Question Need some advice on some server equipment I bought on ebay. Lenovo X3550 M5. Locked out of the BIOS.

ezzep · Oct 6, 2024

OK, went to reddit and got my hind handed to me, which I knew was going to happen. So I decided to try elsewhere for help and advice.

I wanted to build a home media server for myself. In doing so, I tried an IBM X3550, and that was a bit too slow. Got a Lenovo X3550 M5, much faster AND quieter. I've been fiddling with server hardware for the past two years, on and off. I guess you could I got bored with laptops and desktops. I have a gaming rig, and had an HTPC, but that is being used now for my EMC SAS enclosure. The server I bought was supposed to solve all these problems I saw. Not so easy.

After I figured how to get my X3550 going, I realized the seller sold me the wrong device. I wanted something with 8+ bays, not 4 3.5". Thankfully, the 3.5" brackets had built-in 2.5" adapters. OK, so I started looking into getting more storage bays. Bought an EMC SAS 25-bay 2.5" enclosure with the right cables and an Intel RS25SB008 Raid controller card. The server doesn't even see it. Did a bunch of googling, and stuck the raid card in a spare AM3+ system, which found the card but the system was really slow. OK, grabbed my Thinkcentre M72E SFF and have been using it for now. But the system is starting to overheat. I might try swapping boards...not sure about that.

Back to my server. After trying to clear the CMOS with no change (did have to reset the time.), I did a lot of googling and turns out the Admin password is not replaceable on that system. This put a huge dent into my plan. I can't use it for media storage or server, I can't have a simple dGPU because the bios is locked out. To get a new board is $500 on ebay. So I'm left with a system that might be good enough for command line stuff. The CPUs are good and fast, but the 16MB Vram kills the performance on this thing. I tried using Fedora Linux, and that was usuable to a point. It was still very slow due to the GPU.

So...should I make a new build from this system? It's 2 Xeon E5-2690-v3 CPUs, with 16GB DDR4. I believe that is a 2011-v3 board IIRC. The motherboard will not be cheap, and Aliexpress might be the route to go. I'd like to use both CPUs, but I think one should more than suffice for what I want to do. Or should I scrap everything and make a table out of the chassis?

Ken g6 · Oct 6, 2024

First, I'd say don't get the new motherboard. I don't see any reason why your system wouldn't work as a media server as-is, as long as it's not also a media client. Just install Linux, Jellyfin, and manipulate most things remotely from the web interface. And maybe SFTP.

A RAID card? How many drives do you really need? If you must you can try software RAID, but remember that RAID is not a backup.

That said, your dual xeon is going to use a lot of electricity to do its job. I found this recent article in my feed:

The Best Media Server CPU... in the world.

After a solid 8 months of testing, I think we have a big enough sample size to draw some conclusions. The best media server CPU is...

blog.ktz.me

The main point is that Intel Quick Sync on a modern processor is very much more efficient than your two CPUs. I'm guessing you can't afford a very modern CPU. So you could look up the video codec(s) you're transcoding from here and pick an appropriate used system.

ch33zw1z · Oct 6, 2024

Yea, really depends on use case. If you’re using it get into something like plex then you’re better off getting something newer that can do hardware transcoding. For $500, and intel gen12 with onboard intel GPU is a better spend for sure.

And fwiw, almost all server models I’ve worked on have no way to recover admin passwords via a user initiated method, I’ve swapped quite a few boards due to this.

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

ch33zw1z said:
And fwiw, almost all server models I’ve worked on have no way to recover admin passwords via a user initiated method, I’ve swapped quite a few boards due to this.

That's a crappy thing to do, locking out the admin himself if he forgets the password. Has to be a solution. What about replacing the BIOS chip? Should be possible, no?

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

ezzep said:
I can't have a simple dGPU because the bios is locked out.

What does the BIOS have to do with using the dGPU??? I have an ASROCK server mobo. Put a 1080 Ti in one of the slots and it booted right up. There was nothing I needed to configure in the BIOS to get it up and running.

ezzep · Oct 6, 2024

Have you seen the prices of storage? The prices have gone up. 8TB is $134 for a 3.5, 7200RPM.

igor_kavinski said:
That's a crappy thing to do, locking out the admin himself if he forgets the password. Has to be a solution. What about replacing the BIOS chip? Should be possible, no?

I agree. It certainly sheds light on the green eco programs that corporations claim to be implementing. I realize this machine I have was made in 2015, so different priorities. I could say more but won’t 😆

ezzep · Oct 6, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
What does the BIOS have to do with using the dGPU??? I have an ASROCK server mobo. Put a 1080 Ti in one of the slots and it booted right up. There was nothing I needed to configure in the BIOS to get it up and running.

