Troubleshooting X10SLM-F Not Booting

Builds [LGA1150] NAS Killer 5.0
1

Hi All -

Long time listener, first-ish time poster.

I recently decided to upgrade my Unraid server, which was built using the NK4.0 guidelines. I bought a Xeon E3-1280v3 and X10SLM-F from ebay with the intention of taking the RAM from my existing server.

I pulled the old motherboard out of the case, move the RAM over, installed the CPU, and put the motherboard back into the case. Plugged everything back in and plugged it into power. I get a solid amber light on LED4 and the BMC Heartbeat (LED1) pulses green. Both of these are the expected state.

After some more troubleshooting, I decided to pull the motherboard out of the case and attempt to power up with just the bare minimum. I feel like I’ve tried every combination of things, and nothing has booted up:

  • Tried new PSU
  • Tried without RAM
  • Tried with one stick in every slot
  • Tried with two sticks in alternating slots
  • Tried without the CPU
  • Tried moving the CPU fan to all of the fan ports (FAN1-4 and FANA)
  • Tried without CPU and without RAM
  • Tried shorting the power switch pins
  • Replaced CMOS battery
  • Pulled CMOS battery out overnight
  • Pulled CMOS battery and shorted JBT1

After all of that, I still never get any indication that the motherboard boots. No fans, no video, no nothing.

I’ve plugged in the motherboard to my home network via the IPMI LAN port and it connects, although it’s not using DHCP (it’s IP is 192.168.107.80 but my network is 192.168.1.X). I can connect to IPMI via the web interface after changing my laptop’s IP and subnet to work with the server’s IP. But, the default username/password of ADMIN/ADMIN does not work. I’ve tried every combination of this as well (ADMIN, admin, Admin, etc.). The motherboard does not have a sticker indicating that it has a random default password. I’ve also used Supermicro’s IPMIViewer tool to connect, but I cannot log in through there either.

Since I can’t get the motherboard to boot, I don’t think I can use the IPMICFG tool (please correct me if I’m wrong!); and since I don’t know the username/password, I can’t do anything through the IPMI Web Interface.

I think I have two potential failures: either the motherboard or the CPU. I could buy a different CPU and attempt to use that. Or, I could buy a new motherboard.
I’m wondering if anyone has ideas on if there are any other troubleshooting steps I should try before buying more hardware.

Thanks for reading!

2

Just a minor correction, this would be a NAS Killer 5.0 as it uses the LGA1150 socket.

  1. What exact RAM are you using?
  2. How are you attempting to turn on the system?
3

Ya, sorry - that wasn’t terrible clear in my original post. I built a NK4.0 system a couple of years ago and decided to upgrade using hardware from the NK5.0 guide.

I’ve got four 8GB sticks, two pairs. I’ve used all of the sticks in various slots in my testing.

Here’s an output from dmidecode:

dmidecode -t memory
# dmidecode 3.3
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.7 present.

Handle 0x0007, DMI type 16, 23 bytes
Physical Memory Array
        Location: System Board Or Motherboard
        Use: System Memory
        Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC
        Maximum Capacity: 32 GB
        Error Information Handle: 0x0009
        Number Of Devices: 4

Handle 0x000F, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0007
        Error Information Handle: 0x0010
        Total Width: 128 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8 GB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_1A
        Bank Locator: BANK 0
        Type: DDR3
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1333 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Kingston
        Serial Number: CF0ABF49
        Asset Tag: 9876543210
        Part Number: 9965525-026.A00LF 
        Rank: 2
        Configured Memory Speed: 1333 MT/s

Handle 0x0011, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0007
        Error Information Handle: 0x0012
        Total Width: 128 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8 GB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_2A
        Bank Locator: BANK 0
        Type: DDR3
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1333 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Hynix/Hyundai
        Serial Number: 4B133CC8
        Asset Tag: 9876543210
        Part Number: HMT41GU7MFR8C-H9  
        Rank: 2
        Configured Memory Speed: 1333 MT/s

Handle 0x0013, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0007
        Error Information Handle: 0x0014
        Total Width: 128 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8 GB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_1B
        Bank Locator: BANK 1
        Type: DDR3
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1333 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Kingston
        Serial Number: 320EC278
        Asset Tag: 9876543210
        Part Number: 9965525-026.A00LF 
        Rank: 2
        Configured Memory Speed: 1333 MT/s

Handle 0x0015, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0007
        Error Information Handle: 0x0016
        Total Width: 128 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8 GB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_2B
        Bank Locator: BANK 1
        Type: DDR3
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1333 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Hynix/Hyundai
        Serial Number: 4B133CE0
        Asset Tag: 9876543210
        Part Number: HMT41GU7MFR8C-H9  
        Rank: 2
        Configured Memory Speed: 1333 MT/s

I have tried using front panel power button on two different cases, as well as shorting the pins directly on the motherboard with a screwdriver.

Thanks for the help!

4

Hey there,

I have the same board and had similar troubles getting it to post. There are no power on/off pins on this board which nobody ever mentions. I think power up/down is meant to be handled via IMPI which may be part of the problem.

What worked for me was to connect a USB keyboard and monitor to the onboard VGA port, power the board and wait for the heartbeat led to start up. Then I shorted the power reset pins which are the first set next to the space where the power pins aren’t. The board rebooted, the power led turned yellow to green and then the bios screen came up for me. From there I was able to navigate settings and set IMPI to defaults. I just followed Logan’s video : Flashing LSI SAS HBA into IT mode, Supermicro BIOS setup & update - YouTube
My LSI firmware was OK, some of the screen grabs are different from mine but the video was still really helpful to me.

There’s several threads around about problems booting this board. I don’t think the fan pins affect booting, but it throws up an error code if it doesn’t like where the fan is plugged in.

After that initial proper post I did not need to use the power reset pins as the board would power up and down OK just using the PSU power. I was also able to access IMPI and power up and down from there.