Xeon Asus Z10PE-D16 WS Build

[Gilly262]

I moved my Time Machine Drive inside the Xeon box. It was running off a Newer Tech SSD external card/drive reader.
No more disc eject issue. Not that that means it got "fixed", I just avoided the error.

Stability wise, it is still going great. No KP. Only issue is the Nvidia control panel. It will be ok for the install, but after a reboot, it fails. Card seems to be working fine, just no way to Update automatically. Procedure has been to reboot without use of driver, install new driver, reboot with driver. Driver is included by Clover config settings prior to letting clover Boot into macOS.

Got to give Clover the big nod. All the tweaks imaginable and then some. It just takes a little time to ingest the knowledge of how all this is mapped out. The SMART road traveled is a road where others lead. You will arrive just as they do if you walk in their step. And there are plenty of roadmaps between here and IM and road guides!!! I guess I'm just sayin' "Thanks" again to all.

I will run a test on the card to see if the control panel fail hurts... same as before from what I can tell. If you try to open the control panel you get the Oops image, but C4RD test shows the card is ok and running fine.

One other thing, is the dvd drive will still throw up a window to eject/ignore load or cancel. Something is triggering that.

 

[Gilly262]

DATELINE April 6.... Xeon Box Update...

I'm going to say, "Thunderbirds are Go!" with the Xeon project.
Wake and Sleep are fine too!
Some longer term tests are probably in the works, with hopefully an even more solid build.
Considering all things, I am pleased with the outcome. It is turning out that my x99 build is going to require more thought, sweat and blood before it is done.

 

[barisfx]

View attachment 241365 Success Xeon / Asus Z10PE-D16 WS Build

Total ReWrite of my original post...

I've decided to try for the above Xeon Motherboard based on the availability of the board and the progress others have made with the Z9 variant of the same.

Board is ordered... Waiting on it and other parts for the build. Will post progress as it occurs.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

E . D . I . T . E . D . I . T . March 12, 2017.

With the aide and assistance of many here and other places, I managed to have a functioning
Asus Dual CPU Mobo, the Z10PE-D16 ws
(2) - Xeon E5-2640 v4 10 core (20 physical/40 w/ both CPUs)
32Gram
980ti graphics
logickeyboard - resolve edition
kensington trackballpro
32" HP Envy34c Curved Wide Screen panel
Corsair HX1200i PSU


Functional graphics/editing/finishing/developing long life box.
Not much but good to say about the board. Lots of realestate.

Attachment "Z10PE-D16ws_billg_tonymacUpload" below was the most current plist to date.


Prior to this success, I had purchase v3 Xeons, and I got no where with installing.
Sucked it up and got a pair of v4's. Problem solved.
v3's will be repurposed into any future Asus X99-M WS builds, of which one is under way.

Anyway, attached is the functioning config file. Look it over, pump in a serial number manually or with Clover. Manual thru TextWrangler would probably be 100% full proof in not twisting anything in the plist, imho.

Hi Gily. I need help. I have Asus Z10Pe d8 mainboard and 2 x xeon 2683 v3 cpu and Gigabyte 980 Ti GPU
1) My Acpi settings not working. (clover/acpi folder is empty and Sleep mode is not working)
2) my processors seems unknown cpu.

If you help me I will be happy too much.

 

[Gilly262]

Hi Gily. I need help. I have Asus Z10Pe d8 mainboard and 2 x xeon 2683 v3 cpu and Gigabyte 980 Ti GPU
1) My Acpi settings not working. (clover/acpi folder is empty and Sleep mode is not working)
2) my processors seems unknown cpu.

If you help me I will be happy too much.

Did you read page 1 of this thread?
The little blurb about v3 and v4 Xeon CPU's?
I could not get v3 to work.
Bought v4. They work.
That's my advice.

 

[Gilly262]

updated my config list on page 1 post 1.

Still all is good.
Houdini will crash at times.
I still would not say this is 100% reliable, but with safeguards, you can be 99.9% ok in my book!!!

G

 

[lanrosta]

@Gilly262 - Hi Gilly, I have the same exact mobo (Asus Z10PE16WS). I have yet to get this board to boot into BIOS. I always get an error code B0. I am trying with 2x Zeon ES 2695 v3's. The Asus web site states this baord works with V3 processors, but mine are Engineering Samples (ES) and I have had no luck getting them to work. I even returned the first mobo to Asus and had to wait a month to get another one back that does the same thing (error B0). I am wondering if your V4 Zeons are originals or Engineering Samples? Where did you buy your v4 Zeons from? Was it a good deal? Would love to use this Asus mobo as it is really sweet (albeit a huge footprint, 12x13), but I think I'll have to resort to buying a Supermicro X10D series instead to support these ES processors. Just looking for clues on the Asus Z10PE16WS as I've had it longer than the return period, so I cannot return it. Anyways, congrats on the build and I will revisit this post once I have the Z10 mobo sorted out.

