Magma EB2 manual

PCIe Expansion System User's Manual ExpressBox 2 PCI Express® to PCI Express® Expansion Model: EB2 Model: EB2R[...]

Copyright © 2008 Mission Technology Group, Inc. - DBA Magma This publication is protected by Feder al Copyri ght Law, with a ll rights reserved. No part of this public ation may be copied, photocopi ed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, transmitted or transcribed, in any form or by an y means manual, electric, electronic, elect[...]

MA GMA i Table of Contents PREFACE ............................................................................................. III Advisories .............................................................................................. iii Safety Instructions .................................................................................. iv W[...]

MA GMA ii Video Card expansion solutions .................................................................. 36 High Throughput storage solutions ............................................................. 38 CHAPTER 5 TROUBLESHOOTING ................................................ 40 Locate the Problem ...........................................[...]

MA GMA iii Preface Advisories Five types of advisories are used throughout this manual to provide helpful information, or to alert you to the potential for hardware dama ge or personal injur y. They are Note , Important , Caution , Warning , and Danger . The following is an example of each t ype of advisory. NOTE Used to amplify or explain a comm e[...]

MA GMA iv Safety Instruct ions Always use caution when servicing any electrical component. Before handling the Magma PCI-E xpress E xpansio n chassis, re ad the fo ll o wing instructions and safety gui delines to prevent damage to the product and to ensure your o wn personal s afety. Refer to the “ Adv isories ” section for advisory conventions[...]

MA GMA v In addition, take note of these safe ty guidelines when appro priate: ♦ To help avoid possible damage to s ystems boards, wait five seconds after turning off the computer before removing a component, removing a s ystem board, or disconnectin g a peripheral device from the computer. ♦ W hen you disconn ect a cable, pull on its conn ecto[...]

MA GMA vi ♦ Handle al l sensitive component s at an ESD workstation. If possible, use anti-static floor pads and workbench pads. ♦ Han dle components and boards with care. Don’t touch the components or contacts on a boar d. Hold a board by its edges or by its metal mounting bracket. Rack-Mount Instructions Elevated Operating Ambient - If inst[...]

MA GMA 1 Chapter 1 Introduction General Specifications The Magma 2 Slot PCI Express® to PCI Exp ress® Expansion System is a general -purpose bus expansi on chassis for the Pe ripheral Componen t Interconnect Express (PCIe) local bu s. The expans ion chassis is fully compliant with the PCI Expr ess Local Bus Specificatio n. This system consists of[...]

MA GMA 2 Pre-Installation Inf ormation Before using the Magma expansion chass is you should perform the following steps: • Inventory the shippin g carton cont ents for all of the required parts • Gather all of the necessary tools required for installation • Read this manual Parts List The following parts are provided in the EB2 model. T he EB[...]

MA GMA 3 Chapter 2 Hardware Inst allation The following steps will guide you thro ugh the installation of your Magma expansion system. Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Warning All PCI cards are susceptible to electrostatic discharge. When moving PCI cards, it is best to carry the cards in anti-static packaging. If you need to set a PCIe card down, be [...]

MA GMA 4 Before you Begin The system’s ATX power supply is auto-s witching. This means that it will automatically switch to match wh atever s ource po wer you ar e using. Since all products ship with a US/Canadian Standar d 125V power cord, you will need t o use a locally avail able power cord for non- US Standard power sources. Install PCI Expre[...]

MA GMA 5 STOP YOU MUST ONLY INSTALL THE PCIe HOS T CARD INTO A PCI EXPRESS SLOT . Only use cards WITH brackets. This will ensure that your PCIe host card can only be inserted into a PCIe slot. Although PCI Express cards without brackets may fit into conventional PCI slots, you run the risk of damaging the PCI Express host card if you insert it into[...]

MA GMA 6 Next check the DIP switch settings on the Magma Host Car d as shown: The DIP switch can be set to either the x4 or x8 position as can be seen in the photo. Since EB2 supports x8 speeds, it is recommended to set it in the x8 position for optimized performance and compatibility. It shoul d only be set to x4 if one is certain that the PCIe sl[...]

MA GMA 7 CA UTIO N All cables attached to the expansion chassis must be securely fastened. When you hear a “click,” it is properly secured. If not securely connected, the connectors may cause intermittent or lost connections. NOTE If at all possible, plug all power cords from the expansion chassis and your host computer into a shared power stri[...]

