SuperMicro A1SAI-2750F / C2000 SoC / C2000 Network Controller

@jflsakfja:

If it was up to me, every motherboard manufacturer would be crossed off my list and only supermicro would be left. Quality aside, supermicro is the supplier for ixsystems. Look that name up if you are interested in what they do (hint: extremely involved with *bsd).

"every"??? You don't know what you're talking about.

@jflsakfja:

That being said, supermicros are notoriously "stubborn" when it comes to memory. Make sure you only use memory that is on the tested RAM list.

OP probably used non-ECC DDR3 SO-DIMMs in an effort to save money.

Oh, and iXsystems uses the ASRock mobo for their miniNAS product.

If you don't know enough to go off the "recommended/tested" memory list, then don't. If you do, it's all on you anyway.

@gonzopancho:

"every"??? You don't know what you're talking about.

Please enlighten me.

kejianshi

Can't we all just get along…. (reaching for vodka)

Would using the wrong spec ram work at all?

Hmmm. Maybe he will tell us what he used.

I'll wait and see.

@jflsakfja:

@gonzopancho:

"every"??? You don't know what you're talking about.

Please enlighten me.

Supermicro and others all build based on "reference designs" produced by Intel / AMD / …

They modify these designs, some more than others, in an effort to gain advantage in the market (features / price). Most low-end PC mobos then go through a process where components (Rs & Cs) are shaved off the design until design will no longer pass end-of-line 'margin' tests.

This is one of the many reasons that cheap Chinese manufacturers that some in the community cheer so loudly produce hardware that sucks so badly. "Dude, I built a pfSense box for $99!" is so 1996.

Supermicro stays on a somewhat more conservative path with this, but there are others. This is especially true if you start dealing directly with the firms that do the original design engineering for Intel / AMD / ...

You'll never guess who did the original design work for "Mohan Peak" (the original Avoton/Rangeley design). There is a reason I've been so solid on the C2000 series SoCs here for the past year.

RCC-VE is expressly a cost-reduction effort on Mohan Peak.

Edit: iXsystems is a good company, and knows a lot about FreeBSD. I have many friends there. Supermicro is not their sole supplier.

@kejianshi:

Can't we all just get along…. (reaching for vodka)

Would using the wrong spec ram work at all?

Hmmm. Maybe he will tell us what he used.

I'll wait and see.

It could have been a bad board, too.

Some C2000 designs have been modified to use non-ECC ram. It's not really a requirement unless you're doing storage.

So we shouldn't choose supermicro boards, because they are based on reference designs. The fact that supermicro supplies each and every one of the ixsystems' systems is irrelevant. And ixsystem's involvement with freebsd (and PC-BSD and FreeNAS) doesn't add any weight to the argument as to why go with a supermicro board instead of a different vendor.

OK, got it. Next time I'll go with a mobo manufacturer that does absolutely no testing with freebsd and cross my fingers hoping it will work.

kejianshi

I've never touched one of these 8 core boards. I like what I see though.

Which ever one of my machines dies first will get replaced with something like this.

kejianshi

My perhaps silly impression is that time, more than anything determines compatibility of boards and features with BSD and linux.

Not so much who is making the board.

Thats why I usually opt for older designs these days if I'm straight hardware with no hypervisor.

Who makes the board more affects quality, durability and features.

Seems to me anyway.

@jflsakfja:

So we shouldn't choose supermicro boards, because they are based on reference designs. The fact that supermicro supplies each and every one of the ixsystems' systems is irrelevant. And ixsystem's involvement with freebsd (and PC-BSD and FreeNAS) doesn't add any weight to the argument as to why go with a supermicro board instead of a different vendor.

OK, got it. Next time I'll go with a mobo manufacturer that does absolutely no testing with freebsd and cross my fingers hoping it will work.

What? Not what I said at all.

You said, "If it was up to me, every motherboard manufacturer would be crossed off my list and only supermicro would be left."

I'm expressly stating that there are others.

We carry Supermicro boards.

@kejianshi:

My perhaps silly impression is that time, more than anything determines compatibility of boards and features with BSD and linux.

Not so much who is making the board.

Thats why I usually opt for older designs these days if I'm straight hardware with no hypervisor.

Who makes the board more affects quality, durability and features.

Seems to me anyway.

The situation is not as bad as it was.

these days it's mostly about laptops and esoteric hardware.
FreeBSD finally has a current, 100% supported out of the box laptop.

Some SoC vendors won't support FreeBSD.

kejianshi

Got a link?

to?

kejianshi

The BSD laptop? Got a link? I'd like to take a look.

@kejianshi:

The BSD laptop? Got a link? I'd like to take a look.

System76 makes *nix tested/compatible laptops. Not going to post a link, duckduckgo it ;)

geudrik

@gonzopancho:

OP probably used non-ECC DDR3 SO-DIMMs in an effort to save money.

I spend close to 400$ on a mobo and you think I'm skimping on my ram? I'm insulted, sir. :P

@kejianshi:

Would using the wrong spec ram work at all?

Wrong type? No. It wouldn't even fit in the slots. Wrong speed/voltage? Maybe. Depends how the BIOS sees the hardware. I'm not familliar with SM subsystems, so I can't speak to how proficient they are at auto-detecting and behaving nicely with parts not listed on the QVL.

FWIW: I'm using ram that is not on the QVL. If it wasn't going to work, it wouldn't have worked at all (to your point).

This is a solved problem - I had a bad board. I swapped the board, and it's all working great now (except my expected membuf issue).

kejianshi: I'm going to push this a bit and run a bunch of stuff through suricata and report back. I'll try to keep the OP updated with my results as my experiment (playtime) progresses. Appreciate your feedback :)

kejianshi

Thanks - I'd appreciate that. I'm thinking to get something like this soon. Nice to know what to expect.

Glad you are up and running (-:

@geudrik:

@gonzopancho:

OP probably used non-ECC DDR3 SO-DIMMs in an effort to save money.

I spend close to 400$ on a mobo and you think I'm skimping on my ram? I'm insulted, sir. :P

@kejianshi:

Would using the wrong spec ram work at all?

Wrong type? No. It wouldn't even fit in the slots. Wrong speed/voltage? Maybe. Depends how the BIOS sees the hardware. I'm not familliar with SM subsystems, so I can't speak to how proficient they are at auto-detecting and behaving nicely with parts not listed on the QVL.

The SoC can only do so much. The CPU must be fed, and ram must be refreshed.

@geudrik:

FWIW: I'm using ram that is not on the QVL. If it wasn't going to work, it wouldn't have worked at all (to your point).

No, it could just be flakey.

Good to hear your problem is resolved. We ship <a lot=""></a><a lot="">of these, and have yet to see a board failure.</a>

docwho76

Hey gonzo, when will the C2XXX retail box be ready? I want to give Netgate more money. :)

peersu

I've been running a SuperMicro Rangeley SoC for I guess about a year now? I'd have to look… anyways it's been running without any issues on ESX5.5 since I first set it up... I have a basic Intel 330 SSD and 2x sodimm 8gb Kingston ECC valueram. Way overkill for a handful of VPNs and 150Mb WAN link... but it's nice to mess around with. CPU/RAM utilization is around like 8%. I plan to install without Vmware on next release.

@docwho76:

Hey gonzo, when will the C2XXX retail box be ready? I want to give Netgate more money. :)

early 2015