GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P PCIe Issues and responses from Gigabyte Support

[JimmyJoe]

I am a big Gigabyte fan.  I am an unRAID newbie, I just built my first box over last weekend.  I have a Norco 4020 case and want to eventually run 20 drives.  I chose the GA-EP45-UD3P MB since it has 8 on-board sata ports plus 2 PCIe x16(one runs x8 mode) and 3 PCIe x1 slots.  I have 5 inexpensive SD-SA2PEX-2IR PCIe x1 sata controllers (Sil3132 chipset) that where purchased from monoprice.  Below is a transcript of my questions and answers from Gigabyte tech support.  The x1 cards will not work in either x16 slot.  I have updated the latest bios on both the MB and sata controllers.  So right now I can only use 3 of them, they work great in the x1 slots.  I did try a HighPoint RocketRaid 2310 x4 card in both x16 slots and it worked fine.  I also tried a 3ware 9690SA x8 card in both x16 slots and it worked fine too.  So gigabyte is telling me that both x16 slots are for "meant for video cards only", "designed for vga", and "strictly for vga".  Should I be concerned with running a sata controller in a x16 slot with this MB?  I can probably safely add two Adaptec 1430SA cards later down the road and then I will have 22 total sata ports.    Is there another motherboard that I should consider that will run 20 hard drives all on the PCIe bus?  Is anyone else running the GA-EP45-UD3P MB with a sata controller in one of the x16 slots?

 

Thanks,

JimmyJoe

 

Question : Hi. I am building a storage server using SD-SA2PEX-2IR PCIe x1 sata controllers (Sil3132 chipset). I have a PCI video card and want to use 5 add-in PCIe x1 sata controllers. When I insert into any PCIe x1 slot, they work fine and the system posts in 13 seconds. When I try even a single sata controller in either PCIe x16 slot, the system takes 34 seconds to post and does not recognize the sata controller. What do I need to do to use a PCIe x1 sata controller in the PCIe x16 slot? Thanks

 

Answer : Please use the PCIE x1 card onto the x1 or x4 slot, x16 slot are design for videocards. How many cards do you have totaled installed onto the board?

 

Question : I have 5 PCIe x1 sata controllers and I am trying to use all 5 at the same time. They work fine in the x1 slots, but not the x16 slots. I did try both a x4 and x8 sata controller in the x16 slot and they both work fine. For some reason the x1 card is not working in the x16 slot. I have updated the latest bios on both the MB and SATA card. What can I do to get the x1 sata card to work in either x16 slot? It is my understanding that any x1 card should work in any x1, x4, x8 or x16 slot according to the PCIe specification.

 

Answer : The first PCIE x16 slot is strictly meant for videocards only.

 

Question : That is unfortunate. I specifically purchased this board so that I could use sata controllers in all 5 PCIe slots. It does not state in the manual that the x16 slot is meant for videocards only. Perhaps I need to return the board and buy one from a different manufacturer. I really don't want to do that, I already have 5 other PCs in my house that I built with Gigabyte boards, I love them. You make an excellent product. What about the PCIe x8 slot? Is that also strictly meant for video cards? I did install a x1 card in all 3 x1 slots along with a x4 and x8 card in the x16 and x8 slots all at the same time and it worked fine. So I had 5 sata controllers installed (3 x1, 1 x4 and 1x8) and had no problems. I just cant get 5 x1 cards to work at the same time.

 

Answer : The first PCIE x16 slot is design for vga cards, the 2nd slot can be used with other cards.

 

Question : OK, thank you. If the 2nd slot (x8) can be used for other cards then why can't I use a SD-SA2PEX-2IR PCIe x1 sata controller (Sil3132 chipset) in the 2nd slot (x8)? It works fine in any x1 slot and the system posts in 13 seconds. As soon as I put a x1 card in the 2nd slot (x8) slot the system takes 34 seconds to post and does not recognize the sata controller in the x8 slot at all. What do I need to do to use a x1 sata controller in the 2nd slot (x8)? Thanks

 

Answer : Upon double checking the two PCIE x16 and x8 are strictly for vga.

The other slots can be used in your case.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Model Name : GA-EP45-UD3P(rev. 1.1)

--------------------------

M/B Rev : 1.1

BIOS Ver : F9

Serial No. :

Purchase Dealer :

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VGA Brand : ATi      Model : ATI Rage XL 8MB PCI

CPU Brand : Intel      Model : E5200      Speed : 2.5

Operation System : Not installed yet      SP :

Memory Brand : Corsair      Type : DDRII

Memory Size : 2x2GB      Speed : 800

Power Supply : 750 W

[RobJ]

Unfortunately, their responses sound only too plausible.  The design people wanted SLI all the way on the first 2 slots, and the engineering people probably took shortcuts to get that, never thinking about the possibility that someone might want all of them for disk controllers.  The fact that you can't use the second slot either is more unforgivable, as more and more users would want a RAID card, which would typically require an X4 or X8 lane slot.  Probably an engineering mistake, concentrating too hard on the desire for SLI.  And the fact that the support people are just now learning about this limitation is typical.

 

Added a link here to the Hardware Compatibility page.

[Nyago123]

Both my unRAID server and my primary Windows workstations are based on this mobo.

 

I've used an 8-port LSI SAS3081E-R card on one of this board's 16x slot and it worked fine under Windows accessing a single disk.  Unfortunately, I don't recall exactly which slot, but I do believe it was the primary slot (the highest one... closest to the CPU). 

 

I haven't tried this under unRAID because unRAID doesn't fully support this configuration.  When unRAID finally gets the drives fully recognizable, I will be installing the board into the unRAID server and trying it, but based on the 4.5-beta4 thread talk, it sounds like this is dependent on a kernel update which we won't be seeing until unRAID 5.0.

