Server Won't Boot With PCIe riser

[jjblack]

So from my workplace I scored an old 1U chassis and SAS drives that were decommissioned. I am trying to get this up in my homelab.

Motherboard is a SuperMicro X7DBR-E. This machine was not purchased or configured for SAS and just used on-board SATA.

I slapped in a SAS card, however the machine will not turn on and the front green LEDs go out when I plug in the PCIe riser. Unplug the riser and boots just fine. I don’t have another free riser to test and the card itself doesn’t have enough clearance to plug into the board directly.

These are PCIX ports on the board, but I understood PCIe will work in them.

Is this a fools errand? Do I just need to reseat the RAM? Do I need one of these? What else can I try here?

[cowphrase]

What riser specifically? Was it designed for the board?

The manual and motherboard spec page don’t appear to mention the model number for the riser card. Though the manual does mention this:

Note2: For the ZCR Card to work properly, be sure to install it in the riser for Slot 7

Also this is a bit of an old board that makes no mention of PCIe 2, does the SAS card support PCIe 1.0? (I mean it should, but worth asking).

[jjblack]

I just have a generic PCIe riser. I don’t have a specific one for this board.

I also looked around the board again and found these related pins. But jumping them doesn’t solve anything.

But when the chassis is plugged in, but off the two front network LED lights are green. They turn off once I plug in the riser and immediately come back when I pull it out

[cowphrase]

I’d be looking for an official riser for that board / chassis. IIRC that kind of slot is incompatible with PCIe without a riser.