Asus M4A78L-M LE motherboard -- mixed results

Purchased this mobo for my first upRAID rig.

Did small research here for recomendations -- about "ASUS M4A78L-M passes unRAID level 1 test" here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5642.0

Sadly, I purchased M4A78L-M LE board, which I thought to be the same mobo, just without DVI and HDMI connectors ... I was wrong. Don't know the reason for Asus engineers to design one mobo a.k.a. LE (Light Edition?) on top on another board and put different NIC chip there ... Same chipset, both has 6 SATA sockets, Gigabit eth., both mobos mATX.

M4A78L-M LE: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=6n45NEbiIBfrqfgn

M4A78L-M: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=YagmSfSD3EvKe6g7

Installed unRAID v.4.5.3. It's easy to get USB flash bootable in BIOS. Basically this LE mobo works fine, except two issues -- onboard NIC and "upraiders favorite startup bug", as I can call it. 

Story about onboard Atheros nic is here: New unRAID install, cannot copy to-from Tower

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6281.0

Secondly, in a moment of time -- I haven'nt noticed when -- I cannot get bootup process past that first unRAID boot selection, when you choose to boot unRAID linux or Memtest+. Count never starts, stuck at 5. So I must press Enter on keyboard to start unRAID. Not good. Experimented with several BIOS settings to no avail. Now taking out that additional Realtek PCI card to see its related or not. Will summarize later.

Any updates upraider?  I really want that board to work.

Please be aware of the serious bug in 4.5.3 that will show all disks as un-formatted when first starting the array.  If you press the "Format" button at that time, it will re-format ALL your disks, even those with data.

Please use version 4.5.6 of unRAID. 

In the interim if you see all the disks as un-formatted, press "Stop" and then "Start" and the disks should mount and show properly.

Joe L.

Any updates upraider?  I really want that board to work.

Well, from last time I was here my M4A78L-M LE based unraid server is uptime 7/24, rock stable and serving as storage for 5 computer workgroup, prepress environment, both Macs and PCs.

As I mentioned, one issue was network chip -- it's DIFFERENT than on M4A78L-M !

Never fully worked, so I' m using additional gigabit PCI network card.

Regarding bootup problem I mentioned -- Unraid stops on boot seconds counting, so I need to press "Enter" to continue booting -- will check tomorrow in place, but I think this problem is still there.

But one can press that button few times a year, so .. can live with that

Thanks Joe L. for posting warning. Keep good work.

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Asus M4A78L-M LE | Sempron LE-140 (45nm) | 2Gb Kingston DDR2 | Seagate ST31500341AS 1.5Tb (parity) + Samsung F1 1Tb + Samsung F1 1Tb | 2Gb Kingston C-10 flashdrive | 350W power supply

Damm, I wish I'd seen this post before. Just bought the same board 'cos it is easier to get hold of than the "non LE" version and I too assumed the only difference was the DVI and HDMI connectors.

Which network card did you buy and do you have to change any BIOS settings to dissable the on board network chip?

I've an update also. I too fitted a cheap PCI ethernet adaptor (Netgear GA3110. Using this combo, I have no problems. Boot up is fine (never have top press "Enter").

I guess the only slightly flaky thing is that if I add a new HDD, the BIOS always wants that to be the first boot device so I have to go in and change it back to the USB stick. Once set, it stays that way (until I add another HDD). No big deal but if anyone knows how to fix that, I'd appreciate it.

I guess the only slightly flaky thing is that if I add a new HDD, the BIOS always wants that to be the first boot device so I have to go in and change it back to the USB stick. Once set, it stays that way (until I add another HDD). No big deal but if anyone knows how to fix that, I'd appreciate it.

Does this help?

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5642.msg60531#msg60531

Many thanks for that. I've changed the USB to "Forced FDD". My other BIOS settings were as per that post. Hopefully, that will have have fixed it. Of course I won't know for sure until I add another HDD which be quite some time.

Hi guys any news on this problem with the nic? I was planning to order it now to get it for Christmas but I'm not so sure now...

Any ideas if it is solved in 4.5.6 or in 4.6?

Still no fix as of today.  Probably best to avoid this board if you want a trouble-free build.  Either that or just plan on using a PCI NIC with it.

Hi Raj,

so what would you say: I need a cheap microATX with Gb internet and 6 SATA ports.I was going for a AM3 because the sempron is only 45W. Anything in mind?

Assuming you are in the US...

BIOSTAR TA785G3HD

Currently out of stock at Newegg, but you may be able to find it elsewhere.  Requires DDR3 RAM.

ASUS M4A785-M

Requires DDR2 RAM.

I think the Biostar is the better option as it is cheaper and makes use of the newer DDR3 RAM (so one notch on the 'future proofing' scale).  However, if you already have some old DDR2 RAM that you could reuse, the Asus will be the cheaper option.

Don't spend too much on a motherboard right now, as we all may have to replace our motherboards within the next year or so to make use of drives larger than 2 TB.  This isn't definite, but definitely possible.

I'm on the other side of the Atlantic.... 

the ASUS is not sold anymore (and Biostar is almost not present)....

Any idea (I could go for a celeron dualcore even if it's at 65W... btw, I want to run airvideo and read/write on unRaid at the same time, shouldn't I profit of dualcore or the single Sempron would be enough?)

Airvideo transcodes on the fly, right?  If so, then a dual core is definitely the right choice.  A sempron or other single core may still be able to handle it, but performance will likely be sluggish.  I know the E3300 (intel) uses only slightly more power than the Celeron 430, and is generally budget friendly.

Maybe search for the three mobos listed for the UK Budget Build (even if you aren't in the UK).  Those links are all dead, but you may still be able to find the motherboards.

OK then I was thinking of this conf:

Mobo: ASUS M4A88T-M or ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3 (if someone know the difference)

Proc:  AMD Athlon II X2 250

4Gb of DDR3 Ram

4 WD Green 2To EARS 64 Mo

Antec mini p180

What do you think? Compatible? Enough for media streaming (with on the fly encoding)? 

The only difference between those two motherboards is that one has USB3 ports and the other does not.  Both will work fine for unRAID.  I would probably choose the USB3 option if it is the same price, as you may want to use them on an external drive at some point in the future.

While I absolutely love the mini p180 as a desktop case, I don't think it is a very good choice for unRAID.  If you already have one that you want to repurpose, go for it.  But if you are buying a new case, I would recommend one with more upgrade potential.

Everything else looks fine.  Remember to jumper your EARS drives.

Thanks a lot Raj!!!!

I'll take the USB3 then: it's cheaper ;-) (that's why I was wondering if there was a pb)

I was thinking minip180 because I won't be expending my storage so much, I'm now in a country where p2p is watched.....

Otherwise which one would you recommend (I need silent!!!)?

Oh last one: I'm also going for an Antec EarthWatts EA380 Green for power, would it be enough to power a 4 (maybe one day 6 or 7) drive unRAID?