Building a DIY Music Server

[rickca]

I have a Taiko DC-ATX that I would like to sell.  It's only seen light use for some testing.  Please send me a message if you're interested.  

[basillus]

2 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

quick question, are the two EPS power connectors powering the CPU's on the MB linked or do I need two separate cables to feed both CPU's?

Yes, they are linked, also with the 6pin at the top middle. 
In the beginning I tested the sage with a normal atx pc psu and then one cable was enough, but The atx connetors 12v is also linked to the 2 EPS power connectors.

[lwr]

Sorry for not being more clear in my previous response. Yes, you will need 2 EPS cables

[MarcelNL]

Now that is interesting and confusing @basillus Are we talking Asus Sage C621? here

@lwr Care to comment, or should I just pull out the DMM and verify on my very board?

[MarcelNL]

the DMM tells me that CPU EATX1 and EATX2 are connected so one cable should do for testing

[Nenon]

3 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

the DMM tells me that CPU EATX1 and EATX2 are connected so one cable should do for testing

 

They are connected. One cable is good for testing. Two or three cables will lower the impedance, which will sound better.

Having 4 x 16 AWG wires is equivalent to around 10 AWG overall gauge.

8 x 16 AWG will take you to 7AWG.

11 x 16 AWG will take you to 6 AWG. 

If you use 14 AWG (I believe you do), things will get even better... although at some point you are limited by the molex pins.

 

Be careful with the pinout of the 6-pin connector. It was reversed to what I expected it to be. 

[basillus]

Yes, a multimeter is a good thing if you are in doubt. If you just want to test whether it works, an 8 pin cable is enough, but as you well know, the more cables the better... What do you find confusing that the 12v on the atx connector also has contact with the 12v on the EPSs?

[MarcelNL]

32 minutes ago, basillus said:

Yes, a multimeter is a good thing if you are in doubt. If you just want to test whether it works, an 8 pin cable is enough, but as you well know, the more cables the better... What do you find confusing that the 12v on the atx connector also has contact with the 12v on the EPSs?

what was confusing was the conflicting information, not the fact that the 12V on the ATX could be connected to the EPSs ;-)

 

I recall Emile telling me at some point he had 3 Taiko ATX connected, when I asked him if that might work....not sure on what Mb he did that but it would also not work on this one IMHO.

 

yet WE HAVE LIFTOFF.....no smoke, going through a gazillion Bios settings...at some point I recall Nenon was going to publish settings etc, did that materialize for when I get to that? 

 

(my main worry is now getting an OS installed, not endless BIOS tinkering)

[Dev]

so hdplex has a cooling system for 3647 socket now ? does this mean their chassis will work with sage c621 both socket populated out of the box ?

[BOBO]

put on your tin foil hats boys. do you know that changing the battery on your motherboard, changes the sound?

[MarcelNL]

4 minutes ago, Dev said:

so hdplex has a cooling system for 3647 socket now ? does this mean their chassis will work with sage c621 both socket populated out of the box ?

not the chassis, but the cooling system should work a treat! Far easier than hacksawing copper by hand..

for now I'm using commercial fan driven heatsinks...did I say these are LOUD?

 

 

[MarcelNL]

2 minutes ago, BOBO said:

put on your tin foil hats boys. do you know that changing the battery on your motherboard, changes the sound?

explain, I always wear my tin foil hat ;-)

[Dev]

1 minute ago, MarcelNL said:

not the chassis, but the cooling system should work a treat!

 

and why would they make a cooling system which will not work with their chassis ?

 

 

2 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

for now I'm using commercial fan driven heatsinks...did I say these are LOUD?

 

They are meant to be in datacenters/labs/server room, so it will be very LOUD at home.

[Dev]

8 minutes ago, BOBO said:

put on your tin foil hats boys. do you know that changing the battery on your motherboard, changes the sound?

 

it will since it resets the rtc to 1870 😲

[MarcelNL]

4 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

and why would they make a cooling system which will not work with their chassis ?

 

 

 

Ask Larry...I dunno, I just think it's awfully convenient and I was not planning to use a metal case anyhow.

[BOBO]

1 hour ago, MarcelNL said:

explain, I always wear my tin foil hat ;-)

when you get too much time on your hands, you get curious about random things, so because of that i went and bought 10 different brands of cr2032 batteries.

i tested each for a few days, but some were so bad that i had to swap them instantly. 

according to my ears, the tests showed that the batteries will influence the sound of your setup, either in a good way or a very bad way. depending on the battery, it can make it sound washed out, too distant, no sparkle and sometimes even like its out of phase.

i found 3 batteries interesting, the KTS, Fujitsu and Vartra, i`m still testing to see which one i like more.

The KTS is the most balanced one, The Fujitsu seems to create this type of weird stage that i find interesting, and the Vartra seems to get better the more its in the system.

 

i plan to remove the battery completely in the future, but 1st i need to export my bios and edit the file to include all the settings changes that i usually do, and then i just flash it on the mobo to replace the default one.

 

[MarcelNL]

wow that is indeed far out of what anyone would expect!

