Disabling onboard video and upgrading video card on Dell PowerEdge 1950 server

Thanks for the reply.  I was able to sucessfully install the video card into the server.  Like you said, the onboard chip remains the primary video card, but I was able to configure Fedora 10 to use the PCIe 1X card as a secondary card.

Hi

I'm having a problem getting the same card to work within a 1950 running bios 1.5.1.

Can I ask which bios you are using to get both devices running? As at the minute on power up the 1950 holds at post, and refuses to do anything.

Cheers

Lee

I am having this problem right now as well.

I was running 1.3.7 bios. I have 2 Quadro NVS 290 PCIE-1X cards.

For the sake of reducing complexity of hte problem, I have only 1 Quadro NVS 290 card inserted. Machine boots, get video out of primary vga (EVEN if it is disabled in win7-- this is odd.. Didn't think that was possible.)

Device manager shows the Quadro NVS 290 working perfectly, BUT i don't have access to any of the displays in the display control panel, it only shows the 1 standard vga. Tried updating the drivers on the RN50 card,  the quadro card, no dice.

I updated to the most recent bios (as of 9/21/2010) and still no dice. Windows doesnt report any problems, but I can't use any addin cards. I have also a geforce 8400 PCIE-1X card, same result.

Please help :(  We just ordered a bunch of the cards, replacement drives, etc for these 1950s

-Matt

Matt,

Did you ever get this resolved? I am in the same situation right now. Please update this if you figured it out.

Thanks

Satish

Hi Satish and Matt

Were either of you able to resolve the issue as I have the same problem but can't find a resolutione?

Thanks

Chris

Hi Chris,

I was not able to resolve the issue, bought two different graphics cards and returned both. 

But found some one who managed to do it, unfortunately there is no way to talk to him. Found this on newegg and in the reviews someone named "zampaz" said its little tricky but he didn't explain the trick.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161354

"HIS H545H1GD1 Radeon HD 5450 Silence 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express x1 Low Profile Video Card with Eyefinity"

Please pass the information if you could resolve it.

Thanks

Satish

Chris,

Take a look at this link, he is explaining how to convert a 8x card into 16x card.

I haven't tried this yet.

http://www.tkdan.com/SC420/

Atmuris, that link you referenced modifies a motherboard x8 PCIe slot making it mechanically open ended thus allowing a 'higher lane count' card to be inserted into a 'lower lane count' slot. It does not convert a x8 card and magically make it x16 :).

Do note that the PCIe spec allows a lower lane count card to fit in higher lane count slot without issue, that is ,as an example, an 8x card can be placed into a 16x slot. However, the reverse is not true as the spec does not support it.

Fortunately, the PCIe spec is rather robust and allows cards to negotiate their lane use and power needs at start-up :)  thus a simple hack is usually enough to get a modded x16 graphics card to work in a x8 slot (on a server motherboard). I say usually since graphics card manufacturers do not always design in a way that allows this as it's not in the spec and so they don't bother.

The mod is simple enough and involves using a fine tooth hacksaw blade to cut away side contacts 50, 51 & 52 from the graphics card connector itself, thus effectively creating a cutout/key (that mimics the manufactured cutout/key between pins 11 and 12) and allows the card to be inserted into an 8x slot (of in my case my PE T610). No mods were needed on the server motherboard. Obviously the rear of the card hangs out past the connector so i insulated it with gaffa tape prior to insertion as a precaution. The card was tested in two different slots and auto negotiated using the full 8 lanes in the x8/8 (x8 mechanical x8 electrical) slot and the full 4 lanes in the x8/4 slot while consuming 32W max (which is greater than the 25W max per slot recommended by Dell but this is based on cooling issues so it will not cause problems unless i fill up all the other slots).

Do note that not all motherboards and graphics card combos will work without a hardwire of the PCIe "presence detect logic". For an x8 slot, this means connecting/soldering a wire between pin A1 and B48 either on the PCIe connector or on the graphics card itself. In my case this was not needed on the T610 PCIe slot or XFX GF7600 GS graphics card :)

The risk with cutting the slot on the graphics card is that the circuit board tracks may be close to the tops of the printed pins and unseen (since they are multilayer boards) but at $40 for an old DX9 capable graphics card, it was cheaper that an wear extender without the hassles that these bring by raising the card in the chassis.