MA GMA 8 Tighten the thumbscrews connecti ng t he ExpressCard to the cable on one end and verify the other end is properly latched into the iP ass connector of the chassis. In spite of the standardized des ign of the TDP interface, it is not impossible to connect the male and female c onnectors upside-do wn. In order to avoid that, please note th e[...]

MA GMA 9 Before inserting the Magm a ExpressCard, po wer down your laptop computer. Use the procedure s for shutting down and powering off your system provided in your o wner’s manual or system documentation. Insert the Magma ExpressCa rd module with the log o side up, into the ExpressCard slot on your computer. Gently push the ca rd until it is [...]

MA GMA 10 Recheck the Installation Check your installati on before powering up the Magma expansion chassis for the first time. Although the power supply has an over voltage protection device built into it, it may not "trip" in time to full y protect a device that has bee n improperly connected , or whose power cable has been damaged. CA U[...]

MA GMA 11 Applying Power Correctl y Starting Up: It is recommended that you apply power to the M agma expansio n chassis prior to powering up your computer. T his will allow the PCIe bus hierarchy to be in a stable stat e wh en the host system issues its master power-on bus reset. This will also allow the software driver to recogniz e the PCI bus h[...]

MA GMA 12 RedHat 9 Linux Start Up Similarly, RedHat9 OS computers will boot up without any visible indicators that the Expansion S y stem is connected. Proceed to: Chapter 3 Verify Installation . Software Installation (Optional, for ExpressCard): A driver is NOT required for Windows Vista, but may be required for a Windows XP installation. Y ou sho[...]

MA GMA 13 3 Click on the Winzip button to unpack the files into the C:ExpressBox folder. 4 Click on the OK button to confirm the files are unpacked. 5 Click on the Close button to close WinZip. 6 Go to the C:ExpressBox folder and double- click on the Set up.exe file to start the driver installation. 7 Follow instructions on the screen during the [...]

MA GMA 14 Review the licensing agreem ent. If you agree, click Yes to continue. If you do not agree, click No to exit. Rather than restarting your computer , it is recommended that you click “ No, I will restart my compu ter later. ”, and then click Finish . You will be instructed to SHUT D OWN your computer in the ne xt step.[...]

MA GMA 15 Shutting Down: STOP DO NOT TURN OFF THE MAGMA EXPANSION CHASSIS UNTIL YOU HAVE SHUT DOWN YOUR COMPUTER COMPLETELY! It can cause a system lockup and loss of any unsaved data. When shutting your system down, it is recommended that you first shut down the computer correc tly, and then power down the Magm a expansion chassis to avoid ‘compu[...]

MA GMA 16 If your rack has holes too large for the screws, you can use the Bar Nut to secure your mounti ng by inserting the Panhead screw through t he rack hole and screwing it into the Bar Nut on the reverse side of the rack post, as shown: NOTE Notice that the holes on the Bar Nut are spaced unevenly to accommodate different racks. The EB2 chass[...]

MA GMA 17 Attach Chassis to Slide Rail The chassis mounts into the rack from the rear. Before you can attempt to insert the chassis’s rack slide into the half of the rack slide yo u just mounted to the rack, you must first fold the hinged mounting brackets to a forward position as shown. Rack slide Next, insert the chassis into the rack slide and[...]

MA GMA 18 CHAPTER 3 V erify Inst allation Windows To verify a successful i nstallation on Windo ws, find the ‘ My Computer ’ icon and “right-click” on it. Then select ‘ Manage ’ from the pop-up menu. Next, click on ‘ Device Manager ’ i n the leftmost Computer Management window. Finally, click on the View Menu and select View Devices[...]

MA GMA 19 If the verification is successful, you may now proceed to Chapter 4 and install 3 rd Party PCIe Cards as well as au xiliar y peripherals, such as hard drives into the chassis. If, however, the installation was uns uccessful, you may not see the PCI to PCI Bridge, or it will have a small yello w in front of it as shown below: In that case [...]

MA GMA 20 In this example, the Magma host card is i nstalled in slot 4 and ap pears as “Intel PCI-to-PCI Bridge Card”. If your computer did not automatically prompt you to choose a PCI Express profile, you c an loca te this utility under S ystem Æ Library Æ CoreServices Æ Expansion Slot Utility.app. Apple System Profiler When using Mac OS X [...]

MA GMA 21 Then click the “More Info” button Æ click on the Devices tab Æ you should see a pci-bridge device listed under PCI as shown below: Any PCIe Cards you install in the e x pansion chassis will appear behind the pci-bridge device. Mac OS 10.5.x If any of these devices are not displayed as shown above, you should shut down your system (c[...]