 

interesting! Wouldn't that mean that you'd need to flash your bios every time you reboot?

[Nenon]

3 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

at some point I recall Nenon was going to publish settings etc

That was the plan... I still have a Taiko chassis, motherboard, Taiko ATX, and everything else needed here to build one for a friend. It was sitting in the middle of my music room for several months last year. The thinking was that if these parts were in the middle of the room, I would get to building this server sooner. But no, that did not help. 

Then I moved them to my workshop and they have been sitting there since the beginning of the year. My friend is probably mad at me, and I am planning to work on it this month. Unfortunately, my Taiko Extreme server got me spoiled and motivation for server DIY work has gone down significantly. 

A DIY horn speakers project has occupied most of my DIY time lately.... 

 

[MarcelNL]

4 minutes ago, Nenon said:

That was the plan... I still have a Taiko chassis, motherboard, Taiko ATX, and everything else needed here to build one for a friend. It was sitting in the middle of my music room for several months last year. The thinking was that if these parts were in the middle of the room, I would get to building this server sooner. But no, that did not help. 

Then I moved them to my workshop and they have been sitting there since the beginning of the year. My friend is probably mad at me, and I am planning to work on it this month. Unfortunately, my Taiko Extreme server got me spoiled and motivation for server DIY work has gone down significantly. 

A DIY horn speakers project has occupied most of my DIY time lately.... 

 

makes perfect sense! The tinker enthusiast usually has more interesting challenges on the to do list than documentating previous stuff! 

 

I can imagine that a DIY horn will keep you plenty busy! (I'm trying to get my horn project started but I;m waiting to confirm my hunch on the exact horn curve)

 

Anyone hwo knows if the Sage C621E normally comes with KVM ability? I see the chip on the MB but am unable to find the IP adress in BIOS.....new to server grade MB and all that ;-) 

[Nenon]

1 hour ago, BOBO said:

when you get too much time on your hands, you get curious about random things, so because of that i went and bought 10 different brands of cr2032 batteries.

i tested each for a few days, but some were so bad that i had to swap them instantly. 

according to my ears, the tests showed that the batteries will influence the sound of your setup, either in a good way or a very bad way. depending on the battery, it can make it sound washed out, too distant, no sparkle and sometimes even like its out of phase.

i found 3 batteries interesting, the KTS, Fujitsu and Vartra, i`m still testing to see which one i like more.

The KTS is the most balanced one, The Fujitsu seems to create this type of weird stage that i find interesting, and the Vartra seems to get better the more its in the system.

 

i plan to remove the battery completely in the future, but 1st i need to export my bios and edit the file to include all the settings changes that i usually do, and then i just flash it on the mobo to replace the default one.

 

Sounds crazy but nothing can surprise me these days. 

Curious how no battery compares to the best battery. And depending on the results I am also curious how a linear power supply instead of a battery will sound (not a good permanent solution, so just curiosity).

 

2 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

Anyone hwo knows if the Sage C621E normally comes with KVM ability? I see the chip on the MB but am unable to find the IP adress in BIOS.....new to server grade MB and all that ;-) 

Yes, there is KVM enabled by default. I don't think the IP is available in the BIOS as the KVM hardware runs on a lower level. But if you scan your network, you should find the IP. 

[MarcelNL]

could it be that the KVM chip is on the MB but it requires BMC to make that work?

 

(just trying to find a way to make the ad interim fan cooled heatsinks a bit more quiet)

 

 

[MarcelNL]

guess I'm right 

 

https://www.dustinhome.nl/product/5011167537/asmb9-ikvm-ipmi-management-adapter?ssel=false

[SK8]

6 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

Ask Larry...I dunno, I just think it's awfully convenient and I was not planning to use a metal case anyhow.

I believe you can put the C621e in their H5 case but HDPlex won't supply the copper heatpipes to connnect the second CPU to the left hand side heatsink. Again, please double check with Larry.

[SK8]

8 hours ago, Nenon said:

 

They are connected. One cable is good for testing. Two or three cables will lower the impedance, which will sound better.

Having 4 x 16 AWG wires is equivalent to around 10 AWG overall gauge.

8 x 16 AWG will take you to 7AWG.

11 x 16 AWG will take you to 6 AWG. 

If you use 14 AWG (I believe you do), things will get even better... although at some point you are limited by the molex pins.

 

Be careful with the pinout of the 6-pin connector. It was reversed to what I expected it to be. 

I used the Mundorf SWG115 wire which is about the size of AWG 14. It is so stiff making it very hard to have the Molex pins securely locked in the housing, especially for the ATX 24 connectors. At the end, I ordered 2 of the following MB ATX header and soldered the wires directly to both connectors for the ATX 24 cable.

 

 

 

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/15-24-7243?qs=mjekseImwbYPBDyRu413TQ%3D%3D

 

[BOBO]

4 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

wow that is indeed far out of what anyone would expect!

 

interesting! Wouldn't that mean that you'd need to flash your bios every time you reboot?

no no no. when you flash the modified bios, it will replace the default one, so even if you do a CMOS reset, the settings that you changed will remain.