 

[JimmyJoe]

I ran into another issue I believe was related to GA-EP45-UD3P and how it handled the SD-SA2PEX-2IR sata controller I installed in the PCIe x1 slot.  I have vmware installed and have a windows XP vm running on the cache drive, which was attached to the SD-SA2PEX-2IR.  Twice it crashed on me.  Once when accessing the remote vmware console and once when I was accessing the XP vm via remote desktop.  It was literally, click on the link and the server powered off.  Not gracefully either, it was like you pulled the plug.  Ouch!    I chose to go ahead an return the GA-EP45-UD3P. 

 

I emailed SuperMicro tech support about the C2SEE and C2SEA motherboard PCIe slots.  I got a very quick and informative response, which included a jpg layout of the slots on the MB.  Sata controllers are support in each PCIe slot.    I picked up a SuperMicro C2SEA from Fry's in Oxnard, CA at a red-tag price of $89.99.    So far, it has been rock solid and I am very happy with the C2SEA.

 

I also emailed ASUS support and asked about the P5KPL-CM motherboard PCIe slots:

 

Question:  I would like to run a PCI video card and install a x4 or x8 sata controller in the PCIe

x16 slot. Is that officially supported to run a sata controller in the x16 slot?

 

Answer:  The main PCIE X16 slot is dedicated to VGA only.

[Nyago123]

Since you've switched it's beyond the point of suggestion but since I was powering down for beta5 anyway for grins I stuck my potentially 8-port LSI SAS3081E-R into my unRAID server into the primary slot (blue slot).  I also have 2 of the SYBA controllers (in the lower two of the three PCI-E 1x ports); my cache drive is on one of those, and IIRC my parity is on the "other" onboard SATA controller (one of the purple ports).  Everything boots up fine; syslog attached.

 

Unfortunately 4.5-beta5 still does not help with actually getting a SATA drive on the SAS controller fully functional, but that's another issue (ref. the 4.5-beta5 thread).

 

There's lots of possibilities in addition to what RobJ suggested:

1. I'm getting lucky running an unsupported configuration (though this card has worked for me now on two different GA-EP45-UD3P mobos) and/or:

   a. This particular 4x card may play nice but other cards may not (Edit: particularly the SYBA 1x cards... I noticed the OP said 3ware 9690SA & Highpoint 2310 cards also worked)

   b. Gigabyte mobos have marginal QC

2. Gigabyte support is giving an answer of least effort

   a. Engineers actually did follow appropriate PCI-E standards and it hasn't been communicated well internally

   b. Engineers followed standards, it was communicated, but support needs to answer N emails/day to meet some metric and so it's easier to just give a one line answer to any question

   c. Engineers did not follow standards and so the standard line is to just say the big slots are for video

   d. Nobody actually has any idea and they're making it up as they go

3. All of the above

4. None of the above ... make up your own explanation consistent with your world view of technology companies

 

[Adrian]

Looks like I wasn't the only one that ran into this issue. It looks like it's across multiple models with Gigabyte as I have not been able to get 1X sata controllers to work in any 16X slot.

[johngro]

thought I would chime in with a quick compatibility data point, FWIW

 

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P + SYBA SY-PEX40008 4-port 1x PCIe + Unraid 4.5 = FAIL

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P + Adaptec 2241000-R 4-port 4x PCIe + Unraid 4.5 = PASS

 

The SYBA card is based on the Sil3124; I don't think the mobo is the problem here.  Seems more like the kernel/drivers.

I'm running the Adaptec cards in the PCIe 16x "video only" slots of the GB board and they seem to work well so far.  I/O performance with 14 drives is great.

 

See post #17 in the thread here...

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=4091.msg46885#msg46885

for details of the saga which led me to this conclusion.

 

 

[daniel.boone]

thought I would chime in with a quick compatibility data point, FWIW

 

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P + Adaptec 2241000-R 4-port 4x PCIe + Unraid 4.5 = PASS

 

The pass is good news. I'm thinking of swapping my MB for this Gigabyte. Can someone confirm HPA can be disabled from BIOS?

 

Thanks,

db

[screwonbudnik20]

I can verify that hpa can be disabled from bios. I just did it. Now to try and figue out how to get the hpa data removed from the drive so the message can go away... any help appreciated.

[musicmann]

I can verify that hpa can be disabled from bios. I just did it. Now to try and figue out how to get the hpa data removed from the drive so the message can go away... any help appreciated.

 

Try removing it with Seatools (a Seagate utility disc) or HDAT2.

[Joe L.]

I can verify that hpa can be disabled from bios. I just did it. Now to try and figue out how to get the hpa data removed from the drive so the message can go away... any help appreciated.

 

Try removing it with Seatools (a Seagate utility disc) or HDAT2.

By far the easiest is to use the "hdparm -N" command.

 

This post describes how to use the hdparm command to reset an HPA. 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5072.msg46903#msg46903

 

Obviously, you'll need to use the correct value for your drives, but you do not need to use another distribution or boot up a different OS.

[screwonbudnik20]

I guess the real question is do I need to remove it?

[Joe L.]

I guess the real question is do I need to remove it?

You don't need to remove it, but it will vastly complicate your life if you ever need to swap around or replace disks, etc.

 

From what we've seen recently, removing the HPA is just a matter of running one hdparm command.

 

Step 1. determine the correct full size of the drive  (it is found in the syslog)

Step 2. run the hdparm -N pXXXXXXXXXXX /dev/XYZ command for your drive

Step 3. verify the HPA was removed.