# Quick Hit? NAS-folks: WWYD for a 12-drive ZFS sys, downed w/bad 6yo mobo/CPU



## WiiGame (Dec 1, 2018)

Trying to take as little of your time as possible, and of mine (b/c it's been 1 week, I need help, and this just needs to be over ASAP), so hopefully the title grabs the right folks who basically would know almost off-the-cuff.  What Would You Do?  BTW, along with a lot of other research to this point, I enjoyed reading THIS RECENT THREAD, but with my needing 8-12 SATA ports, that one's not helping me.

The Story: This home-built NAS has been running for 6yrs and I save just about everything to it from Win machines.  When 2 Win clients semi-suddenly started to be unable to obtain shares from it (which _may_ have been unrelated), I suspected maybe a Samba upgrade was in order.  So I successfully did a pkg upgrade, which didn't help, so when I rebooted, to my horror, not only did the box not come back up, it kept silently powering on and off and on and off every few seconds ... hopefully not killing my drives!!!!

When stripping it down to mobo/CPU/RAM (and adding a speaker), it stays on and I get 3 short beeps (then 3 short beeps again) -- no post, no video -- whether the RAM is in or not.  Putting the RAM in a Win7 system and running memtest86 (and generally using said Win7), the RAM seems fine.  So it's either the mobo or the CPU, I don't have a good way to figure out which, but I need this system back up ASAP, so I guess I'll replace both (I may have to do both anyway).

The Core Issue: I've been having a hard time finding either the same hardware available today (though I'm bitter about repeating anyway b/c it failed on a soft boot after working fine) or more modern hardware for a reasonable price that will have enough ports, fit the rest of this system, won't be a step back, and will be compatible with everything that still works, including FreeBSD 11.1-RELEASE.

What you've been waiting for, the relevant parts list (with 2012 prices, where I have them):

MOBO: ASRock H77 Pro4-M w/ 8x SATA ports (4x SATA3; 4x SATA2) [$90]
CPU: Intel Pentium G640T Sandy Bridge [$74]
--- reminder: the rest below seems to work ---
RAM: Patriot Gamer 16GB DDR3 1333MHz DualCh kit (PC3 10666) [$62] {I ack. this must change w/ a new mobo}
PSU: CORSAIR HX750 [$130]
case: Rosewill Thor V2 tower of power [$90]
extra SATA Ctrlr:  IO Crest 4-port SATA III PCIe 2.0 x2 Controller [$34 in 2015]
extra cages: 2x EverCool Dual 5.25 in. Drive Bay to Triple 3.5 in. HDD Cooling Box [$20.50ea in 2015]
HDDs: various; 12, as stated; 6x 4TB in raidz2; 2x 8TB in mirror; 2x 3TB in mirror; 2x 3TB in mirror (do any more details matter?)
So the main problem seems to be finding a sub-$100 mobo with 8x SATAs, onboard vid, Gigabit LAN, USB3 (I attach externals for backups), at least 2 PCIe x2-or-greater slots (for 1 more ctrlr card?), supporting at least 32GB RAM, and that only contains chipsets (main,HDD,NIC,etc.) that work well with FreeBSD.  And that challenge I've failed at for 7-days straight is what makes me think: "Just find the old board! You know it works!" (but it broke and it's unavailable).  I realize I'll have to up the budget, but I think a >$200 mobo (w/o built-in CPU) is probably off the table (unless I get that desperate).

So, friends, I'm open to any suggestions from anyone who's much better than this I am.  I'm open to change, if that's what it takes: 6-SATA + a 2nd controller if I have to, shifting to SAS (would need help), even an Atom (if it's good enough) or switching to AMD! (and I'm really not up on anyone latest CPUs anymore.)  I just need this box to be back up and running ASAP -- but also reliable for the future!!

Your assistance will be very much appreciated. Thanks!
WG  |^D


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## VladiBG (Dec 1, 2018)

3 short beeps - faulty memory, try with another memory module or take a pencil rubber and clean up the memory contacts.


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## Polyatomic (Dec 2, 2018)

WiiGame said:


> to my horror, not only did the box not come back up, it kept silently powering
> on and off and on and off every few seconds


  Sir WiiGame, an unfortunate situation you have indeed. `:(` I hope this is not the manifestation of broken hardware.

May I append to VladiBG's reply. The environment and heat inside the case can slightly warp your components over time.
I only carry with me today:
- reseat ATX Power Connector
- reseat memory using slot 1 only
- clear CMOS, using the clear CMOS jumper

I hope you get your computer working, and I fully expect you will resolve this one way or another. Take it easy and maybe I'll see you around sometime.


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## Phishfry (Dec 2, 2018)

Here are some inexpensive server goods to replace your existing IvyCreek board and reuse your existing components.
Ditch that Asrock board and get a Supermicro. One drawback is there are only 2 SATA3 ports. The other 4 are SATA2.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302978948498
https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon/c202_c204/x9scm.cfm

Cheap SAS2 controller card that also supports SATA3. This is an LSI OEM 9240-8i. Will need to be flashed to IT firmware.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183535849795

SAS2 breakout cables:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/372255907421


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## Phishfry (Dec 2, 2018)

I really doubt if your CPU is at fault. CPU's these days have thermal trips and you would have a hard time burning it up.
Surly there are manufacturing flaws but I can honestly say I have not had a CPU go bad since old AMD K5 days.
On the other hand I have trashed two Asrock boards. I would not recommend them. I have been looking at Asrock-Rack boards but they are almost the same price as Supermicro and I am not willing to give them the benefit of doubt on a $300 server board.

I do wonder about 6 years on a power supply. Has that been powered up the whole time? If you don't have the computer in a super clean environment the power supply fans tend to pull in dusk and that reduces your fan's efficiency and causes excess heat.
I try to blow my gear out with the shop air compressor yearly. Those little air cans are not enough in my opinion.

Are you needing a 16x PCIe slot? There are other options but more costly.
There are also new X9SCM on ebay for $90 and that would include the I/O shield. Commonly missing on used boards ($10 on ebay).


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