Supermicro X8DTT-F Xeon X5660 System -- No Video, No Beeps

[kernelpanic97]

Hello everyone,

I'm working on a home virtualization project and decided on a Supermicro X8DTT dual-Xeon system using parts from eBay.

My system specs (just to be thorough):

• 
  ■ Supermicro X8DTT-F motherboard. (I am not sure if the mobo has had a firmware update or not.)
  ■ Both CPU sockets populated: Xeon X5660 CPU 2.8Ghz. The manufacturer website says this CPU is supported.
  ■ CPU's are cooled by two Cooler Master Hyper T4's. The CPU cooler fans are connected to FAN3 and FAN2. No other fans are connected to the board.
  ■ All 12 RAM slots populated: Samsung DDR3 4GB 1333 ECC REG RAM. I definitely should have checked the tested memory list for this mobo before buying....the RAM model number is M393B5170FHD-CH9....closest match on the list is M393B5170GB0-CH9
  ■ PSU: EVGA 850BQ 850W that has been adapted for the proprietary SM 20-pin power connector standard (although I am not 100% sure if the adaptation is correct). This mobo actually has two power connectors (for redundancy?), only one is used
  ■ Basic monitor connected to the VGA port (And VGA jumper is set to Enabled). No add-on cards right now.

The system is housed in a box lined with corrugated cardboard as a test bench.

At the moment what I'm noticing is:

• 
  ■ Upon powering on, the system will seem dead for a few seconds, then will turn on and start spinning all fans. But then it will shut down after a few seconds, then start up again. This happens every time I disconnect power and turn it back on.
  ■ The BMC LED will be solid green for a couple of seconds, but then will start blinking.
  ■ Onboard Power LED is solid green, manual says this means System On.
  ■ But, no video. And I've connected a speaker, but I don't hear any beeps. I know that larger mobos can sometimes have long POST times, but I've waited several minutes...nothing.

Now, I have built a few gaming systems before, but I still probably should have done a lot more research before getting into a project like this......but what's done is done. Turning to the community for ideas. I have already tried starting with only one CPU. I'm going to try starting with less RAM to see if there's an issue there, but I was wondering if there was anyone here who have had the same problem and/or can help out. If you need to know how I wired my power connector I can provide that info. Thanks a bunch everyone.

UPDATE: I am seeing signs of life from the board as I can connect to the IPMI LAN interface and navigate the menus just fine. I'm also able to turn the server off and on through the interface...the event log isn't showing any problems except for an entry saying the CMOS battery is low and "unrecoverable". Could this be what's stopping it from starting all the way?

 

[smorizio]

on most mb if a mb powers on then off it can be a shorting issue. the mb or power supply sees a short in the system and shuts down to protect itself. or the mb cant set the ram speed right. i would look at the mb guild see what the min amount of ram is and try another brand of ram.

 

[kernelpanic97]

I've more or less ruled out RAM as being the issue. I've read that even though the website says the mobo supports the Xeon 5600 series, a BIOS update is needed before it will actually work, and I suspect my mobo has an older BIOS version. I'll be able to confirm it soon as I ordered a cheap 5500 series chip that should be supported by the older BIOS.