MA GMA 22 RedHat 9 Linux Once the EB2 has been installed i n a Re dHa t9-based system, its installa tion can be verifi ed by typing the following command lines: lspci –t Displays the overall structure of the PCIe expansi on system lspci –vv Lists additional information about the PCIe s witch (in our case it will list the Integrated De vice Tech[...]

MA GMA 23 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 8 2801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01) 00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Co rporation 8 2801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Control ler IDE (rev 01) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01) 01:00.0 PCI bridge: Integrated De vice Technolog y,[...]

MA GMA 24 Chapter 4 Inst all Cards and Drives This chapter provides information on ho w to install 3 rd Party PCIe cards or hard drives into your Magma expa nsion chassis. More details on the installation of individu al cards are provided by the card’s manufacturer. This chapter is provided as a simple guide to help you install your PCIe cards, o[...]

MA GMA 25 The second porti on, covering the pow er supply and ot her circuitry bein g less frequently accessed is secured wi th seven (7) regular screws. To remove that po rtion of the cover use a regu lar Phillips–head screwdriver. Install 3 rd Party PCIe Cards When installing 3 rd Party PCIe cards into the Magma expansion chassis, it makes no d[...]

MA GMA 26 Make sure that all PCIe cards are fu lly seated in their connectors. When correctly seated in its connector, you will notice a firm resistance when you pull up gently on the card. T o keep the cards in place, secure them in the enclosure with their retaining screws (supplied with the Magma expansion chassis). If your PCIe card is too shor[...]

MA GMA 27 Installing Double-Wide PCIe Video Cards Double -wide PCIe video cards require spe cial attentio n when being installed into the EB2 chassi s. Not only do they require pr oper cooling, but we must also ensure ade quate power for them to operate optimally. After verifying that the built-in po wer su pply can adequa tely power the video card[...]

MA GMA 28 Install Hard Drive(s) The EB2 chassis can accommodate up to two 3.5” or 2.5” hard drives. Before installing har d drives in your s ystem you should locate the brackets on which they will be i nst alled. A pair of brack ets should be preinsta lled in the ch assis while a seco nd pair shoul d be provided separately from the chassis as s[...]

MA GMA 29 Note that a PCIe hard drive controller card must be instal led in one of the two PCIe slots for the hard drive(s) to interface with the host system. However that controller card should be no longer tha n PCIe half-length in order to accommodate a second (optional) hard dr ive in the area designated as zone 2 bel o w: Zone 1: 2.5”/3.5”[...]

MA GMA 30 System Should Be Up and Running As noted previously, ap ply power to the Mag ma expansion chassis first, then power up the computer. Use the procedur es detailed in Chapter 3 to confirm proper c ard installation(s). When everythi ng is functioning correctly, your Win dows Device Manager should look something like this for any given slot: [...]

MA GMA 31 “Hot-Swappabl e” PCIe Card Installation s New PCI Express technolog y allows you to remove your 3 rd Party PCIe cards for maintenance or replacement – without shutting down the system. The EB2 expansions s ystem supports Hot Plugging/Hot Swapping of cards as defined by the PCI express specific ations. By design, this feature allo ws[...]

MA GMA 32 For this feature to work, you need to install the Magma soft ware driver. See Chapter 6 for instructions on how to do wnload the latest software for your system, should you require this feature. Each of the PCIe slots is controlled by a Hotplug Button as seen b el o w: SLOT 2 SLOT 1 Simply press the button corresponding to the s lot you w[...]

MA GMA 33 on the OK button to close the new dialog. 4. The properties dialog should close and the or iginal “Safely Remove Hardware” dialog shoul d remain. Click on the Stop button of the dialog. 5. A dialog with the title “Stop a Hardware device” should appear. This device is used to confirm that the user wishes to stop this device. Click [...]

MA GMA 34 8. After 5-6 seconds the LED will stop flashing and turn off completely. Remove the card and rep l ace it w ith a new one, then press the button again. Remove and replace the respective PCIe card Ideally the PCIe card that was removed from the system will be replaced with an identical, w orking card. Replacing that card with one that has [...]

MA GMA 35 PCIe Expansion Solutions with the EB2 In the following section we will take a lo ok at possible PCI Express expansion solutions using Ma gma’s EB2 chassis. Digi Design Pro Tools® Pro Tools® is a comprehensive solution for professional music editing. It offers advanced capabilities for recording and manipulation of music by controlli n[...]

