Building a DIY Music Server

[Gavin1977]

Is this the right CPU mount for LGA1700 on HDPlex?

 

I’m missing the M3 thumb screws, but can source these if this is the correct way to mount the heatsink. Would appreciate it if someone could share an image of their LGA1700 install if they have it…

[Gavin1977]

Thanks - yes you have the right mount which is the H12 from the manual.  I’ve contacted Larry at HDPlex to order one.  Thanks for the feedback.

[Gavin1977]

Ok, whilst waiting for the LGA1700 mount, I thought I'd try the Taiko ATX I purchased in my 8086k rig in direct replacement of the HDPlex 800w DC-DC.

 

But it will not boot...

 

I connect everything the same, but using fis Audio ATX/EPS cables internally now.  Taiko ATX is being fed from the same Nenon V3, using the same power cable that fed the HDPlex (6-pin power input into both DC converts is the same configuration, so power supply is not the issue). 

 

When powered, the motherboard lights up but does not boot, but no leds lit on the Taiko ATX.  Turn off the Nenon v3 at the wall and then the motherboard has two red lights, and the motherboard quickly cycles through some boot codes before, one of the red lights goes off, and then eventually the other red led goes off once power from the caps in the V3 are exhausted.

 

Everything is put together correctly, I did try removing one of the EPS cables (rather than having two attached), but no difference.

 

Any ideas?

[Gavin1977]

oh, wait 5 mins.... well that's a new one.  I'll try

[Gavin1977]

Tried over the last 15mins…. Nice LEDs on the motherboard, but no boot sequence.

 

BIOS LED 1 is on though (located under PCIe slot)

 

 

[Gavin1977]

Apparently bios led 1 being lit is fine, just indicating which bios I have selected 

[Gavin1977]

This is bonkers behaviour… looked over my shoulder and it has switch itself on without me doing anything!

 

Got to resolve the error code now - no idea why, this motherboard is sound & working 100%
 

[Gavin1977]

43 minutes ago, Nenon said:

@Gavin1977 @rico25 - what CPU are you using and what is the output voltage of the ULPS? 

Yeah just checked - 33v out unloaded, v3 power supply seems to be working fine.

 

CPU is 8086k.  Next step is to start removing connections, or take back just to MB and build back up from there.  I’ve built a few PCs in my time, but this behaviour is odd.  Anyway error is now consistently A2, so should be possible to overcome.

 

No idea why this single component swap has caused such issue - everything else remains unchanged…

[Gavin1977]

32 minutes ago, Exocer said:

Good point. @Gavin1977 were you able to replicate this issue with your old cables?

Yes - tried the old cables, same issue.

[Gavin1977]

20 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 I intend to try a 7 meter DAC between two EtherREGENs in my own music system to hear the result. I presently use single-mode Finisar SFPs and fiber between them.

 

Interesting stuff - looking forward to your findings.

[Gavin1977]

28 minutes ago, Dev said:

well, I also have the same issue. I found that when the ulps powered on from cold, the motherboard doesn't start although the motherboard is receiving the power. Give it couple of mins and it boots fine. Alternately, if you don't want to wait, one could short the ps_on jumper on the Taiko and the motherboard will start right away. Since I run the sever 24x7, I haven't been able to convince myself its a concern but when I am out for couple of days, I would typically shut down everything and that is where I would be experiencing it. Anyway, glad to know that the issue is with others as well. In one conversation with @SoulAnalogue, he seemed to think it could be related to high freq impedance and suggested me to add 0.1uf bypass but I already had it and it didn't solve the issue. It appears to me that its possibly some kind of handshake between the mobo and Taiko that might be causing it. It would be helpful if @JayM Taiko  can comment on it.

Surprising this trait of the Taiko ATX hasn’t come up before… I’ve tried everything and still have A2 bios error, so I’ll have to start pulling cards now.  You’d think that a switch of DC-DC converters would be a simple thing…

[Gavin1977]

A2 Is IDE detect error - but no IDE devices are attached.

“IDE detect is a generic message that usually has to do with a failed internal motherboard connection. Either: 

1. A SATA cable connecting your Hard Drive is faulty or loose. 

2. PSU is not giving enough power for your SATA controller or Hard Drive. 

3. Some other internal cable (USB headers, Audio Header, PSU connectors) is loose or faulty. 

4. Not Likely Your GPU is not working correctly, the PCIe slot is broken, or a video connector is faulty.”

Can’t be 1 or 2 because I’ve checked that.
I don’t get the bios screen at all, just A2 error on the motherboard LED.  I’ll pull all the cards on Friday and see what that does and then reseat them 1 by 1.  Who knows might be an untimely GPU failure.

[Gavin1977]

41 minutes ago, Mr Morris said:

Are all the voltages correct? I had a boot prob like this. When I had a randomly successful boot, I checked the voltages in the bios and 3.3 was too low. Upped it all sorted easier with  LPSU,  but that might be the prob m. Good luck

I’ll definitely check once I get into bios (hopefully).

 

I think almost guaranteed that it’s the VGA card - I have noticed that I have white LED lit alongside the A2 bios code being displayed.  So hopefully I now have a positive diagnosis.

 

 

[Gavin1977]

Finished diagnosis.  So it’s definitely my GPU that has failed, I guess a passive 1030 might still need some airflow… New one ordered.

 

It’s just shear bad luck that it failed at the same time as the Taiko ATX was installed.  I blamed the Taiko ATX initially because of the failure to boot, but the Taiko is actually fine - just that it’s needs 5mins being powered before you can attempt a boot (no such issues with the HDPLEX DC-DC).

 

Music on hold 😭

[Gavin1977]

3 hours ago, Dev said:

do not think there is any intended delay in design of Taiko. As I said previously, once the Taiko/ulps warms up, you can reboot the server as many times and it just works every time right away.

