setting up the Dell SC1430

Ah! I'm very excited! Got the new 1.6Ghz Quad-Core, dual Xeon CPU Dell SC1430 a couple of days ago! Specifications http://www.dell.com/content/products/featuresdetails.aspx/pedge_sc1430?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&%7Elt=popup Chipset: Intel 5000V Compatible quad core processors: E5310 (1.6Ghz), E5320 (1.86Ghz), E5335 (2.0Ghz), E5345 (2.33Ghz) Limitations The following limitations have caused me trouble along my path to computing bliss:

• One PCI slot
• Two PCI Express slots have only 4x lanes, though the connectors on each are 8x
• Little support for high end graphics cards
• Only one primary IDE controller (to control two IDE CD/DVD or tape backup drives only)
• Can't boot from an IDE hard drive (See Dell community forum)
• Only four drive bays (two 5 1/4", two 3 1/2") and a two-drive SATA housing (six total drives)
• Spartan Dell BIOS does not allow for performance tweaks
• pre-Win2003 Microsoft OSs are not supported

BIOS Gotchas BIOS resets the boot sequence when you change SATA settings (like changing AUTO to OFF for a drive). So be wary of this feature when you see a black screen upon bootup! Documentation Of course, I followed the "Getting Started" guide. ;) That and the manual are available here: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/sc1430/ Here is a link to the manual http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/sc1430/en/hom/html/hom_en/index.htm Note: the links to the PDFs on the destination page do not work in Firefox. I used Opera to view the PDFs Here's a nice pic of the motherboard: http://dcse.dell.com/IFR/PowerEdge/PESC1430/images/sysbrd_full.jpg This box has dual, 1.6Ghz E5310 Cloverton CPUs from Intel. Intel Datasheets on 5300 Series processors: http://developer.intel.com/products/processor/xeon5000/index.htm?iid=servproc+body_xeon5000subtitle Diagnostic LED codes for the SC1430: http://www.support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/tree?c=us&l=en&s=gen&treeid=17D80717209DC96CE0401E0A5517366C&journalid=0F73CB4574E211DC80D94DDA4FEC1C21&Query=&SystemID=&ServiceTag=&contenttype=-1&os=-1&component=-1&lang=-1&doclang=en&toggle=false Diagnostics http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=r132112&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=178687 Dell Diagnostics on SC1430 running Fedora 12, x86-64: Networking Broadcom 5751 NIC, BIOS default: PXE boot enabled Wake On Lan http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19278497/19500906.aspx#19500906 Update 2/24/2010 I spent about eight hours debugging why wake on lan wouldn't work on my newly built Fedora 12, x86-64 system. Went through a million threads, learned something about sleep states in Linux..finally got it by putting a line at the top of /etc/init.d/halt script (called by "shutdown -h now") to remove the kernel module (rmmod tg3) for the ethernet driver. Self-evident, right? NOT! What the F? full story here *** end update *** Memory As people add comments regarding memory that works in the SC1430, I will post updates to this section. By the way, dmidecode and lshw can be used to determine the type of memory you have installed: http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find-memory-speed-dimm-command/ So far (Thanks John!):

manufacturer model                           part number
Kingston     DDR2 FB-DIMM ECC Fully Buffered KVR667D2D4F5K2/4G