MA GMA 36 Note that the maximum number of tr acks is achieved with all PCIe c ards inserted directly into the PC. Using the EB2 expans ion chassis we note the difference in track counts is no larger than 2 0% compared to a scenario where all cards resid e in the PC, taking u p all available slots. Video Card expansion solutions Magma’s EB2 chassi[...]

MA GMA 37 Since the built-in video chipset doesn’t sup port 3D rendering needed to run 3DMark® , we first establis hed a bas eli ne b y installi ng an entr y leve l PCIe card into an EB2 expansion chassis (Nv idia Quadro NVS440). All subsequent benc hmarks were complete d using higher performing video cards and documented in the tabl e below: Te[...]

MA GMA 38 High Throughput storage solutions The growing demand for storage solutions in the p ast few years was one of the major catalysts behin d the exponential gro wth in hard drive capacity. Moreover, a new breed of faster and more effici ent interfaces have emerged in order to pr ovide higher throughput while maintaining the lowest possible d [...]

MA GMA 39 Iometer® is a software-based I/O exerciser capable to test and characterize stand-alone as well as clustered stora ge systems. Developed orig inally by Intel as a proprietar y tool, it eventually becam e part of the Open Source De velopment Lab (OSDL) from which po int it has undergone several rev isions and updates. Going back to the Fi[...]

MA GMA 40 Chapter 5 T roubleshooting Locate the Problem If you are having trouble with the Magma expansion s ystem, first verify that all cards and cables are seated prop erly. Be sure you follo wed the instructions in earlier sections of th is User Guide. Al ways remember to power On and Off correctly when rechecking your installatio n. If you are[...]

MA GMA 41 My Computer Can’t Find the PCIe Expansion Sy stem If the expansion system is not visible i n your Windows Device Manager or your Apple System Profiler at a ll, you will need to turn off your computer (first) and then the Magma expansio n chassis (second) and test all cords and cables to ensure you have everything connected correctly. If[...]

MA GMA 42 Windows If the PCI-to-PCI Bridge is now visible, but contains a (exclamation) in front of it, it has a pr oblem that must be fixed. To identify this problem, right-click on the l ine with the and select “Properties” from the pop-up menu. Resolve the identified problem or go to Chapter 6 to get additional help. MA C Go to Chapter 6 to [...]

MA GMA 43 When Nothing Works The following troubleshooti ng steps will help you when the computer or chassis won’t turn on or “nothing seems to work” correctly: NOTE Review Chapters 3 (Verify Installation) and 4 (Install Cards and Drives) as necessary to verify that you have a valid installation of the Magma expansion system and that you have[...]

MA GMA 44 My Computer Hangs Duri ng Po wer Up If your computer “hangs” while being turned on and you can’t even start, follow the following steps to try to fix this problem: 1. Shut off the computer (first ) and the n the Magma expansion system and verify that all cards and cables are con nected and seated correctly. 2. If it still hangs and [...]

MA GMA 45 My PCIe Card Doesn’t Work The following flowchart describes a gener al approach to resolve PCI e card issues: The following additiona l steps might also help when the above troubleshooting steps fail to resolve your problem:[...]

MA GMA 46 1. Shut down the computer fo llo wed by the Magma expansion chassis 2. Remove the PCIe card displaying a problem 3. Replace the “problem card” with a simple PCIe card, such as an Ethernet card that has driv ers built into the operating syste m. (Using this “type of card” will avoid any fut ure questions about drivers possibly bei [...]

MA GMA 47 Support for 3 rd Party PCIe Cards Magma will provide reas onable technical support to with 3 rd Party PCIe cards. However, if you have verified a successful installation of the Magma PCIe Expansion S ystem (as defined in Chapter 4 ), but experience difficult y installing your 3 rd Party PCIe cards, the car d manufacturer should be able to[...]

MA GMA 48 Error Code Description/Action 10 This code indicates that there is a problem with the 3 rd Party PCIe Card driver. If necessary, contact the card’s manufacturer for updated software drivers. If all else fails, contact Magma Technical Support for further assistance. On the Bridge: If you receive error code 12 on th e first PCI to PCI Bri[...]

MA GMA 49 The System Fans Don’t Appear To Spin Fast Eno ugh The EB2 chassis is equi pped with three fans: One for the power supply and two for the chassis. The power supply fan should al ways rotate at full speed, while the two chassis fans are thermally c ontrolled both for acoustic a nd increased reliability reasons. In other words, those fans [...]

