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T320 PCIe
Hello all,
A few months ago I purchased a T320 to replace my PE1900. Main reasons were to reduce noise, reduce power consumption and increase performance. I use it as an ESXi server at home which runs 24/7/365, and I am very pleased with it.
As a next step I want to virtualise my MediaPortal TV server so I recently purchased two PCIe TBS TV cards (TBS6991 and TBS6280). However... I'm unable to get these cards to work with my T320 as I'm greeted with the infamous "PCIe training error" "System Halted" messages. I've tried all the PCIe slots and various combinations but no joy. From various Google searches it seems that although PCIe is a standard, some vendors (including DELL) often choose to "limit" PCIe support in the BIOS to reduce potential compatibility issues. I have a feeling this might be the case for my T320, as the same cards work fine on a standard Gigabyte motherboard. Any ideas / feedback?
I know that as an alternative I could use USB DVB devices, but my worry is that this won't work very well if I wanted to record two or three HD channels simultaneously (using the ESXi USB passthrough option). Has anybody got some real-life experiences with a comparable setup?
Thanks and regards.
AberDino
6 Posts
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March 16th, 2013 03:00
Hello all,
I think this link might describe the issue I'm experiencing: http://www.tbsdtv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7521, i.e. the PCIe Target Link Speed doesn't automatically change from 5.0GB/s to 2.5GB/s for PCIe 1.x backward compatibility. Can anybody from DELL confirm that is the case? If so, what are the chances of receiving a BIOS update to resolve this issue?
Here's a link to a post from a Supermicro user with the same issue: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1039170177. Supermicro resolved it with a BIOS update.
If DELL are unwilling to address this issue, does anybody have any experience with modding the BIOS themselves?
Thanks and regards.
AberDino
6 Posts
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March 19th, 2013 03:00
Any feedback from DELL technicians on this issue please?
AberDino
6 Posts
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May 7th, 2013 06:00
Well, a distinct lack of responses, so I'll assume this issue will not be resolved by DELL. I have gone for USB devices instead and these seem to work fine.
jcrichton
6 Posts
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August 14th, 2013 19:00
Wow, unfortunate to see this has been completely left unresolved. Trying to load an Intel 4 port Gig nic is just a complete exercise in frustration. Guess they couldn't imagine anyone running a PCI-E Gen 1 card or something stupid like that.
theflash1932
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16.3K Posts
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August 14th, 2013 20:00
This is primarily a user-to-user forum. The server forums do have Dell staff that answer questions, but this remains an unofficial avenue of support with Dell, where they aren't obligated to visit each and every thread and/or take ownership of the issues presented.
If you want this resolved by Dell, then you need to contact Dell to open a case with Support. That is the ONLY way of escalating the issue to a level that can do anything about it.