enabled (closed) and properly seated?

Try the uefi version of the LSI flashing util.  I had issues flashing my LSI card until I used that.

Kind of bizarre, but I just repeated the steps exactly today and got the same error 3 times BUT it appears to have worked and the SATA slots the 2308 controls appear to be working. I never got anything but "failed download", but when I gave up and started the array the controller initialized and the drives were recognized.

I did update the MB BIOS yesterday, so there may have been something with that, but it doesn't make sense to me.

Not putting any array storage on these slots yet until I trust the stability of these slots.

just bought a SuperMicro X10SL7-F and will be updating the SAS LSI 2308 controller, my question is should I use the PH20-IT (latest) from supermicro (link below) or PH19-IT? 

ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/2308/Firmware/IT/

Don't see why you shouldn't use the latest. In fact, i wonder if it is worth upgrading mine as well?

Did we get a resolution to the frequency issues?

Updated to PH20-IT, looks good.

I flashed to the version 20 of the firmware with no issues. Did not go to v3 BIOS though, it's such a hassle to update BIOS on this motherboard.

Likewise, flashed the LSI to version 20 IT mode. My mobo shipped with BIOS v3 installed. So far, no issues whatsoever!

I have a quick question, hopefully. I also have the X10SL7-F board and am wondering to flash to IT or stay with IR mode. I'm going to update either way because I'm on FW15 and 20 is out.

I use baremetal unraid with some VMs/dockers. I will also be needing to get a SAS card down the road as well in order to utilize all the HDD slots I have in the case I'm using. Would it be best to flash to IT since it would be likely that I would need to flash the SAS card to IT as well (M1015 or similar card). That way they were both working on the same "page".

Do I need to remove all hard drives (disconnect) and USB storage devices from the board even if they are not on the LSI2308? I have a usb onboard connected and HDDs connected through the other sata ports on the board.

Let me know what you guys think so I can get this thing done and out of the way thanks for any input/suggestions.

I just flashed it. Ended up finding my answers. Guess I was just a bit tired when reading through all the threads. If anyone cares, here are my quick and dirty notes on the LSI2308 FW flash/upgrade and change to IT mode.

ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/2308/Firmware/ - place to get IT firmware

Unplug all media/usb/hdds before attempting

Make sure to get LSI controller address:

put on blank USB drive (contents of UEFI folder)

push F11 on boot

boot from built in UEFI

change to USB fs0 - fs0:

check contents - dir

invoke script: SMC2308T.NSH

Input last nine digits of address when asked: enter last 8 numbers (does not have to be caps and does not include : colon)

remove USB once it says done

reboot and check in LSI controller utility that update applied and address correct - disabled boot option in lsi config util. based on this thread: https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.0

power down and plug all drives and unraid USB back in.

Boot and check everything in unraid

It recognized the disk on the controller and it's clearing it now. All in all, it seems good so far.