Video Be warned that this server is very picky with video cards. So before you dremel any PCI Express video cards to get them working in the 8x slot, make sure you test them with an 8x-to-16x PCIe adapter in the box first! ;) (thanks John!) Update 2/28/2010 Video card roundup..cards known to work in the box (from the Comments section below) ATI-based cards ATI Radeon hd4630 ATI x300 ATI X1300 PCI ATI x1550 ATI X1900 All-In-Wonder VisionTek X1550 Radeon Pci 256MB VGA Sapphire x1950GT 512mb card Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 NVidia-based cards NVidia BFG 8800GT NVidia BFG 8500GT EVGA GeForce 9400GT 512MB PCI NVidia BFG 9600GT BFG Tech GeForce 9800GT 512MB Nvidia Quadro NVS 290 NVidia Quadro Fx 540 PCI NVIDIA Quadro NVS 400 Note: It would behoove one to read the full comments section for any gotchas. *** end update *** The first thing I wanted to do was use my ATI Tech Radeon 9200 128 MB PCI Video Adapter with it. Well, no go, as I got a blank screen. Much surfing the net later, I found that only the first two PCI-X slots (PCIX_SLOT5, PCIX_SLOT6) will allow a working video adapter. And so far, folks have only gotten the VisionTek X1550 Radeon Pci 256MB VGA Dvi-i Tv Out) to work on this box. I have not tried the PCI Express slots as yet. Original pain listed here, but an interesting story with somewhat satisfactory conclusion: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2080542 Last week, I bought the VisionTek; however, the ATI drivers have MANY issues on this box. Much more pain listed here: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?p=878133#post878133 Update 10/23/2007: I was successful in getting the BFG Geforce 8500 GT PCI Express 256MB to work in the box, with the caveat that a PCI Express 8x to 16x adapter (which raises the video card) must be used: http://www.orbitmicro.com/global/pciexpressx8tox16adapter-p-755.html http://crazedmuleproductions.blogspot.com/2007/10/nvidia-in-da-house-er-new-server.html Update 8/6/2008 Good Tom's article on the performance impact of using reduced number of PCI Express lanes with a 16x card: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-2-0,1915-4.html Update 11/10/2007 In the opposite vein, a couple of us have had success taking a dremel to the 8x PCIe slot to make room for 16x graphics adapters. MarioM had success getting the Sapphire x1950GT 512mb card to work with his newly dremeled slot! Bolstered by Mario's success, I also dremeled SLOT3_PCIE with success (video coming). But for God's sake, BE CAREFUL if you attempt this! You can easily damage and/or otherwise FRY your motherboard if you slip up. Click on the comments below for the success stories. Finally, the video below shows a successful dremel job on the SC1430. Update 12/17/2007 Free2go had success using the PCI NVIDIA Quadio NVS vidso card in one of the PCI-X slots using 7.1.8.4 driver. Update 1/19/2008 BFG 8800GT confirmed as working in an SC1430 modded to accept 16x PCI Express adapter cards. Or just use a PCI Express 8x to 16x adapter that raises the video card in the slot: http://www.orbitmicro.com/global/pciexpressx8tox16adapter-p-755.html Update 2/13/2008 Pics of the BFG 8500GT in the box Update 7/9/2008 Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 confirmed as working in the box. Thanks Subbu! Update 2/9/2010 Ati hd4630 confirmed as working in the box. Thanks Daniele! Linux on the Dell SC1430 Update 10/12/2007: Fedora Core 6, x86_64 installed like a champ and is working well with the onboard video. Cinelerra is installed and running without issue. Love to see all eight cores busy through mpstat..yeah! /2007/10/multithreading-in-ffmpeg-and-mpstat.html Here's a link to compiling Cinelerra on FC6 X86_64: /2007/09/building-cinelerra-on-fc6-64-bit.html Fedora 7 also works in the box, but has the dreaded, Fedora 7 broken firewire stack. A workaround is listed at the bottom of the page here through the EZPlanetOne kernel patch: http://www.physics.wustl.edu/~alford/thinkpad/T23_F7.html This patch does work, as I've been running on Fedora 7 with the patch for about two months now. Fans The fans are somewhat loud on boot, but mellow to a comfortable, if not quiet, level after the system boots. Note that the fans will run high speed (ie, LOUD) if the case is open. Fun A little overclocker heaven: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2427225 Update 1/21/2008 Finally tried the above FSB overclock. Suh-WHEET! Program to view temp/fan speed and to control at the bottom of this page: http://diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html Update 10/13/2007 As part of a longer tutorial on the layout of the SC1430 that I will release in the coming weeks, this is the goofy commercial that I made with Cinelerra about the SC1430: Update 11/11/2007 New video describing the SC1430 with emphasis on features, video cards and shows an example of dremeling the end off a PCI Express slot: Update 9/26/2009 Installed a 500GB SATA and Vista 64-bit Ultimate. Update 2/17/2010 Installed a Fedora 12 64-bit on a 4.5TB RAID5 set, courtesy of 3ware 9650SE and Western Digital: http://www.techanswerguy.com/2010/02/3ware-9650se-support-experience.html http://www.techanswerguy.com/2010/02/fedora-12-x86-64-first-impressions.html

Update 1/15/2022 Alas, this will be my final post about the trusty old Dell SC1430, as it went to Goodwill to be bought or recycled today. Many a video was edited or blog entry created on it. May your eternal rest be sweet, fair Dell!

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