Once the graphics card was plugged in, the 'disable on-board graphics' option was accessible in PE T610 BIOS so on-board graphics was disabled and the monitor connected to the new graphics card. Now i have my monitor running at its native 2550x1440 resolution :)

Some basic info on PCIe can be found at http://www.pcisig.com/developers/main/training_materials/
PCIe pinouts can be found at http://pinouts.ru/Slots/pci_express_pinout.shtml
Another PCIe x16 to x1 video card conversion at http://www.invisiblerobot.com/pcie_x1/

From these resources, you should have a better idea of what to do, though no guarantees can be given.

Lastly, NVIDIA and ATI licensing requirements has made it rather difficult to use multiple graphics cards on non certified motherboards! Not impossible but difficult (and it's on my todo list).

Oh, and if the BIOS does not allow for disabling your on-board graphics function, other issues may occur which could be challenging to fully resolve.

SKYLARKING,

My case, BIOS does not allow me to disable the on-board graphics card. Is there way to enable the PCIe graphics card at all?

Thanks

Satish

Atmuris, the problems you are having remind me of the old days of DOS and the associated IRQ, IO and memory conflicts one would get with adding cards to the motherboards of old.

Modern OS's and their 'Plug and Play' features have come a long way in resolving such frustrating conflicts but unfortunately these have been replaced in part with vendors that remove worthwhile end user features (like disabling on board functions via BIOS) for their own reasons and abstraction of add on card technical details as it is no longer needed. Such vendor actions coupled with frustrating licensing issues for multiple graphics cards has results in other conflicts that you are now experiencing and which we hackers can very much do without.

This is likely why you have such issues and why so many say that its a hit an miss affair and suggest you go try another graphics card.

Now assuming your using Windows7, all i can suggest is look at your system and try to determine what if any issues the system sees as problematic. Go to then   and start . From go to the tab and here you are presented with a number of useful utilities. Launch where you can see details under like , ,etc. Again from you can also launch and select then by selecting the and right clicking and checking the tab, you should see similar information presented for that devices like IRQ, I/O and memory info. Install your (ATI based) PCIe graphics card making some effort to ensure the correct driver is installed for that card. Again check the above info for that adapter which the OS should see (but not utilize so have your monitor plugged into the on board graphics connector). You may notice some conflicts, forced hardware or other oddities that make it difficult for the PCIe graphics to function.

Remember since you can't disable the on board graphics (ATI ES1000), in effect you are trying to run 2 graphics cards on the system in an unintended CrossFire arrangement. More specifically, you may notice that you can't make use of both graphics cards from the Windows OS as the display driver will not allow CrossFire due to hardware incompatibilities or license issues so your stuck with the on board graphics as your primary grahics card. In this context you may need to hack your BIOS or grahics driver or both to achieve a forced CrossFire arrangement!

All in all, not much help but hopefully you will better understand the issues. My suggestion is read up as much as you can about hacking non compliant motherboards for ATI CrossFire. Google is your friend. Else you could move to Linux OS as BrianJT was able to configure Fedora to use the secondary video card for output (but i don't know how good the 3D drivers are on linux os's). Unfortunately windows does not allow similar (linux style) configurations to be done (closed source and all).

ok this seams hard but is quite easy after spending 2 days trying to work out i found it .

ok first remove the managemtn card once you do this the internal ati1000 will disabel if you plug in a pic x-1 video card in i used a quadro NVS290. and plug in the monitot to that card

it will now use it as the main and only card

now the system will go throgh the normal pre boot up stuff ram cards ect and then appear to hang ..

dont worrry just wait it will take about 5 minutes and then just boot perfectly ...

so if you can wait the 5 minutes its all good if you can then your out of luck ... also make sure you update your bios

Buzzard1970,

I am trying to get a NVS 300 pcx1 to work in my T100 and I am getting the infamous black screen after windows logo.  You mention removing the "managemtn card" but I have no idea what that is.  I tried to google that but I do not see any relevant definitions.  I do not have any other cards in the pci/pci express slots besides the new video card so maybe your suggestion is not may problem but I was trying to figure out all my possibilities.

He was referring to the DRAC5 Remote Management card. Think of it as a (rather large) network adapter that provides power-on/power-off and monitoring functionality over a remote connection. It also provides a Java-based VNC console for you to administrate the server as though you were sitting in front of it. (Even during hardware post.)

Why someone would remove this incredibly useful device for the sake of a graphics adapter is beyond me.

I myself am trying to figure out the best way to go about ADDING a PCIe graphics adapter. There are two available slots in the machine. They can only run at 8x max, however. (I don't believe that there is any real need to physically trim the interface as some hacks I've seen online would have you do. At least not as long as the card fits the slot.)

If I find a work-all option, I'll come back and post. But I'm not pressed to accomplish this as I'm using the Poweredge 1950 as a VMware ESX 5.1 host. :P