MA GMA 50 SW11 Position: By default, the EB2 sy st em comes with the two switches in the OFF position (meaning, th at their speed is therm ally controlled automatically). By switching them ON, the user can effectively bypass this circuitry and set the fans’ rotation speed to maxim um. This setting is particularl y recommended if one plans on usin[...]

MA GMA 51 Chapter 6 How to Get More Help Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) You can visit the Magma Technical Sup port FAQ pages on the Internet at: www.magma.com/support/ Contacting Technical Support Our support department can be reached by fax at (858) 530-2733 or by phone at (858) 530- 2511. Support is availa ble Monday through F riday, 8:00 AM to[...]

MA GMA 52 Magma Debug Utility Occasionally, Technical Su pport may request Windo ws users to produce and email a Magm a debug log file to help them resolve your problem. This file should be included as an attachment when submitting a Technical Support request at www.magma.com/ s upport . 1. Locate a file called dbg vi ew .e xe on the Mag ma CDROM. [...]

MA GMA 53 PCIScope Software Utility PCIScope is a pow erful tool for Window s users. It was designed by a Germany company called APSoft. This software utility is a valuable resource to explore, e xamine and debug the PCI subsyst em of your computer. It was made to fit the requirements of the most demandin g users, especially engineers, progr ammers[...]

MA GMA 54 You should save this data as a file o n your computer. Please incl ude your name and date as part of the f ile name with an extension of “.bpd.” This file should be included as an attac hment when submitting a Technical Support request at www.magma.com/ s upport .[...]

MA GMA 55 Returning Merchandi se to MAGMA If factory service is required, a Service Represe ntative will give you a Return Merchandise Authoriz ation (RMA) number. Put this number and your return address on the shipping label when you return the item(s) for service. Magma will return any product that is not accompan ied by an RMA number . Please no[...]

56 Appendix A Need More PCIe Slots? Multiple PCIe Ex pansion Sy stem Configurations The PCI Express Local Bus Sp ecification defines the bus as hierarchical , where logical PCI to PCI Bridges (PPBs) may be used to add "levels" to the P CI bus hierarchy within a PCIe switch. Because hierarchies are orga nized systems arranged into differen[...]

MA GMA 57 2. Most computers allo w multiple logical bridges (and thus P CIe buses) to be correctly configured. S ome computers, unfortunately, place an arbitrar y limit on the number of b ridge levels that can be traveled duri ng po wer-on configuration. Your computer “power-on-soft ware” should be compliant with the PCIe bus specification 1.1 [...]

58 Fan-Out For reasons described in bu llet #3 above, we recommen d using a fan- out configuration when yo u need to add successive PCIe expansi on systems to the host computer. This addition to the PCI bus hierarchy is at the "peer" level of other exis ti ng expansion buses, thus adding "breadth" to the PCI bus hierarchy, since[...]

MA GMA 59 Verify your configuration Before you start installing yo ur PCIe cards (refer to Chapter 4 Install Cards and Drives for more inform ation), you should confirm that everything is in proper working order. Refer to Chapter 3 Verif y Installation for guidance in verifying the proper inst allation of your Expansion System. For exam ple, the fo[...]

60 Daisy-Chaining Recognizing the t ypical insignificance of the performanc e variance between the “Fan-Out” and “D aisy-Chain ing” configuratio ns, the primary reason for using this one would be limitations on ph ysical space. This could be the number of availab l e slots on the host computer motherboard, or a lack of desk or rack space. I[...]

MA GMA 61 Combination Configurations Depending on your business requirements, and your physical spac e limitations, you can add a dditional Expansion S ystem in multiple configurations, such as thes e. These combinati ons are only limited by the availability of PCIe slots (both in the host and in subsequent chasses). Obviously, you will need to ke [...]

62 PCI e Card Conflicts If you determine that one PCIe card is int erfering with the operation of another card, first try reorganizing the cards on the motherboard. Moving the cards aroun d can change the or der in which the cards ar e configured by the system du ring power-on. T his will go a long way toward resolving module conflicts. Power-On Se[...]

MA GMA 63[...]

64 Finding the Problem Card Windows If you need help to determi ne which PCIe card, or which expansi on chassis, has the problem, you can “right-click” on the card with the and check the information contained in the “L ocation:” field. Look for the “Error Code” in the box in the ce nter of the Properties Window and then go to the Windo [...]

MA GMA 65 APPENDIX B Compliance FCC NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection agai nst harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates[...]

66 Magma 9918 Via Pasar, San Diego, CA 9212 6, USA Phone (858) 530-2511 • Fax (858) 530-2733 www.magma.com Manual P/N 09-09947-01-A[...]