Re: [PLUG] Motherboard too long for PCIE cards?

[Aaron Mulder <ammulder@alumni.princeton.edu>]

Do you have another card you can compare the problematic RAID card to?
 You know, if you line up the bottom pins that go in the PCI slot on
both cards side by side, do the brackets line up too or does the RAID
card have a bracket too close in?  If they match, could the
motherboard be mounted in an incorrect position in the case (like are
there multiple sets of screw holes and the wrong ones were used)?

Thanks,
       Aaron

On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 5:59 PM, PaulNM <plug@paulscrap.com> wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
>         Casey's recent question about PCIE card specs gave me a good push to
> investigate a PCIE-related question of my own.  Unfortunately neither
> the pdf Casey found nor my own Google searches came up with any answers.
>
>         A while ago I helped a a non-profit in the area build a couple of
> massive storage servers.  The server has a PCIE raid card that we're
> only using to connect a bunch of drives too. (We're using mdadm/software
> raid.)
>
>         The problem is the external bracket on the card doesn't reach the back
> of the server case, the card is too short.  As a result, only the pcie
> slot itself and the card's heatsink (resting on another heatsink) are
> supporting the card, I can't screw it into the case.
>
>         While I've come across low-profile, half-height, short card, and long
> card related stuff, nothing fits my situation.  All of them have the
> slot and back bracket at the same distance from each other, the slot is
> right next to the back of the case.
>
>         Is this normal for server cases, are there any adapters or "bracket
> extensions" I can get somewhere?
>
> More info:
>
>
>         The motherboard in question is a SUPERMICRO X8DTU-F.
>
> http://www.esaitech.com/supermicro-intel-xeon-5600-dual-lga-1366-ddr3-server-mother-board-x8dtu-f-o.html
>
> (click on picture for larger view)
>
>         As you can see, the PCIE X16 slot is midway down the board.  We have a
> riser turning the port 90 degrees, but the bracket for the card barely
> makes it halfway to the back of the case.
>
>         The case is a Supermicro SC847 A-R1400UB.
>
> http://amadisystems.com/supermicro-4u-36x3-5-hot-swap-1400w-redundant-rackmount-server-chassis-847e16-r1400lpb.html
>
>         For the curious, the card is a HIGHPOINT RocketRAID 2760A SAS/SATA 6
> Gb/s RAID Controller.  I don't really recommend it, though it's working
> ok-ish for us after giving us a bunch of issues to workaround.
>
> It looks like this:
> http://www.amazon.com/HighPoint-RocketRAID-2782-PCI-Controller/dp/B0058TLB38
> only without the two external Mini-SAS ports.  The bracket is one solid
> piece.
>
> - PaulNM
>
>
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