That’s is the functionality I have - once you have first boot, so long as you leave Nenon v3 powered then you can immediately cycle on/off as much as you please.

[Gavin1977]

When did this all kick off:

 

https://taikoaudio.com/shop/

 

New network switch and other stuff!

 

Even the DIY chassis is now back in stock in the DIY section.

 

 

[Gavin1977]

On 1/11/2023 at 8:11 PM, Exocer said:

You just reminded me, there were a few I did not try yet! Will report back as well.

 

These would be between my individual ER and Server.

I’ve been hearing good things about this idea too… but nothing concrete to share yet.

[Gavin1977]

7 hours ago, Nenon said:

 

Emile has confirmed that the NIC and the switch will be available to non-Extreme users with the second batch. The network card is supported on Windows and Linux. 

 

The upcoming Taiko router and PCIe DAC/DDC will also be available to non-Extreme users. However, at the moment the PCIe DAC/DDC has drivers for Windows only. It should not be an issue to develop Linux drivers but there is no commitment for that yet.

 

Also, the Taiko USB card will be made available to non-Extreme users later this year. The USB card should work natively on Linux but that has not been tested yet. I can test it at some point. Obviously, it works fine on Windows. 

 

TACDA and TACDD for Taiko Audio CPU Direct to Analogue and Taiko Audio CPU Direct to Digital.

 

Uses Rohm BD34301EKV DAC... I should check out the What's Best Forum more often.

 

Analogue out AND toslink... so easy to compare with your existing DAC.

 

Summary document:  https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/post-845628

 

Wish I could go to Munich in May...

[Gavin1977]

Could try these new SLC SSD:  https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/Swissbit/SFSA160GM2AK1TA-I-8C-11P-STD?qs=MyNHzdoqoQLUA8SQn5NJLg%3D%3D

 

Or, go for network boot to RAM and avoid an SSD all together (although I guess if you rambooted, e.g. like what Euphony does, then the SSD will be largely inactive anyway).

[Gavin1977]

1 minute ago, MarcelNL said:

booting to Ram from the pSLC femto drive sounds better than from regular SSD.

Interesting....

 

The Swissbit go upto 360GB..., or just go 900p optane...

[Gavin1977]

Hi @Nenon - that is very timely feedback. 

 

So I'm using the HDPlex 800w DC-DC, with the same original silver cables, for troubleshooting, since this worked with the Nenon V3 and these components perfectly fine for the past year (my problems started and have remained since the Taiko ATX was inserted into my system).

 

Components in use: Asus Z390 Apex, 8086k, Apacer ram, Optane H10.

 

Step 1: Change GPU

Since bios indicated A2 and white light (GPU fault).  I thought this would cure my issue.  So I just tried a different GPU... Sapphire Radeon HD6450 1GB GDDR3 Low profile (<30w).  Cheap as chips off eBay and it's the one Pink Faun use in their server... its a good choice and much easier to work with.  Anyway...  I insert this and A2 bios error persists - but now with green LED light (SATA) rather than white (GPU). 

 

Step 2: HD6450 + switch out SSD

So I switch out the m2 SSD... Optane H10 for a H20 I have.  A2 error remains. green LED light.

 

Step 3: HD6450, plus new Optane H20 AND switch to powering HDPlex DC-DC using the HDPlex SMPS I used to use.

A2 error remains. green LED light.  CMOS reset doesn't help.  Switching to alternative bios doesn't help.  Now if I'd fried the choke by pulling too much current then you'd have thought that switching to an SMPS would have fixed it.

 

This build always ran pretty cool, so I can't believe it'd be motherboard VRM related (failed cap for example)...

 

I've built many PCs in my time, but this one has me stumped.  No logical reason why the issue occured in the first place, or why is persists.

 

I can understand your logic on power supply, I do have the Taiko Rectifier and cap ready to be installed, and was planning to upgrade the Hammond... but obviously can't progress with that currently.

 

Next step remove DC-DC and try with regular 500w ATX power supply (which I'd have to buy, as I sold my Corsair SFX a long time ago)...?

 

Could a failed/saturated choke cause excessive ripple to enter DC-DC converter and cause damage to both DC-DC converter and motherboard...

[Gavin1977]

1 hour ago, MarcelNL said:

something weird is happening with quotes after while...(or I'm doing something wrong)

 

@rico25

@Tatomek7

@basillus

@Exocer

@Gavin1977

 

 

[Gavin1977]

Hi All - agreed with @MarcelNLto help arrange the group buy.

 

Please hold off posting more expressions of interest on this forum as there will be a formal Google form for you to register your details on shortly.

 

Also, anyone interested in active rectifier (with mosfets) as a part of this group but as well?  Will be of similar standard as the Taiko rectifier, but through hole.

 

Thanks

[Gavin1977]

23 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

@Gavin1977 If you can influence that active rectifier it might be nice to have screw on terminals, with large wire diameters going in and out soldering is messy. The Saligny power has screw on terminals yet those are soldered onto the PCB so are easy to mess up when tightening the terminals to far...

 

 

Not my design, but open source with gerbers:

 

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/lt4320-based-active-rectifier.336572/post-5834912

 

I’d basically do a PCB run after charitable donation to Prasi, group buy mosfets (ones that closely match the Taiko spec - RDSon etc) and LT4320 - ship as a parts kit or completed.

 

It’s an easy build:

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/lt4320-based-active-rectifier.336572/post-6554983

[Gavin1977]

Update on choke group buy: manufacturer is still very busy and not able to commit to new orders straight away.  Hopefully another update for you in the coming days, but unable to launch the formal group buy until then.

 

Thanks