[andytrance]

Ok, so i'm going to ask a couple questions and i know this is not exactly what the Dell Poweredge 2900 is for, but here goes. First of all, is there a way to get the server to boot without getting the "strike F1 to continue, F2 to run setup utility". Its a pain to have to press F1 every time the server boots up. I Have a SATA HD plugged into the on board SATA A spot. It boots up no problem when i hit the F1, but it seems like it should do this without asking. Second question, i don't have any drives installed in any of the 8 raid bays yet but can this server handle raid 5 and is it able to create a 12 terabyte drive? I guess the other option would be to make each drive a raid 0 then create a raid in windows 7. Yes, i am using windows 7. Third question... Is there any way to put a video card in this machine that can produce a 1920x1080 resolution? I plan to store media on the machine and stream it from another computer but it would be nice to be able to play movies right on the server as well.

 

[Tomshawk]

the F1,F2 error is 95% of the time a configuration error in the bios, a Sata connector enabled without a device plugged into it or some such.

also, it is possible the Cmos battery needs to be replaced.

the Max Raid, Hard drive configuration of the 2900 is 7.5TB

I've never tried an Addon video card in this machine so I dont want to speculate but I'm sure it would probably work.

http://www.dell.com/downloads/emea/products/pedge/en/PE2900_Spec_Sheet_Quad.pdf

 

[andytrance]

I wonder if it is the battery, standard battery? As far as the 7.5TB goes... can i create two different 4 drive raid 5's? Each being 7.5TB? Im really new to all of this so bare with me here. What would the smartest thing be if i wanted to put eight 3TB drives in this machine? Am i correct in thinking each drive could be setup as a raid 0 then configure all the drives with windows 7?

 

[Tomshawk]

If you note the link I posted it states 10 x 750GB drives for a total of 7.5 TB
In other words the largest drive you can put in the machine is 750GB

 

[andytrance]

As far as the F1 issue... i have tried just about everything in the bios. I guess i could be missing something. I will Take a look at the battery when i get a chance.

 

[andytrance]

Humm, i put in a 1TB hard drive and it showed up in the raid utility as a 1TB. I wonder if in all of the driver updates i did there was one that allowed for larger drives. I know im going overkill for this old Dell machine. I wish i could just configure all the hard drives with windows. If this thing was not free, i would just put a bunch of 3TB hard drives on a motherboard and make a raid 5 in windows

 

[andytrance]

Changed Battery and now it boots fine. Go figure. Now to figure out a video card situation. Not sure if anyone makes a PCIX video card. Other options would be PCIE 8x, or PCIE 4x. Also trying to figure out how to power a card might be an issue. I dont see any way to power a video card with a ATX plug.

 

[Tomshawk]

I was under the impression that the backbone of the Raid, i.e. the Raid controller was limited to 750GB but maybe they have updated the bios of the card since that Pdf was released. Anyway, congrats, maybe you can do 12TB.

I'm definitely interested in whether it will work, please let me know

As for the video card, like I said I've never tried it but, high-end video cards usually comes with an adapter for power

 

[djaburg]

Most servers aren't really designed with graphics in mind. Are you going to "working" on the server?

 

[andytrance]

Well, i dont have the hard drives yet. I wanted to see how big i could go based on others experiences. I have a couple random drives here. Both the 1TB and the 2tb showed up in the raid config. I didnt make a raid one with them but i did make each of them a raid 0 to see if it would work. All good. I will keep you posted once i have several drives and i know exactly how big it will let me go. I really want to find out if i this server is capable of creating a raid 5. I guess i will know that once i get more drives and do more research. Back to the Video card..... I just cant find any PCIE 8x or PCIX video cards out there. Everything is PCIE 16x. I will have to get back at you on this issue as well. Ideally i was going to run XBMC on it and have it connected to my TV. However if this does not work i will just make it a file server and use something to stream from the Poweredge.

 

[andytrance]

In further research and downloading bios updates, drivers and firmware... I have found it supports 2TB HD's. So thats exciting. It also does have raid 5 configuring. So im going to be ordering some hard drives this week. If the total size is still 7.5TB, I will simply make a couple raid 5's. I have had no luck with a video card situation yet. Someone has a post about cutting a PCIE 16x video card down to fit into a PCIE 8x slot. Not too sure if i want to take the chances on this move. I also have read up on a PCIE 8x to PCIE 16x riser card slot converter thing. Not sure if this is a good idea either as the video card would not seat into the computer firmly. Anyone had any experience with either of these?

 

[Tomshawk]

In further research and downloading bios updates, drivers and firmware... I have found it supports 2TB HD's. So thats exciting. It also does have raid 5 configuring. So im going to be ordering some hard drives this week. If the total size is still 7.5TB, I will simply make a couple raid 5's. I have had no luck with a video card situation yet. Someone has a post about cutting a PCIE 16x video card down to fit into a PCIE 8x slot. Not too sure if i want to take the chances on this move. I also have read up on a PCIE 8x to PCIE 16x riser card slot converter thing. Not sure if this is a good idea either as the video card would not seat into the computer firmly. Anyone had any experience with either of these?

Good luck with the drives, I'm definitely curious how much you get out of it.

As for the video, Please do not use the riser-cards I've never had good luck with them, not reliable. and Pullease do not cut a card, seriously bad idea.

 

[andytrance]

There is no other option. Unless im missing something there is no such thing as a PCIEX or PCIE 8x video card.

 

[Tomshawk]

A PCIE 16x video card should work in a 8x slot, you just wont get full capability out of it.

Again, never done it so don't quote me

 

[andytrance]

SO dont use a riser card and dont cut the video card? How do i get it to fit? The 8x slot is much shorter than the 16x card. I would have to cut the card down to get it to fit. Or cut out the back of the 8x slot to let the 16x card hang out.

 

[Tomshawk]

I apologize, I was thinking in my head the other way around 8x card into a 16x slot

 

[clyde123]

I know you solved the F1 problem already, but I had a similar problem which was caused by an external USB DVD drive. Disconnected that, and the F1 problem disappeared.

 

[Doc11354]

I have read some posts that some people say they cut the middle post & the end of the PCIE8X slot on the motherboard, then a PCIE 16X card would fit in this motherboard. The card will run at 16X because it only actually uses 6, I believe I remeber, of the front connectors to display. I have not personally done this, but I had a PowerEdge SC440 that the video went out on & I was trying to find some way to get it to work. Found out it was a bad motherboard that I replaced, so I didn't try this trick. If you search for using a PCIE 16X card in an 8X slot I believe you will find these posts. If you want I will try to find them again. Just trying to give some info I read.
Doc

 

[Tomshawk]

I have read some posts that some people say they cut the middle post & the end of the PCIE8X slot on the motherboard, then a PCIE 16X card would fit in this motherboard. The card will run at 16X because it only actually uses 6, I believe I remeber, of the front connectors to display. I have not personally done this, but I had a PowerEdge SC440 that the video went out on & I was trying to find some way to get it to work. Found out it was a bad motherboard that I replaced, so I didn't try this trick. If you search for using a PCIE 16X card in an 8X slot I believe you will find these posts. If you want I will try to find them again. Just trying to give some info I read.
Doc

One mistake or slip of the cutting device and its over, definitely gone card, possibly motherboard and whole computer.

I'd strongly recommend not doing this.