Are You Looking For A Less Expensive Norco 4220 / 4224 Alternative? - Page 39

The adapter plugs into the molex connection, not directly into the PSU. I bought additionally cables from the PSU manufacturer but they didn't come with the P4 cable either. After investigating this morning I have found that the cable layout from the manufacturers are different. The Thermaltake cable was sending 12v down the 5v line and 5v down the 12v line. So I think the CPU probably was damaged in the process since I believe the P4 adapter line was looking for 5v source not a 12v. Not sure if the motherboard manufacturer has this type of information or not.

So do you think the CPU is damaged or motherboard or both?

After a little more digging, I noticed that the adapter gets 12V power from Pin 1. However, when hooked up to the Thermaltake cable it was only receiving the 5v line. So the Hard drive probably got burnt-out on its 5V line since it was being provided 12v instead of 5v, and its 12v line was only getting 5v. (You have to flip the pin configuration around when you are looking at it from the side that is receiving power).

Since the CPU was only connected to the 5v line then it may have escaped damage. I think I will just have to start unplugging cards and see if that does anything happens.
Edited by TViewer2000 - 2/2/13 at 7:45am

Well unplugged everything and still nothing. I took out the CPU and nothing looks burnt, so I'm not sure what is wrong. Is there any other pins you need to get the system going other then the power cables and the Power on/off switch?

do Not use modular cables from other PSU
all modular cables mostly not identical

I remember modular cables from corsair and seasonic can not be swapped, the connectors are match, but the cable/pin configurations are Not.
Edited by bima - 2/2/13 at 9:44pm

I suspect you motherboard toasted, since CPU is protected behind the voltage regulator controller/switch on the motherboard.

I have two OCZ power supplies that each use different pin configurations for their modular connections. So it's not always possible even within one vendor.

And no, they don't seem to document this very well. Nor does there appear to be a standard related to it. So your best bet is to ALWAYS check the output voltages at the device connectors BEFORE attaching the devices. Know that you're actually getting the proper +12, +5 and ground values on the proper pins of the connectors.

And BE SURE to LABEL any extra modular cables you get with an indication of which power supply they came with. I put mine in small ziploc sandwich baggie, in addition to writing on masking tape wrapped around the wires.

You should be able to swap the pins on the connector so it's in the proper configuration. Molex pins have one or two tabs that protrude from the side of the pin that keep them from pulling back out of the connector housing. You can get a pin extractor that compresses the tabs and allows the pins to be removed from the housing and then reinserted in the proper location. If you don't have an extraction tool, here's a link to one that's inexpensive.

Yeah, I thought I switched the last cable out, but I was happy to see that everything was coming together so well that I must have forgotten. Well if anyone on here is selling their intel motherboard from upgrading let me know. Otherwise I'm going to have a really powerful file server.

It was my understanding that additional servers were going to become available about now. I was supposed to be notified, but haven't heard anything yet. Any news about availability?

I've given up at this point.

Very cool. This is about the time they told me they would arrive, so it's all good.

Do these servers usually come with drive caddies? I seem to recall from old posts (haven't been here in a couple of months) that some of them didn't. And do they typically support 3TB data drives? I've just about maxed out my Unraid system, and I'd like to start adding 3TB drives to extend the capacity. I can reuse my current mobo if necessary, but if the server supports 3TB drives, I'd rather transfer the Unraid drives to the server.

Thanks. That's good to know. I have 2 Unraid servers at present, but I want to consolidate them into one by slowly swapping in 3TB drives. Right now I have 17x 500GB drives on my original Unraid box and 17x 1.5 and 2TB drives in the newer system. When higher capacity drives get to about $100, I start the migration. If anyone knows of someone who might be interested in Unraid systems with smaller drives (in Cooler Master Stacker cases and 5 to 3 bay enclosures), PM me. When I've migrated all my media, I'll be selling these older systems for a good price.

If they would come with the EL1 or EL2 backplane I would jump on them again. Just got an EL1 off of ebay for $150. Waiting on my IBM M1015 also. Will have to post pics when I have it all done.

Glad I had FlexRaid setup, lost a few drives over the last couple months. Even had a 2 month old WD red drive fail.


Once I get all that done might have to try to make a VM setup. Played with Hyper-V some before and guess I will try it again.

Can you switch out backplanes on these servers? Is that a fairly easy process? Otherwise the theoritically limit you have would be 72TB (pre-format), which is a lot now but with 4K coming in the next couple years, I can see where you could run out of space pretty fast.

I have 2 UNRAID servers, each running with a 4 TB parity drive. One is in the AIC RSC-4ED2-24 chassis with the SuperMicro X7DBE-X motherboard. The second is in the 24 bay SuperMicro SC846TC case with the SuperMicro H8DME-2 motherboard.

I have them in a rack in my server room in the basement, so noise isn't an issue. I have not replaced any of the fans, just tweaked some bios settings. I have to say that the SuperMicro case seems to be a step above the AIC and a huge leap ahead of the Norco 4220 that I have in another server.

No issues with either of the Supermicro cards with 4TB drives. I don't think the backplanes have anything to do with drive size or type. It's the card that needs to be updated (driver or firmware) or replaced if they just don't support them.

Did anyone get confirmation that they were added to the waitlist? I emailed jdye@tamsolutions.com about a week ago hoping to get in on the new batch but never got an email back so I figured all was lost.

I did not receive a confirmation. But I called to add my address to the list.

Ok, I should be getting a replacement motherboard here in a couple weeks thanks to a fellow avsforum member. So I was thinking of the topic of underclocking/undervolting. Since these are going to be on 24/7 reducing energy consumption is a thought. I've read that the biggest offender is the RAM and I don't think there is much you can do about that. Has anyone else tried this? This is just going to be a file server so I don't think I need the full computational power that these CPUs can offer.

You won't be able to change clock or voltage on any of these - that kind of functionality never makes its way to server/workstation-class hardware.

Does anyone know the Supermicro server model number?

Thanks. That does help. I hope they didn't put me at the bottom of the list for this round. I called them several weeks ago and asked to be put on the waiting list, and called again the other day. I'm still not sure where I stand, but I should be OK as long as I was put in when I first contacted them.

Looking for some input on a local find. For $200 I can get a Supermicro 2U server with the following specs:

2 x 2.5GHz/12M/1333 CPU's (E5420)
8 x 1GB SuperTalent FB 5300/
LSI Megaraid 8708EM2 8 Port SAS Raid Controller
6 x 73GB (15K) Seagate SAS Drives
2 x 10/100/1000 Nics
SuperMicro MotherBoard X7DBN
550WT Power Supply

I'm looking at making a real server to replace my E8400 ex-HTPC that I converted to a home server. I've used all the SATA ports so to expand I'll either need to add a card or swap out the 2TB drives for something larger (if the board even supports larger). Or I can use this 2U server and swap out the drives and leave most everything as-is or gut it and throw most of the stuff in my current server case (Antec 300). I don't have a server rack and not sure if I have room for one in my current server location.