Tried that and the board won’t switch displays automatically. You know what? I’ll try it again for the heck of it. This machine is just a pain in the neck to configure. I mean installing Linux on it—easy. Finding the cable that went from the backplate to the motherboard—that was a pain in the neck. The only one I could find on Newegg and eBay without a decent manual was 3 ft long. Took my Dremel and carved out a hole for the cable to stick out. It’s nothing like the SFF Thinkcentre of the same era.

ezzep · Oct 6, 2024

ch33zw1z said:
Yea, really depends on use case. If you’re using it get into something like plex then you’re better off getting something newer that can do hardware transcoding. For $500, and intel gen12 with onboard intel GPU is a better spend for sure.

And fwiw, almost all server models I’ve worked on have no way to recover admin passwords via a user initiated method, I’ve swapped quite a few boards due to this.

I’m one of those crazy folks that likes to utilize everything I come in contact with. Or it gets tossed into recycling at work. I finally got rid of my old school 900p monitor powered by a laptop charger. So I get really ticked when I buy something and it doesn’t work out. I mean, buying a Sun Fire V125, I knew that it was probably not going to work out. Way too loud and who uses SCSI drives? Not me lol.

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

ezzep said:
Tried that and the board won’t switch displays automatically. You know what? I’ll try it again for the heck of it.

Once Windows is loaded, disable the primary display adapter in Device Manager and it should switch to the secondary dGPU display automatically. At least that's how I think things should work.

ch33zw1z · Oct 6, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
That's a crappy thing to do, locking out the admin himself if he forgets the password. Has to be a solution. What about replacing the BIOS chip? Should be possible, no?

Servers from a place like IBM aren’t the same as off the shelf server parts we have today. Like super micro or whatever. However, IBM and super micro have been working together in the POWER server product line, but those are not your normal off the shelf builds either.

You’re best best is to consult the hardware maintenance manual for information.

ch33zw1z · Oct 6, 2024

ezzep said:
I’m one of those crazy folks that likes to utilize everything I come in contact with. Or it gets tossed into recycling at work. I finally got rid of my old school 900p monitor powered by a laptop charger. So I get really ticked when I buy something and it doesn’t work out. I mean, buying a Sun Fire V125, I knew that it was probably not going to work out. Way too loud and who uses SCSI drives? Not me lol.

SCSI drives were the standard in servers until SAS (serial attached scsi) hit the scene. Sure, they’re not widely available today, but 15 years ago were the norm.

ezzep · Oct 6, 2024

Ken g6 said:
First, I'd say don't get the new motherboard. I don't see any reason why your system wouldn't work as a media server as-is, as long as it's not also a media client. Just install Linux, Jellyfin, and manipulate most things remotely from the web interface. And maybe SFTP.

A RAID card? How many drives do you really need? If you must you can try software RAID, but remember that RAID is not a backup.

That said, your dual xeon is going to use a lot of electricity to do its job. I found this recent article in my feed:

The Best Media Server CPU... in the world.

After a solid 8 months of testing, I think we have a big enough sample size to draw some conclusions. The best media server CPU is...

blog.ktz.me

The main point is that Intel Quick Sync on a modern processor is very much more efficient than your two CPUs. I'm guessing you can't afford a very modern CPU. So you could look up the video codec(s) you're transcoding from here and pick an appropriate used system.

So I do have a spare Ryzen 1600+ and i5-7600k, but no boards or ram. I do have a PNY 1030 and EVGA 1650 and a Dell 1070 though.

In2Photos · Oct 6, 2024

I just bought a refurbished Dell Precision T3630 with an i7-8700, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD and a quadro p1000 for $200. Moved it to a different case that already had my existing unraid server with 6HDD in it. Using it to run Jellyfin. I plan to use the 8700 for transcoding to start and add the p1000 if I need more horsepower.

ezzep · Oct 7, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Once Windows is loaded, disable the primary display adapter in Device Manager and it should switch to the secondary dGPU display automatically. At least that's how I think things should work.

Got it to work! I used Linux because I don’t have a Windows license or a sticker/key on the machine. Windows Server is way out of my budget anyways. Anyways, I just let the machine sit there for a while before Linux figured out what was going on.

ezzep · Oct 7, 2024

In2Photos said:
I just bought a refurbished Dell Precision T3630 with an i7-8700, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD and a quadro p1000 for $200.