Thanks,
lanrosta

 

[Gilly262]

Im sure v3 will work, if you run windows or know the secret password. I just could not get lucky with the E5-26xx v3.
Once I got my v4's, it was up and running in just a an hour. Unlike the untold weeks of "experimenting" or throwing **** at the wall to see what stuck!! I just couldn't get the v3 to work. If you find out how, let us all know. I had the same BAD experience trying to get the v3 to work in the Asus x99-m ws 2011-3 motherboard.

I purchased both my v3 and v4 thru either newegg or amazon. All legit.

 

[lanrosta]

Im sure v3 will work, if you run windows or know the secret password. I just could not get lucky with the E5-26xx v3.
Once I got my v4's, it was up and running in just a an hour. Unlike the untold weeks of "experimenting" or throwing **** at the wall to see what stuck!! I just couldn't get the v3 to work. If you find out how, let us all know. I had the same BAD experience trying to get the v3 to work in the Asus x99-m ws 2011-3 motherboard.

I purchased both my v3 and v4 thru either newegg or amazon. All legit.

Thanks for the info Gilly262. I might need to bounce a few questions during my OSX installation as my setup is pretty close to yours in parts.

My initial experience with this board is not unlike yours. I started back in mid-March 2017 and have just yesterday (June 1), got things up and running with the Z10PE16WS and a dual zeon setup. I started with a Win 10 installation for basic cinebench and CPU tests. Here's what I have found out along the way:

I started out with a similar E5 2695 v3 processors. These were ES (Engineering Sample) chips that had an A0 core stepping. I tried every possible combination of single and dual CPU setup and RAM configs. I always got the B0 Q-code error and an annoying beep code. So, I ordered different RAM (from the ASUS site supported for this mobo) because that code relates to memory error. Same issue. RAM exchanged for different RAM (though it was unnecessary as the RAM was probably fine). So, I RMA'd the mobo and about a month later I got a replacement board back from ASUS (FYI, their support is pretty terrible, and they totally lack good communication or info about what the issue may have been). Same issue exactly as the first one. At this point I suspected the mobo likely was not the issue, so I looked toward the CPU's now.

So, I did some digging at this very helpful thread about ES (and QS) processors here (https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/es-xeon-discussion.5031/) and found out that the ASUS Z10PE16WS requires a C0 or C1 core stepping Zeon v3 or v4 CPU!!!.

So, I returned the 2695 v3 (A0 stepping) ES CPU's and got QS sample (Quality Sample > Engineering Sample) versions instead on Ebay (I went with seller globalkinginc, they were communicative and helpful as to compatibility with mobo, and did me right), this time with E5 2683 v3 QS processors that were shown to be C0 stepping from the sellers CPU benchmark screens. After waiting about 3 weeks, I got the CPU's. They were brand new, not a scratch on them. I installed them and they worked perfectly fine and show up as genuine Intel Zeon processors (same as retail, because these are 'Quality Control' samples right before or during retail manufacturer). Whereas ES (Engineering Samples) chips are just that. They are development cycle chips, created well before a retail version of that chip is manufactured. QS chips are just before or during the retail manufacturing process. As a result, they are likely more reliable than ES versions and nearly (if not completely) identical to the retail versions in the benchmarks and system stats.

The takeaway from this is that it took a lot of time, patience, frustration, and research to come to the logical conclusions of what would, and would not work with this motherboard. For those that are used to building their PC in the traditional popular single CPU motherboards, your introduction to setting this motherboard up will be like learning the whole process all over again. It's much more complex than the usual PC BIOS (because this is a server/workstation). Also, there was not much information on the net yet to cover all the Q&A's for this particular motherboard. However, once you got it figured out, it will seem trivial. It's just... different than most boards we are all used to.

 

[lanrosta]

Also, I did end up getting a SuperMicro X10DAL-IO mobo for testing those same A0 stepping processors, and they didn't work in that mobo either. Maybe this info is useful for users of that board.

So, I guess the other takeaway would be to just stay away from A0 stepping cpu's for the workstation boards.

I forgot to add this site for checking the ES/QS codes for CPU specs (http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/Xeon.html). Very helpful in making the determination.

 

[Gilly262]

From my investigations, the v3 and v4 xeon have more than a couple differences. It's those differences that I have found w/ v3 as far as install goes. Just never got it to do it.

V4. Installed on the first try.

People just need to be aware... the socket is 2011-3 sometimes called 2011 ver3. which is a dangerous path. The Xeons themselves have versions. And the 2011-3 v3 chips are a pain in my ass. I just could not figure it out. The 2011-3 v4 cpu on the other hand worked perfectly and made me proud. Just be aware of the socket and the xeon... two different things when it comes to cpu firmware version, versus physical socket design version. all together.