New Mainboard Supermicro X14SAV / No Installation possible

[s25a]

Hi everyone,

in my demo lab I just received a new Supermicro Board X14SAV. I tried to install The actual 9.01 (USB Stick) but it stops after loading initial ramdisk. (See Screenshot)
I tried a few things which I found in other threads here but nothing helped so far. Any ideas?

- Bios is at latest version
- Disabled Secure Boot
- Disabled x2APIC
- Tried PM 8.4
- Tried another M.2 SSD (Both in factory)

Hardware seem to work - I can load a Windows 11 installation and also start a live Linux.

Thanks for your help and support

 

[cwt]

Did you try „nomodeset“? Within the installer screen press „E“. In the „Linux command line“ add „nomodeset“ (without quotes) at the end and press F10.

 

[s25a]

Hi, thank you very much.

Yes I tried the nomodeset but it does not work. Just to be sure I did this correct: In the installer menu I choose the Terminal installation (without pressing enter). There press "e" and here I add the "nomodeset" at the end of the line which begins with Linux. I did that with installer 9.0 ISO release 1 and also Version 8. Still the same error.

I also found something in the BIOS below the security setting. I could deactivate the TPM. But also this did not help.
I tried with a Debian Trixie (13.1) and there I have the same issue. Windows however boots without any issues.

I will open a Ticket at Supermicro maybe someone reported the same issue there.

THanks

 

[cwt]

You could try setting/changing these values:

CSM Configuration

→ Launch CSM = Disabled

Secure Boot

→ Secure Boot = Disabled

PCIe / Device Configuration

→ Above 4G Decoding = Enabled

→ SR-IOV Support = Enabled (if available)

Onboard VGA / Display Settings

→ Primary Display = IGFX (if you use the integrated GPU for video output)

→ or Disabled (if the system runs headless or uses a dedicated GPU)

CPU Configuration

→ Intel VT-x / VT-d = Enabled

PCH Configuration

→ ASPM Support = Disabled

Power Management

→ ERP / Deep Sleep States = Disabled

Boot Mode Selection

→ Boot Mode = UEFI Only

Boot Order

→ Select the USB Installer (UEFI mode) and move it to the top of the list

Finally, save changes and reboot.

Edit: you can also try additional parameters beside „nomodeset“:

quiet nomodeset intel_iommu=on iommu=pt noapic noacpi acpi_enforce_resources=lax pci=assign-busses,pcie_aspm=off

 

[s25a]

Hi,

many thanks for your support and efforts. But it does not work. Could not find all settings in BIOS but most of it. I entered all the parameters you mentioned tried to boot (F10] but still the same error message

EFI stub: Loaded initrd from LINUX_EFI_INITRD_MEDIA_GUID device path
EFI stub: Measured initrd data into PCR 9

I think there's a general issue in the mainboards firmware which prevents a start of Linux. The other strange thing I saw is the boot of the Microsoft installation. Never saw that before in this way. Maybe there's something "special" coded that only support Windows to boot.

Really annoying as this board is about 600€ and classified as Workstation and Server Board. I can return that but spend about 1 day for Debugging :-(

Thanks

Alex

 

[cwt]

Afaik some X13/14 boards run in a race condition when secure boot is on with Linux installers. Did you try to disable it? Other options would be disabling the TPM device (or Intel PTT). Last try for the boot parameters:

efi_no_storage_paranoia efi=runtime intel_iommu=on iommu=pt nomodeset

 

[s25a]

HI thanks again. Very much appreciate. I tried again and now, it looks a little different but still hangs.

First I set the bios back to factory (Just to be sure) and applied all the parameters you see in my Blue screenshot. (Secure Boot is disabled anyway in default so did not have to change this)

Then switched to headless installation and entered the parameters you mentioned above - See Screenshot - Then booted and now I just get the error:

EFI stub: Loaded initrd from LINUX_EFI_INITRD_MEDIA_GUID device path

but not the 2nd one:

EFI stub: Measured initrd data into PCR 9

I am not sure if that could mean something.

Thanks Alex

 

[Domino]

Another way you could try.....

Load up a proxmox or hyperv or virtualbox on another computer, and either passthrough the m.2 boot drive or later on just re-image the m.2 boot drive from the virtual drive via clonezilla etc.

So basically image the drive with proxmox preinstalled, but remember to install proxmo in an EFI enabled VM so the image is EFI.

Finally...

Then put the drive into your new server and boot up, keep fingers crossed.

Not ideal, but this has helped me in the past until said vendors got round to releasing bios updates.

 

[s25a]

Hi, good idea but same Problem - See attached. I installed PVE 9.01 on another (UEFI) system than updated it to the latest kernel 6.14.11-4. Then removed the disk and added to the Supermicro System. You see the Proxmox Welcome Screen and then tries to load and have the same issue.

Maybe here we have better debugging possibilities? Shame on you SuperMicro....

 

[Domino]

Looks like its a little bit further now, devils advocate, did you try the memtest?

Now that you have an installed OS, other things to try...
going into bios and disabling anything relative to apic, ie x2apic etc., disable iommu and all virtualization options, also disable hyperthreading... basically turn everything off and send it back to the dark-ages, then see if it boots in, if it does, then I guess its a case of enabling things one by one until you find the culprit?

If none of the above works... last thing I would try is...
dial down the cpu speed if possible, again take it back to the medieval times, also dial down the memory speed.

I'm sure I'd try a dozen other things, but time is money, so sooner or later you are going to have to call it and file a return for refund.

...or just install windows lol


If you have time to waste, maybe you could do the same imaging thing on the other machine but this time install is as a legacy bios boot build rather than efi, and then set this new board to legacy bios boot too and see if that makes a difference.

 

[s25a]

Hi,

I think I give up now. It's only waste of time. I deactivated every Single option in the BIOS but there's no change. The error is always the same.
Thanks a lot for your help and support I will return the board, maybe give a try in a few month and see if it is working then.

Alex