Yep, doing your homework helps avoid situations like mine. I did get the GPU to work. Had to wait an eternity because Fedora sees both GPUs and assumed that the NVIDIA card was a second monitor. I’m not sure why that is. NVIDIA is not friends with Linux right now, which is what I have been using.

igor_kavinski · Oct 7, 2024

ezzep said:
Anyways, I just let the machine sit there for a while before Linux figured out what was going on.

Can you be more specific? What did you do exactly? Took out the cable from the onboard VGA and plugged into the dGPU? Or did you go into the Linux version of Device Manager, disable the primary VGA and then after a while, it enabled the display on the dGPU port?

ezzep · Oct 7, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Can you be more specific? What did you do exactly? Took out the cable from the onboard VGA and plugged into the dGPU? Or did you go into the Linux version of Device Manager, disable the primary VGA and then after a while, it enabled the display on the dGPU port?

So before I even gave power to the machine, I plugged in the DVI to the monitor and dGPU. Hit the power on the machine, and waited about 1-2 minutes for the testing and startup stuff to finish, then walked away. I then got the idea to plug the VGA into the iGPU. I also noticed a switch on my monitor that allows me to force the monitor to use DVI or VGA. I chose DVI and then things started happening.

I turned the monitor off and on again so it would “wake up” as power saving features in Linux can be awkward. It showed that input was coming through. Finally the screen switched a black screen with “console mode something something.” I only got this to appear one time, but it switched the login screen, but I couldn’t find my mouse.

Started moving my mouse and then I realized Fedora was running both GPUs and thought that my only monitor was actually a secondary display. Logged in, and confirmed that as there was no taskbar. I am using KDE if that matters. Very similar GUI to Windows, but with more bling, and more organization. Take 10’s alphabetic start menu with 7 and Vista’s bling or customization.

Got my mouse to right click on the screen so I could pull up the KDE settings (control panel and desktop customization equivalent in one app), and found the display settings which I immediately changed.

One thing though—until I login, Fedora still thinks I have two monitors lol. I think that’s on Nvidia’s end though. I wish I had kept my old monitor so I could see what’s really happening and it had an HDMI port.

igor_kavinski · Oct 7, 2024

ezzep said:
I wish I had kept my old monitor so I could see what’s really happening and it had an HDMI port.

Monitors are dirt cheap these days. I bet you could get a used one (probably TN or IPS) for $20 or so.

But thanks for the detailed reply. Now anyone reading your post knows what to expect with KDE and dual graphics adapters.

ezzep · Oct 7, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Monitors are dirt cheap these days. I bet you could get a used one (probably TN or IPS) for $20 or so.

But thanks for the detailed reply. Now anyone reading your post knows what to expect with KDE and dual graphics adapters.

Linux is a strange OS in that it is constantly changing.

crashtech · Oct 7, 2024

Have you tried Lenovo's OneCLI?

https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht509852

ezzep · Oct 7, 2024

crashtech said:
Have you tried Lenovo's OneCLI?

https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht509852

I’ll give it a shot tonight. Some of their utilities don’t work as well under Linux. I’m not sure why that is.

ch33zw1z · Oct 8, 2024

I’m certainly curious if you can reset the super password using OneCLI when you don’t know the current password.

The Lenovo article linked assume you know the existing password.

crashtech · Oct 8, 2024

ch33zw1z said:
I’m certainly curious if you can reset the super password using OneCLI when you don’t know the current password.

The Lenovo article linked assume you know the existing password.

Hmm, here is a direct quote from the article: "The old UEFI Admin password is not required, so this procedure can be used if the password has been forgotten." Perhaps they contradict themselves at some later point, I did not read the whole thing.

ezzep · Oct 8, 2024

crashtech said:
Hmm, here is a direct quote from the article: "The old UEFI Admin password is not required, so this procedure can be used if the password has been forgotten." Perhaps they contradict themselves at some later point, I did not read the whole thing.

Now my curiosity is going to get the better of me. One thing I noticed earlier was that there are two jumpers—one for the CMOS, one for the UEFI. I can run the system without the jumper in place on the UEFI, but still have to supply the unknown password. I wonder if there is something wrong with the board.

ch33zw1z · Oct 8, 2024

crashtech said:
Hmm, here is a direct quote from the article: "The old UEFI Admin password is not required, so this procedure can be used if the password has been forgotten." Perhaps they contradict themselves at some later point, I did not read the whole thing.

Yea, and then they use the password to access it. So I’m curious if it’s possible. This would be quite a change if it’s possible.

There’s not much else to the article

Maybe this method if OneCLI doesn’t work:

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht515518

You’ll need a flash drive, 32GB should work

Question Need some advice on some server equipment I bought on ebay. Lenovo X3550 M5. Locked out of the BIOS.

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