B2 error, and only 1 of 4 GPUs showing in Bios

[jtromans]

Build:

• 
  ■Asus WS X299 SAGE w/ BIOS 0905 (90SW0070-M0EAY0)
  ■i9 9900X (BX80673I99900X)
  ■4x Palit GeForce RTX™ 2080 Ti GamingPro
  ■GSkill 128GB DDR4 2800MHz (F4-2800C15Q2-128GRKD)
  ■Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB
  ■Windows 10 Pro
  ■EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 80+ TITANIUM

Issue: Intermittent (90% of the time) B2 post error *and* only 1 of 4 GPUs showing in Bios and Window 10..

• 
  ■I can sometimes get to Windows, without a pattern on why.
  ■Seems to always boot to Windows after CMOS button reset.
  ■Turning off fast boot seems to help with getting into Windows, but unsure.
  ■Three of four GPUs NOT showing up in Bios or Windows 10. Only first slot GPU is showing in BIOS and Windows.
  ■Windows 10 installed with UEFI and Secure Boot on. Have tried booting without Secure Boot. No difference.
  ■Have flashed Bios with latest version 0905.
  ■Have flashed visible GPU bios to latest Palit version (90.02.17.00.35) which seemed up-to-date anyway. Can't flash other GPUs since they don't register in Windows or even in Bios
  ■Have updated to latest GeForce drivers, not that I expect this to make a difference.
  ■Have reinstalled Windows 10 without impact.

Completely pulling my hair out now! Any ideas why the other GPUs are not showing in Bios and why I seem to get b2 error most of the time on booting?

 

[volkgren]

What power supply?

 

[racksmith101]

For that setup I hope you're got at least a 1300w psu.

 

[jtromans]

Sorry I should have said, EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 80+ TITANIUM. Will add to post, any suggestions?

 

[volkgren]

Do you have the 6-pin PCIe power connector plugged in just above the PCIe slots?

Also, when I was mining crypto with multiple GPUs, I often had to start with minimum hardware and work my way up adding a single GPU at a time to find out where it was going wrong. You might want to just use one stick of memory also until you find out what is causing the other GPUs not to show up as well as the B2 error. Add memory one stick at a time. Boot up. Check for full functionality. Add another. Etc.

 

[jtromans]

Thanks for your response.

I do not currently have the 6pin power connector plugged in above the PCIe slots, but each card is powered directly. Should this make a difference?

Each GPU is plugged in as follows: 8pin and a separate 6+2 pin. I am using separate ports on the PSU for the 8pin and then the 6+2pin... so no splitting.

This is a Machine Learning rig but I guess knowledge from crypto is helpful. I will drop down to 1 stick if you think it might help.

As a small aside, with the configuration as I originally described it, randomly ONCE I saw a second GPU when I managed to boot into Windows. But that didn't last long. It almost sounds like something isn't seated correctly (although I've tripled checked everything).

 

[volkgren]

I was asking about the extra 6-pin power connector on the motherboard shown in the image below. You have that plugged in? most motherboards don't have that, so I'm wanting to double check.

 

[jtromans]

Sorry I misread your original post and edited mine to reflect the fact that I have NOT plugged this in. Each GPU is only powered directly from the PSU and I have not plugged in a power cable from the PSU to this 6-pin connector on the Mobo.

With everything configured as is I'm actually out of PSU cables. I will have a look and see if I have a spare that is appropriate and safe etc. This is a beast of a board and I am new to it. I have not see this 6-pin here before either on other boards.

*Update*
The EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 does not supply a cable compatible with the EATX12V3. So I can't try that right now. I'll look into getting one. Nonetheless, you would have thought that the GPUs don't need this to function since they draw their power directly from the PSU.

 

[volkgren]

I'm seeing the EVGA 1600 T2 has 9x 8-pin (6+2-pin) and 5x 6-pin PCIe connectors. That should be plenty leftover. You need that 6-pin on the motherboard. https://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=220-T2-1600-X1

 

[jtromans]

As far as I can tell - I don't have a compatible cable. Do you know which one it would be?

Can I use the 'VGA' cables for this? I'm not sure they have the same pin layout as what is needed for the Mobo.

Here is a (poor quality) photo of the PSU box and what is included:

and here is a picture from the EVGA website:

 

[volkgren]

Yes, any of the PCI-E VGA cables. They all have at least a 6-pin connector.

 

[jtromans]

I use the word triangle here loosely to denote a pin that isn't square.

With the clip oriented up: the motherboard is accepting "pins" in EATX12V3 with the
Square, Square, Triangle
Triangle, Triangle, Square

See below:

Question: Is it acceptable to connect a PCI-E which is pins:
Square, Triangle, Triangle
Triangle, Triangle, Square

The primary difference being the middle "pin" in the top row is a triangle on the PCI-E cable and not a Square. Accordingly, I know it will fit, because a triangle with go into a square (but not vice versa).

Although this is orientated differently, it is helpful.

This is a useful link: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/868520/Asus-Z10pe-D8-Ws.html?page=61

 

[volkgren]

First time I'm seeing this type of plug. I suppose I told you wrong. Seems to be a specific plug type. Either way you will need to have power going to that for your multiple graphics cards.

Now, to find where to get the adapter..

 

[jtromans]

According to this other thread that I started over at EVGA, I can use a normal 6+2-pin VGA cable by leveraging only the 6-pin part.

https://forums.evga.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-1600w-T2-for-X299-Sage-m2920030.aspx#2920241

The small keying difference I described above won't stop it physically connecting, so I am considering whether to try it.

 

[kerberos_20]

voltage/ground pins are same as on gpu cables

 

[jtromans]

Aside from the motherboard 24 pin EATX connector and both EATX12V1 and EATX12V2 CPU connectors... I have now also connected the PSU to the EATX12V3 (the 6-pin).

Unfortunately my error still persists.

 

[volkgren]

Which error? The b2 motherboard error or the GPUs not showing up? or both?

 

[kerberos_20]

do you have enabled 64bit hardware memory mapping? shuld be called smt like above 4G decoding

 

[jtromans]

I have tried enabling it, and disabling it. In both situations, it makes no difference.

 

[jtromans]

I tried this both on and off. I also tried setting the PCI-e to Gen 2 instead of Gen 3. Neither made a difference.