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Building rackmount server: Uh oh what now?

G

gplanet

Senior member
I got my 2U rackmount case here, and put my ECS K7S5A inside. The rackmount case includes a 3 slot PCI riser card...but there's a problem. It lines up with the AGP slot of my motherboard. Can't move the motherboard, and if i tried to move the riser card down a slot then the cards can't fit in the hole in the case. What do i do?? For now i'm just using a PCI video card with the top of the case off to get windows installed, and if i have to, i'll just remove it and remotely connect to the box....is this feasible? Is there an inexpensive AGP riser card?
 
I was shocked too when a fellow Anandtecher revealed it in another post the other day 🙂 (About putting an MP3 PC in a car with a custom case)
 
another question..how do i get my computer to boot without a video card?

...or a keyboard. i can't find options in my K7S5A BIOS to "boot on all errors" or something like that
 
I don't believe any mobo will POST without a videocard, because what would be the point of a computer then?

Same goes for a keyboard.
 
Look for "Halt on errors" and select "Disable"
PLENTY of computers have no video card.
That's why computers are designed the way they are: you only use what you need.
If all the PC was for was copying floppies it doesn't need a hard drive does it? 😀
I know it demeans the multi-purpose abilities of a PC, but dedicated "intelligent" devices usually use CPUs, Memory, and OSes also (Cisco routers for example).
 
Mmmm.. I think you're an idiot if you don't include a video card.

A keyboard on the otherhand isn't needed unless you need to be at the console. If the option is there, change "Halt on all errors" to "Halt on all errors, but keyboard".

Back to the video card subject, just buy a cheap $10-15 vid card. Nothing special. You'll need it just incase you run into any problems. You can't exactly find out your bluescreen errors in Win2k remotely, or why it's not booting up. Likewise, (linux) you won't be able to get into single user mode, fsck the drive, or find out what's wrong with the system if you can't get any video.
 
Also just about every motherboard i've had my hands on WILL NOT boot up without a video card. Since you're using a low level consumer motherboard, trust me, you'll embarrass yourself trying to boot that system up without the video card.
 
chrisisbored: Actually... Most WILL. You just have to set the appropriate setting (Disable "Halt on error") and it's available on virtually every mobo I've ever seen. If it must have a video card, then it must have a display and that can cost a pretty penny and seriously hurt the portability of this project. Doesn't even need to be there because it will not be used in that manner. If it does need a video card for another reason, get one of those REALLY small ATI Rage Pro cards with an SODIMM connector on them. They're only 2u height when you remove the bracket!
 
I think it's idiotic to have a GFX card in a server.
What the he** would you want with video in a server?

Of course this works a bit better with real servers where you can connect to through VT100 or some similar way.
 
VNC or BackOrfice 2000 + PoPeep plugin (Included in BO2K download) will do the trick for administrating without a VT100 (Unless they need a video card to do screen captures). Just make sure it has an extra NIC and all you will have to do is plug up a laptop to take control without Internet/network access.
 
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