sotm usb etx Riser cable for SOtM - defect :-(

[bluesfendermanblues]

Dear Forumites,

I build the CAPS server version 2/3 5 years ago. In order to save a little, I used an old server tower, back in 2012 when I build the server. Four month ago I decided to upgrade the server with a second hand Silverstone cabinet - I was a litlle back and forth in regards to whether to purchase a dedicated cabinet or to simply use a ol' 1U rack on my bench. Searched the local craigs list and found the Silvrstone. It looked quite fine and fits nicely into my rack. As part of the upgrade process, I decided to upgrade the PSU's from SPSS to DIY regulated supplies (12vdc with 60.000 uf for the DN2800MT MOBO and 9VDC with 40000uf for the SOtM USB Exp).  

 

However, in order to fit the SOtM card into the Silverstone cab, a riser cable was needed - couldn't find a 90 degree riser for this particular cabinet. Therefore, I used the Apollo23-PCI-E PCI-Express 1X Slot Riser cable (bought on Amazon) to connect a SOtM USB 3.0 EXP card to Intel DN2800MT MOBO. Bad decision!!

 

Symptom: Card stopped working periodically sometimes at boot up and after a couple of re-boots it would stop after a while......

 

Unfortunately operating systems won't know that you have a flawed data cable connection. The computer showed driver errors in the 'device manager' and various errors in 'event log'. I've spent 50-100 hours (probably more) trying: 

All the (TI) driver versions I could find, including the ones that came with the install CD, downloads from SOtM website (same as CD). Hereafter, TI downloads and Windows downloads (which are included in win 10). Nothing helped.

 

Then searching the net for

Event id error tweaks.

Formatting disc partitions;

Reinstalling win7, then upgraded to Win8, then finally Win 10 Pro

Upgrading BIOS and disabling the LAN NIC and using a USB WiFi stick instead

 

I finally decided to reinstall the SOtM card without the riser cable directly into the MOBO. In order to do this, I had to do a little metal work, drilling a number of holes in the cabinet, bending the USB mounting bracket (glad I didn't use the old 1U rack, since the opportunity for direct mounting would not have been possible and I probably would not have thought of trying the direct mount solution). Success!!! has worked flawlessly ever since.

 

Conclusion:

Cable errors in ordinary power and audio cables are usually easy to detect. Data cables inside a computer not so much, and this particular error is difficult for your operating system to detect.

 

Therefore, I strongly advise you not to buy the Apollo23-PCI-E PCI-Express 1X Slot Riser cable for the above mentioned application. I'm obviously quite disappointed with the cable and the soldering quality.Its obviously not designed to be bent. Must be bad soldering joints or the connectors not having proper contact. I would advise you to find alternatives or simple put the card directly into the MOBO.

 

CAPS configuration: MOBO: DN2800MT, Hitatchi 1TB, SOTM SATA filter, SOtM 3.0 USB ext., DIY regulated PSU - 12v for MOBO, 9v for SOtM. => Supra USB cable=> Musical Fidelity V-DAC ii (w. upgraded output caps).

[amir57bs]

thank you

check this riser card from supermicro:

 RSC-R2U-E8

 

 

[Bullwinkle]

@bluesfendermanblues Thanks for this informative post... I actually asked a very closely related question recently (linked below) and this post of yours pretty much answered my question:

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31662-question-usb-card-installations-and-risers-ribbons-etc/

 

I ended up going down much the same route you did: Doing a little metalwork so that I could install my card directly into the mobo slot. But it's true there are angle risers and ribbons that claim to be pci express 3.0 compatible... but not many.